Gold is near record highs and has given us some new short-term targets.  On Wednesday, after a pause at one of our pivots, December gold rallied through the first two targets that we highlighted yesterday.  The session high of 1264.7 was about six dollars below the all-time high for the December contract, but it was less than two dollars below the continuous contract high.  The rally sparked a violent battle in which the price gyrated up and down within a ten-dollar range.  The bears have held the market back for the time being, but the retreat is not yet enough to suggest that an important new downtrend has begun.  The day’s trading cancelled the 1271.4 target mentioned yesterday, but we have a fresh short-term pattern whose midpoint is at 1263.3 and “D” target is at 1272.5.  Above there, our 1284.1 target remains in effect.  (Posted by Doug McLagan)