US GDP increases faster than expected

US 3Q GDP was revised higher from its initial 3.6% increase to a surprising 4.1% increase. The Commerce Department stated that a revision in consumer spending was behind the higher number. The data sent stocks on a tear higher as they set yet another record high. All is well as far as investors are concerned especially if the consumer is spending money. Again, I am merely repeating what the sentiment is in the market right now.

Gold seemed to draw a bit of strength from the number. The thinking was that the Fed's rosier assessment of the economy coming out of the recent FOMC meeting was being confirmed. That led some traders into thinking that if the economy is growing at a faster clip, job hiring will begin to pick up. If that were to occur, there might be some modest pickup in inflation.

Also, Asian demand for gold was stirred last evening as bargain buyers stepped up to grab the metal near 6 month lows in price. Coming at the chart point that it is, technicians are closely watching to see if the critical support zone near $1180 can hold. Gold will have to regain the "12" handle and maintain it to convince bottom pickers that they can wade back into the water. That will buy the bulls a bit of a breather but until they can take price back above $1220 - $1225, rallies will be suspect.

Short covering and bottom picking were the features in gold in today's session. Some shorts are closing out their bets on lower prices and taking their profits with them as they leave for an extended Christmas break. Many will not return until after the start of the New Year. Next week promises to be one of volatility as liquidity begins drying up in earnest. Do not be surprised if we see some strange moves.

By the way, just to have some fun with the Flash Crashers - Gold shot up sharply near mid-morning as some sizeable buy orders entered. One trader quipped that " No LEGITIMATE BUYER would act in such a fashion".

It never seems to end does it? We are even back to backwardation talk once again... sigh.... let's just say it once again - gold will bottom when it is good and ready to bottom. Not a minute sooner and not a minute later. Traders just take the market as it is and attempt to deal with that rather than dealing with conjecture and speculative theories. When the market becomes concerned about something, it will be reflected in the price. Until then, it is just a huge waste of energy attempting to keep up with the latest sensation in the gold market. Honestly, I sometimes wonder if some of these guys have a life outside of the gold price.

I have stated it before but will do so again - Gold is insurance against currency debasement. One buys insurance to protect themselves against unforeseen events HOPING that they will never have to use it. One does not buy insurance and then OBSESS over the policy. You buy it, obtain your peace of mind and then get about with the business of life. Owning gold provides you with the peace of mind that if events unfold that are deleterious to the health of the US Dollar ( if you are an American citizen - obviously citizens of other countries would be focused on their own native currency) your assets are shielded as much as possible.

It does seem to me however that those who keep yearning, pining, hoping, wishing, and even perhaps praying, for a higher gold price are yearning, pining, hoping, wishing and even perhaps praying for the house to burn down so that they can collect on the insurance policy. I find that rather sad. I am interested as much as anyone else in honest money and am more than ever concerned over the mounting US mountain of unfunded liabilities. That is why I own gold but I really marvel that so many seem to almost welcome the chaos that would engulf our society should the price of gold indeed reach some of the levels that many of these prognosticators assure us it will reach. As a father with children, I do not wish to see a society that would more closely resemble something out of a "Mad Max" movie just so that I could bathe in all the Dollars that my $50,000 ounce gold bar would bring me. There is almost a morbid mentality that would wish for such things.

Back to the technical charts - With the S&P 500 making new highs, traders are confirming that money flows are continuing to move into equities as the "go to" investment sector of choice. Until something occurs to change this psyche, I still think gold is going to face some serious headwinds to any sort of SUSTAINED move higher. There will continue to be rallies as shorts book some profits and bottom pickers emerge but the intermediate and short term trend remains lower until proven otherwise. I understand that some of those in the gold community will swear, curse and rant at me for saying this ( Norcini has crossed over to the Dark Side), but the market is what it is and that means accepting it and dealing with it if one is to make money as a trader.

By the way, I am thinking of temporarily changing the name of this blog to "Darth Dan's Market Views" and posting a picture of Darth Vader below mine to show the former Trader Dan and then the transformation to the reviled Darth Dan. When gold finally does bottom and resumes a SUSTAINED uptrend, then I can change the name back to Trader Dan once again with Luke Skywalker having rescued me and turned me back to the correct side of the force.

The HUI is seeing a bit of a bounce today as some shorts cover and some bargain/value buyers move in to take advantage of low prices. That being said, considering that the broader equity markets are soaring into new heights, that this meager bounce is all that the mining shares can put in for right now is rather disappointing. Unless we can see some more concerted buying efforts in the mining sector next week, the HUI is on track for the worst MONTHLY CLOSE since May 2005. That is even lower than the monthly close that occurred during the depths of the credit crisis in 2008. Very depressing stuff indeed.

At least bellwether Barrick Gold remains above that chart gap posted last Tuesday ( Dec 10). While it is not that much, I am sure the beleaguered bulls will take all the consolation that they can find right now. Maybe we will see some guys step in here and buy the miners in anticipation of a short pop higher. Year end book squaring could bring about some selling as investors throw away losers for the year to offset some of the gains that they have made elsewhere in the equity world. Once that selling is finished up, there might be a reduction in willing sellers at these levels, especially as the end of the year draws nigh and traders avoid putting on any sizeable positions as they wait for the advent of the New Year to do so. We'll watch and see what develops.

One more time for emphasis - be prepared for all sorts of strange and inexplicable moves in many of our futures markets. Traders are squaring books for year end and are moving to the sidelines to take some time off. That sort of thing is going to result in some bizarre price swings. Day to day gyrations do not matter as much right now as the longer term trends.