One Final Chance

The tedious price action in gold miners continues this morning, albeit with a glimmer of hope in the way of a reversal off the key $23 price level for GDX, the senior gold miner ETF. 

For a while now, miners have been pulling back as the U.S. Dollar stabilizes a bit in the face of rising rate hike odds for the December Fed Meeting. 

Still, it is worth noting that GDX continues to sport a rising 200-day simple moving average (yellow line on GDX daily chart, below), which means that the presumption is they will be bought until proven otherwise. While gold bugs have taken little solace in that technical circumstance, it does make the bear case a bit premature, especially given this morning's stick save reversal at a critical juncture. 

Without question, the action has been frustration for just about all parties in involved in 2017, what various zigs and zags proving fruitless for a confirmed new uptrend or, instead, the resumption of the bear. However, the late-summer rally gave gold bugs a puncher's chance to make a move into the end of this year with that rising 200-day, rarely seen in a bear market for any meaningful period of time. 

With a move back over $23.50 on GDX in the coming trading sessions, gold bulls figure to have adequately defended the $23/200-day pullback and may very well send gold shorts on the run. Similar comments apply to GDXJ, the junior gold miner ETF. 

Elsewhere, we have a fairly mild pullback so far in equities. COST is back on the short radar for me with its earnings gap down. But, other than that, I am looking to see which names in tech continue to hold up and act best on the long side.