The headline "Gold and Silver Wait Patiently for More Easing" from this story at Commodity Online last week about sums up the current situation for precious metals investors and, whether it's good or bad, some news should come on that front in the days ahead as the Federal Reserve's policy committee again gathers to deliberate over whether another round of money printing might be necessary amid growing signs of a weakening U.S. economy. As never before, precious metals are taking their cues from the Fed and, simply put, should the policy committee strongly hint at another round of quantitative easing this week and then follow through with action next month, gold and silver prices are likely to go much higher in relatively short order. But if the U.S. economy is seen as needing no help from the central bank over the near-term and with the Fed less likely to take action in the lead up to the fall elections (so as not to be seen as being politically motivated), it could be a long, difficult summer for gold and silver. Last week, the gold price fell 1.0 percent, from $1,658.50 an ounce to $1,642.40, while silver rose 0.6 percent, from $31.50 an ounce to $31.70. Gold is up 4.9 percent so far this year, down 14.6 percent from its high last fall, and silver is up 13.8 percent in 2012, now down 36.0 percent from its peak last spring. Of course, any talk that the secular bull market in gold and silver is now over, as some are now claiming in the financial media, is, in my view, pure nonsense and another bit of evidence in support of that view appears in the chart below.