Yesterday, we wrote that a small move down in the USD Index would not surprise us as the recent rally had been very sharp. We saw this move yesterday, and while metals and miners had a good opportunity to show strength (there was a positive trigger for a rally in the form of the dollar's move down), they didn't utilize it. Silver moved a bit higher, but gold actually moved slightly lower (signals from the yellow metal are more reliable). Miners were basically flat.

What's next? Will gold finally show strength before the end of the year or will it decline along with its current trend? You'll find details in today's Market Alert.

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The outlook for the general stock market seems to have turned bullish as we saw 3 consecutive closes after the breakout above the previous high. It seems that the investment public now thinks that everything is indeed better and that the outlook for the stock market and the economy is great. Investors seem to have "bought" the Fed's bullishness. At the same time, gold seems unnecessary as a hedge and investors are very reluctant to buy it.

This means two things. The first thing is that gold has likely not finished declining as investors are now catching up to the thought that they don't need gold. The second thing is that we are likely not that far from the final bottom.

There are 3 things that investors and traders should look at to determine whether the bottom is in or not. We explained what they were in the latest Premium Update, and in today's Market Alert we provide a follow-up.

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Tapering is now a fact, and it's not at the same time. Bernanke announced that the QE program will be cut by $10 billion per month, with the purchases of mortgage based securities decreased by half of that amount.

However, tapering and tightening are rightly interpreted as backing out from two distinct expansionary tools. No “tightening” should be expected, since all the inflation hawks emigrated to parts unknown.

While tapering is an important piece of news this week, it is not the only factor that drives the prices of precious metals.

In today’s Premium Update, it is going to help you estimate gold’s final bottoming price. Clues are coming from the silver market, from the mining stock indices, as well as from one of the most important ratios on the precious metals market.

You’ll find all the details inside.

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Tapering is now a fact, and it's not at the same time. Bernanke announced that the QE program will be decreased from $85 billion / month to $75 billion per month, and half of the decrease will decrease the purchases of mortgage based securities.

This is a slight decrease, but overall, it did surprise the market, as most market participants were expecting the tapering to be postponed until 2014.

What's the impact on gold, silver, and mining stocks? We now have tapering but no major decline - is this a bullish sign? Read today's Market Alert for the details.

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