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The explorers wanted goods. They also wanted slaves. The Europeans demanded nutmeg, ginger, cinnamon, and pepper. They wanted the spices because it added flavor to the food.

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Single ingredient spices and extracts are Gluten-Free, blends are clearly labeled

If you've ever wondered if McCormick Spices are Gluten Free, you're not alone. Here's the answer, directly from the company.
Excerpt of an email from McCormick Spices to G-Free Foodie:
"Thank you for contacting us regarding your special allergies and intolerances to gluten. We understand that there are a growing number of people that have gluten concerns. We would like to take this opportunity to provide some additional information and let you know that there are many products available to you that will add the flavor you desire.

We often get the request for a list of our gluten-free products. We do not provide a list because we want you checking the ingredient statements of our products. McCormick can guarantee you the following: 1. All of our single ingredient spices are gluten-free. Our single ingredient spices are 100% pure, with nothing additional added to them.
2. All of our extracts are gluten-free. They are made with a synthetic Ethyl Alcohol, not a grain-based alcohol.
3. If our products have gluten in them, it will be listed clearly in the ingredient statement. We do not hide any allergens under "natural flavors" or "spices." This pertains mainly to our Dry Seasoning mixes and some blends. An example is our Beef Stew Seasoning Mix. This contains gluten, and states, "Wheat Gluten," in the ingredient statement.
4. McCormick goes a step further. If an ingredient is derived from wheat source, such as Maltodextrin, it will be listed as "Maltodextrin (WHEAT), in the ingredient statement.
5. McCormick follows good manufacturing practices at our plants and takes extra precautions to eliminate the possibility of mislabeling or cross-contamination. If we can be of further assistance, please call us a 1-800-632-5847, Monday through Friday, 9:30AM to 5PM Eastern Time."
*The McCormick company stated verbally when called that they are very careful to make sure their processing lines are thoroughly cleaned between runs, but they do run the blends that contain gluten on the same lines as their other products .

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Are McCormick Spices Gluten Free? G-Free Foodie

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Single ingredient spices and extracts are Gluten-Free, blends are clearly labeled If you've ever wondered if McCormick Spices are Gluten Free, you're not alone. Here's the answer, directly from the company. Excerpt of an email from McCormick Spices to G-Free Foodie: "Thank you for contacting us regarding your special allergies and intolerances to gluten.

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Some explorers were just curious. They wanted to know if the world was flat. They just had questions they needed answers to.

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In her recent article The Case for Curiosity (Educational Leadership, February 2013), Susan Engel asserts that "curiosity is essential to learning, but in scarce supply in most schools." One of the major points of the article is that students should be encouraged to ask as many questions as possible. While this might first appear to be a rather pedestrian outcome, we should reflect on whether our instructional choices foster curiosity within our students. Engel wants us to make questioning a goal:

Think of question asking as the goal of an educational activity, rather than a happy by-product. Develop activities that invite or require students to figure out what they want to know and then seek answers.

Unfortunately, sometimes questions are seen as, at-best, an accidental outcome; at worst, they are a disruption to the teacher's flow. Like most things, curiosity within our students will only be nurtured and developed through purposeful thought & action. What would the outcome be if we examined each lesson through the lens of curiosity? That is,what if we asked ourselves how curious will my students become as a result of this lesson?

There is no question that this is easier said then done. Undoubtedly the pressures to cover content, meet outcomes and standards, and prepare students for year-end exams leaves many of us wondering about where we might find the time. That said, why do we always try to leave time for questions or squeeze a few questions in at the end. Why don't we start with questions?

Why don't we ask our students what they're curious about? Would it change anything for you if your students told you what they wondered about the solar system, the industrial revolution, statistics, or poetry? Would your students develop a deeper level of engagement if you paused for one moment, right in the middle of a lesson, and asked the students what they're thinking. When we pause and ask, are there any questions, we're usually are met with silence; follow that with now, what are you thinking and you're likely to be surprised at how much is on their minds.

Your move to emphasizing curiosity doesn't have to be epic. Just begin by keeping curiosityat the forefront of your mind as you develop your usual lesson sequences. Eventually, it will become a natural routine; then a habit.

Fostering curiosity will take some time; time for you to shift your focus and time for the students to develop new, habitual ways of reflection. However, by shifting our instructional mindset to one that makes nurturing curiosity a priority, the same content you've taught for years can be transformed into the means that drives an unprecedented level of motivation and engagement.

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In her recent article The Case for Curiosity (Educational Leadership, February 2013), Susan Engel asserts that "curiosity is essential to learning, but in scarce supply in most schools." One of the major points of the article is that students should be encouraged to ask as many questions as possible.

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The Europeans wanted new sources of wealth. They traded spices and luxury goods from Asia. They wanted to find a sea route directly to Asia. They also wanted shortcuts.

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Gold nuggets.

Every week, we closely monitor net speculative positions on the COMEX as well as ETF holdings inasmuch as the historical economic behavior of gold prices suggests that over a short-term horizon (<3 months), gold prices are largely influenced by changes in the forward fundamentals, reflected in changes in net spec length and ETF holdings.
Speculative positioning
Source: CFTC.

Gold. According to the latest Commitment of Traders report provided by the CFTC, money managers, viewed as a relevant proxy for speculators, continued to raise their net long position in the week ending February 23.

The net long fund position now stands at 109,097 contracts, up 28,084 contracts or 35 percent from the previous week. The robust improvement in spec positioning for the 8th week in a row was influenced by a combination of long accumulation (+15,154 contracts w/w) and short-covering (-12,930 contracts w/w).

The net long fund position, which fell 114,251 contracts in 2015, is now up 136,298 contracts.

We are surprised to see that gold has failed to push strongly higher despite this remarkable rise in net speculative long positions. This suggests selling pressure elsewhere in the market place.

The net spec length is now at its highest since October 2015 and slightly above its long-term average (2006 - present) of 106,768 contracts. Although the spec positioning is not yet overstretched on the long side as it could have been until gold entered a bear market in 2011, the net spec length is at the upper rand of its range formed since 2013.

Source: CFTC.

The weakness in gold prices in recent weeks after reaching a high of $1,264 per ounce reinforces our thesis according to which the speculative positioning should start deteriorating.

Looking ahead, we therefore expect profit-taking (i.e. a reduction in gross longs) to occur in the coming weeks, pushing the net speculative length lower.
Investment positioning
Source: FastMarkets.

Gold. ETF investors bought gold for the 8th consecutive week at an average of 9.96 tonnes per day, pushing total ETF holdings up to 1,723 tonnes as of February 23.

ETF investors bought 50 tonnes of gold last week, marking the largest weekly increase since August 2011, following a 39-tonne inflow in the previous week.

ETF buying took place mainly on Monday 22 February (+24.37 tonnes), Wednesday 24 February (+10.48 tonnes), and Friday 26 February (+10.87 tonnes).

The strong ETF buying was probably driven by some investors who missed the initial boat in January and saw the weakness in gold prices as an opportunity to catch up.

Moreover, gold ETF buying, similar to net speculative long positions on the Comex, tends to be influenced by the vagaries of US real interest rates. Interestingly, the yield on the 10-year US TIPS dropped from 0.50 percent to 0.30 percent over the past two weeks. Given the strong negative correlation between US real interest rates and gold ETF buying, this is therefore no coincidence to see the current pace of ETF buying (and a pick-up in net long positions). Taking a closer look, the yield on the 10-year US government bond was broadly stable over that period, which therefore suggests that inflation expectations edged up, perhaps driven by the appreciation in oil prices.

As long as ETF investors continue to buy the metal, our bearish hypothesis on gold, which we developed last week, will remain under pressure. Although we acknowledge that the recent buying has been driven by long-term investors who decided to re-engage after being convinced that a final low in gold was finally reached last year, we cannot exclude that the part of the buying has been buying carried out by short-term players with trend-following strategies, like in early 2015.

If correct, this would suggest that these tactical ETF investors will pull back their bullish bets, which could also prompt money managers to shorten their net long positions in the process.

Importantly, we believe that gold's safe haven story has become over-rated. Yes, downside risks to the global economy have increased in recent weeks and market financial volatility may continue to remain elevated in 2016, but we are inclined to think that the market has become too pessimistic. As far as the US economy is concerned, the market's view about economic growth has become extremely pessimistic. Indeed, the 5-year US swap rates 5 years forward, which can be viewed as a relevant proxy for market pricing of nominal growth expectations, have reached lower levels than during the global financial crisis in 2008 or the European sovereign debt crisis in 2011. However, we believe that policy makers have learned from their recent past mistakes and will be accordingly more inclined to take new measures if economic conditions start to deteriorate rapidly. As the G-20 meeting in Shanghai this weekend showed, officials are committed to use "all tools" at their disposal to lift sluggish global growth.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang at the G-20 meeting.

Against this backdrop, we believe that the recovery in the global economy will continue and coming macro data releases will surprise to the upside, therefore inducing a sustainable boost in risk-appetite. If correct, investors will realize that gold's safe haven story is less attractive, which will lead to a wave of selling, principally from ETF investors and money managers on the Comex.

According to our estimations, ETF investors have bought 168 tonnes of gold in February after accumulating 74 tonnes in January, pushing total net inflows for the year to 242 tonnes. As a reminder, ETF investors sold 112 tonnes of gold in 2015, after liquidating 158 tonnes in 2014 and 889 tonnes in 2013.

Looking ahead, we expect ETF outflows to emerge in March or at the beginning of the second quarter of 2016, we think.
Spec positioning vs. investment positioning
Source: MikzEconomics.
My SPDR Gold Trust ETF (GLD) positioning - weekly chart
Source: TradingView.

GLD was highly volatile, closing at $117.08, slightly down 0.39 percent from previous' Friday closing at $117.54.

After initially building a long GLD position at $104 on January 6, we closed our position last week at $119 (see our article), resulting in a profit of $15 per share, with an initial risk of $4 per share, providing us a reward-risk ratio of 3.75.

We decided last week to implement a short position on GLD on February 19 at $117.50, with a tight stop loss corresponding to the recent high ($120.83), in order to play either a temporary consolidation or the premature end of the rally (see our article).

We decided to revise slightly the parameters of the trade, mainly the stop loss. We are inclined to keep our short position as long as spot gold prices do not trade above $1,300.

Although we recognize that our bearish bet will remain under pressure amid a lingering risk-off environment, we believe that implementing a short GLD trade offers a reward-risk ratio largely skewed in our favor. As we mentioned last week in our article, we see at least four reasons to view gold as a selling opportunity in the near-term (<1month).

1. The gold market has become overbought. The RSI is currently at 66.46 after reaching a high 67.75 two weeks ago. A mild correction (at least) is therefore in the cards to alleviate these overbought conditions.

2. Equities are showing signs of stabilization, with US equities rising for the second week in a row last week, which could therefore prompt investors to unwind their initial risk-unfriendly positions, including gold.

3. With upward momentum fading, tactical investors could exit their positions, resulting in selling pressure from money managers on the Comex or ETF investors.

4. The market view over the US economy has become too pessimistic. Coming macro data releases, such as the US employment report for February, could prompt investors to converge toward the (optimistic) Fed's view, which will thereby result in upward revisions of the path for future fed rate increases, pushing gold prices lower.

In this context, we continue believe that implementing a short GLD trade could offer a reward-risk ratio skewed in our favour.

The main risks to our short GLD position would be the following:

1. Renewed signs of instability in the financial markets, prompting investors to re-build risk-off related trades.

2. Buying on the dips from investors who did not participate in the rally due to their lack of conviction.

To sum up, we believe that the rally in gold prices has run ahead of itself and we are not convinced that the rally can continue for too long. Thus, we view the risks to gold prices over a 1-month horizon titled to the downside.

Includes: PowerShares DB Gold ETF (NYSEARCA: DGL), VelocityShares 3x Inverse Gold ETN (NASDAQ: DGLD), DB Gold Double Long ETN (NYSEARCA: DGP), DB Gold Short ETN (NYSEARCA: DGZ)

Disclosure: I/we have no positions in any stocks mentioned, but may initiate a short position in GLD over the next 72 hours.

I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.

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Gold Weekly: Are We Really In A Global Financial Crisis?

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Gold nuggets. Every week, we closely monitor net speculative positions on the COMEX as well as ETF holdings inasmuch as the historical economic behavior of gold prices suggests that over a short-term horizon (<3 months), gold prices are largely influenced by changes in the forward fundamentals, reflected in changes in net spec length and ETF holdings.

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They wanted to spread Christianity. European countries believed they had a duty to continue fighting Muslims and to also convert non-Christians throughout the world. That's what motivated Europeans to explore

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Followers of Jesus Christ who base their thinking on the Bible-and the values they hold to-are increasingly under attack throughout the culture.

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The explorers wanted gold and ivory because they wanted to be rich. They wanted money and goods. Their desire was to grow rich.

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Definition:

: a dollar

Example:

"When [Ty Cobb] came to bat in the first inning, a little lass from Georgia, Miss Mary Brennan, walked out to the plate and presented Ty with a bunch of posies and a leather bill folder with gold edges. In the folder was one buck, or simoleon, or washer; you know, a dollar."
- May 12, 1919, The New York Times

About the Word:

The origins of this word, which first appeared in the late 19th century, are murky, though it may have been created as a play on napoleon, a now-extinct French coin that was worth 20 francs.

Simoleon has gotten a bit more life recently as a result of "The Sims" video game series, in which the unit of currency is "simoleons."

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a dollar "When [Ty Cobb] came to bat in the first inning, a little lass from Georgia, Miss Mary Brennan, walked out to the plate and presented Ty with a bunch of posies and a leather bill folder with gold edges. In the folder was one buck, or simoleon, or washer; you know, a dollar."