Sending Out an SOS on the SPR

It has been a tedious, choppy, back-and-forth session for the most part today. Apple is notably weak and in danger of giving up all of its recent bounce. And that seem especially bearish given how so many folks seemed hell-bent on precisely calling the bottom in the name to bet on considerable, imminent upside. 

Powell gave some hawkish remarks earlier this afternoon which initially jolted markets lower, but they since have recovered. Overall, small caps are the main laggards as they figure to get the business end of higher for longer rates. 

As for commodities, the gold metal remains the leader of the precious complex. Gold bullion is shaking off any notion of a sharp rollover even after its steep rally, which I view as a bullish development and should see silver and the precious miners continue to follow the yellow metal higher. 

And within the last hour @zerohedge tweeted that a senior White House advisor noted that the U.S. could release more oil from the SPR to keep gas prices down this summer. Of course, this may be mere posturing to try to tame the markets. However, I view it as a sign of timorous policy--The White House knows that summer driving season will naturally push gas prices even higher from where they are, and draining an already-low SPR with proxy war-galore around the world is uniquely risky, even during an election year. 

They might get away with it again. But I do not think so. I expect oil shorts to trap themselves and a squeeze into summer should commence soon enough. UCO is an ETF I am eyeing.