Allegedly, physical demand in China has sparked the mini-mini-rally we are experiencing in gold, although that is tough to swallow given that prices have been low for some time. It might be that buyers in China are going on a bit of end-of-year spree.

Trading is, as you might suspect, very quiet today. Gold did show some modest strength on short-covering today, although as with all quiet trading days, any movements should be taken with a large grain of salt. The fewer contracts that move, the more exaggerated the price movement, regardless of the direction.

​For anyone unfamiliar with the old, sometimes annoying, Christmas song, "The Twelve Days Of Christmas," which enumerates all kinds of delights, the break in it occurs when the musical chanting slows down and one of the baubles described is "five golden rings." It sits about midway through the piece.

​Much of the U.S. has been pummeled by a winter storm, cold weather, snarled travel. Northern Europe is getting it, too, but even worse. Many, many minds are on the mid-week Christmas holiday and much of the rest of the world will have to wait while the Christian (and not-so-Christian) societies celebrate.

Gold moved up today, taking back a decent chunk of yesterday's decline, mostly on what traders saw as bargain-basement prices and a slightly softer dollar.The trade seems to have been - at least as the day began - to sell dollars and buy gold or silver.Now that the December FOMC meeting is behind us and the tapering executed on QE3 is modest, we can get back to looking at other statistics and c

There is an old comedy routine in the movies where one actor is asked to go for a ride in another's new car. The former becomes excited, dresses up nicely, slicks up his hair, and eventually hops into the car. The owner of the new vehicle drives up about 20 feet, then backs up and parks.

​In a mild surprise - and a largely symbolic move - the FOMC today decided to trim monthly asset purchases they have been making through the QE3 program by $10 billion per month.

The equities markets love it. The dollar bulls love it. Bond bulls sort of love it. Oil likes it quite a bit.

Gold, however, seems to dislike the whole idea fairly heartily.

In the 1987 film classic, Moonstruck, a character says to her philandering husband:

"I just want you to know no matter what you do, you're gonna die, just like everybody else."

Will Wednesday be THE day that tapering is announced? And, even if it is, what will it mean for gold prices?

First, it probably will not happen. Too many stars are aligned (or misaligned, as the case might be) for this to be the correct moment.

As we have maintained recently there is going to be a lot of volatility in the precious metals markets through the holidays.

The volatility will continue to be related to small volumes, interrupted trading weeks, and fewer players in the game, as well as fewer analysts hard at their grindstones.