Fastening their claws onto one short phrase of the Fed in the FOMC minutes released today, some traders read it as a sign that interest rate hikes will arrive sooner rather than later.

The phrase was:

Gold is still hewing tightly to its range, buffeted by contradictory economic trends born of the uneven, yet persistent U.S. recovery.

Gold has been mired in a range, or two sets of ranges recently. But, the strength the yellow metal is showing in the face of lowered world tensions and in the face of renewed risk appetite for equities is quite impressive.