Gold has record high close and not a peep/RRP shrinks notably, liquidity wave nearing an end/Other good stuff

With the obsession over bitcoin over the past few weeks with non stop coverage that is right now only benefiting from new ETF flows rather than some sort of fundamental reason (are there ever any?), there was not a peep at the closing record high in gold on Friday. NOT A PEEP. Back in early December it did see an intraday move higher on that strange Sunday night but on a closing basis, Friday saw it and I did not see one bit of coverage, anywhere. For us bulls, that is a good thing because no one here seems to care as it's also happening as western investors continue to flee as seen with the ETF flows that continue to shrink. At some point that will reverse and that's when gold really takes off. 

See the disconnect beginning last year between ETF flows and the gold price and its because of the voracious buying from central banks and the complete apathy in the US.

Gold in orange, ETF flows in white

Ahead of Powell this week, it's a good thing the Fed is ready to start talking about the balance sheet because the liquidity wave from the reverse repo facility is nearing its end and that is when QT really kicks in and the liquidity drain that will take place. Up until now, the RRP shrinkage has completely offset and then some QT as its fallen in size by more than $2 Trillion, which has flowed into the Treasury market, while the Fed's balance sheet is only smaller by about $1.2 Trillion. 

I bring this up today because the RRP shrunk notably on Thursday and Friday and stands at just $441b. The past two day decline was $127b.