Gold

Gold fought an uphill battle against the equities today.

The good news is that finally Russia seems to have been brought to bay regarding Ukraine and appears willing to "go international" on solving the problems, which really, when all is said and done, don't seem all that insurmountable. It would be better for Ukraine, Russians living in Ukraine, and Russians in Russia if a genuine effort to deal with the West were made.  

Inverted Hammer & Hammer

Some days you hop on those bikes in the gym, and you pedal and pedal and you end up asking yourself: "Why am I doing this? Shouldn't I be going somewhere?

Today was just that sort of day in gold. One would have thought that bargain hunters and short covering players would have made a stronger stand, but they didn't. Perhaps everyone is waiting for the proper entry point.  

The Grateful Dead once sang that, "When life looks like Easy Street, there is danger at your door." Today's trading action in gold certainly proved their point.

Yet, to our way of thinking there is something seriously amiss with the analysis that says the U.S. economy is picking up so strongly it may warrant a rate increase.