It takes more than two to make a trend.  JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) yesterday (Thursday) became the second major U.S. investment bank – following Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) – to this week report windfall profits for the second-quarter. That’s helped fuel a four-day advance in U.S. stocks that’s seen the Dow Jones Industrial Average surge 7%.

Monday

Earnings Announcements: Novellus (NVLS)

If you live in the United States, there is a good chance the crisis in California is going to affect you. And if you own municipal bonds — either directly or indirectly through other investments — what’s happening in California could have a major impact on your finances.For years, state government budgets have been expanding as the economy grew and the rising housing market swelled property tax coffers. But the severe recession that has brought rising unemployment and a collapse in property values has drastically cut revenues from income, property, sales and corporate taxes.

U.S. Government to Hold Hearings on Futures Trading; Boeing to Acquire 787 Fuselage Maker; Job Losses Contribute to Rising Credit Delinquencies; Ex-Goldman Sachs Worker May Have Stolen Crucial Code; Declining Southwest Traffic Prompts Deep Fare Discounts; GM Asks U.S. to Let It Drop Dealers, Parts Maker Files for Bankruptcy

From the first paragraph of my Saturday commentary…”I don’t know what it is about that [one hour and change] stretch of time between the Sydney close and the London open…but if there is going to be a down day…it starts right there a large percentage of the time.” Any questions? Actually, both gold and silver got sold off the moment that the New York bullion banks opened for business 6:00 p.m. on Sunday night…which is very early Monday morning in Far East trading. Shortly before 3:00 p.m. in Hong Kong, gold had almost made it back to unchanged…and silver was actually up a couple of cents when the hammer fell. The bottom for gold came very shortly after the London…

Gold gained about $8 in the first eight hour of trading in the Far East yesterday morning. The top came shortly after 3:00 p.m. in Hong Kong…and between that time, and the Comex open, gold gave half of that gain back. Then we were treated to that [by now] familiar chart pattern…with the worst damage occurring once the London p.m. gold fix was in at 10:00 a.m. New York time. Between its high in Hong Kong and its low in New York…gold got hit for around $23.

Gold price action on Monday looked similar to Friday’s. The bottom for gold in the Far East came shortly after 3:00 p.m. in Hong Kong…rose until shortly after London opened, declined a couple of bucks…but once the London a.m. gold fix was in [10:30 a.m. in London...5:30 a.m. in New York], gold rose to its high of the day shortly after 11:00 a.m. This high [once again over $940] lasted until 9:00 a.m. in New York, shortly after the Comex opened…then it got taken down eight bucks to its low of the day at 10:00 a.m. in New York…which just happens to be the London p.m. fix…3:00 p.m. over there.

The gold price was so quiet on Monday morning in Far East trading that I smacked the side of my computer screen to see if I could get the price to move…but, alas, it did not.