The world markets were roiled today by panic selling. The sell off was catalyzed by negative news on Italy’s solvency, accelerated further by margin calls on major institutions, forcing a major deleveraging across the board. Many are fearing a reemergence of recessionary declines across the globe.
Europe’s outlook has significantly weakened as of late after its been revealed that the fiscal problems of the sagging debtor states are growing more severe at a rapid rate. Headlines today included major exchanges shuttering temporarily, bond issuances being suspended and civil unrest growing. The Euro lost about 1.35% of its value in a single day, a significant sell-off — and one that is likely to continue.
The downside risks for speculative paper assets are intensifying. Growth stocks lost 5-8% or more of their value in a matter of minutes. Some posted double digit losses. The selling in the US continued in to the close without much sign of short covering, indicating that many are still bracing for a negative jobs report tomorrow.
Gold, silver and other precious metals were no exception, as margin calls forced traders and investors who were employing margin to deleverage their portfolio, selling their profitable positions to cover losses, presumably in equities.
The only green on the board was primarily in the US dollar and bonds, once again finding themselves as a safe haven asset during times of panic. One has to wonder, given the underlying uncertainty regarding the US debt, and the condition of global and local financial markets, how long such a phenomenon can last — especially given the tendency for investors to migrate in to hard assets when there’s a whisper of inflation.
The most likely scenario from this point forward is more quantitative easing, probably coordinated by the G7 countries, instead of a unilateral US effort, to prop up sagging markets. Such a liquidity infusion would likely spark a significant rally in commodities and equities, at the cost of the purchasing power of various fiat currencies. Such a powerful inflationary force could cause precious metals to stage vicious upward price discovery as more paper currency is created out of thin air.
In the short term and intermediate term we are looking at a very oversold market. By just about every measure possible we are in a very dangerous zone to be selling stocks. A violent bounce is highly likely, but how sustainable that bounce is depends entirely on what the ECB and Fed say in the coming weeks.
Technically on the S&P 500 there’s a good chance that we’ll see a retest of November, 2010′s lows around 1171 if economic data and news continue to build on the negative sentiment. The 1225 area has now become resistance. This could be the formation of a new trading range or the beginning of a significant downtrend.
Gold made new highs today, but margin calls forced liquidation and brought the price down over $40 from its highs. Silver tested the $42 level, but the same liquidation brought silver down by over 7% at the lows. There’s a good chance that the correction in precious metals could continue if the liquidity vacuum effect of souring debt markets in Europe continues. If instead central banks announce additional easing and credit expansion then we may see a significant rally.
Unfortunately today’s markets are no longer primarily powered by economic growth, but instead moreso from central bank money printing and artificially low interest rates. This is the main reason that more and more investors are turning to hard assets to hedge against, if not profit from, future inflation. If the sell-off continues, with gold, silver and other hard assets seeing discounts, I would consider it an opportunity to buy such assets as the longer term outlook is higher inflation and a resulting attraction towards precious metals.
