Upside-Down Thirst for Risk

Even though they are both ETFs which house small capitulation issues, the IWM (ETF for the Russell 2000 Index) and the GDXJ (ETF for the junior or smaller cap gold miners) are, ironically, sporting mirror-image-in-reverse 30-minute charts. 

This phenomenon may be a function of several factors, such as the news overnight out of North Korea, perhaps a Fed which is "one and done" in terms of rate hikes, or simply part and parcel of the gold miners bottoming while the Russell tops out. 

Instead of pontificating about the reasons, however, we are looking to see whether GDXJ can now hold $20 after breaking above it this morning. As usual with the miners, you can expect some wild price swings intraday. So the key now on this pullback off the morning strength is seeing if buyers can muster the courage to step in again, especially as the silver metal remains scared of its own shadow.