Since hitting $1,167 per ounce in August 2018, spot gold has been a beast, rising 39% to $1,622 per ounce early-Friday morning. The drivers are well identified as the Fed (easy monetary policy), fear (coronavirus, stocks stretched, presidential election) and maybe even a little FOMO (fear of missing out) that has gold looking to top $1,700 per ounce for the first time since December 18, 2012.
Technical traders are eyeballing the chart for spot gold to complete the cup portion of a “cup-and-handle” pattern that could be forming over the last 8 years. The bigger the pattern and longer it takes to form the more reliable it should be. The handle could take a year to form should the price complete the cup part by finding resistance between $1,800-$1,900 per ounce. The upside, though, is a pattern target in the neighborhood of $2,700-$2,800 per ounce.