October 19, 2023 - (Gold Market Wire) - As it stands now, Gold looks like it has completed the famed 'slingshot' move and is poised to move higher. The fact that the move has been so vertical makes it a tough market to believe in - but the breakdown of the channel, marked out in the chart below, looks like the real deal. We are always loathe to opine on such matters, but really, the market looks like it could be ready to challenge the all time highs. The counter-trend made by the slingshot is potent, to say the least.

Geo-politics and war is at the center of all of this. Needless to say, the combination of Russian military forces hanging on in Ukraine, and delivering a certain amount of punishment and the recent events in Gaza, with increased Iranian bellicosity, have presented a challenge of the first order to the United States. Stand with Israel and condone the laying of waste to what is left of Gaza, and much of world opinion will turn against Washington. The 'global south' as it is now known, will never be recovered by the West. Imploring the Israeli's to liquidate the population (see Nikki Haley comments to "finish them"), if followed through on, could, beyond mere diplomatic rupture with much of the world, create an asymmetric response from Iran that might reach many countries. Back down, and US credibility will be in tatters. Washington has little room to move. They appear to have cornered themselves.

No wonder Gold is moving higher in a manner that is almost defying gravity.

If we go back to the chart from early this morning, we can see how today's developments look like a market ready to hit new highs.

The first "sacrificial lamb" of this disastrous conundrum, in the West, will be Europe. Internal civil unrest is primed to soar. Ergo, our oft repeated mantra "long US Dollar and long Gold", a seemingly contradictory stance - but actually, perfectly logical... as recent events have testified to.