A small bit of U.S. greenback strength nicked a dollar off gold today. It was regular trading that stuck a dagger into the precious metals, however.

While waiting for the Fed to speak, it seems almost all sectors of the marketplace were holding their collective breath. The U.S. dollar stayed extremely strong, except against the yen, which seems to have escaped gravity’s pull.

All of gold’s loss today is attributable to dollar strength.

The Snowman: Given that today was a low-volume day because of the half-blizzard that toyed with new York City, there are some results we have to discount.

After showing deep declines based on fears about Greece’s elections early in the day, the euro steadied and late in the day actually is showing gains against the dollar.

The precious metals, especially gold, were no match for the dollar, which has been howling and screaming like an F-16 to higher highs, faster and faster.

Despite facing tremendous greenback-strength headwinds today, gold and silver are hanging on to their gains in mid-afternoon trading. This is important because it means, among other things, that investors are feeling positive about precious metals as havens, and even as longer-term investments.

Markets seemed to take a breather today. The Dow was up 0.25% on anticipation of stimulus moves by the European Central Bank, and on news that United Health Care and Netflix reported better-than-expected earnings in Q4.

We have spoken about volatility for the last few weeks. Indeed, there is plenty of volatility and not of the type brought on by world events, or economic events, nor even tectonic shifts – as in a major innovation or reaction to one.

The volatility is being created in the financial sectors of many countries and/or regions.

With precious metals markets closed in New York today in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr., movement in gold was limited.

In overseas markets, gold was down $3.10, a number that would have been larger if not for some U.S. dollar weakness.

Gold continued its rise today, touching 1283 before backing down to a less-heated 1276. Upside was only limited today by the weakness of the euro in the face of a strong dollar. There was also some automated selling once gold hit its high.

Spot gold is now at its highest since September 2, of 2014.