-- Posted Wednesday, 25 October 2006 | Digg This Article
| Close | Gain/Loss |
Gold | $587.20 | +$3.90 |
Silver | $11.79 | +$0.04 |
XAU | 134.78 | +2.89% |
HUI | 316.13 | +2.98% |
GDM | 1011.90 | +2.89% |
JSE Gold | 2943.38 | +2.02% |
USD | 86.44 | -0.24 |
Euro | 125.90 | +0.17 |
Yen | 83.93 | +0.01 |
Oil | $61.40 | +$2.05 |
10-Year | 4.773% | -0.051 |
T-Bond | 110.6875 | +0.5625 |
Dow | 12134.68 | +0.06% |
Nasdaq | 2356.59 | +0.50% |
S&P | 1382.22 | +0.35% |
The Metals:
Gold remained near unchanged in Asia and London and dropped to about $580 in early New York trade, but it then popped higher after oil inventory data was released, remained near its highs into the close, and ended with a gain of 0.67%. Silver followed a similar pattern and gained 0.34%. At the time of writing, both metals are trading about an additional 0.5% higher in after hours access trade in reaction to the fed’s statement.
Euro gold rose to about €467, platinum gained $7 to $1,064, palladium remained unchanged at $318, and copper fell slightly to about $3.42.
Gold and silver equities fell slightly at the open, rose over 2% in late morning trade, fell back off a bit in early afternoon trade, rallied into the close, and ended near their highs with almost 3% gains.
The Economy:
Report | For | Reading | Expected | Previous |
Existing Home Sales | Sep | 6.18M | 6.25M | 6.30M |
The fed kept rates unchanged at 5.25% as expected. They noted that economic growth has slowed and that inflation pressures are likely to moderate over time, but that some inflation risks remain. Lacker again dissented and called for an interest rate hike while all other voting members agreed to keep rates unchanged.
Tomorrow at 8:30AM EST are Durable Goods Orders for September expected at 2.3% and Initial Jobless Claims for 10/21 expected at 308,000. At 10AM are New Home Sales for September expected at 1,050,000 and the Help-Wanted Index for September expected at 31.
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The Markets:
Charts Courtesy of http://finance.yahoo.com/
Oil rose over 3% on a surprise drop in crude inventories and a larger than expected draw in distillate and gasoline inventories. Unrest in Nigeria, cold weather, and signs that OPEC is following through on its production/quota cut pledge also encouraged buying. Crude inventories fell 3.3 million barrels, gasoline inventories fell 2.8 million barrels, and distillates fell 1.4 million barrels. Refinery Runs came in at a slightly lower 86.2%.
The U.S. dollar index fell before the fed and extended its losses after the fed as the fed was not especially hawkish in their remarks as some had expected them to be.
Treasuries rose on short covering and weak Existing Home Sales before the fed, and then extended their gains after the fed.
The Dow traded mostly lower while the Nasdaq and S&P traded mostly higher on mixed earning reports and higher oil, but all three indices rallied in late trade and ended slightly higher.
Among the big names making news in the market today were WellPoint, Colgate-Palmolive, DaimlerChrysler, ConocoPhillips, Harrah’s, IHOP, GM, Boeing, ImClone, and FPL and Constellation.
The Commentary:
“I was speaking this morning to one of the sharpest men in the gold industry … gold was down nearly $7 at the time. Aside from our usual disgust at the goings-on, he said he was really surprised to see gold mauled this morning after how well the gold shares performed yesterday. It was not a stretch to call the HUI up move yesterday remarkable, considering gold was off nearly $14.
Well, lo and behold, JP Morgan Chase and Republic Bank showed up on the buy side while the funds were selling heavily early … and sure enough gold and silver turned right around after sustaining sharp early losses.
These sorts of turnarounds in gold and silver are fairly rare. Could this one be significant? Yes, of course, especially since the elections are now only two weeks off.” - From yesterday’s Midas report by Bill Murphy of LemetropoleCafe.com
“December Gold finished up 3.2 at 590.8, 3.5 off the high and 8.3 up from the low.
December Silver closed up 0.04 at 11.89. This was 0.14 up from the low and 0.105 off the high.
Gold found support today from a stronger energy market, while this afternoon's release of FOMC comments appeared to have had little initial effect, although subsequent declines in the US dollar could lend additional support to gold. This morning's EIA stocks report indicated crude oil stocks had fallen 3.3 million barrels last week versus trader expectations for at 2.6 million barrel increase. This was bullish for crude oil and in turn bullish for gold, which has found support this past week off of the recovering oil market and renewed concerns about inflation. Prior to the energy report, the trade had been more concerned about possible "hawkish" statements coming out of the Fed today, but this afternoon's FOMC comments were mostly as expected, although some press reports are interpreting a slight less hawkish tone. The report indicated that the Fed was keeping its benchmark interest rate steady for the third straight meeting.
December silver found some support today from the gold market, but it may also have been helped by the fact that copper managed to recover from its early losses. However, some traders expressed concern that December Silver has to push through the psychological resistance at $12.00 for the market to lose its bearish tone. US economic numbers this morning were on the soft side and offered little support to support silver from the industrial usage perspective. The Chicago Fed National Activity Index fell in September, and Existing Home Sales were down 1.9% versus expectations of a 1.1% decline. The FOMC Meeting this afternoon offered little or no surprises as interest rates were left unchanged, but some Fed watchers are reading the tone of the commentary to be less hawkish than expected.” - The Hightower Report, Futures Analysis and Forecasting
GATA Posts:
Jeffrey Saut: Stock market acting unnaturally, as if it's being propped up
Ted Butler: The real gold/silver ratio, Part 2
The Statistics:
As of close of business: 10/24/2006
Gold Warehouse Stocks: | 7,565,823 | - 32,009 |
Silver Warehouse Stocks: | 105,085,778 | - 63,857 |
Global Gold ETF Holdings
[WGC Sponsored ETF’s]
| Product name | Total Tonnes | Total Ounces | Total Value |
New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) AND Singapore Exchange (SGX) | Streettracks Gold Shares | 388.72 | 12,497,746 | US$ 7,191m |
LSE (London Stock Exchange) AND Euronext Paris | Gold Bullion Securities | 83.67 | 2,690,105 | US$ 1,589m |
Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) | Gold Bullion Securities | 10.08 | 323,872 | US$ 191m |
Johannesburg Securities Exchange (JSE) | New Gold Debentures | 9.89 | 317,833 | US$ 182m |
Note: Change in Total Tonnes from yesterday’s data: The NYSE subtracted 1.54 tonnes and the ASX added 0.10 tonnes.
COMEX Gold Trust (IAU)
Profile as of 10/24/2006 | |
Total Net Assets | $809,561,005 | Ounces of Gold
in Trust | 1,385,649.968 |
Shares Outstanding | 13,950,000 | Tonnes of Gold
in Trust | 43.10 |
Note: No change in Total Tonnes from yesterday’s data.
Silver Trust (SLV)
Profile as of 10/24/2006 | |
Total Net Assets | $1,194,561,594 | Ounces of Silver
in Trust | 103,280,281 |
Shares Outstanding | 10,350,000 | Tonnes of Silver
in Trust | 3,212.4 |
Note: No change in Total Tonnes from yesterday’s data.
The Stocks:
Rob McEwen’s statement following yesterday’s court decision dismissing his application, NovaGold’s (NG) completed feasibility study, Cumberland’s (CLG) sale of its Meliadine gold property interests, Gold Reserve’s (GRZ) delisting of warrants, and Gold Fields’ (GFI) executive changes were among the big stories in the gold and silver mining industry making headlines today.
WINNERS
1. Ivanhoe | IVN +7.77% $9.71 |
2. Glamis Gold | GLG +7.75% $41.14 |
3. Entree Gold | EGI+7.27% $1.6519 |
LOSERS
1. Solitario | XPL -3.27% $3.55 |
2. Minefinders | MFN-2.64% $7.73 |
3. IRC | ROY-1.98% $4.46 |
Winners & Losers tracks NYSE and AMEX listed gold and silver mining stocks that trade over $1.
All of today's gold and silver stock news:
Golden China Announces Fiscal 2006 Year-End Results - More
- October 25, 2006 | Item | E-mail
Breakwater Resources Ltd.'s Third Quarter Financial And Operating Results Conference Call - More
- October 25, 2006 | Item | E-mail
STATEMENT RE: Rob McEwen's Immediate Appeal To Goldcorp-Glamis Court Ruling - "While I respect the decision of Madam Justice Pepall of the Ontario Superior Court, I remain adamant that shareholders are being denied their fundamental right to vote on the Goldcorp-Glamis Plan of Arrangement and that serious corporate governance issues remain. Having carefully reviewed the Court's decision with my legal advisors, I will continue to seek more options to access the rights of Goldcorp shareholders." More
- October 25, 2006 | Item | E-mail
Final Feasibility Study Completed at NovaGold's Galore Creek Project - "Hatch Ltd., an independent engineering services company located in Vancouver, B.C., Canada, together with a number of specialized consultants, has completed the Feasibility Study for NovaGold's Galore Creek project in northwestern British Columbia. This study confirms the economic viability of a conventional open-pit mining operation using long-term metals prices and provides the basis for NovaGold's first Proven and Probable Reserves for copper, gold and silver." More
- October 25, 2006 | Item | E-mail
New World Resource Corp.: Lipena Drilling Intersects 93 Metres of 1.68% Copper 2.04 g/t Gold and 19.9 g/t Silver - More
- October 25, 2006 | Item | E-mail
Great West Gold, Inc. -- Update On Stock Dividends - More
- October 25, 2006 | Item | E-mail
Western Copper Corporation and Lumina Resources Corp.: Joint News Release - More
- October 25, 2006 | Item | E-mail
MGM Mineral Resources Announces Recent Corporate Activities - More
- October 25, 2006 | Item
Gold Seeker Closing Report – Gold & Silver Rise Before & After Fed