Heathrow Airport is a nightmare in many ways. It is so large that it can take hours to get from one terminal to the next. Yet, when we came back from Vancouver on Saturday, we landed at 10:30AM. By 11AM we were in central London.

Finally…we’re back in London. We left at the beginning of April…went to San Diego and Los Angeles…then to Buenos Aires and Salta…then to Paris for a few days.. and now we’re back. London is cold and rainy…just like we left it. Not exactly home…but it will do. But what’s this? The City seems to be winding down. All those hot shots in the financial sector aren’t so hot any more.

Gold did practically nothing from the time Globex trading opened in the Far East on Thursday morning, until noon in London [7:00 a.m. in New York]. From there, and until about a half hour after the Comex open, gold tacked on about $12 in two quick spikes.

Gold tacked on about five bucks in early Far East trading before moving sideways through most of European trading. A small sell-off, starting just before the Comex open, ended with a bang at exactly 9:00 a.m. New York time. Within an hour, gold was up over $20 before a not-for-profit seller put an end to the festivities. The graph then took its usual turn to the right…and that was it for the rest of the trading day. Total estimated volume was 128,629 contracts, with a switch effect of 9,634.

Despite a sharply rising US$ all through Far East, Europe and the Comex open…gold managed to stay within five dollars of its Friday closing price in New York. Gold and silver’s prices peaked at 9:00 a.m. in New York…when both had managed to claw their way into positive territory for the day. But once the London fix was in at 10:00 a.m. in New York, the rug got pulled out from under them.

Gold didn’t do much in Far East trading until later in the day in Hong Kong. A small rally started that got hit shortly after London opened. Every little rally attempt [including the little one in Hong Kong] got sold off by some not-for-profit seller before it could develop any legs to the upside. The top in the gold price was at the London open…and the low of the day was at the London close. From the London close, gold rallied about $15 right into the close of electronic trading on the Globex at 5:15 in New York.

Gold started off early morning Far East trading on Wednesday as it usually does lately…going into a slow decline. And, as usual, at 3:00 a.m…shortly before the London open…the price began to rise, this time sharply. But it was all for naught once again, as someone was there to sell gold hard the moment that the London a.m. fix was in. The decline lasted for the rest of the London session…through the Comex open…and only reversed at the close of London trading at 4:00 p.m….11:00 a.m. New York time. However, this attempted rally was not allowed to amount to much, but gold did close the Globex session about eight dollars above its lows.

Silver was far more volatile. The…

“What I’m confident about is that we will get through it,” said Alistair Darling yesterday about the current economic crisis. Well, of course, we’ll get through it. What I want to know is will we get through it with a currency?

The start of September and it’s throwing it down. Autumn’s on the way already. And come winter, for many people, it could be feeling even more like Bleak House.

Things appear to be going from bad to worse over in Britain. The latest growth forecasts from the OECD say the country is already in recession, and is the only major economy to reach this dreaded condition…so far. Ben Traynor at Fleet Street Daily says the outlook is grim for the the economy, the FTSE index and the British pound. But there are still ways to make profits when times are hard.