Gold continues to get crushed despite the best efforts of Fed members to quell concerns

Gold continues to get crushed despite the best efforts of Fed members to quell concerns that the QE gravy trains will reach its final destination some time before the end of the year, as indicted by the conductor, Ben Bernanke, last week. The yellow metal ventured into territory not seen in quite some time, sub-$1200, hitting a low of $1179.4 in overnight hours. Gold has managed to regain some of that ground but still sits more than 1.5% off of yesterdays close of $1211.60. Silver is relatively unchanged from the end of yesterday’s session. Platinum is off nearly .5% to start the day but was much worse off in the overnight hours as the white metal breached the $1300 threshold, hitting $1295.4 before bouncing back to its current $1318 level. Palladium is off $5 from yesterdays close, now trading $644.60. Trading is expected to be choppy as we are at month, quarter and half-year end and producers and investors alike look to square the books. Chicago PMI and Michigan Consumer Confidence data is on tap for today, as well as some more Fed speak from Jeffery Lacker and John Williams. Have a great day and an even better weekend!