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Shipping Rates Plunge, Commodities and Stocks May Follow

An almost immediate reaction to the Coronavirus outbreak in China and throughout most of the world has sent shock-wave through the global markets – particularly seen in Shipping and Oil.  The actions within China to attempt to contain the virus spread include shutting down entire cities and setting up mass quarantine events.  It is estimated that as many as 8+ million people were quarantined within cities in China throughout the Chinese New Year.

Chinese President, Xi Jinping, warned recently that the Coronavirus, and the efforts to stop it, may greatly reduce the Chinese economy over the next few months.  The Chinese President urged top officials to refrain from “more restrictive measures” to contain the virus.  It is our opinion that more restrictive measures are essential to efforts to contain the spread of this virus and that further contraction in the Chinese economy, as well as other economies, are almost set in stone at this point.

Information we’ve received from some friends living in China and Hong Kong suggest travel is very restricted, face masks are very scarce, people are staying inside their homes and surviving as family units within very close contact with one another.  They are scared, trapped and unable to do anything other than try to wait this out.  Imagine what this is doing to the local economies, shops, offices, and businesses?

Reflectively, global shipping rates have collapsed over the past 30+ days as one of the first signs of the contraction in the global markets.  As of December 31, 2019, both Tanker and Dry-Bulk rates were hovering near $14,000 per day.  Now, this rate is near $2500 per day – a -82% decrease.  As you consider the broader aspects of this massive decrease in shipping rates, consider the global contagion event that may setup if the Belt-Road region is adversely hit with the Corona Virus.

Source: Bloomberg.com

SEA SHIPPING SECTOR ETF – DAILY CHART

Shipping stocks are taking a beating. Factories are shut down, the product is not being shipped, and even product ready to be shipped many don’t want to take delivery for the time being.

From a short term standpoint, this sector is looking oversold, but depending on how much the virus spreads we could see another 20% from the current price.

CHINA’S BELT-ROAD INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS

China’s Belt-Road Initiative consists of massive infrastructure, port, and other projects throughout Europe, Asia, India, Pakistan, Iran, Turkey, Russia, Africa, and other nations.  These projects have been initiated over the past 5+ years and are well underway.  We believe the spread of the Coronavirus may follow a path along with the Belt and Road projects and potentially infect a larger number of individuals over the next 30+ days than originally expected.  If this virus moves into the Middle East or Africa, containment may become very difficult.

The reality is that Shipping and Commodities could see a dramatic price decline as this virus outbreak continues over the next 60+ days.  Reports are already starting to hit the news wires that Autos and manufacturing supplies are starting to pile up and ports in China.  Without a functioning manufacturing sector and workers to keep everything running, China’s economy will grind to a halt very quickly.

This translates into lower Oil prices, lower raw material prices and higher metals prices.  A capital shift will continue to take place throughout the world where capital will move away from risky environments and towards more secure investment environments.  Thus, capital will move away from Asia, India, the Middle East and potentially Europe and towards the USA, Canada and possibly Mexico.  Everything depends on what happens over the next 60 to 90+ days with regards to this virus outbreak.

MONTHLY CRUDE OIL CHART

This Monthly Crude Oil chart shows how quickly Oil rotated lower in January 2020.  Currently, Oil is trading near $50 per barrel and may break lower towards the $44 to $46 price level before finding any real support.  Overall, our research team believes Oil may reach as low as $35 to $36 ppb before reaching a bottom.  You can read our earlier research here: https://www.thetechnicaltraders.com/oil-begins-to-move-lower-will-our-predictions-come-true.  Within that research post, dated November 19, 2019, we highlighted our earlier predictive modeling research from July 2019 suggesting Oil would break substantially lower in November 2019 and again in February 2020.  We predicted this downside move in Oil nearly 8+ before it happened.

Transportation Index Monthly Chart

This Transportation Index Monthly chart highlights the sideways FLAG formation setting up in the US Transportation sector.  If the US market breaks lower as a result of lower global economic activity, we believe we will see the Transportation Index fall very quickly to levels below $9,500.  A breakdown in the Transportation Index would be an early warning sign that the US economy is headed towards a recession or contraction event.  Global shipping has already confirmed this event is taking place – yet the US Transportation sector has not shown much weakness.

Traders need to be very aware of the risks in the markets and the continued Capital Shift that is taking place throughout the planet.  Capital is running away from risk and pouring into more stable markets.  The ultimate risks to the global economy are for those nations where debt/economy levels are fragile, to begin with – which is why we highlighted the Belt Road project.  If China enters a protective mode where the Chinese Central Bank attempts to bail out Chinese companies/initiatives, we believe the Belt Road project could become a great risk.  And we believe this could happen very quickly given the current market environment.

The dynamics of global markets are changing very quickly.  It is time for traders to prepare for bigger volatility and large range sector rotation.  Follow our research, learn how we can help you stay ahead of these bigger moves in the markets.  2020 is going to be a fantastic year for skilled traders – you just have to stay ahead of the risks and be prepared to take advantage of the opportunities as they are presented.

Join my Swing Trading ETF Wealth Building Newsletter if you like what you read here and ride my coattails as I navigate these financial markets and build wealth while others lose nearly everything they own.

Chris Vermeulen
www.TheTechnicalTraders.com

NOTICE: Our free research does not constitute a trade recommendation or solicitation for our readers to take any action regarding this research.  It is provided for educational purposes only.  Our research team produces these research articles to share information with our followers/readers in an effort to try to keep you well informed.  Visit our web site (www.thetechnicaltraders.com) to learn how to take advantage of our members-only research and trading signals.

Is The Coronavirus Bullish For Stocks?

Earnings volatility has certainly been big.  Tesla pushed the markets much higher early this week and the US stock markets have continued the upward momentum after the State Of The Union address and the acquittal of President Trump on Wednesday.  Still, we continue to believe this rally may be a “fake-out” rally with respect to the fallout from the Wuhan virus.  Certainly, foreign investors are continuing to pour capital into the US stock market as the strength of the US Dollar and the strong US economy is drawing investment from all areas of the globe.

We believe the scope of this parabolic rally in the US stock market should actually concern skilled traders.  Markets just don’t go straight up for very long.  The last time this happened was in the 1970s and 1980s.  Very minor volatility during that time prompted a big move higher in the US stock market that set up the eventual DOT COM collapse.

Oil, Shipping, Transportation, Consumer, Manufacturing, and Retail will all take a hit because of the Wuhan virus.  We’ve, personally, received notices from certain suppliers that factory closures in China will greatly delay the fulfillment of orders.  Our opinion is that nations may have to close all or a majority of their cities, ports, and activities in Asia for at least 90+ days in order to allow this virus event to peak and subside.  We don’t see any other way to contain this other than to shut down entire cities and nations.

The US Fed and Central Banks are doing everything possible to continue the economic growth and stability of global economics.  Yet, the reality may suddenly set in that without risking a global virus contagion, nations may be forced to actually shut down all non-essential activities for well over 90+ days (possibly even longer).  If you could stop and consider what it would be like for half of the world, and many of the major manufacturing and supply hubs, to shut down for more than 3 to 6 months while a deadly virus is spreading.

Repo lending continues to show that liquidity is a problem.  We believe this problem could get much worse.  Skilled traders need to be prepared for a sudden and potentially violent change in the direction of the global stock markets.

$TNX – 10 YEAR US TREASURE YIELD DAILY CHART

30 YEAR TREASURY BOND PRICE – DAILY CHART

There is now a solid wall of inversions in all the treasury notes and bills.  The 10-year yield is inverted with 6-month and shorter durations.  The 30-year long bond dipped below 2.0% for the third time and is just 6 basis points from a record low.

Prepare to capitalize on this “crowd behavior” in the near future.  Right now, the US stock market is pushing higher as Q4 earnings drive future expectations.  Yet, be prepared for the reality of the situation going forward.

This Wuhan virus may present a very real “black swan” event.  At the moment, the US stock market appears to want to rally as earnings and economic data continues to impress investors.  Overall, the real risk to the markets is a broader global economic contagion related to the Wuhan virus and the potential it may have on foreign and regional economies.

Next week is going to be critical for many things I feel. Virus contagion growth, factory closures, Oil breakdown follow through, equities breakout follow through, and the precious metals pending move.

We locked more gains this week with one of our positions as we rebalance our portfolio holdings for these new big trends to emerge. If you want to know where the markets are moving each day and follow my trades then join my ETF Trading Newsletter.

Chris Vermeulen
www.TheTechnicalTraders.com

Corona Virus and Manufacturing Shutdowns Will Affect Companies

A technical trader talks about this week’s large price swings, Coronavirus, and how to trade this volatility.

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A Combination Topping Pattern Is Setting Up

Our research team has highlighted a number of technical and other factors that point to a very real potential of a major market top setting up across the global markets.  We’ve highlighted a number of research articles over the past 30 to 45 days that clearly illustrate our interpretation of the US and global markets.

Our research team believes the Coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan china will cripple economic expansion and consumer economic activity in China and much of SE Asia over the next few weeks and months.  If the virus spreads into India, it could quickly target large portions of India’s economic capabilities.  We are very early into this potential pandemic event.  The growth rates reported by China suggest only a 2~3% death rate, yet an almost exponential growth rate for the number of invested.  It started off below 100 about 10+ days ago and is now almost ready to break 10k.

Skilled traders must understand that the world is far more inter-connected economically and via transportation than it was even 50 years ago.  More people travel to various parts of the world more often than ever before.  More goods and services travel back and forth across oceans and continents than ever before.  This inter-connected world is actually quite small when you consider a student or vacationer can travel more than halfway around the planet in less than 35 hours, access two or three major transportation hubs (airports) and have direct contact to dozens of people and indirect contract to thousands of people within that span of time.

January 23, 2020: JANUARY 2018 STOCK MARKET REPEAT – YIKES!

December 20, 2019: WHO SAID TRADERS AND INVESTOR ARE EMOTIONAL RIGHT NOW?

December 16, 2019: CURRENT EQUITIES RALLY SIMILARITIES TO 1999

Our concern is, quite literally, that the growth of the number of infected people related to this Coronavirus is only just starting to explode.

One analyst we were watching on TV suggested waiting for a -5% price correction in high-value US equities before attempting to buy back into this weakness.  Knowing that any type of global pandemic even could continue to expand for many months, years of decades, we believe a large number of these analysts are failing to understand the total scope of this potential event.

Our research team believes the next 6 to 12 months will become very telling regarding the real economic contraction resulting from the Coronavirus spread.  We believe the initial measures governments and world organizations are taking will shrink economic opportunity by at least 10 to 20% for certain nations.  If the virus explodes into Africa, or the Middle East, or North America, then we have another set of problems to deal with.  At that point, the economic ramifications could result in a 30 to 50% contraction in certain segments of the US and Global economy.

Let us try to explain our thinking…

No, people will not stop buying toilet paper, toothpaste, food, and other essential supplies, but they will likely slow their purchases at Starbucks, Movie Theaters, Social Events, Traveling to unknown areas and shopping in large exposed areas (big box stores).  Anything that is perceived as a risk will be viewed as potentially dangerous and unwanted.

Consumers and Businesses are like flocks of birds or schools of fish, they all seem to turn to follow the others and move as a single group or “beast”.  If consumers start to pull back as this issue extends, we expect the “beast” will follow this trend until the risk is minimized.

Even though the US economic numbers from Q4 are still landing with very strong numbers – remember this data does not include any real data from the current quarter.  Everything looks really good if you ignore the threat of the Coronavirus going forward (which is rather foolish).  Q1 and Q2 2020 could become a completely different set of numbers.

January 29, 2020: ARE WE SETTING UP FOR A WATERFALL SELLOFF?

We believe the waterfall even that we highlighted earlier this week is still a very valid interpretation of the global market future reaction throughout most of Q1 and Q2 of this year.  We don’t see any real alternative other than price contraction as long as the Coronavirus continues to wreak havoc across the planet.  If the virus is suddenly contained and diminishing, or cured, then we believe the global perception will change back to positive very quickly.

We believe the first waterfall event is already taking place.  We believe the second waterfall event will produce a downside price move targeting recent support near $307 on the SPY.  We believe any further breakdown of the price below this support level will prompt a downside price move targeting the $260 level.  These rotations will come in waves or waterfall events and could target various sectors of the US and global markets.

Pay attention to what the Transportation Index is doing as this outbreak continues.  Slowing consumer activity means essential items will still be in high demand, but big-ticket items, cars, luxury, and vacations may see a dramatic slowing in sales and activity.  Even homes and apartments may slow in sales.  People tend to become very protective and secure in these economic modes.

The Transportation Index may initially fall to levels near 10,200 before finding any real support.  Then a further downside move may target longer-term support near 8,500.  Below that level..  well, let’s just say that below that level and we could be well into a very serious Bearish contraction phase of the global markets.

Take this time to reposition your assets and protect your value.  You can always redeploy your capital when you feel the time is right to jump back into the markets.  We believe the next 60 to 90 days will become very informative relating to the spread and capabilities of this virus and our ability to fight it.  Don’t let this volatility be something like 2009 when you look back and say “I should have known better”.

Join my ETF Trade Alert Newsletter – Wealth Building Newsletter if you like what you read here and ride my coattails as I navigate these financial markets and build wealth while others lose nearly everything they own.

Chris Vermeulen
www.TheTechnicalTraders.com

NOTICE: Our free research does not constitute a trade recommendation or solicitation for our readers to take any action regarding this research.  It is provided for educational purposes only.  Our research team produces these research articles to share information with our followers/readers in an effort to try to keep you well informed.  Visit our web site to learn how to take advantage of our members-only research and trading signals.

The Wuhan Wipeout – Could It Happen?

News is traveling fast about the Corona Virus that originated in Wuhan, China.  2744 cases and 80 deaths confirmed globally according to Bloomberg and the National Health Commission.

In most of Asia, the Chinese New Year is already in full swing.  Hong Kong, China, Singapore, Malaysia, India and a host of other countries are already starting to celebrate the 7 to 10 day long New Year.  Millions of people have already traveled hundreds of thousands of miles to visit family throughout this massive celebration.  We are certain that hundreds or thousands have traveled to all parts of the world by now.  The potential for exponential growth in the threat from this virus could be just days or weeks away.

Far too many people are too young to have any knowledge of the 1855 Third Plague Pandemic that originated in China.  This outbreak quickly spread to India and Hong Kong and claimed 15 million victims.  It lasted until the 1960s when active cases of the Plague dropped below a couple hundred.

If we consider the broader scope of this issue, we have to take into consideration the results it may have on the broader global economy, commodities and consumer activity as skilled traders.

The world is much bigger than it was in 1855.  We have more technology, more capability and faster response capabilities related to this potential pandemic.  Yet, we also have a much greater heightened inter-connected global economy, currency, and commodity markets.  What happened in China can, and may, result in some crisis events throughout the planet.  It is not the same world as it was in 1855. (Source: history.com)

It is far too early to speculate on any future economic outcomes related to this potential outbreak, but it is fairly certain that China, most of Asia, India and potentially Africa could see extensive economic damage related to a contraction in consumer and industrial economic demand as a consequence of this outbreak.  Once the Chinese New Year ends, in about 10 to 15+ days, people will return back to their home cities and we’ll begin to understand the total scope of this problem.  If the problem continues to be isolated in China, Asia and within that general region, then we may see economic consequences isolated to these regions.  If not, then we could see a much bigger and broader global economic consequence setting up.

The 1855 Plague Pandemic lasted for nearly 100 years and wiped out 1.25% of the total global population.  This was at a time when there was limited transportation options and global economics was a much smaller component of the total global economy.  Everything is somewhat isolated at that time. In today’s world, a similar type of event could wipe our 1% to 5% of the total global population before we have any means to attempt to control it.

Bill Gates believes this outbreak could kill more than 30 million people within 6 months (Source: businessinsider.com)

It is time to get real about this and prepare for how the global markets will interpret this potential outbreak.

We’ve been warning that the market was “Rallying To A Peak” recently and believe this outbreak has changed the minds of traders.  This could the catalyst that breaks the bullish trend for quite a while.  Skilled traders will be trying to get ahead of this rotation in the markets and attempt to deleverage risk.  As retail traders, we should be doing the same thing – deleveraging risk, buying metals, trimming open long positions and hedging into inverted ETFs.

DAILY ES CHART

This Daily ES chart highlights a very real support level near 3050 that also aligns with the longer-term Moving Average.  A downside move like this would represent a -10 to -11% downside price reversion and take us back to December 2019 price levels.  It could happen very quickly.

TRANSPORTATION INDEX CHART

This Transportation Index chart highlights a potential downside price reversion of -11% to -12% – targeting the 9,750 level.  We’ve recently authored an article about the weakness in the Transportation Index and how we believe it could be setting up for a downward price move.  If a breakdown move like this happens in TRAN, it would suggest a massive contraction in the global economy is taking place.

DOW JONES (YM) DAILY CHART

This last YM chart highlights support near 28,000 which would be an immediate downside target if the Dow Jones Industrials revert lower.  And, again, this would put us back to December 2019 price levels.  If this 28,000 level is broken, then we start looking at levels closer to 26,000 (roughly -20%).

CONCLUDING THOUGHTS:

Right now, consider this situation as you are a captain of a ship sailing into a storm.  You can either prepare for it and navigate through it to the best of your ability or ignore the warnings and hope for the best.  It is far too early to panic at this point, but a certain degree of “preparation” is certainly in order.

We’ll know more in about 7+ days as we learn how far and how wide this problem has actually extended.  In the meantime, watch your investments.  Protect your assets.  Prepare for the storm.  Best case, you can always reposition your capital for clearer skies in a few weeks.

As a technical analysis and trader since 1997 I have been through a few bull/bear market cycles, I have a good pulse on the market and timing key turning points for both short-term swing trading and long-term investment capital. The opportunities are massive/life-changing if handled properly.

Join my Wealth Building Newsletter if you want winning ETF swing trade alerts every month? Then ride my coattails as I make money while others will struggle and lose money as the markets correct and become more volatile.

Chris Vermeulen
www.TheTechnicalTraders.com

NOTICE: Our free research does not constitute a trade recommendation or solicitation for our readers to take any action regarding this research.  It is provided for educational purposes only.  Our research team produces these research articles to share information with our followers/readers in an effort to try to keep you well informed.  Visit our web site (www.thetechnicaltraders.com) to learn how to take advantage of our members-only research and trading signals.