While prices of gold don’t necessarily affect silver prices or vice versa, history has demonstrated that when gold rises or falls, silver usually follows suit.

I’m going to open the door to a “secret society” for you today.

Gold and silver prices climbed to their highest in seven weeks on Monday, as the dollar’s slide to its lowest since mid-December boosted interest in hard assets.

Upbeat headlines have been everywhere in recent weeks, and they all seem to point to a single conclusion: The U.S. economy is in the early stages of a very rapid recovery.

I wouldn’t read a lot into the action in the gold market on Friday. It was just another day off the calendar…as Ted Butler would say. The only comment I would make is that the action in the gold price feels more like a top than a bottom.

Gold added about five bucks to its price from the time that trading began in the Far East Thursday…and the London a.m. gold fix. Then from there, it gave back seven dollars going into the p.m. gold fix…and after that, it gained over eight dollars until half past lunchtime in New York. Then a really serious seller showed up taking nine bucks off the price between then and the close of electronic trading in New York. It was pretty choppy trading all around…and it was obvious that every rally ran into serious resistance. The same could be said for silver.

It was a nothing kind of day yesterday. Both gold and silver got sold off at bit in the Hong Kong market late in their afternoon. This lasted until shortly after London opened. Then the prices just sat there until shortly before the London p.m. gold fix, when a N.Y. rally of sorts commenced in both, with neither metal going too far. Ted Butler pointed out to me that neither silver or gold got above their Monday highs…and that was probably the intent.

Gold declined gently throughout Far East and early European trading on Tuesday…and by shortly after lunchtime in London…had given up around four bucks. From there, a smallish rally developed that made an attempt to continue rallying on the Comex, but got cut off at the knees [at its high of the day] shortly after 9:10 a.m. Eastern time. This decline lasted until 1:15 p.m. in New York…and by the time electronic trading ended at 5:15 p.m. yesterday afternoon…gold was back to virtually unchanged from Monday’s close.

All was calm in Far East trading on Friday morning. Both metals began to slip a little starting at 3:00 p.m. on Friday afternoon in Hong Kong. This lasted through London trading as well…and by the time the Comex opened, gold was down $10 and silver had slid about 23 cents.

From the close of trading in New York on Wednesday afternoon at 5:15 Eastern Time…and the close of trading 24 hours later on Thursday at the same time…the U.S. dollar lost about 90 basis points. That’s a big drop. Gold’s response? Up three bucks…and silver was actually down on the day.