I don’t know why everyone’s worried about the fiscal cliff.

I don’t know why everyone’s worried about the fiscal cliff. According to the Mayan’s we won’t even get to Jan. 1, 2013! However, regardless of which catastrophic event does/does not happen, there’s always some economic data to keep us preoccupied.  Earlier this morning the Commerce Department reported a decline in U.S. retail sales in October. Hurricane Sandy is said to be the primary culprit of a .3% decline in retail sales last month. The massive storm that battered the north east is said to be the cause of a 1.5% haircut in auto sales for the month of October. Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics was expected to have shown a .1% increase in the PPI but that figure actually showed a decline of .2% for the month of October. Later today we’ll get the meeting minutes from the FOMC’s last meeting but no one is expecting anything surprising. The precious complex is trading modestly higher in the early part of today’s session with the exception of palladium. The white metal is continuing to surge higher after yesterday’s >4% move higher following JM’s forecast of a 915,000 ounce palladium deficit. Palladium is up 1.35% on the day, now trading at $645. However, the recent uptick may provide a good opportunity to lock in profits so a correction is not out of the question. Have a great day!