Technical Read:  Spot gold prices have been largely range bound since the 6/19 blow-off advance.  The good news (from the Mummy perspective) is that prices are higher than the 6/27 bullish trend change signal. The bad news is that the yellow metal trading has a leaden feeling to it with upside moves being hit with bouts of selling. The trading trend is still up.

What is next? The National Federation of Independent Business reported that its Small Business Optimism Index weakened 1.6 points (to 95) in June. This metric is usually viewed as a leading indicator and underscores some recent apprehensions that stocks may be overdue for a dip. Right now these expectations are largely a neutral for gold traders. The Israeli military announced that it had launched approximately 200 air strikes to blunt militant rocket launching efforts from the Gaza strip.  The Palestinian population is predominately made up of Sunni Muslims and thus may have been emboldened by the by the success of the ISIS movement in Iraq. There are rumors that further action by Israel’s forces may feature a ground attack (round 2?). This is going to put a bid under gold prices, especially heading into a weekend.  –GHG