Gold

It seems all markets took a breather today.

Those that were up were up only a little. Those that were down, only were down a touch.

Sooner or later the dollar had to run out of steam. The best move was in the euro, which gained about 0.37% on the day. The yen and G.B. pound were virtually unchanged.

Danger and delight grow on one stalk.
        - Scottish Proverb

Scotland is about to vote for disunion with the United Kingdom. While it is (forgive the pun) a royal pain for the rest of the kingdom, the Scots are in for a rough ride. There will be a hundred questions to be resolved before anything of note can be accomplished.

Last Friday our headline on The Gold Forecast Weekend Report said "Ukraine Migraine." Fighting seems to have ebbed there for the moment, and, just as fierce battle did not give us a lift in precious metals, the cease fire did not give us a dip.

Quite to the contrary, gold and silver rose equally in percentage terms today. But there were other reasons they popped a bit.

It's amusing to ponder that only last year the heads of state of China and Russia were calling for another entity to replace the dollar as the world's reserve currency. Well, someone ought to let both the Chinese and the Russians in on the new joke. The dollar is looking like the world champ again.

A mild round of bargain hunting or bounce buying characterizes today's gold and silver trading. Put a big emphasis on mild.

The slightly eased temperature in Ukraine did not help matters for bulls. Heck, if an invasion by Russia didn't help precious metals, why would peace talks?

Never mind the Russian tanks in Ukraine and the idle threats against NATA by the resurgent Russians. Never mind ISIS, beheadings, Somalia military actions, the deflation of Europe, the teetering of Venezuela.

Never mind nuttin' else. Here's why gold and silver dropped like rock in the ocean today.

Even without the Labor Day holiday this Monday in the U.S., Ukraine would be giving precious metals traders big problems. The key is that no one can decide whether it's a big problem or just a big headache.

President Obama just finished addressing the twin crises in Ukraine and the Middle East in the White House press room. It's no wonder that gold and silver are up today on haven demand. Risk was off around the globe in equities.

No, that's not a typo, although it's understandable you might think we meant "physical."

The Congressional Budget Office said today that the U.S. economy will end up growing a paltry 1.5% for the year. Some ascribe most of that weakness to a particularly harsh winter in the United States.

It is ironic that on a day when Tsar Vladimir Putin is shaking hands with Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko, gold is deriving strength from the crisis atmosphere in the eastern section of Ukraine.

Of course it is no wonder that tensions are rising. U.S. officials close to the situation have said a few large mouthfuls: