The precious complex is taking a bit of a breather here this morning following yesterday’s surge on the back of a budget deal

The precious complex is taking a bit of a breather here this morning following yesterday’s surge on the back of a budget deal in congress that kept the country from defaulting on its debt obligations. However, the agreement between the House, the Senate and President Obama merely sweeps the issue under the rug for another 3-4 months. At some point one has to clean under the rug, right? Therein rests the uncertainty that helped bolster the metals, particularly gold, throughout yesterday’s session. The yellow metal closed Thursday at $1323, roughly $40 higher than where it began the day. Weakness in the greenback helped squeeze out all but the most committed shorts in the market and now market participants will look to the next FOMC meeting for any indication of QE tapering. That meeting is scheduled to begin on October 29^th. Not surprisingly, some Fed members are already voicing their thoughts on the matter. Dallas Fed Head Mr. Fisher said, “Given all this uncertainty, it would be hard to argue to change course on monetary policy”. IN other global economic news, the world’s #2 economy, China, reported 3^rd quarter GDP came in at 7.8%, meeting expectations and improving on the previous quartes growth of 7.5%. In mining news, Amplats, the world #1 platinum producer, said it will maintain full-year guidance on platinum production despite recent disruptions. The miner has production guidance of 2.3 million ounces for the year. Have a great weekend!