Alex’s Notes: This bull market is following a typical pattern. We were seeing very high networth ’smart money’ clients selling tech stocks and buying gold and silver bullion back in 1995. Now comes the institutions. Eventually comes the Mom and Pop’s, but by then, the lions share of the gains will already be made, and the Mom’s and Pop’s will once again rush in at the end. Got gold yet? *** Gold lures inflation-wary hedge fund chiefs By Martina Fuchs LONDON (Reuters) – U.S. hedge fund managers are increasingly likely to buy gold to protect their personal wealth against inflation, an investment management firm said on Thursday. London-based Moonraker said a survey it carried out in the United States found that 20 out of 22 fund managers interviewed bought physical gold for personal investment on concerns the U.S.’ quantitative easing programme ...

Gold surge fuelled by inflation fears… Deflation seen short-lived…  Platinum boosted, helped by auto sector optimism

Gold surged on Monday, helped by higher oil prices, a lower dollar and investor concern about inflationary pressures given the large amounts of money being pumped into the global economy.

Autocatalyst material platinum jumped more than 6 percent to $840 an ounce, while palladium gained more than 11 percent to $178 on growing optimism about a rescue for the auto industry in the United States.

Spot gold rose nearly 3 percent to $776.70 an ounce and was up at $773.90/775.90 at 1030 GMT from $754.60 in New York late on Friday, when it fell to $740.40, the lowest since November 20 in a commodities-wide sell-off.

To some, talk of inflation is premature given the world is currently grappling with the prospect of deflation, but forward looking investors are

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U.S. non-farm payrolls fall 533,000 in November… Oil slips more than 2 percent

Gold fell on Friday as investors sold assets after data showed a much larger-than-expected fall in U.S. November non-farm payrolls.

A sharp dip in the dollar in the immediate wake of the numbers initially sent gold higher, but it quickly gave up gains as the U.S. currency reversed direction.

The precious metal is often bought as an alternative investment to the dollar and tends to move in the opposite direction to it.

Spot gold was quoted at $752.30/754.30 an ounce at 1427 GMT, against $765.70 late in New York on Thursday, having earlier touched a low of $747.20.

“(The data) shows a worsening economic situation, and it is hard for assets to maintain value against that,” said John Meyer, an analyst at Fairfax investment bank.

U.S. non-farm payrolls fell by 533,000

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