Another day, another week, another month and another quarter. It is hard to believe that we have now reached the halfway mark for 2013 and it has been anything but boring. The next quarter should be just as volatile as the German elections take center stage and political uprisings are beginning to change the international landscape. The unemployment data from the U.S. will bring even more volatility than usual as the FED has now raised the importance of JOBS as the mainstay financial focus … again. As Europe debates a unified banking system, one gets the feeling that EU banking problems are simmering just below the surface and the issue of BAIL-INS is making large depositors extremely nervous. The GOLD has been thrown overboard as the instrument of being a store of value, but as the $1200 level succumbed to selling pressure, the SILVER and PLATINUM performed admirably.