Friday’s very positive US Non-Farm Payrolls up a strong 321,000- surprised the market

Friday’s very positive US Non-Farm Payrolls up a strong 321,000- surprised the market and rove gold down below $1200 dollars to a low of about 1186 in the spot market. Bears however did not come out to party as may have been expected. With the positive to news driving the US dollar Index to its highest level since 2009 expectations may have been to see gold falter. However, with Central bank’s such as ECB, BOJ and even possibly the PBOC instituting their own quantitative easing in the near future shorts are hard to find. In fact December 2^nd CFTC report shows that gold short have declined 28%. Additionally, many traders will be waiting to see the news out of the Euro Zone this Thursday about the use of the ECB’s Long Term Refinancing Operations (LTRO). The data will give a strong indication of when the ECB will be instituting their QE program. A lower than expected number will indicate a need to do so sooner. The PGM’s have been holding their ground in price but rhodium after having lost 6,000 ounces of holdings in the ETF is trading down to 1165. In the USA the only economic number of major importance to watch this week is Retail Sales to be released on Friday.