There are many experts out there today explaining that the reason gold took a hit today is because they have read some special meaning into Janet Yellen's post-FOMC press conference last week. That's pure hogwash.

Sometimes the clearest thinking comes from dissenters. In the case of the Fed and the results and blowback from the latest FOMC meeting, that certainly seems the case. It may be only a matter of wording, but there seemed to be a slight policy shift.

The opening day jitters that accompanied Fed Chairwoman Janet Yellen's news conference remarks yesterday seem to have settled out a bit today.

All three major U.S. equities markets were up, Treasuries were stable, and oil is down as the immediate threat of disruption in Ukraine subsides.

Almost everyone was expecting clearer communications from the Fed today. What we got instead was a bit muddled. And, most investors and analysts tend toward accepting the gloomy side of things until upward momentum is a given. (And we stress "most.")

It was a good day for profit takers, since they are facing a pair of unresolved matters and the climb up in the gold price has been long and strong.

When the U.S. was locked into a severe winter from December through February (heck, the East Coast is actually getting hammered again today) economic activity was squelched. All the things you can imagine working toward that suppression of activity indeed went on.

AFTER THE SHOW  contains a portion  from the Weekend Review (3.14.14)

We are all aware by now of the fact that the shrill dispute in the Ukraine/Crimea is driving gold prices higher. Today silver grabbed some of the same luster, after having had a rugged handful of sessions on a drop in industrial demand from China.

Are the Russians begging for a war with the E.U., U.S. and other industrialized societies? The massing of troops on the Ukrainian border, reported only mid-afternoon by  The New York Times seems to indicate the answer is "yes."