I Refuse to Believe the Fix is In

Watching Eight Men Out (1988), one of my favorite all-time period piece historical films, again last evening, I thought about some emails I received from readers of late positing that "they" simply will not let the market fall in an election year. If you have seen the film then you know the relevance of considering whether markets are currently "fixed."

To be clear, while I understand the many interventions we have seen monetarily and fiscally over the years, I still do not subscribe to the notion that markets are totally rigged to not fall on their own volition. If I truly did go all the way and believe the fix was in, which I do not, then I would move all of my money into a blend of physical metals and money market funds, not just as a relatively near-term tactic but as a long-term strategy regardless of what the market did. 

I once had a college buddy who extensively served in the military later tell me that if you believe in conspiracy theories, you had better rethink your views--In his estimation, the federal government has a hard enough time organizing a picnic.

And that brings us to the present. With more major earnings and macro events this week, we are seeing the usual pre-FOMC positioning dance-step today. I suspect we are in for more of that until AMZN AMD SBUX report tomorrow evening to kick off the festivities of the week. 

That said, uranium stocks, led by UEC (daily chart, below) and natural gas (dare I say) are two intriguing movers today. I have been waiting on both for an extremely long time to get going and I suspect we may finally be there for one or both.