Net Asset Value Premiums of Certain Precious Metal Trusts and Funds

Gold Daily and Silver Weekly Charts - Good To Be Back Again

“First you destroy those who create values. Then you destroy those who know what values are, and who also know that those who have already been destroyed were in fact the creators of values.

But real barbarism begins when no one can judge or know that what they are doing is barbaric."

Ryszard Kapuscinski

Sometimes one does not really appreciate what they have until it is gone.

It is good to be back again.

Gold has certainly had a volatile trade here in what appears to be the 'handle' of a cup and handle formation.

This is reflective not only of the volatility of a potential turning point ahead of a big move, but also the relative artificiality of the markets overall.

A storm has a gathered intensity within it that becomes unleashed in big events, as the northeast of the US has recently seen. The same can be said of the big changes that occur in the events of humankind.

The great events of life bring out the best and worst in people. I have seen this undeniably proven again and again, but especially in the last week.

People are the oddest mix of a strange transcendent nobility and self-denial, and a pure cussed meanness and ignorant aggressiveness, with a callous, almost brutish, disregard for others.

But even in the face of the most blindly self-destructive arrogance of a few, the goodness in life, its tender mercies, seems to appear again and again, and remains resilient. And this is what gives us hope, always.

"What keeps faith cheerful is the extreme persistence of gentleness and humor. Gentleness is everywhere in daily life, a sign that faith rules through ordinary things: through cooking and small talk, through storytelling, making love, fishing, tending animals and sweet corn and flowers, through sports, music, and books, raising kids—all the places where the gravy soaks in and grace shines through.

Even in a time of elephantine vanity and greed, one never has to look far to see the campfires of gentle people. Lacking any other purpose in life, it would be good enough to live for their sake."

Garrison Keillor

Let's see how the trade in precious metals progresses over the next few days, to see if the handle 'sets' and a cup and handle formation is confirmed with a breakout.

The area where the price swings settled today, around 1720, is a key resistance area. The breakout will be achieved if gold can break up and out through 1800.

SP 500 and NDX Futures Daily Charts - The Morning After

As you may recall, I said some time ago that if Obama was re-elected the equity markets would sell off.

That was almost a no brainer, if one looks at the historical market action after a win by an incumbent. But more importantly, the implications for tax selling this year with the reasonable expectations of higher taxes next year.

So what next? We may see a choppy, sideways market, as some things are uncertain, but again, the fundamentals of the markets are foul. The economic recovery is weak, because demand and the median wage are weak.

There will be no sustained recovery until there is genuine reform.

Daily Gold 'Cup and Handle' Chart Update

A "Cup and Handle" is a bullish continuation pattern in an uptrend.

The greatest factor working against this current gold chart as a cup and handle is that it appears during a consolidation pattern in a broader uptrend.

The 'cup' is best shaped as a "U" and the broader the bottom the better.

The 'handle' is a retracement when the right side of the 'cup' reaches its prior highs. The handle often resembles a bullish pennant.

The retracement usually does not exceed 30% of the advance of the cup to its second high, but can go as deep as 50% in a volatile market.

The cup and handle formation will not be activated until the price of gold rallies about the 'rim' of the cup which is at 1790.

If this correction exceeds 50% then we must consider that gold is in a broad trading range.