asia and the metals - no rest for the wicked

Good morning folks,

Well, asia did not have a good start to the week, being mostly down
across the board. Japan led the parade, dropping 2.34%, with Korea down
1.08%, HongKong -.74%, Taiwan -.49% and even China down .24%. Only
India posted a gain being up +.62%.

On the metals front, many of us were waiting to see if the
sell-off/correction from last week would continue. Indeed, early this
morning, gold was off over $5. However, it's since recovered most of
that and right now sits at 548.30 -1.90, silver is at 9.25 -.10,
platinum 1022 -10 and palladium 278 -2. XAU closed last week at 138.66
-4.39.

>From everything I've been reading, it looks like primary support for
gold is in the 537ish area or somewhere between 530 and 540. And there
are various support levels on down - 520-525, 500, etc. So, this
correction may or may not be over, but from my perspective, the key
thing right now is staying in the 540's. Backing and filling in this
area would be very healthy and set the stage for the run past 600. So,
at this point, I'm still sitting tight, albeit clicking my heels. ;-)

peace,

rono