Macro Commodities Scan

Scan

Macro Commodities Scan

raw scan snapshot — prices as of scan date, not live 36 rows · screens, not recommendations ported fromresearch/classic/scans/2026-04-13-macro-commodities.md

Here are both scan reports:


Macro-Commodities Scan — 2026-04-14

Signal Reading
Overall 🟠 Oil in a different universe from everything else — crude +77% 3M while nat gas crumbles, gold softens, ag holds
Key insight The Hormuz blockade has created a bifurcated commodity complex: energy (crude specifically) is decoupled from all other inflation signals

Energy — USO / UNG

Stock Price 7D 30D 3M RSI vs SMA200 Status Action
USO $128.47 -8.97% +11.68% +76.93% 59.1 +60.7% 🟠 Parabolic ⚠️ Avoid chasing
UNG $10.68 -5.36% -12.53% +4.3% 36.1 -18.1% 🔴 Breakdown ❌ Don't Buy

Read: USO has gone parabolic — +77% in 90 days, sitting 61% above its 200-day. The golden cross is intact and RSI hasn't broken 60 yet, which is the bizarre part: momentum is still building, not exhausted. But a -9% week in the face of the blockade narrative tells you the market is starting to price in either resolution or demand destruction. UNG is the polar opposite — death cross, -18% below SMA200, and -44% from its 52-week high. Nat gas remains a structural loser regardless of what crude does.


Precious Metals — GLD / SLV / GDX / SIL

Stock Price 7D 30D 3M RSI vs SMA200 Status Action
GLD $435.36 +1.55% -5.44% +2.21% 49.2 +13.8% 🟡 Weak-down 🔍 Watch
SLV $68.28 +4.7% -6.75% -19.25% 48.5 +26.7% 🟡 Weak-down 🔍 Watch
GDX $98.78 +5.86% +4.66% +1.98% 56.6 +25.1% 🟢 Strong-up 📈 Accumulate
SIL $97.27 +5.18% +2.21% +2.56% 55.9 +28.6% 🟡 Weak-down 🔍 Watch

Read: Gold is misbehaving on a Hormuz blockade day. The 30D is -5.4%, the trend is "weak-down," and GLD is trading below its SMA50 ($449.97). This is not how gold acts when the world is supposed to be on fire. Two explanations: either large players are selling gold to cover losses elsewhere (liquidation dynamic), or the market doesn't actually believe the blockade is a long-duration event. GDX is the outlier — miners are holding better than the metal itself, suggesting some institutional accumulation in the sector even as spot gold drifts. Silver's 3M at -19.25% is genuinely ugly — it's being treated as an industrial metal (risk-off), not a monetary metal.


Industrial & Agriculture — COPX / DBA / WEAT / CORN / SOYB

Stock Price 7D 30D 3M RSI vs SMA200 Status Action
COPX $84.87 +9.04% +7.89% +3.01% 60.1 +32.0% 🟠 Strong-up ⚠️ Extended
DBA $26.93 -1.1% +1.81% +5.57% 54.6 +4.3% 🟢 Strong-up 🔒 Hold
WEAT $22.18 -3.8% -2.93% +10.13% 45.3 +4.0% 🟢 Strong-up 🔍 Watch
CORN $17.77 -2.2% -2.68% +3.98% 38.9 +0.5% 🟡 Weak-down 🔍 Watch
SOYB $24.30 +0.62% +2.10% +11.78% 54.0 +7.5% 🟢 Strong-up 🔒 Hold

Read: Copper is the most interesting story in this group — +9% on the week, +32% above SMA200, golden cross intact. In a normal risk-off environment copper falls. That it's rising alongside oil suggests the market is pricing in an inflationary supply shock, not a demand-destruction scenario. Agriculture is quiet but steady — DBA and SOYB both sitting just below their 52-week highs with healthy RSI. WEAT is giving back gains after the 3M pop; CORN is the weakest link at 38.9 RSI, approaching oversold.


Uranium — URA

Stock Price 7D 30D 3M RSI vs SMA200 Status Action
URA $52.18 +5.07% +4.46% -0.78% 57.4 +13.9% 🟢 Strong-up 🔒 Hold

Read: Uranium is quietly doing what it should — holding its ground. The golden cross is intact, +14% above SMA200, and +139% 1Y alpha of 107 vs SPY. The flat 3M (-0.78%) in the context of a parabolic oil market is interesting: uranium is not participating in the crisis premium. That's either a lag or a signal that the nuclear secular thesis is running on its own timeline, decoupled from short-term geopolitical noise. Either way, no reason to exit.


Currencies — UUP / FXE / FXY

Stock Price 7D 30D 3M RSI vs SMA200 Status Action
UUP $27.38 -1.26% -1.26% +0.18% 41.6 +1.6% 🟢 Strong-up 🔍 Watch
FXE $108.54 +1.49% +2.28% +1.22% 63.4 +1.1% 🟢 Strong-up 🔒 Hold
FXY $57.59 +0.03% -0.26% -0.67% 44.9 -4.3% 🔴 Strong-down ❌ Don't Buy

Read: The dollar (UUP) is softening — down -1.26% both 7D and 30D — while the Euro (FXE) strengthens to near its 52-week high. This is dollar weakness in the face of a geopolitical crisis, which is the opposite of typical "flight to safety" dollar behavior. It suggests the market is pricing in U.S. fiscal exposure to the conflict rather than treating the dollar as a pure safe haven. The Yen (FXY) remains structurally broken — death cross, below all SMAs. Japan is not a safe haven play here.


Housing — XHB / ITB

Stock Price 7D 30D 3M RSI vs SMA200 Status Action
XHB $105.53 +5.81% +4.11% -7.06% 56.7 -1.9% 🔴 Strong-down ❌ Don't Buy
ITB $95.26 +4.37% +1.23% -11.59% 52.3 -6.6% 🔴 Strong-down ❌ Don't Buy

Read: Both homebuilder ETFs are in death cross territory with negative 3M returns. The weekly bounce (+4-6%) looks like a relief rally off oversold levels rather than a trend reversal. At -7% and -12% 3M respectively, and with both sitting below their SMA200, this is structural weakness. Higher-for-longer rates meeting a shock to shipping costs (oil +77%) is a double headwind for housing. Avoid.


International — VGK / EWG / EWZ / INDA / EWJ / FXI / EEM

Stock Price 7D 30D 3M RSI vs SMA200 Status Action
VGK $87.64 +4.13% +5.41% +2.24% 63.9 +8.2% 🟢 Strong-up 🔒 Hold
EWG $41.94 +3.51% +3.50% -3.56% 59.0 +0.2% 🟡 Up 🔍 Watch
EWZ $41.52 +7.05% +13.66% +25.21% 71.7 +30.5% 🟠 Near-overbought ⚠️ Avoid/Trim
INDA $49.35 +4.29% +1.63% -7.32% 56.0 -6.4% 🔴 Strong-down 🔍 Watch
EWJ $88.35 +3.22% +3.86% +3.89% 57.4 +10.0% 🟢 Strong-up 🔒 Hold
FXI $36.46 +1.74% -1.14% -8.94% 53.0 -5.1% 🔴 Strong-down 🔍 Watch
EEM $61.07 +5.76% +4.61% +5.75% 62.3 +13.0% 🟢 Strong-up 🔒 Hold

Read: The big story here is Brazil (EWZ) — RSI 71.7, +25% 3M, 30% above SMA200, and essentially at its 52-week high. Brazil is a commodity exporter (oil, iron ore, soybeans) and this is exactly what happens when commodity prices spike. It's getting overbought. Europe (VGK, EWG) is quietly grinding higher — if the war-ends thesis ever plays out, European equities have room. India (INDA) and China (FXI) are both in death cross territory — neither is benefiting from the current macro. Japan (EWJ) is the steadiest of the internationals, +10% above SMA200 with a clean golden cross.


Factor Rotation — VUG / VTV / MTUM / QUAL / RSP

Stock Price 7D 30D 3M RSI vs SMA200 Status Action
VUG $467.36 +3.84% +2.70% -3.56% 62.5 -0.3% 🟡 Weak-up 🔍 Watch
VTV $202.61 +1.89% +2.49% +3.06% 61.4 +7.8% 🟢 Strong-up 🔒 Hold
MTUM $266.05 +6.79% +7.90% +4.13% 68.0 +7.1% 🟠 Strong-up ⚠️ Extended
QUAL $201.25 +2.95% +2.39% -0.46% 60.8 +3.9% 🟢 Strong-up 🔒 Hold
RSP $198.83 +1.60% +2.42% +0.51% 59.6 +4.7% 🟢 Strong-up 🔒 Hold

Read: Value (VTV) is outperforming growth (VUG) on the 3M — +3.1% vs -3.6%. This is a commodity shock rotation: energy-heavy value indices win when oil prices surge. Momentum (MTUM) at RSI 68 is the most extended factor, essentially at its 52-week high — it's been capturing the commodity and defense runs. Equal weight (RSP) outperforming cap-weight on the 3M is another sign that the mega-cap tech names are dragging, while commodity and industrial names lift the broader market.


What the Commodities Are Telling Us

The commodity complex is sending three conflicting signals at once, and that contradiction is the story.

Signal 1: Oil is pricing a multi-month supply disruption. USO +77% in 90 days, 60% above its 200-day moving average, with no RSI exhaustion in sight. This is not a spike — it's a regime change in oil pricing if the blockade persists.

Signal 2: Every other "crisis" asset is soft. Gold is down 5% in 30 days. Silver is down 19% in 3 months. The dollar is weakening. Nat gas is in structural collapse. These are not the signals you see in a market genuinely pricing a prolonged war shock — they're the signals of a market that is rotating out of safe havens and into the specific commodity being disrupted (crude oil).

Signal 3: The international rotation is telling. Brazil (EWZ, +25% 3M) and general EMs (EEM, +6% 3M) are outperforming while China (FXI, -9% 3M) and India (INDA, -7% 3M) lag. This maps directly to commodity exporters winning while commodity importers get squeezed.

The bottom line: This is a highly targeted supply shock, not a broad-based inflation or panic event. The market is telling you it believes the Hormuz disruption affects oil specifically, not the global financial system. That means the risk isn't a 2008-style broad collapse — it's a 1970s-style stagflation scenario where energy costs cause demand destruction in everything else. Watch for that second-order pain in housing (already showing it), consumer discretionary, and industrial throughput.

Key Discoveries

Discovery Implication
USO +77% 3M with RSI only at 59 — no momentum exhaustion yet Oil has room to run if blockade narrative holds — or snaps violently on resolution
Gold -5.4% 30D on a blockade day Liquidation pressure elsewhere is overwhelming safe-haven demand for GLD
Brazil (EWZ) +25% 3M, near 52wk high Commodity exporter rotation is the cleanest trade in the Hormuz scenario
MTUM near 52wk high with RSI 68 Momentum factor capturing commodity/defense — getting extended
Value (VTV +3.1%) vs Growth (VUG -3.6%) on 3M Classic inflationary rotation — value wins when commodity costs surge

Open Questions

  • How long can USO sustain 60%+ above SMA200 before mean reversion forces the hand?
  • Is gold weakness a temporary liquidation event or a genuine repricing lower?
  • If blockade resolves, which reverses fastest: USO down or gold up?
10 events

No direct external sources are attached to this read.