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Gold put in a decent performance today which coming on a Friday with a jobs report being released is actually encouraging. Over the years we have seen so many of these payroll report days in which gold gets pummeled for no other reason than the bullion banks decide to beat up on the metal. That strength, even in the face of very obvious orchestrated selling such as today’s, is impressive.
Gold rallied just shy of yesterday’s session high before the attack began which further illustrates my recent point that the gold selling Banshees at the Comex are furiously attempting to prevent this week’s high from being taken out since that will trigger a tremendous amount of new buying which will take price up to the last level of resistance just above $1,150 that stands between gold and a retest of $1,200. (more)
Consumer credit increased $5 billion, or 2.4 percent at an annual rate, the Federal Reserve said today in Washington. Borrowing dropped $4.6 billion in December, more than first estimated. The figures track credit card debt and non-revolving loans, including those for automobile purchases.
Stocks rose after the report indicated that some banks may be more willing to lend as the economy recovers from the worst recession since World War II. Growth may get a bigger lift from consumer purchases that account for about 70 percent of the economy when companies start to hire. (more)

The drawback of writing a newsletter with relatively strong opinions in market direction is the substantial risk of being wrong...or in this case just early (we think). Unfortunately, our crystal ball was a bit cloudy earlier this week. We were right about the rally, but didn't anticipate it moving quite this far.
Our 1125 objective in the S&P has come and gone and while we still feel like the market will see a reversal sooner rather than later, we cannot overlook the possibility of a retest of the January highs. This would put the S&P just under 1150...or even moderately higher. The Russell on the other hand, has already surpassed its recent highs and is now trading in territory not seen since late 2008.
There are very valid arguments for the bear camp that are being overlooked (or over run) by this rally, but sometimes fundamentals simply don't matter. The market is panicked...shorts are panicking and being squeezed out and the last of the sidelined cash is panicking to get in. (more)

The announcement by the United Nations this week that it will license the minting of silver and gold bullion coins bearing the UN logo may be the button that launches metal prices into orbit.
In its wide-ranging report this fall, the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) stated that the system of currencies and international banking practices within today’s economies were inadequate, and responsible for the present economic crisis. The report advocates that the present monetary system, wherein the dollar acts as the global reserve currency be re-examined “with urgency”. (more)