While the Fed left in place its notation that interest rates would remain stable for a “considerable time,” they also boldly underscored progress that was being made.

Like so many of the markets, gold seemed befuddled today. Lowering volume, choppy trading that surged then receded, and indecision based on flying rumors about what the Fed might or might not do, hampered gold.

Gold fell down and broke its crown today, but oil is plummeting toward a rendezvous with destiny. The equities markets can’t decide what to do, having been up in the morning but now definitively down in mid-afternoon.