Gold and silver didn’t do much from the opening in the Far East until the London p.m. fix at 10 a.m. NY time. Then both began to rise from that point onward. Gold finished up $16.80 and silver was up 28 cents. I was underwhelmed, as the dollar finished down almost a full cent. However platinum and palladium had a stellar day…both doing much better than silver or gold. That’s because nobody has a thumb on their prices. However, the gold equities were on fire, so I’m thankful for that.

Martin Hutchinson in Money Morning says that over the long-term oil and agricultural commodities are likely to deflate.

This is because, once the threat posed by the US housing crisis has passed, the Federal Reserve will be forced to increase interest rates to fight inflation. Other countries will follow, which will deflate the commodities boom.

However, over the short-term, gold, whose movements are directly linked to inflation, is likely to bounce. Martin reckons a price tag of $1,500 an ounce for the yellow metal is entirely possible. He recommends two ETFs and four gold miners to profit from this situation…

Over the past few months we’ve been telling you about how silver enters a seasonal push around mid-summer and goes on to move higher until the end of the year.

Both gold and silver started off quietly in early Monday morning trading in the Far East. It wasn’t until 3:00 a.m. New York time that both metals got sold off right up until the Comex opened. Gold was down $10 and silver about 25 cents. However, once the Comex got going, rallies commenced in both metals.

Gold tacked on about $5 going into the London open early Tuesday morning, and shortly after that it was down hill until London closed for the day. At that point the boys in the Comex (IAU) were on their own.