Solid start to 2014 for precious metals, with gold up from USD $1180 to USD$1240 last week, after threatening to break below the June 2013 low on Dec 31st 2013...

Solid start to 2014 for precious metals, with gold up from USD $1180 to USD$1240 last week, after threatening to break below the June 2013 low on Dec 31st 2013 originally. Too early to call this a change of direction though, as market was very short, traders/hedgies were offloading heading into the new year, and the Goldman commodity index rebalancing potentially in play as well. This week, alongside other asset markets, we'll get more of a bead on where gold is heading, but would appear a bit cute for the trend to change right now, with plenty of uncertainty in the market regarding monthly tapering, with path of least resistance still to downside. Having said that, with 'gold bug' bullishness at 0% (Dec 18th update), gold starting to look good from a contrarian perspective. Goes without saying that non-farms will be huge, with a 'miss' impacting market more than a 'beat'