After today's weekly new unemployment claims, many investors thought gold would make a good bet. The one-week snapshot seemed to be talking awfully loudly to them. In fact, the texture behind the weekly claims is much more positive. Job openings are increasing and some of the above-expected numbers in unemployment seem to be the result of job hopping, not weakness in the labor market.

Wherever you look there is a battle raging - except in equities, which seem to be steamrolling their through the autumn. The lure of the stock markets has been pushing just about every other kind of investment down, although we all know the U.S. dollar is going gangbusters as well.

There was a federal holiday in the United States to mark the service of veterans who have served in American wars. Not everything closes but many people like to take the day off. Very cold weather is settling over the country, a bit early in the season, as well.
That adds up to small volume and larger, quicker swings in trading prices.

As we projected, the short-covering rally we saw late last week flopped. In fact, it wasn't really a short-covering rally, but rather a small uptick that was seized upon by opportunistic buyers who bid gold up and then sold out at the first quavering moment.

No fundamentals are in place to help with the promise of a big gold rally. (Unless you count eastern Ukraine.)

A slightly less-than-cheering October jobs report gave traders pause as to whether they were jumping the gun on anticipating higher interest rates from the Fed. But, in fact, the job report was (or more accurately, will be) much better than raw numbers indicate.

Although there were gold buyers a-plenty today, they were fighting an uphill battle against an implacable, rampaging foe. The dollar has become an untamable wild horse, rampaging here and there without effective resistance.

Gas under $3 a gallon. Unemployment under 6%. Stock market breaking records every day.
No wonder Obama is so unpopular.

The rising dollar took a breather today, so gold got to skip up a small fraction. Oil, however, continued its death spiral, and now speculation centers around not whether, but when, crude will touch $70 or $71.

The dollar again hammered its way through the trading village, beating on doors, setting roofs on fire, bringing down almost everything in its path.

Gold hit a four-year low today after Japan unexpectedly greatly expanded its monetary stimulus program that in the United States was called quantitative easing. The U.S. Federal Reserve just Wednesday ended its program. We don't think it's coincidence, which is fine. Let Japan assume its proper role in the world economic arena.