USD/CHF Long-term Update

I’ve been quite wrong about the USD/CHF. From my initial entry, I’m down about 1200 pips.

However, if you think the USD/CHF will continue dropping forever, think again. On a very long-term time frame, it is approaching very strong support.

On the 20y monthly chart above, notice that from 2004 through 2010, USD/CHF consolidated in a picture perfect triangle. Each subwave was in a 3-wave structure, and price held within accurately defined trendlines.

Since 2010, we’ve seen the characteristic “thrust” out of the triangle to the downside. A typical target is normally the 100% extension of the height of the triangle, which is around .8000. Also interesting is that the 50% extension of the previous down wave from 2000-2004 is right @ .8200 or so. Because triangles are precede the final move in a trend, I believe we’ll see a basing pattern and subsequent reversal in the coming months. Price should stay above .79-.80 for this thesis to pan out.

Is the EUR almost exhausted on the downside?

I have been short EUR/USD since about 1.50, and now that it has dropped nearly 2000 pips, I am cautiously considering my exit strategy. I see two possible scenarios, outlined in the following chart.

Scenario 1 is the ending diagonal scenario in green. This implies limited additional downside to the 1.30-1.31 zone over the next few weeks.

The second scenario, which I am currently favoring, is a break through the support trendline, continuing an extended 5th wave from 1.38. The reason I’m favoring this scenario is that retail traders have shifted to net long in hordes, after the EUR tanked due to the Greece downgrade. Sentiment is not overly bearish the EUR, nor bullish the USD, so I think it would be perfect to see price drop to slightly below 1.23 low set in 2008, before starting an extended upward correction to 1.3250 or so.

Either way, I have moved my protective stop to 1.3425. If Scenario 1 is in play, I am not missing too much downside with this stop. And if Scenario 2 unfolds, price should not rally above 1.3425.

EUR/USD still looks bearish

As you know, I’ve been bullish USD and bearish EUR/USD since about 1.48-1.50. So far, the EUR has had a very strong downtrend. I am guessing that this downtrend will meet some serious support in the 1.27 zone.

In the daily chart above, you can see that EUR/USD is carving out 5-waves to the downside. This indicates that the larger-scale trend is down, and we should stay below the 1.51 high set back in December, 2009. 1.27 shows a nice confluence of trendline and channel support, so I could see the market falling to that level before the market enters a protracted corrective uptrend.

USD could be coiling for another large rally

After beginning a nice rally, and subsequently correcting that initial move, the USD has put in a higher low and appears ready to break out to new trend highs, hopefully confirming an uptrend. I think the odds that this move will be sustained are higher than even.

The reason I am still bullish is that the USD has held up very nicely and has formed a cup-and-handle pattern (see above USD/CHF chart). If price breaks above the top of the handle, it should sustain a nice continued rally, as opposed to reversing and continuing the long-term downtrend.

There could be a strong correction in the dollar soon

Though I am bullish longer-term on the dollar, as you can see here, I think we could actually see a strong drop in the near term.

Take a look at the Commitment of Traders for the dollar index above. Notice that commercial traders have rapidly grown a huge net short position as the dollar has rallied. If you look back to the previous time there was a similar net short position, there was a large 5-pt drop in a short period.

The Character of the Dollar's Rally is Different

You can see here that I've been following the progression of the EUR/USD for some time. I have been bullish the dollar, and thus bearish EUR/USD, because I believe that the majority of investors believe the dollar is in for a crash. Anyway, the dollar rally appears to have legs, and I think at a minimum, we'll see the dollar index hit 82 before it would make new lows, it at all.

You can see on this chart (daily candles) that /DX has made the largest counter-trend rally of the entire downtrend. This tells me that the character of trading has changed in the dollar. I believe this new rally is actually the start of an uptrend. It seems that the market corroborates this point of view because you can see that volume has been markedly higher in this rally. Even if we see a downward correction at this point, I would expect the dollar to then make a new trend high. It'll be fun to see what happens!

Finally!

EUR/USD just made a lower low after making a lower high. So far, the downtrend is confirmed. Let's see how long it lasts!

That should do it

I don't think there is any question that the EUR/USD has broken its uptrend now. If it does reverse once again and head higher, I think I'll quit trading.

The EUR/USD just won't break it's uptrend

You can my post here from last week indicating the EUR/USD uptrend was broken. However, we got a quick reversal that brought price back above the trendline. My bigger picture assessment remains the same, however. I think the EUR is completing a topping process.

You can see my wave count for the EUR/USD. It looks like Wave-IV is subdividing nicely, with Wave-v taking shape as an ending diagonal. I could see a rally to 1.52 to complete this pattern, then we should enjoy a sharp sell off, similar to what we had during Thanksgiving.

EUR/USD breaking down

As I mentioned in this post, I thought that the EUR/USD would continue to weaken because of the divergence that it was showing against the US Dollar index. We've had choppy downward action, and I think we're getting ready to start the fast phase of the decline. Watch 1.46 as a downside pivot.

You can see in the daily chart above that EUR/USD finally closed convincingly below the uptrend line that has been supporting price action since March. Unless we get another quick spike back above the trendline, I think we'll be in for continued weakness. Keep an eye out on this.

US Dollar Index Divergence with EUR/USD

A week ago, I noted that /DX had made a lower low while many of the major currencies in the basket which comprise the USD index did not make similar higher highs. Today, the divergence continues, and until it is canceled, it looks like /DX could have a serious rally in store.

The above 1h charts are /DX on the left, and EUR/USD on the right. Notice again that EUR/USD has yet to breach the previous high, whereas /DX has clearly breached it twice now. This is bearish divergence for the EUR/USD, and looks bullish for /DX, as long as EUR/USD does not rally to new highs.