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Gold climbed as high as $1,727 this morning but has pulled back slightly…as of 5:45 am Pacific, the yellow metal is up $3 an ounce at $1,723…Silver is up 8 cents at $33.55…Copper is 3 pennies higher at $3.89…Crude Oil has gained 53 cents to $100.23 while the U.S. Dollar Index is off one-fifth of a point to 79.30…

Barclays Capital stated yesterday that precious metals, paced by Gold breaking $2,000 an ounce by the third quarter, should lead the commodity sector in 2012 with 20% gains by the end of the second quarter and up 21% for the entire year…

CNBC’s Cramer made a very astute comment yesterday:  “We’ve got a huge disconnect between what people think is happening in this country and what’s actually happening,” he stated.   “I’m talking about the widespread misconception that our economy is in trouble, something that’s causing many of you to sit on the sidelines and miss out on some tremendous gains”…

Cramer is right.  The Financial Times reported this morning that North American industrial companies are predicting that the U.S. will be one of their big growth markets in 2012 for the first time since the start of the financial crisis, reflecting rising demand for everything from excavators to truck part…Caterpillar, the world’s largest maker of earthmoving equipment, brushed off concerns about a possible slowdown in the global economy and said it expected real U.S. construction spending to increase this year for the first time since 2004…the upturn in demand in the U.S. was helping the manufacturer to experience its “best growth since Harry Truman was president”, said Mike DeWalt, head of investor relations…

While Caterpillar echoed concerns that policymakers could derail the recovery by prematurely tightening economic policies, the company said it expected the U.S. economy to pick up steam this year and added that “the risk of a worldwide recession has diminished significantly”… The vote of confidence in the U.S. was underscored by Eaton, the manufacturer of industrial equipment and components for trucks and aircraft, which said it expected its markets to grow faster in the U.S. than in the rest of the world for the first time since the mid-2000’s…

U.S. GDP figures just hit the wire at 5:30 am Pacific…the American economy grew at its fastest pace in 1-1/2 years in the fourth quarter, but a strong rebuilding of stocks by businesses and weak spending on capital goods hinted at possible slower growth early this year…GDP expanded at a 2.8% annual rate in the 4th quarter, according to the Commerce Department, a sharp acceleration from the 1.8% clip of the prior three months and the quickest pace since the second quarter of 2010…it was, however, a touch below economists’ expectations for a 3% rate…

Dow futures as of 5:45 am Pacific are down 23 points…

The CDNX appears ready for a strong finish to January with a reversal as well in its 50-day moving average (SMA) by early next week…this is very significant and should propel the market higher in February…interestingly, the Venture is also now just slightly above its 1,000-day SMA where it was turned back in early November last year…that long-term moving average, which has been in decline since 2008, is expected to reverse to the upside in the second half of this year and that’s when this market could really go ballistic…

It’s a great time, we believe, to be bottom-fishing the top Yukon Gold plays in anticipation of a very busy exploration season up there which will kick into high gear late in the second quarter…Kaminak Gold Corp. (KAM, TSX-V) is just one example of a quality situation that could deliver terrific gains for patient investors over the coming months…Kaminak is showing renewed strength and John updates the chart below…

Note: John, Jon and Terry do not hold positions in KAM.

Atac Resources (ATC, TSX-V), Golden Predator (GPD, TSX) and Radius Gold (RDU, TSX-V)  are just three other Yukon plays that are worth serious due diligence at the moment… Sandspring Resources (SSP, TSX-V) continues to look strong and yesterday it jumped 13 cents to $1.50…the SSP chart is pointing to additional near-term gains while the overall “big picture” with this play looks very promising…

Note: John, Jon and Terry do not hold positions in SSP.

Rainbow Resources (RBW, TSX-V) continues to sizzle and touched 23 cents yesterday…Rainbow is shaping up to be a very exciting play and the upcoming geological report on the company’s properties from Moose Mountain should provide a lot of depth and technical back-up for the story…this is certainly one of the most interesting situations we’ve come across the last couple of years given the people involved, the land package that has been assembled, and the attractive capital structure…