There was a moment to start the month this morning where Gold looked like it wanted to take a crack at last week’s high of $1731.45 on the December contract, now the front-month contract.  But, like the east Pennsylvanian ground hog, it saw its shadow and retreated for the safety of the $1710’s, closing the afternoon on the Globex at $1715.15.  That said, however, a strong showing tonight in Asia pushing the price back over $1720 or even $1725 before the U.S. jobs report and that could be high enough to make a stab at that level.

But, since this is already being billed as the most important jobs number in the history of everything (OMG!), at least for those who have Democratic party sympathies, it would be the height of silliness to believe that any number other than a beat would be reported.  Last week’s initial jobless claims which was also beat expectations was revised down last week and this week’s beat by just 1k.  And, since, as Zerohedge has been so kind to point out, that number has been revised upwards now 80(!) weeks in a row, for all intents and purposes the jobless claims number actually missed expectations.

The truth is that behind the headlines there is nothing but smoke and mirrors while the illusion of stability continues to be promoted without any rational reason as to why it should be.  The physical market for gold is to tight it could be Megan Fox’s abs and yet the futures market continues to grind in an ever tighter coiling pattern waiting to pounce higher.