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Gold continues to try to hold above the $1,600 support level…as of 7:25 am Pacific, the yellow metal is down $8 an ounce at $1,597…Silver is off 14 cents at $28.71…Copper is up 2 pennies at $3.44…Crude Oil is 86 cents higher at $95.67 while the U.S. Dollar Index, which rallied strongly yesterday, is quiet so far today at 82.83…

Today’s Markets

Asian markets were mixed overnight with the Nikkei average rebounding from heavier losses earlier in the day to close down just 75 points at 12472…China’s Shanghai Composite fell 29 points or 1.2% to finish at 2298…European shares are up slightly in late trading overseas while in North America, the Dow is strong after an intra-day reversal to the downside yesterday that was triggered after an EU finance official told reporters that the rescue plan for Cyprus could serve as a model for dealing with future banking crises in the euro zone…Jeroen Dijsselbloem later tried to clarify his remarks but the damage was done…despite the bailout that was negotiated early Monday, the Cyprus situation remains very delicate and may continue to spook the markets for a while yet, though this may give the Fed even more resolve to maintain its stimulus…banks in Cyprus are scheduled to reopen Thursday but capital controls will last for a “matter of weeks” to prevent massive outflows of cash, the country’s finance minister warned this morning….as of 7:25 am Pacific, the Dow is up 92 points to 14540 thanks to some strong economic data this morning…U.S. single-family home prices rose in January, starting the year with the biggest annual increase in six-and-a-half years in a fresh sign the housing market recovery remains on track…the S&P Case/Schiller Home Price Index of 20 metropolitan areas gained 1% month-on-month in January on a seasonally adjusted basis, topping expectations for a 0.9% increase…meanwhile, demand for long-lasting U.S. manufactured goods surged in February, climbing  5.7% – higher than expected – according to the data released by the Commerce Department this morning…the rise in durable goods orders, which range from toasters to aircraft, reversed January’s 3.8% plunge…the TSX is going in the opposite direction of the U.S. markets, down 27 points, while the Venture has slid 4 points to 1100…

Optimism On The Rise In U.S.

Americans continue to grow more optimistic with regard to a couple of key financial measures – their homes and the stock market…in fact, attitudes toward attitudes toward both surged in the latest CNBC All-America Economic Survey to their highest levels since the beginning of the financial crisis…the percentage of Americans who believe their home prices will increase in the next year rose 9 points to 33% in the March survey compared to November, the biggest jump in the survey’s six-year history…it hasn’t been this high since December, 2007, although it remains below the high-water mark when the survey began in March, 2007, and 48% of Americans believed their home prices would increase…meanwhile, 40% of Americans now say it’s a good time to invest, up from 31% in November and the best level since December, 2009…

HXD Chart Update

The TSX continues to under-perform against the U.S. markets and that trend is not likely to end anytime soon given commodity sluggishness and weakness in the Canadian housing sector, among other issues…this is why we highlighted the HXD double short S&P/TSX60 ETF recently when it was hovering in the $7.60’s as a defensive tactic…RSI(14) has now broken above 50 for the first time since late last year which suggests we could see more near-term weakness in the TSX which is trading below its 50-day moving average (SMA) for the first time since November…

Fission Energy Corp. (FIS, TSX-V) Chart Update

Fresh results released yesterday by Fission Energy Corp. (FIS, TSX-V) and 50% partner Alpha Minerals Inc. (AMW, TSX-V) gave their Patterson Lake South uranium project in Saskatchewan another boost as investors continue to grow more comfortable with the idea of a potential world class uranium deposit there…FIS jumped 12 cents yesterday on total volume (all exchanges) of more than 6 million shares while AMW added 53 points to close at $4.94…both stocks are ip slightly in early trading today…technically, we were most bullish regarding FIS when it was able to overcome a downsloping wedge around 60 cents early in the year as we pointed out at the time..overbought conditions are now prevalent, however, as shown in the 2.5-year weekly chart below…that doesn’t mean it can’t continue to move somewhat higher and become even more overbought, but be careful…

Rainbow Resources (RBW, TSX-V)

While the Venture remains weak, it’s more critical than ever to focus on companies that are reporting strong exploration results and have an opportunity to make an important discovery…Rainbow Resources (RBW, TSX-V) has been quiet in recent weeks but reported this morning that it’ll be utilizing the proceeds from its current private placement financing to carry out additional drilling in both Nevada and southeast British Columbia, at the Jewel Ridge and Gold Viking properties, respectively…Phase 1 drilling at both properties late last year returned highly encouraging Gold and Silver assay results near-surface…Rainbow also announced this morning that it’ll be participating in the 2013 Cambridge House Energy & Resource Investment Conference in Calgary April 5 and 6…

Amarc Resources Ltd. (AHR, TSX-V) Chart Update

Amarc Resources (AHR, TSX-V), which was sitting on more than $6 million cash in bank account as of the end of December and has a strong portfolio of exploration projects in B.C., continues to trade around levels not seen since 2003 and late 2008 – just prior to the start of major new uptrends…Amarc closed at 8 cents yesterday which gives it a market cap of approximately $11 million…while additional weakness is possible if markets slump a little more, AHR has enough strength behind it to survive the current Venture storm and ultimately move higher again once overall investment sentiment improves…

Note: John, Jon and Terry do not hold share positions in FIS. John holds a position in AHR while both John and Jon hold share positions in RBW.