Do you remember when The Economist magazine cover had a rocket ship covered in United States dollars last year?

They said the United States was "The envy of the world."

It was so cringe...

The dollar got blasted over the next several months, and the U.S. stock market had its worst quarter in decades relative to the rest of the world.

Like any other type of market analysis, fading magazine covers is more of an art than a science.

We don't want to fade a trend just because there's a magazine cover.

The dollar was extremely overbought in the prior example, and the COT positioning tipped us off to a potential move in the opposite direction.

We waited for the market to confirm our bias, managed our risk, and made a ton of money.

Fast forward to today, and the latest Barron's magazine cover highlighted a stack of Gold bars and said:

"Investors are loading up on the metal as a haven in chaotic times. How long can it last?"

This comes as Gold futures are running into...

The Fed doesn’t set the tone. It reacts to it.
 Always has. Always will.

This week, Waller gave the usual hint:
 "A serious drop in the job market could prompt more cuts, sooner."

Translation? The Fed knows it's behind. The bond market figured it out months ago.

The real story is written in the chart.
 The 2 Year Treasury Yield is the market’s forward looking Fed whisperer.
 Every cycle, the 2 year tops first. Every cycle, the Effective Federal Funds Rate follows like a lost puppy.

• When the 2 year peaks and rolls, the Fed has no choice but to cut.
• Markets aren’t asking politely for cuts — they’re already forcing them.

Right now, the  2 year is falling hard. That isn't a forecast.
 It’s the bond market screaming: "You're done here."

It’s not about what Powell...

 A tribute to ASC Gold Rush's standout setups

Great trades never ring a bell. They don’t come with fanfare. They come wrapped in uncertainty, quiet conviction, and a little discomfort. That’s how you know they matter.

Take Cocoa futures. One of the cleanest breakouts we’ve seen recently, but it didn’t feel clean until after it moved. 

Before that, it was all noise and indecision.

Here’s the setup we outlined in October 👇

We were betting that the breakdown to new lows wasn’t going to stick.

Why? The 14-day RSI was firmly in a bullish momentum regime. 

That’s a characteristic of an uptrend… Not a downtrend!

Moreover, this was a textbook consolidation after a historic 190% bull run which unfolded over 4 months.

Here’s how the setup unfolded 👇

The price ripped back above support and hit our target at the upper bound of the range in just a few weeks.

It was an epic bear trap…

Admittedly, this worked much better than we expected.

We...