Ben's talk of continued easy money would be my guess. I believe if you look at when the spike happened it will correspond to his news conference.
Glad I made a big purchase last week. I was hoping for a drop under $18, but decided I was happy enough under $19.
No issues FD, this looks like it is based on Bernacke's Dovish statements yesterday and is an over reaction. The equities market is rockin' today also and money will soon again be leaving metals to chase higher returns. Even in this easy money environment the $ is still strengthening. In addition, the reality will hit, that it is not QE forever and my guess is that metals will be testing new lows in a few weeks.