Charts and News for Thursday

I am so glad I sent out an issue yesterday to Red-Hot Commodity ETFs subscribers telling them to buy the DGP (double-gold ETF) and DIG (Double oil index ETF). Oil is up more than $4 this morning before the open and gold is up $20 an ounce as I write this.

Does this mean we're out of the woods on commodities? Not by a long shot! However, this is a playable bounce. What will determine how high the bounce will go? Probably action in the US dollar. Let's look at a weekly chart of the dollar ...And now let's close up on that next support on a daily chart.
That test of support for the greenback will be very interesting.

Jurojinweekly.com has an interesting chart of the week ...The accompanying commentary ...

The run up in housing created perceived wealth for Americans similar to that driven by the technology boom in stocks in the late 1990s. Interestingly, when housing values stopped going up and started going down, people were still spending and investing-and the economy was rolling on the fumes. Stocks soared on the wealth-effect by 24% after the top in housing was put in during July of 2006 (as measured by the Case-Shiller Index).

The market has since, given it ALL back. This now places the value of the stock market at the same level as it was when the euphoric housing mania was at its peak. Hmmm!

Note: I am involved with The Secret Order of Jurojin, but it in no way is affiliated with Weiss Inc. Futures aren't for everybody, and odds are they aren't for you.

In other news ...

The Neo-Cons are getting the war they always wanted -- a renewed cold war with Russia. This has sent oil prices soaring this morning which, again, is exactly what the powers that be in Washington (I'm looking at you, ExxonMobil) have wanted, despite their "drill-drill-drill" mantra.

This ugly turn of geopolitical events prompted former Soviet Union President Mikhail Gorbachev to write the following op-ed in the New York Times ...

In recent days, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and President Bush have been promising to isolate Russia. Some American politicians have threatened to expel it from the Group of 8 industrialized nations, to abolish the NATO-Russia Council and to keep Russia out of the World Trade Organization.

These are empty threats. For some time now, Russians have been wondering: If our opinion counts for nothing in those institutions, do we really need them? Just to sit at the nicely set dinner table and listen to lectures?

Read Gorbachev's whole piece. He doesn't have a monopoly on the truth. But we have to know where the Russians are coming from if we want to reach a compromise everyone can live with.

China replaces the US as Japan's #1 customer.

Honda Motor Co. and Komatsu Ltd. are turning to China, the world's fastest-growing major economy, as the U.S. slowdown intensifies and rising fuel and food costs weaken demand at home. Higher oil prices caused the import bill to climb to a record last month, triggering an 87 percent drop in the trade surplus.

XX Sean's note -- "Decoupling" anyone? Oh wait, I can't use that word. It's been proven not to exist!

Goldman Sachs renews its call for $149 oil by the end of this year.

Check out my new gold and energy blog at MoneyAndMarkets.com