The trek to our longstanding rally target at 1345.50 has been so labored and tedious as to be nearly  untradeable. Rest assured the futures will get there — although we should expect a stall at 1336.40, a Hidden Pivot resistance related to a somewhat higher alternative ‘A’ at 1251.60 recorded on December 19.  The rally has consisted of two extremely choppy legs as different in character as Laurel and Hardy. No matter. We knew all along where things were headed, even if the journey provided no good handholds for a mechanical entry. Please note that a decisive push past the target would put in play a more significant one at 1378.70. It will take a bit more than that, however, to create the impulse leg that would refresh the bullish energy of the weekly chart. Specifically, buyers would need to hit 1404.50 to surpass the key ‘external’ peak made at the start of 2018. _______ UPDATE (Feb 19, 3:16 p.m.): Gold had one of its sharpest rallies in recent memory today — a $23 surge that has peaked so far at 1345.00, just 50 cents from our longstanding rally target. In the chat room, a subscriber reported exiting a profitable GLD call option position at the top. The futures have stalled, but the pullback thus far has been shallow. The target, a Hidden Pivot, is sufficiently clear that a close above it would be quite bullish, shortening the odds of a continuation to the 1378.70 target noted above. (Note: Numerous subscribers weighed in later with reports of target-related profits in such equity-based vehicles as GLD, Barrick, JNUG, NUGT and GDXJ.) _______ UPDATE (Feb 20, 10:20 p.m.): Buyers failed to reach an easy target at 1354.30 with today’s thrust, warranting moderate caution. The bigger-picture target 1378.70 remains valid. _______ UPDATE (Feb 21, 12:35 a.m.): Gold is in mau-mau mode today, down $17 at the moment. The selloff looks merely corrective and gratuitous, so I wouldn’t let it get you down.