Gold

As we have maintained recently there is going to be a lot of volatility in the precious metals markets through the holidays.

The volatility will continue to be related to small volumes, interrupted trading weeks, and fewer players in the game, as well as fewer analysts hard at their grindstones.

Laozi, the 6th century B.C. scholar knew about the future. His view of it concludes today's fundamentals section of our email.

 One set of stellar data for the U.S. economy and one set of moderately negative data, but traders and investors focus on the former while ignoring the latter. From a world composed of 1's and 0's, we have moved to a world of only 1's.

There are only 20 days left in 2013. We can look into some of the baseline reasons that gold's price has dropped now, and then review the year in further detail as time goes on.

With all the gyrations and with all the verbal pyrotechnics coming out from, and about, the Fed, it's no wonder we've seen a spike in prices this week. Traders and analysts have been spinning themselves into a tizzy over the prospect of tapering or not tapering for eight months now.

Bargain hunters, bottom fish, and short covering traders sent prices back into positive territory on Monday after Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard said, with an important set of caveats, that tapering will become increasingly likely as long as the labor market continues to improve.