W/C 21st Apr - Are Trump & team on the right track?

Plus a look into a couple of Asian Indices, their recent correlation to Europe and a look at VIX, DXY, HYG and yields. Some good energy and BTC news too.

First of all, a Happy Easter to those that celebrate it. I hope that you are having a superb weekend and enjoy your Easter Monday if you are lucky enough to have that off as well.

As usual, my apologies if any data and/or information has changed as a result of Asian/early European trading.

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Podcast + Posts

It is a delight to write that

Matthew Piepenburg

and

Charles Hugh Smith

will be appearing on the podcast this coming week. Expect 2 excellent conversations based around geopolitics, macroeconomics, metals and self-reliance.

I am also trialling releasing podcasts 24 - 48 hours in advance for paid subscribers.

Thank you also for the excellent feedback on the ‘History, Britannia & Gold: A Journey through time’ piece written last week. It was thoroughly enjoyable to write. If you have yet to read it then please do so.

The free post this coming week will deep dive into Palladium. I am also working on a plethora of other elements including Uranium, Copper, Platinum, Tin, Zinc and more.

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Bitcoin + Energy

Good news for Bitcoin holders in Panama.

It is also good to see that some common sense is starting to come back into the energy sphere. Green energy will more than likely be beneficial for the world in the long run. Nuclear is the immediate answer. Wind turbines and solar are NOT the immediate answer.

What the mainstream media do NOT LIKE to report is the environmental cost associated with producing the materials in the first place. Mining can be a very dirty business. If we are moving towards a world of electrification and so forth, then that is going to take a LOT of natural resources. They don’t just come out of the ground by magic!

Therefore, it is refreshing to see and read articles like the ones below:

Source

Source

And when it takes 8-10 years to potentially get some wind farms up and running, that is not a good sign either.

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Asian v USA markets

We saw in the Weekly Wrap that the US Indices sold off last week and that this was the gain of Europe as the DAX + FTSE finished the week on green candles. The Hong Kong (Hang Seng) and Japanese (Nikkei) indices also had a similar pattern to Europe last week.

Japan (Nikkei)

The Nikkei finished the week up 2.47% (832 points)

Hong Kong (Hang Seng)

The Hang Seng finished the week up 1.09% (230 points)

Compare that to the Weekly charts from the Dow Jones, NASDAQ + S&P 500

DOW JONES

NASDAQ

S & P 500

All of this is likely good for gold as well as capital flees the US Indices. There is apparently a 78% chance that gold will top $3,400 by June.

Given the possibility of a rate cut by the Fed and also that we could potentially be in a blow-off top phase for gold at present, there seems to be a very reasonable chance of that happening!

NB - Gold has now burst through $3,400 with ease

All of that being said, volatility has dropped, the DXY still remains sub 100 and also some good news from HYG last week…