Near-term gold futures jumped $13.90, $1,018.90 an ounce, another record closing high. Silver was also up. One trader called it a "feeding frenzy." As explained by the LAT's Tom Petruno, the rally was due in part to another drop in the dollar.

The greenback has been skidding in large part because investors are more confident about a global economic rebound. That is luring money into riskier assets, including many emerging markets. Brazil's main stock index is up 6.9% this month, for example. The South Korean market is up 5.8%. But there also is an undercurrent of fear about the dollar's long-term outlook, given the potentially debilitating effects on the currency from the massive U.S. budget deficit.