In the precious metals markets this week . . .

GOLD:
Monex spot gold prices opened the week at $1,413 . . . traded as high as $1,431 on Tuesday and as low as $1,373 on Wednesday and Friday . . . and the Monex AM settlement price on Friday was $1,384, down $29 for the week.  Gold support is now anticipated at $1,372, then $1,349, and then $1,315 . . . with resistance anticipated at $1,392, then $1,404, and then $1,430.

SILVER:
Monex spot silver prices opened the week at $29.67 . . . traded as high as $30.71 on Tuesday and as low as $28.00 on Wednesday . . . and the Monex AM settlement price on Friday was $28.63, down $1.04 for the week.  Silver support is now anticipated at $28.50, then $28.04, and then $27.90 . . . and resistance anticipated at $28.97, then $30.25, and then $30.68.

PLATINUM:
Monex spot platinum prices opened the week at $1,721 . . . traded as high as $1,730 on Tuesday and as low as $1,667 on Friday . . . and the Monex AM settlement price on Friday was $1,675, down $46 for the week.  Platinum support is now anticipated at $1,665, then $1,635, and then $1,620 . . . and resistance anticipated at $1,695, then $1,723, and then $1,781.

PALLADIUM:
Monex spot palladium prices opened the week at $760 . . . traded as high as $772 on Tuesday and as low as $716 on Wednesday . . . and the Monex AM settlement price on Friday was $732, down $28 for the week.  Palladium support is now anticipated at $726, then $718, and then $682 . . . and resistance anticipated at $734, then $754, and then $776.

QUOTES OF THE WEEK:

From Alan Abelson, in his ''Up & Down Wall Street'' column in Barron's on December 6th:

''The time is long gone, [said former Fed chairman Paul Volcker last week], when the 'U.S. could lay claim as the putative world superpower, with both unchallenged economic and military might . . . Instead, we are faced with broken financial markets, underperformance of our economy and a fractious political climate.'  And, he points out, 'The growing question as to whether the exceptional role of the dollar can be maintained is one symptom of the problem.'

What we think is most interesting is not so much the content of his remarks -- they're consistent what he has been saying for some time now -- but how they contrast with the ballooning optimism among investors, large and small, and the Street economists who specialize in nurturing such optimism.  Friday's surprising and downright awful employment report gave particular point to Paul's gloomy assessment and offered a telling rebuke to the giddy bulls.''

. . . and from Congressman Ron Paul, in his weekly ''Texas Straight Talk'' column on his House of Representatives website on December 6th:

''In a free society, we are supposed to know the truth.  In a society where truth becomes treason, however, we are in big trouble.  The truth is that our foreign spying, meddling, and outright military intervention in the post-World War II era has made us less secure, not more.  And we have lost countless lives and spent trillions of dollars for our trouble.  Too often 'official' government lies have provided justification for endless, illegal wars and hundreds of thousands of resulting deaths and casualties.''

''We should view the Wikileaks controversy in the larger context of American foreign policy.  Rather than worry about the disclosure of embarrassing secrets, we should focus on our delusional foreign policy.  We are kidding ourselves when we believe spying, intrigue, and outright military intervention can maintain our international status as a superpower while our domestic economy crumbles in an orgy of debt and monetary debasement.''

. . . and from metals market commentator and ''silver guru'' David Morgan, founder of the silver-investor.com website, in the December issue of The Morgan Report newsletter:

''If there is a panic out of the dollar then we could see huge movements in all the financial markets. Unfortunately, this is the trend and we expect much more volatility in the future.  Just stop and think for a moment.  For 20 years or so, silver traded at the five-dollar level.  Just recently, we saw silver move from $19 to $24 -- a five dollar move; and then from $24 to $29 -- another five dollar move.

If there is some 'trigger' that starts a massive exit out of the U.S. dollar, the main verification would be in the U.S. bond market, as we have stressed again and again in these pages.  That would be the verification that things are unravelling not only quickly but perhaps in a manner that would indicate that the damage cannot be overcome by conventional means -- which of course is to issue more debt, and this is already NOT working, as even the average citizen is now realizing.''

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