Spot gold prices popped to $499.50 earlier this morning -- a new high for the current upmove, and a test of the $499.75 high established in December 1987!  A close at or above $500 this Wednesday -- the final day of the month -- will trigger longer-term bullish signals that project next to $560.

Meanwhile, our proxy for spot gold on the equity side, NEM (47.62), remains in relatively healthy technical condition, and projects still higher to the 48.80 area next, as the price structure presses closer to a challenge of its 2-year resistance plateau at 49.50-50.30.

Mike Paulenoff is a 25-year veteran of the financial markets and author of MPTrader.com, a real-time diary of his E-mini S&P and QQQQ technical analysis and trading alerts. For more of Mike Paulenoff, sign up for a FREE 30-Day Trial to his E-Mini/Index Futures diary, or try his QQQ Trading Diary.