Traders and investors are running toward the exits. There is a combination of reasons for this not least among them the imminent approach of the big fat holiday season and the end of the year book balancing dance.

As we pointed out yesterday the Volatility Index (VIX) has been going crazy. It is up 34% this week, meaning there is much more implied volatility in markets of all kinds.

The yanking this way and that by fundamental forces now growing wilder and woollier by the day, left gold almost becalmed in a sea of madness.

Oil is tumbling into a seemingly bottomless bit, breaching $61 for WTI crude and looking every bit as if it will go lower. (Although we’re sure that the “magical” level of $60 will bring out bargain hunters and risk takers.)

The half- and quart-point losses on the Dow and S&P 500 look positively like a day at the beach compared to the rest of the world’s exchanges. And the modest rise on the NASDAQ seems like Thanksgiving, Christmas and Fourth of July rolled into one.

Oil continued to careen lower today, both WTI crude and Brent free falling around 4.25%. (Natural gas tumbled even more – 4.65%.) Oil-dependent nations that have been planning poorly are reeling, Venezuela and Russia among them.

Fundamentally speaking, today’s U.S. job numbers and income-increase numbers are an ominous sign for gold prices. The solid, 321K monthly hiring figures for November was not only significant in quantity but in quality.

In spite of an assist from a strong euro/weaker dollar, which would push gold prices higher, the yellow precious metal Is down today in regular trading.

It’s not much of a drop, but it is a sign of further uncertainty in gold, as it seeks true direction.

Unusually, gold took its cues from a powering-up U.S. economy. This at first seems counterintuitive.

Gold pulled back today in the face of stronger equities, a solid rise in the dollar and new weakness in oil. It is a good time to remind ourselves, though, that gold is up 2-1/4% in the last month. We’re going to have to ascertain where our trends lie for the remainder of the year and into the New Year.

The bulls took command today, as the moment of truth about the direction of gold came to hand after a long, slow holiday in the U.S. Part of the bullish momentum was provided by a faltering equities market, although those recovered somewhat in the late-afternoon.