Downplay The Fear

At this point in time, many traders are shrugging off any sort of bearish news flowing out of Europe and elsewhere.

With Greece’s issues unresolved but largely out of the big picture in Europe, the focus has since turned to Italy, where a vote on austerity measures remains the biggest concern. Embattled Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is expected to resign after such a vote takes place. As a result, U.S. equity traders have sounded their approval with buying.

On Monday, the key line in the sand vis-à-vis the S&P 500 was the 1251 level, which was easily tested and passed. The 1265 level on Tuesday was also easily surpassed as traders pumped stocks higher. The S&P 500 closed up 14 points at 1275 – it remains to be seen if 1286 will be breached, in which case the market is expected to skyrocket even higher.

While equities soar, currencies and commodities have begun to enter a period of volatility. The Euro rallied hard today after the news in Italy.

“The euro strengthened as the burly-as-ever Berlusconi announced his resignation this is looked at as a positive for Italy’s economic situation,” one proprietary trader told Markets Media. “This caused the dollar to weaken into the 76.70 level which sent equities and commodities higher.”

As a result of a depreciating dollar, commodities soared on Tuesday with corn, sugar and wheat all posting big gains during trading on the CME. Should the Euro continue to gain strength, commodities will continue higher and gold could very likely surpass the $1800 an ounce level “quite soon.”