Gold bulls are sniffing, looking, digging, listening with ear to the ground - everything short of consulting the tea leaves - to find some shred of news that will drive prices up.

Alas, today was not much different than yesterday.

Putin put his saber back in the scabbard. Or so he says. One way or another, as the elections in Ukraine approach, (May 25), the rhetoric has been turned to "keep warm." Cooler, business heads seem to be prevailing.

The U.S. economy seems to be standing alone on the sunny side of the street. Worries elsewhere are a drag on the whole world, and Europe, Japan and China can't expect the U.S. to carry the whole burden of interminably providing growth.