Gold Today –New York closed at $1,279.50 down $1.80 on Wednesday. Asia held it around the same level ahead of London’s opening, where it soared to $1,308. At the Fix, gold was set at $1,308.50 up $30.25. In the euro it Fixed at €959.874 up €15.1. Ahead of New York’s opening gold stood at $1,308 and in the euro at €960.28.

Silver Today – Silver closed at $21.27 down 6 cents on Wednesday. Ahead of New York’s opening it traded at $21.76.

Gold _{(very short-term)}

The gold price should be stronger in New York as it attacks overhead resistance.

Silver _{(very short-term)}

The silver price should be stronger today, in New York.

Price Drivers

Gold & Silver – ‘D-Day - 90’....................

The U.S. Debt Ceiling crisis has not been resolved, it has been delayed. The problem is structural [until new elections] and not a passing one. Fitch has put the U.S. on negative watch until the end of the first quarter of 2014. By Dec 13^th the super-committee, charged with getting agreed solutions to the problem must have found them, or the U.S. loses its AAA rating! The Republicans and their rebellious ranks must have accepted this defeat or have re-united to force the issue again, this time through default by January 2014.

There were sales of 3.603 tonnes from the SPDR gold ETF holdings yesterday leaving its holdings at 885.529 tonnes and sales from the holdings of the Gold Trust of 1.21 tonnes leaving them at 174.20 tonnes. [Find out more from www.GoldForecaster.com and www.SilverForecaster.com to subscribe to our newsletters and visit www.StockbridgeMgMt.com to hold gold so it can’t be seized] These sales had no impact on the gold price whatsoever, which has held its level through yesterday’s drama. We wait to see if U.S. gold sales have stopped now?

Outside the U.S., nations are appalled at the entire performance and at the way the whole world was held to ransom by U.S. politicians. They need to lower their vulnerability to the U.S. and quickly in case they become collateral damage. What impact on gold will this have?

With the U.S. dollar being the tree trunk of the currency world and all other currencies branches on that tree, there is not ‘safe-haven currency out there. As it has been in the past, throughout history, gold is an alternative in extreme times.

China is accelerating its acquisition of gold and other nations, like India [eyeing its temple’s gold for use to support the nation’s own debt crisis] are likely to look at ways to use their citizen’s gold for support in the extreme times that have come so close now.

Global institutional and individual investors will be following the same line of thought as it becomes clear that QE should be extended through the first quarter of 2014. As the situation we now have is digested, the rest of the week should calm down and a near term direction given to gold and to silver.

Silver – Wherever the gold price goes the silver price is sure to go, for this week, no matter what happens.

Regards,

Julian D.W. Phillips for the Gold & Silver Forecasters