The metals were higher this morning but began to move lower while finalizing the edits for this update. This highlights this session's theme, however- that gold is an incredible bargain right now. Besides besting the major stock and bond indexes this year, gold is also at a historically low price point compared to the M2 money supply ratio - the best bargain in 22 years.

We also have burgeoning interest payments on the national debt; 3rd quarter interest payment numbers are out, with $756 billion in interest so far this year. We are approaching $1 trillion in annual interest payments on the national debt, which may serve as a drag on the FED's ability to continue to raise interest rates much longer. Keep in mind this is on a federal budget of $5-6 trillion. While hard to fathom, think about 1/6 of a household budget being dedicated towards interest payments - perhaps not a huge stretch, but challenging when the government begins squeezing those same households to cough up more taxes to pay government interest on the debt.

We may see a softening soon in FED language, which has helped stocks short term and will help precious metals long term.