Josef Schachter of the Schachter Energy Report shares his updated outlook for oil and natural gas.
He sees a buy window potentially opening for stocks in June, and also believes oil prices are due to rise.
Securities Disclosure: I, Charlotte McLeod, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
It was a slow start to the week for gold, but it didn’t take long for the price to pick up.
The yellow metal began the period at the US$3,220 per ounce level, but was gaining steam by Tuesday (May 20), briefly breaking US$3,300. Gold continued higher the next day, and after pulling back briefly on Thursday (May 22) was able to finish the week strong, changing hands at the US$3,360 level.
Bond market turmoil is one factor that’s been influencing gold’s price movements.
A Wednesday (May 21) auction of 20-year bonds was poorly received, with yields surging past 5.1 percent to reach the highest level seen since November 2023. Yields for 10-year and 30-year bonds were also on the rise, with the latter nearing a two-decade high as stocks and the dollar took hits.
The upheaval in bonds came on the back of US President Donald Trump’s efforts to get the One Big Beautiful Bill through the House. Slowing the passage of the wide-ranging domestic policy package were concerns that Trump’s plan to cut taxes would significantly increase US debt.
‘Make no mistake, the bond market will have its own vote on the terms of the budget bill. It doesn’t seem this president or this Congress is actually going to meaningfully reduce the deficit’ — George Catrambone, DWS Americas
Last week’s downgrade of US debt from Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) also didn’t help bonds. The agency bumped its rating down from AAA, its highest ranking, to AA1, which is one step lower. It expects even larger deficits in the US in the coming decade as government revenue stays flat and entitlement spending rises.
The One Big Beautiful Bill ultimately passed on Thursday by a very slim margin, receiving 215 votes in favor and 214 against. It will now proceed to the Senate, where it may face further obstacles.
Contained in the bill are tax cut extensions for both individuals and corporations, as well as provisions for removing taxes on tips and overtime. Among other points, it also allows for tax deductions on American-made vehicles, and offers ‘Trump savings accounts’ for newborns. It cuts funding to initiatives like Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, better known as SNAP.
Preliminary analysis from the Congressional Budget Office, which is a nonpartisan organization, suggests that the bill will increase the federal deficit by US$3.8 trillion during the 2026 to 2034 period.
The uranium sector got a boost on Friday (May 23) after Trump signed several executive orders geared at overhauling the country’s Nuclear Regulatory Commission and speeding up nuclear reactor deployment.
‘It’s a hot industry. It’s a brilliant industry. You have to do it right,’ Trump told reporters about the nuclear energy sector. The executive orders also focus on power up US uranium mining and enrichment, and will allow nuclear reactors to be built on federal land.
The news sent uranium stocks powering higher, with sector major Cameco (TSX:CCO,NYSE:CCJ) closing the day up 10.04 percent at C$80.55. Denison Mines (TSX:DML,NYSEAMERICAN:DNN) and Uranium Energy (NYSEAMERICAN:UEC) saw even larger gains of 13.49 percent and 25 percent, respectively.
The Sprott Uranium Miners ETF (ARCA:URNM) finished up 12.14 percent.
A note from the European Central Bank (ECB) turned heads this week with the suggestion that certain dynamics could make the gold market a threat to financial stability. Here’s a key excerpt from the report:
While gold prices are driven by many factors, investors showed high demand for gold as a safe haven asset and, at the beginning of 2025, a notable preference for gold futures contracts to be settled physically. These dynamics hint at investors’ expectations that geopolitical risks and policy uncertainty could remain elevated or even intensify in the foreseeable future. Should extreme events materialise, there could be adverse effects on financial stability arising from gold markets.
The full ECB report is definitely worth a read if you have the time.
Gold’s high price hasn’t deterred buyers in China — new customs data from the country shows that April imports clocked in at 127.5 metric tons, an 11 month high.
That’s also a 73 percent increase from the previous month, according to Bloomberg. The news outlet notes that China’s central bank controls the flow of gold in and out of the country, so the strong increase is likely the result of fresh quotas given to some commercial banks.
Securities Disclosure: I, Charlotte McLeod, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
United Airlines reached an “industry-leading” tentative labor deal for its 28,000 flight attendants, their union said Friday.
The deal includes “40% of total economic improvements” in the first year and retroactive pay, a signing bonus, and quality of life improvements, like better scheduling and on-call time, the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA said.
The union did not provide further details about the deal.
United flight attendants have not had a raise since 2020.
The cabin crew members voted last year to authorize the union to strike if a deal wasn’t reached. They had also sought federal mediation in negotiations.
U.S. flight attendants have pushed for wage increases for years after pilots and other work groups secured new labor deals in the wake of the pandemic. United is the last of the major U.S. carriers to get a deal done with its flight attendants.
The deal must still face a vote by flight attendants, and contract language will be finalized in the coming days, United said.
President Donald Trump on Friday cleared the merger of U.S. Steel and Nippon Steel, after the Japanese steelmaker’s previous bid to acquire its U.S. rival had been blocked on national security grounds.
“This will be a planned partnership between United States Steel and Nippon Steel, which will create at least 70,000 jobs, and add $14 Billion Dollars to the U.S. Economy,” Trump said in a post on his social media platform Truth Social.
U.S. Steel’s headquarters will remain in Pittsburgh and the bulk of the investment will take place over the next 14 months, the president said. U.S. Steel shares surged more than 20% to close at $52.01 per share after Trump’s announcement.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro applauded the agreement, saying he worked with local, state and federal leaders ‘to press for the best deal to keep U.S. Steel headquartered in Pittsburgh, protect union jobs, and secure the future of steelmaking in Western Pennsylvania.’
In his own statement, Lieutenant Gov. Austin Davis called the announcement ‘promising,’ but added: ‘I want to make sure everyone involved in the deal holds up their end of the bargain. I look forward to seeing the promised investments become a reality and the workers receive everything they’ve fought for.’
President Joe Biden blocked Nippon Steel from purchasing U.S. Steel for $14.9 billion in January, citing national security concerns. Biden said at the time that the acquisition would create a risk to supply chains that are critical for the U.S.
Trump, however, ordered a new review of the proposed acquisition in April, directing the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States to determine “whether further action in this matter may be appropriate.”
Trump said he would hold a rally at U.S. Steel in Pittsburgh on May 30.
(Reuters) – The United States said on Thursday it would impose sanctions on Sudan after determining that its government used chemical weapons in 2024 during the army’s conflict with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, a charge the army denied.
Measures against Sudan will include limits on US exports and US government lines of credit and will take effect around June 6, after Congress was notified on Thursday, State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said in a statement.
“The United States calls on the Government of Sudan to cease all chemical weapons use and uphold its obligations under the CWC,” Bruce said, referring to the Chemical Weapons Convention treaty banning the use of such weapons.
In a statement, Sudan rejected the move, and described the allegations as false.
“This interference, which lacks any moral or legal basis, deprives Washington of what is left of its credibility and closes the door to any influence in Sudan,” government spokesperson Khalid al-Eisir said on Friday.
The war in Sudan erupted in April 2023 from a power struggle between the army and the RSF, unleashing waves of ethnic violence, creating the world’s worst humanitarian crisis and plunging several areas into famine. Tens of thousands of people have been killed and about 13 million displaced.
Washington in January imposed sanctions on army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, accusing him of choosing war over negotiations to bring an end to the conflict.
The US has also determined members of the RSF and allied militias committed genocide and imposed sanctions on some of the group’s leadership, including RSF leader General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti.
The New York Times reported in January, citing four senior US officials, that the Sudanese army had used chemical weapons at least twice during the conflict, deploying the weapons in remote areas of the country.
Two officials briefed on the matter said the chemical weapons appeared to use chlorine gas, which can cause lasting damage to human tissue, the New York Times reported at the time.
Bruce’s statement said the US had formally determined on April 24 under the Chemical and Biological Weapons Control and Warfare Elimination Act of 1991 that the government of Sudan used chemical weapons last year, but did not specify what weapons were used, precisely when or where.
“The United States remains fully committed to hold to account those responsible for contributing to chemical weapons proliferation,” Bruce said.
“The intention here is to distract from the recent campaign in Congress against the UAE,” a Sudanese diplomatic source said.
The source said the US could have gone to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons to investigate the claims and neglected to do so.
Sudan’s government is aligned with the army.
It cut diplomatic relations with the UAE this month, saying the Gulf power was aiding the RSF with supplies of advanced weaponry in the devastating conflict that broke out following disagreements over the integration of the two forces.
The UAE has denied the allegations and says it supports humanitarian and peace efforts.
US congressional Democrats sought last Thursday to block arms sales to the United Arab Emirates over its alleged involvement in the war.
Sudan said this week that the United Arab Emirates was responsible for an attack on Port Sudan this month, accusing the Gulf state for the first time of direct military intervention in the war.
The UAE denied the allegations in a statement and said it condemned the attack.
A Norwegian man managed to sleep through an enormous container ship running aground on his front lawn.
Johan Helberg, who lives in Byneset, on the Trondheim Fjord, was woken by his neighbor on Thursday morning asking if he had noticed a boat outside, TV2 Norway reported.
When he looked out his door, he saw a 135-meter-long (443-foot) container ship parked up in his front yard.
“If the ship had hit the rocky outcrop right next to it, it would have lifted up and hit the house hard. It only missed by a few meters,” Helberg told TV2.
His neighbor, Jostein Jørgensen, who lives about 40 meters (131 feet) from the beach, told TV2 he was woken around 5 a.m. by the sound of a boat approaching.
“When I looked out the window, I saw a boat speeding toward the shore,” he told the local TV network, adding that he ran outside and shouted to raise the alarm.
Jørgensen said the boat, the NCL Salten, got closer and closer until it ran aground about eight meters (26 feet) from the wall of his neighbor’s house.
“He was lying asleep and surprised he had a visitor,” Jørgensen told TV2.
The vessel was reportedly bound for Orkanger, at the southern end of the fjord, and had 16 people aboard when it ran aground.
Bente Hetland, managing director of the shipping company NCL, called it a “serious incident” and said the company was “grateful that nobody was injured in the grounding.”
“At present time, we do not know what caused the incident and are awaiting the conclusion of the ongoing investigation by the relevant authorities,” Hetland said in a statement. “We are currently assessing the damage to the ship.”
A tugboat was initially sent to try to pull the vessel free, to no avail.
On Thursday evening, a salvage company tried to mount an attempt to refloat the ship at high tide, but it was later decided it was not possible, the Norwegian Coastal Administration said in a statement.
It said geotechnical investigations were now needed before another attempt could be made.
While there have been no signs of oil leaking from the vessel, the authority said it had an oil response vessel on standby to respond, if needed.
In this video, Joe shares how to use MACD and ADX indicators to analyze stock pullbacks, focusing on the good while avoiding the weak setups. He explains how these indicators can complement one another. Joe then shows the Summary Page in ACP and how he uses it on a regular basis to look at different markets, including the SPX, COMP, S&P 600, 10-Year Rates, Copper, Gas, and a few Country Funds. Finally, he goes through the symbol requests that came through this week, including CRSP, VC, and more.
The video premiered on May 21, 2025. Click this link to watch on Joe’s dedicated page.
Archived videos from Joe are available at this link. Send symbol requests to stocktalk@stockcharts.com; you can also submit a request in the comments section below the video on YouTube. Symbol Requests can be sent in throughout the week prior to the next show.
On Wednesday, only 4% of the S&P 500’s holdings logged gains — a pretty rare occurrence. Since the start of 2024, this has only happened three other times:
Let’s recall that major trading lows were etched last August, and again just a few weeks ago in early April. The S&P 500 ($SPX) dropped 10% and 21%, respectively, from its peak to trough both times, with the lows being marked by emphatic capitulation events (April 7 was the real pivot low). The market’s rubber band violently snapped back in the ensuing weeks, both times.
FIGURE 1. PAST LOWS IN THE S&P 500 INDEX. Note the rebounds following the August 5, December 18, and April 4 drops.With the SPX now having gained 20% from the April low, the setup is more like mid-December 2024. The index had just gained 19% from early August through early December and was hovering near 6,100. The FOMC’s actions put a major dent in the calm uptrend.
The S&P 500 didn’t completely crumble after that, spending the next 10 weeks backing and filling. But the market’s character changed, and the cracks eventually gave way to the waterfall decline.
So, what does that tell us about this moment? There’s a clear risk given the one-sided advance the last few weeks, but, with bullish patterns still in play and the $SPX having built up a big cushion, it can afford to back and fill again now. It’s the first gut punch in four weeks, and the market must prove it can absorb it.
The drawdown measured from this Monday’s high now stands at -2.4% — most of which happened on Wednesday. Given how small the moves have been over the last few weeks, Wednesday’s big decline hit the 14-period relative strength index (RSI) on the two-hour chart very hard. It’s now at 41, which is very close to the 30-oversold threshold.
Again, we’ve seen the short-term indicator fall to oversold territory several times, even during the market’s upswing from August through December. Seeing that happen again this time wouldn’t be a surprise. If it happens, it will be important to see the ensuing bounce pull the SPX back to overbought territory relatively soon. Remember, we went nearly four months between overbought readings from late January through mid-May.
FIGURE 2. TWO-HOUR CHART OF THE S&P 500 WITH RSI.
Despite the sell-off, there was no change in the patterns at work. The two bullish patterns remain in play, with targets of 6,125 and 6,555, respectively. The S&P 500 started Thursday, at about 2.5% above the last breakout zone (5,695).
FIGURE 3. DAILY CHART OF THE S&P 500 WITH BULLISH PATTERNS. Here you see the pattern with a 6,125 target.
FIGURE 4. DAILY CHART OF S&P 500 WITH 6,555 PRICE TARGET.
Not surprisingly, the Cboe Volatility Index ($VIX) gained 15% on Wednesday in response to the market’s sell-off. It remains close to 20, but continues to log higher lows, which has been the trend since late 2024. Indeed, it’s way off spike highs from April, but it’s a trend worth watching.
Let’s recall that the VIX never truly capitulated in 2022, but its trend of higher lows coincided with the equity market’s downtrend. When the SPX logged a true low in October 2022, lower lows in the VIX became evident. This lasted through this past summer.
If the snapback in the SPX turns into a longer, new uptrend, the VIX’s uptrend will morph into a downtrend again.
FIGURE 5. WEEKLY CHART OF THE CBOE VOLATILITY INDEX ($VIX).
The bullish pattern in the weekly 30-Year Treasury yields and 10-Year Treasury yields is crystal clear. An acceleration through the 2023 highs after Wednesday would have an obvious negative effect on stocks.
As discussed before, the equity market has shown it can advance with higher rates, as long as said rates go higher gradually. The intermittent up-moves in rates have been capped for the last two years as well. Thus, stocks have been able to withstand it. That wasn’t the case from January to September 2022, and that’s the potential concern.
FIGURE 6. WEEKLY CHART OF THE 30-YEAR US TRASURY YIELD INDEX.
FIGURE 7. WEEKLY CHART OF THE 10-YEAR US TREASURY YIELD INDEX.
So far, Bitcoin has maintained noticeable relative strength even as stocks got hit hard on Wednesday. Simply put, continuing to hold above this breakout zone would keep the new measured move target of 142k in play.
FIGURE 8. WEEKLY CHART OF $BTCUSD WITH ITS MEASURED MOVE TARGET.
From another perspective, this move can also be viewed as the fourth wedge breakout since 2023. The prior three times, BTC’s 14-week RSI stayed very overbought for weeks before slowing down. The 14-week RSI is just approaching overbought levels, which suggests it has further to go.
FIGURE 9. WEEKLY CHART OF $BTCUSD WITH WEDGE BREAKOUTS AND RSI.
Metals Australia (MLS:AU) has announced Thick High-Grade Graphite Drilling Results In New Zone
Download the PDF here.
Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO,NYSE:RIO,LSE:RIO)said on Monday (May 19) that it has signed binding agreements with Corporación Nacional Del Cobre de Chile (Codelco) to develop and operate a high-grade lithium project.
The asset is located in the Salar de Maricunga, a large lithium-containing resource base in Atacama, Chile. Its brine is said to have one of the highest average grades of lithium content in the world.
According to Rio Tinto, it will acquire a 49.99 percent interest in the company Salar de Maricunga, through which Codelco holds its licenses and mining concessions related to the resource base.
Codelco is a state-owned firm formed in 1976. Its full name translates to “National Copper Corporation of Chile.”
“We are honoured to be chosen as Codelco’s partner to deliver a world-class project using Direct Lithium Extraction technology in the Salar de Maricunga, leveraging our expertise as a leading producer of lithium for the global market,” said Rio Tinto Chief Executive Jakob Stausholm. “Developing this significant lithium resource will deliver further value-adding growth in our portfolio of critical minerals essential for the energy transition.”
In 2023, Rio and Codelco entered a joint venture for the exploration of Nuevo Cobre, situated within the Potrerillos mining district, also in Atacama. Codelco owns about 43 percent of Nuevo Cobre, while Rio Tinto owns about 58 percent.
For the Salar de Maricunga partnership, Rio will invest AU$350 million in initial funding for additional studies and resource analysis that will assist in creating a final investment decision.
Once a decision is made, AU$500 million will be dedicated toward construction costs. Another AU$50 million will be allocated should the venture deliver its first lithium target by the end of 2030.
The new partnership with Codelco forms part of Rio Tinto’s long-term lithium plan, which includes a production goal of over 200,000 metric tons of lithium carbonate equivalent annually by 2028.
The company recently completed its acquisition of Arcadium Lithium, making it the world’s third top lithium producer.
Subject to regulatory approvals and the satisfaction of customary conditions, the Salar de Maricunga transaction is expected to close by the end of the first quarter of 2026.
Securities Disclosure: I, Gabrielle de la Cruz, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.