The dollar retreated against the euro today, giving gold an almost $2.00 head start. Investors and traders, however, tripped up the yellow precious metal, so instead gold is up only 20 cents in late afternoon trading.

One would have thought that after Tuesday’s big drop in gold there would have been at least decent interest in the Asian market, if only to create and then ride the bounce. That wasn’t the case. Interest was at best marginal.

A slightly mixed but nevertheless positive uptick in durable orders helped propel the U.S. dollar higher today. Taking out aircraft as a component meant the index was up 1% in April.