Gold closed the first quarter up 16.4% vs. 0.8% for the S&P 500, giving gold a 15.6% edge over stocks in the first quarter. 

Gold closed the first quarter up 16.4% vs. 0.8% for the S&P 500, giving gold a 15.6% edge over stocks in the first quarter. 

Gold held above $1250 through the Tuesday terrorist attack in Brussels, but when some Federal Reserve officials advocated raising rates at the next meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee in late April, the U.S. dollar gained strength, pushing gold lower in U.S. dollar terms, falling to $1,217 by Friday. 

Gold gained $5 last week, but it was a roller coaster ride, down $25 in the first three days of the week, then up $39 on Thursday and declining about $10 on Friday.  The stock market eked out a small gain for the year, up 0.3%, but gold is still performing 18% better than the S&P 500 stock index so far this year. 

Gold gained $5 last week, but it was a roller coaster ride, down $25 in the first three days of the week, then up $39 on Thursday and declining about $10 on Friday.  The stock market eked out a small gain for the year, up 0.3%, but gold is still performing 18% better than the S&P 500 stock index so far this year. 

Gold gained $5 last week, but it was a roller coaster ride, down $25 in the first three days of the week, then up $39 on Thursday and declining about $10 on Friday.  The stock market eked out a small gain for the year, up 0.3%, but gold is still performing 18% better than the S&P 500 stock index so far this year. 

Gold topped $1280 last Thursday but then it dropped to $1250 on Friday. Every time gold has corrected this year, it has bottomed out at higher support levels, which form a new base for the next surge to a new 12-month high.

Gold touched $1280 on Friday, March 4, a 20% increase for the first nine weeks of 2016.  Gold fell to $1260 late Friday and then recovered Monday. Friday’s rise and retrenchment came rapidly. Gold rose from $1253 at 8:20 am to $1280 at 10:00 am Friday in response to the monthly jobs report (released at 8:30 am), showing a large number (254,000) of new jobs created in February, but a disappointing 0.1% decline in average wages, indicating that the Federal Reserve would likely NOT raise rates this week at their 8-times-a-year meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC).  

Gold touched $1280 on Friday, March 4, a 20% increase for the first nine weeks of 2016.  Gold fell to $1260 late Friday and then recovered Monday. Friday’s rise and retrenchment came rapidly. Gold rose from $1253 at 8:20 am to $1280 at 10:00 am Friday in response to the monthly jobs report (released at 8:30 am), showing a large number (254,000) of new jobs created in February, but a disappointing 0.1% decline in average wages, indicating that the Federal Reserve would likely NOT raise rates this week at their 8-times-a-year meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC).  

Gold is up 16.9% in the first two months – the largest gain in the first two months since 1980.