The Obama administration, already charged with providing political cover for BP in the Gulf of Mexico mega-oil disaster, is also charged with allowing BP to renege on agreements between the firm, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the state of Indiana to prevent pollution of Lake Michigan from the firm's Whiting, Indiana refinery near Hammond.

In 2007, the EPA, under the Bush administration, said it was powerless to stop BP from dumping more toxic waste into Lake Michigan from its expanded refinery that was processing increased amounts of heavy crude oil from Canada.

However, the EPA did urge BP to mitigate the increased pollution of solid waste and ammonia by taking other proactive steps to limit environmental damage, including financing projects for other plants along the Grand Calumet River and Lake Michigan to reduce their pollution and other clean-up and run-off water-filtering projects.

Environmental groups opposed the EPA permit to expand its Lake Michigan refining operations. BP's position was bolstered by federal and state court decisions that shot down the suits from the environmental groups. BP also took out newspaper advertisements and paid Internet bloggers to defend the refinery's expansion. The payment of money to bloggers by BP is also evident in the number of pro-BP postings on the web concerning the mega-oil disaster.

The Obama administration, including EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, has permitted BP to violate the promises it made to the state and federal courts that steps would be taken to mitigate the effects of increased Lake Michigan pollution.

Informed sources in Chicago have told WMR that what is occurring in the Gulf of Mexico could very well happen to Lake Michigan when considering that BP not only continues to pollute the lake at higher rates but also has a record of safety and environmental infractions at the expanded Indiana refinery.

Source: http://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/BP-Gets-Pass-From-Obama-Administration-To-Potentially-Pollute-Lake-Michigan.html

By the Wayne Madsen for Oilprice.com who offer detailed analysis on Crude oil, Natural Gas, Geopolitics, Gold and most other Commodities. They also provide free political and economic intelligence to help investors gain a greater understanding of world events and the impact they have on certain regions and sectors. Visit: http://www.oilprice.com

The recent Shanghai Surprise has been breaking that potential bullish triangle I outlined several weeks ago with a downside break of 2900. Subscribers to TheMarketTrendForecast.Com may recall that was my line in the sand for the SSEC index to remain bullish. With the break of that possible bull triangle, the SSEC index has fallen down to near 2500. Everyone on CNBC is bearish on the Chinese Indexes now, and I can't find any bulls for that country either. They were everywhere several months ago, and now, nowhere to be found.

What I'm seeing as a possible intermediate "BULLISH VIEW" is that the Shanghai Index is completing what is known as a "3-3-5? wave pattern. This means it's an A B C zig zag to the downside, which works off the prior bull move from 1600-3400. So far this correction has re-traced a bit over 50% of that bull move, which would be typical and would kick everyone off the bull.

A 3-3-5 correction unfolds in a series of wave patterns. 3 waves down, 3 waves up, and then 5 waves down to complete. I outline this potential pattern below in the SSEC chart. This does not mean I will be right, merely that this is a very valid and normal corrective pattern after a massive bull wave up. The index is extremely oversold as well on traditional indicators, which I use to overlap my Elliott Wave views.

This forecast could mean some Chinese stocks are super cheap here, and it will be fun to watch the action from here. The index could drop to about the 2300 range and still validate this bottoming pattern. That means there could still be another 8% or so drop from here, but aggressive investors would start scaling into long positions over a few weeks. Indeed it was January of 2009 when I started recommending small cap indexes and mutual funds, but that index didn't bottom until early March of course. Scaling in was wise though, as the TNA 3x ETF soared from 11 to 60 during the bull phase up. I started buying at 28 and down to 11, so my average was around 20 or so.

Worth watching anyways.

David Banister - www.ActiveTradingPartners.com

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Dave Banister is the Chief Investment Strategist and commentator for ActiveTradingPartners.com. David has written numerous market forecast articles on various sites (SafeHaven.Com, 321Gold.com, Gold-Eagle.com, TheStreet.Com etc. ) that have proven to be extremely accurate at major junctures. You can read more at www.activetradingpartners.com

It has been an interesting week in the market as stocks and commodities push to extreme support levels. Below I have posted some charts showing where the market is currently trading at and what I think is likely to unfold.

Gold Futures - 4 Hour Candle Stick Chart

The price of Gold is testing a key support level. I figure we will see gold try to stabilize over the next week or so as it digests the recent drop in value then start to head back up.

US Dollar Index - 60 Minute Candle Stick Chart

The US Dollar and gold have been moving together the past few weeks as more countries pop up on the radar for serious financial issues. This is helping to boost both the US Dollar and gold as investors around the world starting buying what seems to be safety. The dollar has had a sizable pullback and is now testing a key support level.

This could be the start of a possible Head & Shoulders pattern forming which means the dollar rally could be nearing maturity in the next couple weeks.

Crude Oil Futures - Daily Trading Chart

Oil has been under serious selling pressure because of the rising USD. It has now dropped to a key support level and is starting to look very interesting. If the US Dollar bounces in the next week or two it will keep downward pressure on oil. I think this bottom is going to be a process not a one day event.

SP500 - Daily Trading Chart

Stocks have been under dropping like flies the past few weeks and shorting the SP500 last week at 1170 has played out very nicely for members. The broad market is giving me mixed signals and when I am unsure of a trade I stand on the sidelines. It's always better to sit in cash and watch things stabilize than it is to watch your hard earned money evaporate. We could see a wave of panic selling in the stock indexes testing the previous lows so be cautious.

Mid-Week Stock & Commodity Trading Report Conclusion:

In short, I feel gold and the dollar will bounce in the coming days from their support levels. This will keep pressure on oil & the SP500 holding them down near support. Once the US Dollar forms a possible right shoulder we will most likely see them pop and rally.

We are still 7 trading days away from a cycle low on the broad market making this scenario very likely to play out. At the moment I am getting a lot of mixed signals and during times like this I prefer to stay in cash because volatility will rise and it is easy to get shaken out of trades.

If you would like to get my Real-Time Trading Signals & Setups checkout my services at www.TheTechnicalTraders.com

Chris Vermeulen

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Chris Vermeulen is Founder of the popular trading site TheGoldAndOilGuy.com. There he shares his highly successful, low-risk trading method. For 6 years Chris has been a leader in teaching others to skillfully trade in gold, oil, and silver in both bull and bear markets. Subscribers to his service depend on Chris' uniquely consistent investment opportunities that carry exceptionally low risk and high return.

Please visit my website for more information.

http://www.TheGoldAndOilGuy.com