Are there gold addicts?

They say you can get addicted to computer games as the brain comes to crave the endless stimulation.

Can that happen to those of us watching the precious metals markets this week?

I came in this morning and felt a great sense of letdown when I saw that the price of gold had not sprinted another $40 or $50 higher since I had last checked its price yesterday.

Worse, it was actually down $18.

I haven’t gotten my daily fix of gold action. How can I cope?

Rapidly escalating gold prices also reminds me of watching the prices ratchet higher and higher on the gasoline pump as I fill up my car.

The rapid changes on the electronic meter are almost hypnotic.

Of course, that may be stimulation, but it is of another sort. When the numbers break into new high ground I am anything but elated. My rational brain kicks in and tells me that this is a kind of action I do not need.

Better to disengage and listen to the birds or the noise of passing cars – anything but looking at the gas pump prices.

Gold, however, is altogether different. It cannot be ignored. It should not be ignored.