Greetings!, The teleconference among G-7 finance ministers today made no headway on resolving the crisis that has multi epicenters in Greece, Spain, Portugal, and, to a lesser extent, Italy. As Merkel fiddles, retail sales in Europe dropped 1 full percentage point month on month, and the zone's May output index was barely keeping its nose above water at 46, a big drop from April's 46.7 and just a whisker above the bright red danger reading of 45.9 on the dial. German factory orders also declined more than expected. Perhaps that will wake up Queen Angela. Investors are still betting on inflation, even though gold closed slightly lower today. Ask yourself: How can the chief world economies not turn to further stimulus? Although the U.S. services sector received an unexpectedly good report card today, economic activity in general in the U.S. is quite sluggish. China is slow, Japan is in its long-range funk, and Europe is a mess. Pushing back strongly against gold today also was the continued rise of the dollar, which reached a two-year high against the euro, a five-month high against the pound sterling, and a 16-month high against the Swiss franc, the last currency's status an indication of how hard hit Switzerland has been by the euro-crisis due to its banking exposure. All the dollar attractiveness makes it difficult, upon any shaky news entering the market, for gold to reassert itself as a safe haven. But the consolidation under way today may mean just that. The biggest problem in analyzing fundamentals right now is that literally no one seems to know how all the moving parts of the world economy, especially in Europe are going to work. We know how they're supposed to work, but let's face it, they haven't been working in expected ways. Now is the time to pay close attention to technical analysis. There was a bit of a selling frenzy early in today's world market cycle in India, where gold reached an all-time high, a benchmark that precipitated a sell-off. As always, wishing you good trading Executive Producer | 
