• "Culture: Often savings in India are converted into gold jewellery for use during emergencies. In the 1990s, light-weight gold jewellery for everyday use became popular but now coloured ornaments are being bought to match clothes, handbags and sandals.

There is a strong market in India for gold-plated objects showing gods and goddesses.

Hindus believe gold to be the gift of the goddess of wealth, Lakshmi. The Indian bride, bedecked in gold jewellery, is seen as a personification of Lakshmi when she enters her husband's house after marriage.

Dating back to 3 000 years or more to the earliest Hindu rituals and scriptures, gold in India has a place in every major occasion in a person's life from the simple ear-piercing ceremony of a child to the sixtieth anniversary celebrations.

With its rarity, resistance to corrosion, malleability and strength " gold has been singled out as a metal of prestige for rich people; 18 carat gold is preferred for jewellery.

• Indian weddings: Indian parents usually give gold jewellery as gifts to the brides for adornment and financial security and the season lasts from November to mid-December, and then from mid-January to May.

Wealthy wedding hosts even present gold coins to guests on the occasion. Hindu women usually wear a "mangal sutra", which is a gold necklace with black beads, the equivalent of a wedding ring. Gold jewellery also has sentimental value and is passed down from one generation to another. Married Indian women collect jewellery to be given to their daughters on their weddings.

• Festival season: Demand for gold rises during the festival season, which peaks in October or November with Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights. Indians buy gold on Dhanteras, a festival two days before Diwali, due to a belief that it invokes the blessings of the goddess of wealth, Lakshmi. Akshay Tritya, another date connected with prosperity, is considered an auspicious period for the purchase of gold as an expression of measure of wealth and happiness. It was celebrated on April 30 this year.

Muslims also buy gold during Eid al-Fitr, the day ending Ramadan or the month of fasting.

Onam, celebrated in the southern state of Kerala, is another occasion to rival Diwali's gold-buying spree."

As I see it, demand will continue to significantly outstrip supply, and unless and until (i) governments stop printing money at three times the rate of GDP growth, and (ii) there is real economic growth, ie, the increase of wealth above and beyond the true increase of the cost deflator, I believe that gold and silver, platinum and palladium will continue in a secular Bull phase.

Short-term traders of precious metals ought to be watching the spread between the long-term forward contracts (2009 and 2010) versus the near futures. When the spread narrows, you can expect spot prices and near futures ($GOLD, $SILVER, $PLAT AND $PALL) to decline, and vice versa.

Another key is to watch the comparative strength between the U.S. gold ETF's (GLD and IAU) and and gold ETF's in London, South Africa, Australia and Canada, including Central Fund.

The GLD is the 800-pound precious metals ETF, so when market trends are going to reverse, the big money would be moving prices faster there.

Back in the early 80's, in my professional practice, when I had access to the best available data, I would track the daily market prices of international gold coins having different gold values, and international currencies with different gold backing, like the D-Mark and the Swiss Franc. I was ahead of my time. Today, all of these datapoints are computer modelled, and instantly generated into spot and near futures orders. Still, the little money can beat the big money by watching the same market prices since committee decisions are unnecessary and relatively small sums are involved.

Today, the PM markets enjoyed a bump immediately following the release of very low U.S. Producer Price Inflation numbers that lead one to think that the Fed may lower or at least keep flat for longer the Fed rate. That serves to weaken the $USD, and lift the precious metal prices.