Friday ended with two record numbers for the same metal, and which one you quote says what you think you are buying. Spot gold — the immediate-delivery price bullion desks quote per troy ounce — set its record at $4,666.70. [2] COMEX gold futures, contracts promising ounces later, settled higher still at $4,680.60 per troy ounce, up 2.39 percent on the day and roughly 4.2 percent for the week, a third straight weekly gain. [1][2]

The gap between the tapes is small and telling. Spot is the over-the-counter price bullion desks quote for immediate delivery; futures clear on New York's Comex exchange for ounces arriving later. Futures closing above spot means traders are paying a premium for ounces they will not hold until autumn — a bet that the price only rises while they wait. This paper recorded the spot print yesterday; the futures settle is the number clearinghouses actually bank. [1]

Silver ran alongside at about $69 per ounce, up 5.1 percent, while the dollar index sagged near 98.7. [3] Citi flipped to a long gold position and lifted its S&P 500 target to 8,100 — the same desk long both the hedge and the thing hedged. [3] Holders of the old records should label their units carefully. One is a quote. The other is a settlement.

-- MAYA CALLOWAY, New York