Muted trading is the overall characteristic of gold today, it traded within an extremely narrow range of just under $10. Gold futures traded to a high today of $1559.80, and a low of $1550. As of 4:30 PM EST is up $0.60 and is fixed at $1558.50.

When we look at trading activity over the last couple of weeks through the eyes of a weekly candlestick chart it is clear that while gold has had erratic and exaggerated price swings, it is in essence forming a base right around last year’s highest price.

After last week’s historic rise to a seven-year record high for, this week w