Direction for gold price?

The gold price had shown ups and downs, all the way to its present price. It wasn't just a sharp rise, so I believe that the price is real and not overrated.

Gold is both a commodity and a safe haven.  Demand for commodities is high and will remain high (China !).  As uncertainty in financial markets rises (subprime crisis), gold will benefit. Falling interest rates is also good for gold (no earnings on gold). Gold (price expressed in USD) is also negatively correlated with the value of the USD.  If you look at the price development expessed in a basket of non USD currencies (EUR, GBP, CHF,...), the rise in the goldprice is less pronounced. If you expect strong world growth + financial uncertainty + falling US rates (but still inflation fears) + weaker dollar, the goldprice should stay high.  

As distribution runs its course there will be large peaks and troughs.  If looking to get out, catch a peak.  If looking for a trade, be careful and these moves will be fast and severe.  If looking for an investment, you missed it.

Gold futures ended sharply lower Tuesday, as the U.S. dollar strengthened, while Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke urged U.S. senators to approve the proposed $700 billion bailout plan for troubled banks. Gold for December delivery fell $17.80 to end at $891.20 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Earlier, the contract climbed to an intraday high of $908.80 an ounce. "It's got to be light profit-taking, but it won't hold," said Zachary Oxman, a senior trader at Wisdom Financial, commenting on Tuesday's market action in gold. "I'd watch for gold to continue its upward trajectory as the market continues to be mired in this quagmire that is the bailout plan," Oxman said in emailed comments. Oxman expects gold to climb back to more than $950 an ounce amid another "round of large-scale commodity buying as investors flee to hard assets."