Dec 07

Price of Gold Weekly Recap – December 3-7, 2012

Monday Open: $1,717.20
Weekly High: $1,717.20
Weekly Low: $1,686.30
Friday Close: $1,702.80

It seems like the only thing gold investors could talk about this week was the upcoming fiscal cliff, a threat that sunk the price of gold to its lowest in four weeks, plunging the price down below $1,700. The price of gold stayed low all week but managed to dip up slightly about the $1,700 mark on Friday.

Negotiations about the fiscal cliff continued this week, but Democrats and Republicans are still undecided about how to approach the looming crisis. If an agreement is not reached by Jan. 1, automatic tax increases and spending cuts from the Bush era will go into effect. Economists believe this might send the U.S. back into a recession. Though it seems likely that politicians will indeed reach some sort of last-minute conclusion to avoid a recession, the uncertainty surrounding the matter is a drain on many markets, gold not excepted.

Monday dropped about $15, then Tuesday took a net drop of around $20, next to hit Wednesday’s low of around $1,685 – the lowest in a month. Thursday stayed fairly flat.

This week was primarily led by economic speculation as to the U.S. government’s policies regarding the fiscal cliff, but investors also looked forward to Friday when the Labor Department would release employment data for November. And indeed, Friday moved prices up a little bit.

December 10-12th is also a series of days to look forward to for gold traders, as it is the FOMC’s next annual open market meeting, in which they will discuss QE3 policies. After this past September when the Fed eased up on monetary policy, to the delight of precious metals investors, many expect that they will continue to enact policies to boost the economy, which in turn will bolster gold as a safe haven. “Operation Twist” will come to an end, a program in which the Fed sells $45 billion of short-term treasuries each month in order to buy long-term treasuries. Most do not think the Fed will continue Operation Twist, instead most likely opting to engage in a conventional bond-buying program, which would increase money-printing, inflation, and thus the confidence in gold.

Goldman Sachs predicts that the slow U.S. economic growth will force the Fed to keep printing more money for the next two years, a positive sign for gold.

Considering the volatility that gold is facing right now, some are questioning the reality of the yellow metal as a true safe haven. Still, in a Kitco survey, out of 24 respondents, 15 see prices moving up next week and 5 see prices going down, with the rest neutral.

Nov 30

Price of Gold Weekly Recap – November 26-30, 2012

Monday Open: $1,750.10
Weekly High: $1,751.80
Weekly Low: $1,709.90
Friday Close: $1,714.70

Gold took a striking dip mid-week but regained losses to end the month with slight gains for November. Still hovering in the $1,700 to $1,750 range, Wednesday was the most peculiar day of the week with a quick plethora of nearly unaccounted for sell-offs, but this still did not force the price down below $1,700.

Monday opened solid and stayed solid. Low volatility in all commodities markets did not affect the price of gold.

Tuesday took a slight dip from further announcements in the U.S. regarding the fiscal cliff approaching at the end of the year. If Democrats and Republicans don’t reach a fiscal agreement by December 30, an automatic $600 billion tax hike and spending freeze motion will go into affect, which could spur the economy into a recession. House of Representatives speaker John Boehner said no substantive progress has been made. However, the little amount of trading on gold due to this news indicates most gold traders believe the crisis will be resolved.

In Tuesday’s European news, a decision was made regarding Greece’s bailout money. Greece will receive a loan with the stipulation that the country will cut its debt/GDP ratio to 124% by 2020. This agreement is likely to raise the value of the euro.

The marketplace didn’t respond to either of these events on Tuesday, but Wednesday morning, one minute after trading opened, a massive sell-off occurred in gold, dropping the price nearly $30 in less than five minutes. Both the U.S. fiscal cliff and Greece’s bailout are bearish for gold, which could reasonably cause a decline in price, but the real impetus for such an immediate loss is the high volume of “sell stop” orders. These orders are automatically programmed to sell off shares once a certain price is reached – in this case, $1,730 for many traders. The bearish pull-out of the market accelerated these automatic sell-stops to result in a drastic price drop for gold, which landed at the lowest price of week, $1,710.

Dave Meger of Vision Financial Markets, pinpointed a new sell-stop number: “The new number to focus on is $1,692—that’s the 100-day moving average,” he said.

Still, the strong selling pressure on Wednesday, which caused quite a buzz, didn’t last. Gold rebounded on Thursday from bargain hunting and short covering. The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday that the December FOMC meeting is likely to produce more economic stimulus, which is positive for gold. The dollar was also lower on Thursday.

Friday ended lower again, the price of gold influenced by events earlier in the week that may have made traders skittish. Still, November ended with modest gains.

Nov 16

Price of Gold Weekly Recap – November 12-16, 2012

Monday Open: $1,736.80
Weekly High: $1,736.80
Weekly Low: $1,708.30
Friday Close: $1,713.70

Gold faced a pretty steady downturn all week long in response to economic uncertainty across the board. Major factors leading to the average $20 loss this week included the U.S. fiscal cliff problem that looms on the horizon, continued European debt and a slow buying season in India.

However, gold has stayed over the $1,700 mark since the beginning of November and many are still predicting a climb above $2,000 in 2013.

Monday was a slow trading day in the U.S. since it was Veteran’s Day, and the price didn’t move much. In overseas news, Greece is undergoing fresh economic stimulus after a conference on Sunday, leading to new austerity measures. China faced unexpected growth, and Japan’s economic data points to a near recession, which would be a positive sign for gold.

Tuesday began the slow path downward as disagreements arose among the European Union as to when to disperse Greek’s bailout money. European economic woes put a damper on raw commodity markets, including gold. Meanwhile, in the U.S. Democratic and Republican parties are at a standstill as to how to deal with the upcoming fiscal cliff by the end of the year. If a decision is not made by December 31st, the automatic spending cuts and tax cuts established by the Bush administration will go into effect. The uncertainty here is already showing a volatile effect on gold, but the upside is that it could make the yellow metal seem even more a safe haven.

No real price changes happened on Wednesday, despite two conferences held in the U.S. – Obama addressed the fiscal cliff and the FOMC held their regular meeting, in which they discussed methods of determining when to raise interest rates. The implication is that they will continue their current monetary policy until 2013.

Thursday saw gold take a dip on the continued worries over the fiscal cliff and Eurozone, in which it was revealed that 17 countries are now in a recession. The technical definition of a recession is when a country experiences two consecutive quarters of economic contraction.

Friday continued the four-day dip on a slightly weaker dollar and no fresh news on any of the economic issues. This week was also the beginning of festival season in India, but buying is slow there due to a late harvesting season and the high price of gold. Next week will be fairly slow as the markets will be closed for Thanksgiving. Still, some see gold gaining from the fiscal cliff worries.

Oct 26

Price of Gold Weekly Recap – October 22-26, 2012

Monday Open: $1,729.50
Weekly High: $1,729.50
Weekly Low: $1,699.50
Friday Close: $1,1712.00

The gold market was pretty quiet this week, taking a few ups and downs based on market pressure, a Federal Reserve meeting and continued expectations about global stimulus measures. No major price shifts occurred; instead, gold operated within a pretty stable trading range, only dipping slightly below $1,700 midweek on Fed fears, but quickly regaining to the above $1,700 range. The major news this week was a statement released by the Federal Reserve that confirmed stimulus measures but did not announce any new policies.

Monday and Tuesday’s trading were basically fear-based sell-offs anticipating the Fed’s statement, compounded by a stronger dollar and outside markets. There was not great anticipation for the Fed’s meeting minutes, and economists generally didn’t expect any fresh stimulus measures, but there was a slight fear that since the dollar has been performing well lately, the Fed could decide to pull back their monetary easing at any time.

The euro dropped Tuesday as Moody’s downgraded Spain’s credit rating once again and reports said Spain’s economy contracted .4% more than last quarter. The dollar was also trading higher on Tuesday as gold hit a new 6-week low.

Once the Fed statement was released on Wednesday, gold jumped about $7 on the news that the Fed will be continuing its economic stimulus measures. However, it dropped all the way below $1,700 a few minutes later, after people had time to read through the FOMC minutes. The Fed reiterated its plan to stick with zero percent interest rates until 2015, despite gains already perceived in the housing sector.

Thursday saw gold rise on expectations that the bank of Japan may be considering stimulus measures, a rising euro and anticipation of the wedding season in India, which begins mid-November.

Friday was a slow day in the market, characterized by risk-off trading before the weekend. France got their credit score downgraded and Greece faced fresh economic woes; the gold season has started in India; and the U.S. reported slight gains in economic growth, strengthening the dollar.

Significantly, news has been traveling that Ben Bernake would probably not be running for office as Federal Reserve chairman for another term even if President Obama is reelected. This causes some concern for gold bugs, as Bernake is central to keeping interest rates low, an asset for gold.

“Without Bernanke, monetary stimulus from the Federal Reserve could be greatly reduced, and that will weigh on the price of gold,” said Jeffrey Sica of billion-dollar investment agency SICA Wealth.

The U.S. presidential election weighs in on many traders’ buying patterns, along with the anticipation of a “fiscal cliff” as it is being called: if Congress doesn’t solidify a debt reduction plan by the end of the year, a series of automatic spending freezes and tax increases will be enacted.

Oct 19

Price of Gold Weekly Recap – October 15-19, 2012

Monday Open: $1,737.30
Weekly High: $1,752.20
Weekly Low: $1,718.00
Friday Close: $1,720.80

Gold opened on a one-month low this week, rallied upwards, then shot back down to close bearishly on a newer one-month low due to global economic pressures. There are a few global factors that contributed to the spikes this week, but as a whole gold is still operating at roughly $200 higher than the $1,500-$1,550 range that dominated most of the first half of 2012.

In a weak global economy, gold acts as a hedge fund and has been on the upswing for the past four years, largely due to economic restructuring of major economic states, not least of which has been the U.S. Federal Reserve’s easy monetary policies. Monday, however, China was on the forefront of traders’ minds, and gold dipped down from the weekend because data revealed that China, whose growth has been slow over the year, though still significantly ahead of the U.S., might not be considering economic restructuring if they can help it. Gold has risen in the past few months in large part due to America and Europe’s monetary loosening, and the same has been expected for China, but September data showed that China’s inflation rate dropped from 2% to 1.9% and their imports grew by 2.4%. This means uncertain trading for gold.

“The bottom line is China’s in this kind of gray area where…things aren’t as good as people want them to be but they’re not bad enough to continue to just throw money at the market,” Matt Zeman of Kingsview Financial said.

Tuesday, gold responded well after the U.S. released positive news on consumer price data, confirming that there is no current threat of significant inflation. If inflation were to appear on the horizon, the Federal Reserve may change their policies to curb price hikes, which would negatively affect gold. Without immediate fear of inflation, the Fed can continue its trend of monetary easing. The dollar also slipped a little compared to other currencies.

However, Wednesday reports on U.S. housing data served to balance out any permanent feeling of comfort regarding the dollar. Housing data was positive, implying that if that trend continues, the Fed may start to slow down their stimulus plans. Spain also received some important news; the struggling country’s credit rating was left unchanged rather than downgraded, and there is still talk of Spain requesting a bailout. Germany also joined the conversation by announcing a lower economic growth rate for 2013 than previously anticipated.

Gold traders anticipated Thursday as results from China’s third-quarter gross domestic product would be released and the European summit would begin. Data from China on Thursday confirmed the foreshadowing from Monday that China may not be as strongly considering economic boosting, since the outlook is good for economic growth.

Friday dropped gold back down below the initial trading point on Monday to a fresh one-month low. The dollar was trading higher on Friday, and the European summit meeting ended, revealing no news from Spain that the country would be asking for a bailout now. Economic uncertainties in all parts of the world contributed to an overall precarious feeling for unconvinced gold traders, causing many to flee the market by the end of the week.

Frank McGhee, precious metals trader of Integrated Brokerage Services LLC, put it this way: “People who rushed in for QE expecting to get a significant lift are getting out of the market.  The longer we don’t make a new high, the more people start getting nervous about where gold is trading.”

This week experienced a 2% drop in gold, the largest weekly decline in four months.

With noncommittal leaders in Spain, a U.S. election on the horizon, a stronger Chinese economy and the season for gold buying in India approaching, yet with a weak rupee, gold seems to be caught once again in a trading limbo. However, once the price of gold breaks $1,800, interest in this precious metal will surely return, as many investors see the yellow metal continuing to perform well in the long-term.

Oct 12

Price of Gold Weekly Recap – October 8-12, 2012

Monday Open: $1,775.50
Weekly High: $1,775.50
Weekly Low: $1,754.10
Friday Close: $1,754.90

The price of gold this week fluctuated about $30 due to continuing uncertainty about the European debt crisis and the future of U.S. economic policy. Monday celebrated the American holiday of Columbus Day, so trading took a pause. There was slight risk-off trading, but the marketplace was quiet until Tuesday.

The yellow metal dropped about $10 on Tuesday after the International Monetary Fund lowered its predictions for world economic growth from 3.5% to 3.3%, reporting that the world’s industrial economies are at risk for a prolonged recession. Another reason for the drop on Tuesday was the ongoing conversation about Spain’s economic crisis, and uncertainty whether Spain really will ask for a bailout. After two days of meetings with eurozone finance ministers, no conclusion was reached and rioting continued in both Spain and Greece.

Last week, U.S. unemployment data revealed better than expected numbers, reporting that unemployment had dropped to 7.8%, so there is also some uncertainty for gold in this arena. Even though gold took a high turn a few weeks ago after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernake agreed to third quarter quantitative easing, there is no guarantee how long his looser economic policies will last; the low interest rates and mortgage incentives are in place only until the U.S. labor market can show significant improvement.

Still, gold hovered in the upper $1,700 range this week. Wednesday was a general day of trading limbo, as some traders decided to sell off to reduce risk amid economic uncertainty, but the price remained fairly steady.

Thursday saw a slight jump for gold when U.S. economic data reported slightly higher jobless claims. Spain also had their credit score knocked down two points by credit rating agency Standard & Poor, but surprisingly the euro did not respond, and many continue to be optimistic that Spain will opt for a bailout.

It seems as if the U.S. if the major indicator of gold’s track upward or down, even though European and Chinese economies definitely play a hand in the cards. Still, the Fed’s decision to loosen monetary policy has been the singlemost significant factor for gold this year.

Stock market analyst Tom Kendall of Credit Suisse said, “Gold is going to take its biggest cue, as it has for the most recent past, from what happens in the U.S. in respect to the strength of the economic recovery and what that means for monetary policy.” He went on to say that it is fairly hard to predict the effect U.S. joblessness claims will have on gold now due to seasonality.

To recap the year so far, gold has risen about $215, or 13%, in 2012 with a majority of those gains, $165, occurring in the pas two months due to Fed monetary policy. Friday ended slightly lower but fairly quietly in trade-off anticipation of the weekend. Most polls show an even split as to how gold will perform next week.

Sep 21

Price of Gold Weekly Recap – September 17-21, 2012

Monday Open: $1,762.50
Weekly High: $1,786.70
Weekly Low: $1,755.30
Friday Close: $1,773.00

Coming off of last week’s immense gains, gold showed considerable strength this week, staying in the $1,750 – $1,780 range and then jumping to its highest peak of 2012 on Friday. Last Thursday gold reached the highest price of the previous in six months after the Fed announced further monetary easing in order to curb unemployment, and this week, it was upon speculation that Spain, a country already unstable financially, might reach out to take on monetary assistance from other European countries that caused the subsequent rally.

Amidst the global financial crisis, gold performs excellently because it is seen as a hedge fund against inflation and weak paper currency. Even though last year saw gold reach an unprecedented $1,900 per ounce (compared to $300 per ounce in 2003), speculators who expect to see gold surpass this benchmark this year are not uncommon. Especially after a slow summer and the recent upward trend for the precious metal, talk abounds of gold soon hitting $1,800, then $2,000, then eventually $2,400.

Analysts at Merrill Lynch wrote in a report that they expect to see gold reach $2,400 by the end of 2014. They also don’t expect to see gold dip below $1,500. “Given the new open-ended nature of QE3, the upward pressure on gold prices should continue until employment is strong enough to require a change in policy. In our view, this is unlikely to happen until the end of 2014,” the report said.

This is the Federal Reserve’s third stimulus program since the 2008 financial crisis, and consists of the government buying around $40 million of mortgage-backed debt each month to reduce consumer debt and boost the economy. Especially in conjunction with “Operation Twist,” which consists of the Fed buying a lot of short-term loans in order to cut down on long-term debt, this is a much more aggressive series of policy than most anticipated, which translates into good tidings for gold.

To sum up this week, Monday prices fell largely due to profit-taking, according to most sources. Profit-taking pressure and continued through Tuesday. On Wednesday, gold jumped slightly off of news that Japan was going to be enacting some new stimulus measures, including 10 trillion yen, or the equivalent of $128 billion, to buying asset funds. The U.S. dollar index was also weaker on Wednesday. Keep in mind, this is in addition to the European Central Bank’s announcement earlier this month that they’d be buying troubled E.U. bonds. Then on Friday, speculation that Spain would be undergoing further borrowing prompted one last move upward for the week.

Aug 24

Price of Gold Weekly Recap – August 20-24

Monday Open: $1,618.80
Weekly High: $1,673.50
Weekly Low: $1,613.30
Friday Close: $1,670.30

Finally, after a long summer of stagnant gold prices, this week marked a three month high and a steady rise in gold after U.S. Federal Reserve and European Central Bank leaders indicated the easing of monetary policy that gold bugs had been hoping for since the first quarter of the year. Though still hovering below $1,700, while last year around this time gold was hitting the historical highs of $1,900, this week provided a lot of the solid clues investors have been waiting for on the gold front.

Monday was not especially remarkable in that trading stayed fairly sideways a little above $1,600, but Tuesday began the upswing that continued throughout the rest of the week. This entire summer, the U.S., European and Chinese governments have been under close watch by gold investors, since any recession-fighting tactics like printing more paper money or changing interest rates would weaken their currencies, thus strengthening gold as a hedge fund.

On Tuesday, after a few weeks of speculation about the ECB bailing out European countries, Spain  added $5.4 million to its debt at lowered costs from the ECB, which gives hope that the ECB will buy government bonds to keep costs low. Inflation drives up the price of gold. China also started injecting more liquidity, or offering low-rate loans to member institutions, which bolsters confidence in gold.

Wednesday marked a big day because after months of expectant anticipation that Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke would ease monetary policy with little concrete evidence, he finally provided the strong signal that gold hopefuls were waiting for.

According to the minutes from the meeting, Bernake stated, “”Many members judged that additional monetary accommodation would likely be warranted fairly soon unless incoming information pointed to a substantial and sustainable strengthening in the pace of the economic recovery.” This is a more substantial indication of policy to come than has been seen in the past months.

Gold jumped nearly $40 after the news, primarily launching upwards on Thursday as China, the U.S. and the European Union all seemed to strongly allude to recession-era measures to keep their economies afloat, which translates into greater safety in gold. While Tuesday hit a two-month high, Thursday broke the record with the highest point in four months.

Santa Monica precious metals broker Marin Aleksov calls this trifecta of economic bailout the “perfect storm” for gold.

Some are still pessimistic that any actual policy change will occur, based on Bernanke’s past ambiguity, and Friday saw a slight slowing down of the gold frenzy of the week to level off around $1,670.00. The significance of this week is simply that gold seems to have emerged from the limbo state it’s been stuck in for months.

Adam Sarhan, CEO of Sarhan Capital, commented optimistically, “Gold has this week broken out of its well-defined, multimonth downward trendline. That resistance which kept gold in a range in the last several months should become a new level of support, suggesting gold is not going down but going higher.”

Many believe an unprecedented bursting through the $2,000 mark is just around the corner for this precious yellow metal.

Aug 18

Price of Gold Weekly Recap – August 13-17, 2012

Monday Open: $1,623.60
Weekly High: $1,623.60
Weekly Low: $1,591.10
Friday Close: $1,615.80

This week’s price of gold story unraveled too similarly to the one that’s been told every week this summer; investors are getting anxious at the lack of change in the market, yet are still mildly hopeful for an upcoming change of events. The three major factors that have kept gold in state of limbo for the first half of 2012 have not improved – the U.S. Federal Reserve has not eased monetary policy, the European Central Bank is slow to enact financial safety measures, and China and India have actually decreased their gold demand. This week saw some especially drab news in the world of gold investing, especially in terms of the global economy, but it was tempered by a new billionaire investor and a survey by Kitco that reports that gold bulls are still a majority.

Monday opened above the $1,600 mark, but that was the highest it would be all week. Early in the week, gold fell as bleak economic reports started tumbling in across the major nations. Japan, China, the U.S. and the European Union all reported economic stagnation without any concrete action to bolster paper reserves or otherwise buffer the commodities market. Gold rises as a hedge fund in relation to the dollar, the euro and commodities like oil, so the lack of movement in these realms translates to a lack of movement for gold.

Tuesday took a slight upturn after some fresh, weak U.S. economic data, but it didn’t last long. A slew of negative data started pouring in as the week wore on, including some statistics from the World Gold Council. According to this gold watchdog organization, gold dropped 7% in the second quarter compared to where it was last year at this time, and jewelry demand fell 15%. Alarmingly to gold bulls, 56% of this drop in gold demand occurred in India, which is well-known to be a powerhouse of gold consumption. A weak rupee and sluggish economic growth may have a hand in that. Also, it came to light on Tuesday that six more European nations are now in an official recession. With gold retreating for four quarters in a row, some may be asking: is the gold rush is over?

It’s hard to say, according to most speculators, but it does depend on a few factors, like central bank policy and the economic health of India and China. George Gero, vice president of RBC Global Futures, had this to say: “Unless we start to see some effect of stimulus, traders are concentrating on what is now. If traders can’t find something positive to point to, they tend to shy away from taking risks.”

And nothing drastic has changed in terms of Fed or ECB policy. The next meeting of the Fed is scheduled for August 31, but it’s hard to say whether any significant policy changes will be enacted. Still, this is the next date on the waiting list for gold investors.

Thursday and Friday saw an increase in the market, so that the week closed only about $5 below the week’s beginning.

But it’s still the same waiting game, and as the chief economist of precious metals trading company Degussa Goldhandel GmbH said, “The monetary affairs of the world probably play the most important role for gold prices going forward. The slowing economy will boost calls for easier monetary policy.” Depending on how central governments and banks respond, gold could see a green light ahead. Out of Kitco’s weekly respondents, 16 of 28 still feel optimistic.

In other somewhat positive news, billionaires George Soros and John Paulson increased their gold holdings, driving confidence to some in the market.

Jul 27

Price of Gold Weekly Recap – July 23-27

Monday Open: $1,578.90
Weekly High: $1,626.70
Weekly Low: $,1569.10
Friday Close: $1,624.20

After weeks of a hesitant gold market driven by uncertainties surrounding the European debt crisis and continued lack of U.S. monetary easing, gold finally broke confidently above the $1,600 barrier this week when a series of reports started signaling a weaker euro ahead. Gold gained around $60 from the slow beginning of the week to a somewhat anticipatory closing, moving from the greatest inverse correlation to the dollar since January to the highest price of gold in more than a month.

Gold investors started out the week skeptical as the dollar reached a two-year high and gold stood at a -0.718 correlation with the paper currency, the strongest since the beginning of the year. Since gold trades inversely to the dollar, the yellow metal weakened as the greenback gained strength.

Worries over the Eurozone debt crisis continued to plague gold at the beginning of the week, but took a few surprising turns as the days rolled on. Tuesday started a very slight uptrend when Greece announced the country probably would not be able to pay its debts, indicating to investors there could be room for economic restructuring.

Then, Spain and France announced on Wednesday that the Eurozone would be adopting a common strategy to stabilize the euro, including enacting a supervisory mechanism on all euro area banks. This could mean that the European Central Bank could get significant and cheap funding, which could subsequently devalue the euro, thus elevating gold in a similar inverse fashion as the gold-dollar relationship. Sure enough, Wednesday saw gold reaching a two and a half week high after this news broke.

But it doesn’t end there.

Thursday continued the path of European restructuring and gold was bumped even higher after ECB president Mario Draghi proclaimed that he was ready and willing to take any steps necessary to float the euro. Specifically, “The ECB is ready to do whatever it takes to preserve the euro,” he said. Speculators can decode that as meaning that the bank will be inclined to print more paper money, which would inevitably reduce the strength of the currency and encourage investors to flock back to gold as an established safe haven.

Peter Schiff of EuroPacific Capital is one industry spokesperson who sees this as a major breakthrough for gold. The metal has been stuck in a limbo for a while, and Asian and Indian investors are still generally sitting on the sidelines as their economies stumble through some bumps this year. But while investors have been waiting anxiously for a signal from Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernake that the U.S. would start printing more money, instead they got that confirmation from the European Central Bank regarding the euro, and it’s no small potatoes.

Schiff said on Thursday, “I’m surprised that gold is not rallying even more considering what’s happening.  Gold has now broken out of a channel.  There was a very nice trendline and we just broke out of that today.  Now that we have broken out of that channel, there is a lot of room to the upside.”

It should be an interesting time ahead for gold.