A thrust above 968.90 is still needed to refresh the bullish trend on the daily chart.  However, if the futures pull back below 954.30 today, that would imply they are not ready for a surge past 1000 in August. Night owls should look for a re-test of the 957.10 low made at 3:55 p.m. EDT, since its breach would portend more weakness to as low as 954.00. _______  UPDATE (3:03 p.m.): Mission accomplished:  December Gold did what we asked of it. As for the dip below 954.30, it can be ignored because it did not create a discrete low on the daily chart. With the bullish trend thus refreshed on the daily chart, any pullback that does not dip below 927.60 will be setting up a by-now almost inevitable push to $1000.