In sports, championship-caliber teams all have at least one characteristic in common: They’re able to focus on the fundamentals.

The tiny double bottom that occurred shortly after the close of Comex trading on Wednesday afternoon may have been the low in gold for this move. Both were ever so slightly below $900. From there, gold rose gradually until about an hour after the London a.m. gold fix on Thursday morning. Then it declined gently until shortly after the London p.m. fix was in. From there, away it went…until a not-for-profit seller showed up in after-hours Globex trading in New York and capped the little price spike that occurred at 3:30 p.m. New York time.

Both gold and silver had short, sharp rallies once Globex trading began in Sydney on Friday morning. Both were sold off immediately.

Gold had another strong day, shooting higher at the London open that carried through to mid-morning in New York, then rebounding from a short, sharp selloff to push higher the rest of the day, finishing at $926.30/oz., up $18.00. For the week, gold tacked on 3%.

After a two-day “holiday” to start the week–Martin Luther King Day today (Monday) and Inauguration Day tomorrow (Tuesday)–it’ll be back to business on Wednesday as Congress begins to grill U.S. Treasury Secretary nominee Timothy Geithner – the appointment many observers believe to be the most important of the new Barack Obama administration.

In the currency market, the dollar moved higher against the euro again. Late Thursday, the euro was trading at $1.3149 vs. $1.3176 on Wednesday.

Germany’s relative fiscal restraint during this crisis should make it an attractive option for investors, says Martin Hutchinson.  The EU’s strongest economy will likely emerge as a safe haven in the post-recovery world. Martin recommends four ways to profit from this trend.

Oil prices have fallen 70% since hitting a record $147.27 a barrel in July, which means in just five months, crude has given up all the price gains it made in the past four years.

If there’s a proverb that captures the outlook for the U.S. economy in the New Year, it’s the one that says: “It’s always darkest before the dawn.”

Oil prices could fall as low as $20 a barrel in early 2009, says Jason Simpkins. But don’t expect these low prices to last long. Dwindling investment will prompt a longer-term supply crunch, which will send crude to new record highs. Jason gives seven ways to profit from this coming spike.