March 11, 2016 In the overnight session, the European Central Bank cut interest rates across the board and expanded its monthly bond purchases by one-third to €80 billion per month. The ECB cut its main refinancing rate for Eurobanks to the historically low 0% while the deposit rate on excess reserves was slashed even further to negative .40%. European Central Bank President Mario Draghi cited persistent weakness in consumer prices as well as the threat of a Chinese slowdown as the predominant contributing factors for the comprehensive measures of quantitative easing. Counterintuitively, the euro skyrocketed against the USD in the wake of the ECB news and reached a one month high. After holding support at the ninth point in a trendline dating back to mid-February, the ECB revelation was exactly what gold needed to press higher today. It closed near the highs of the day and will look to challenge the double top at $1,280. Silver followed gold’s trajectory higher and its near term target is the double top at $15.80.