Trading metals has become quite popular sentimentally in 2024 with gold reaching all time highs earlier this year. For the TA traders who have been waiting for that cup and handle on the macro all-time chart to breakout on gold futures, it was a spectacular long term setup that proves sometimes those silly chart patterns really can pan out in due time. Now after an inevitable cool down in the metals market, traders are eyeing for another entry as they showed signs of reversing at the end of last week. So let’s get into it by taking a look at the metals daily charts YTD:
Gold
I cannot remember exactly when I started watching the gold (and GLD, respectively) chart, but I specifically remember one day at the end of 2023 when I noticed some unusual volume on gold futures. I said to my friends kind of as a joke that gold would be on the breakout watch list for 2024 with this giant green candlestick. I also said it would be interesting to see the cup and handle macro breakout that actually works (cup and handle is notoriously one of the least reliable patterns in my humble opinion). Lo and behold we got our wish when gold hit $2448. Now after a short but healthy pullback, $2300 seems to be the new sweet spot for support. If it can maintain here and break past $2400 again, fresh highs could be on deck. After $2448, the next wave suggests gold could see $2500-2550 so long as it holds $2340-2300.
Silver
Silver is always second, but when it comes to the chart, it might actually be the best and my favorite of all the metals charts. You can see it consolidated between about $21-24 in the beginning of the year until at the end of February/beginning of March it had a big breakout above that $24 resistance to the next channel $24-26, and then again at the end of March when it started to test YTD highs into April. Now it seems support has been found above $26-28, and the green candles from the last week have me thinking $29 is about to become new support to see $30s. For a future dip I would like to see it hold above the previous weekly resistance $27-27.75.
Platinum
I have never traded platinum but the chart piques my interest with several bounces off the $870-900 zone YTD and a steady consolidation between 900-950 until it finally broke that main resistance in the beginning of April hitting a high of $1000.50. Now I would be looking for a bounce above $950-1000 for the next channel. If it can pass and hold that $1000.50, then $1050 is on deck but ideally make $1000 support.
Copper
Copper is probably the most clean bullish setup out of all the metals YTD. Nothing but non-stop ripping with minor dipping since February when it bottomed at $3.65 and is now hitting a new YTD high on Friday when it hit $4.74. If it can hold $4.50 and make that new $4.75 support, then traders could be seeing even more bullish activity to the $5s (the all-time high is $5.02 back in 2022). If it breaks $4.50, then maybe one more test to the previous April resistance of about $4.20-4.30. After $5 I’d be looking for a new resistance of about $5.10-5.20 and hopefully can hold the previous ATH at $5.
Palladium
The palladium YTD chart particularly interests me because it kind of looks like one giant double bottom; you can see it bounced off $851 earlier in the year and then the second big dip hit a higher low above $900. Now it looks like it wants to come back above $1000 to test that $1100 resistance. If it can break $1000 aka the previous support from March to mid-April and hold, I think there is a decent chance for a run to $1122. After proving $1000 support, I would be looking to hold $1050 aka about halfway through the $1000-1100 channel.