Gold

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.

Strong, stronger, strongest. That's how we can best describe the economic news that this week streamed out of the United States, official and unofficial. And, like many aspects of growth, sentiment counts.

There is a flurry of economic reporting activity this week. The first out of the gate, ADP's labor report, seems to have initially depressed gold prices, then that dip inspired investors to step in on bargain-hunting and short covering.

Gold essentially held steady today in advance of more data due out later this week from the U.S. Department of Labor. Many analysts and traders are figuring that, one way or another, employment data will drive the FOMC meeting later this month and into 2014.

Being on the right side of a trade is comforting.

Gold prices dropped Monday when a better-than-expected U.S. factory report beat expectations and fueled demand for the dollar by shoring up expectations that the Federal Reserve will begin to scale back monetary stimulus programs in early 2014.