This is the Daily report as it is displayed to subscribers of our daily service - Yesterday we said, "We're thinking that the Russians are speaking foolishly while acting wisely. So far, anyway."

Yesterday we said, "We're thinking that the Russians are speaking foolishly while acting wisely. So far, anyway."

Today we'd like to augment that, since some of the driving force behind gold's bump up is due to the Ukrainian crisis.  

One of the things sailors on the open ocean fear most - after a violent storm - is ending up becalmed. No wind, no breath, no movement.

You know those people who decide that, when they come to a railroad crossing, decide they can beat or somehow get around the lowered gates? They can't.

Gold fought an uphill battle against the equities today.

The good news is that finally Russia seems to have been brought to bay regarding Ukraine and appears willing to "go international" on solving the problems, which really, when all is said and done, don't seem all that insurmountable. It would be better for Ukraine, Russians living in Ukraine, and Russians in Russia if a genuine effort to deal with the West were made.  

Inverted Hammer & Hammer

Some days you hop on those bikes in the gym, and you pedal and pedal and you end up asking yourself: "Why am I doing this? Shouldn't I be going somewhere?

Today was just that sort of day in gold. One would have thought that bargain hunters and short covering players would have made a stronger stand, but they didn't. Perhaps everyone is waiting for the proper entry point.  

The Grateful Dead once sang that, "When life looks like Easy Street, there is danger at your door." Today's trading action in gold certainly proved their point.

Yet, to our way of thinking there is something seriously amiss with the analysis that says the U.S. economy is picking up so strongly it may warrant a rate increase.

Overcoming the serious drag presented by a rising dollar, gold and silver rose today on the rising tensions in the eastern part of Ukraine. Nobody, especially the equities markets, wants this conflict to go any farther. However, Tsar Putin seems to keep pushing and pushing.