TradingEdge Weekly for Aug 14 - JK Seven-Year Cycle, NFP miss 108k, Copper/Gold below 0.16, Gold pattern caution, VIX spike 76% odds, Midterm election drawdowns, Low VIX delayed risk
Key points:
- The JK Seven-Year Cycle has produced a 90% win rate with a 27% average return during Favorable periods since 1920 - the next Favorable period begins at the close on October 30, 2026 and extends through August 14, 2028.
- July nonfarm payrolls unexpectedly fell by 23,000 jobs vs. an 85,000 expected gain - a 108k miss that historically favors gold (+2% over 5 days) and equities (+1% over 5 days); the T+0 reaction was much stronger than average, suggesting the risk-on trend will continue this week though at a reduced magnitude.
- When the Copper/Gold Ratio drops below 0.16 for the first time in six months (signal triggered August 5th), copper's 12-month median return has been +43.3% with a 100% win rate; S&P 500 shows 100% 12-month win rate with +18.7% median; Nasdaq 100 median +34.3%; but bonds suffer with TLT at just 17% win rate - the signal is a 'Watch,' not a 'Warning.'
- After 107 similar 21-day patterns, gold's median return was negative over the first 1-2 months with win rates at or below 50%; adding the condition of sitting >10% below the 252-day high reinforced short-term pressure; GDX has correlated 98% with gold over the past year with beta above 1, yet its win rates stayed below 40% one to two weeks after similar setups.
- When the VIX 21-day rate of change on TDY #153 is ≤+3.3%, the VIX has subsequently risen 35% or more within 51 trading days in 13 of 17 instances (76%); the current reading on August 5th was -2.0%, well below

