* The price of gold continues to retreat

* Gold was down about $12 today; it closed around $1310

* The dollar index up again as more and more people begin to contemplate the possibility of a rate hike in either September or December

* Or maybe even both, because the odds of a rate hike, either in September or December have now increased to about even money

* If you go back to June, the odds were practically zero

* What has changed in the last couple of months?

* The only thing that has really happened is that you've had various Fed officials going out of their way to mention that a rate hike is still possible

* Why would they do that?

* Obviously, a rate hike is possible

* Usually they are asked the question and they mention the possibility

* If the Fed had no intention of raising interest rates, I doubt they would admit it at this juncture

* They want people to believe that a rate hike is possible because if you admit that it's not possible,

* That opens a can of worms that the Fed isn't interested in opening just yet