The Markets:

Charts Courtesy of http://finance.yahoo.com/

Oil rose as crude inventories came in about as expected, but gasoline and distillate inventories fell much more than expected.  Crude inventories rose 1.3 million barrels, gasoline inventories fell 3.7 million barrels, and distillate inventories fell 3.6 million barrels.

The U.S. dollar index rose and treasuries fell as the NY Empire State Index came in better than expected and raised expectations for future rate hikes or at least reduced hopes for a possible cut in rates, but any gains in the dollar moderated by the close ahead of tomorrow’s CPI data.

The Dow, Nasdaq, and S&P rose on merger activity and on confidence that the fed has inflation under control.  The Dow closed at a new record high.

Among the big names making news in the market today were McDonald’s, Boeing, US Airways and Delta, Tyco, Euronext and NYSE, and Texas Pacific and Clear Channel.

The Commentary:

“Unreal, The Gold Cartel did it again, taking gold down AFTER the PM Fix. The lousy action caused others to bail out and the locals began to press the short side. Gold fell to key support at $619 (the dollar had stopped retreating at that point). Talk about blatant interference in the market! This is beyond ridiculous again.

What newer Café members need to understand, it is not always so much what gold and the other markets do, it is the way it is done … with such consistency. Free markets DO NOT trade like this.” - From yesterday’s Midas report by Bill Murphy of LemetropoleCafe.com

“December Gold finished down 1.5 at 623.8, 2 off the high and 7.8 up from the low.

December Silver closed up 0.055 at 12.945. This was 0.445 up from the low and 0.025 off the high.

The gold market showed definitive weakness early in the action Wednesday but managed to throw off most of the weakness into the afternoon trade. Apparently the improvement in the US macro economic outlook inspired some would be buyers and even more surprising is the fact that the Dollar seemed to fail in the wake of the improved US view. With oil prices forging gains and the equity market charging repeatedly into new high ground, the environment seems to have shifted back away from the patently deflationary view that was drifting into place after the PPI report early in the week. In fact, seeing the equity market charging consistently higher into the end of the year could bolster physical demand expectations, which were already being given an additional boost during the session Wednesday, in the wake of upbeat World Gold Council Industrial demand growth projections. In short, the gold market seemed to have dodged a patently bearish collection of events, but the trade is still generally concerned with the overall direction of the US Dollar. With the FOMC meeting minutes released late in the session, suggesting that US inflation remains uncomfortably high, it is likely that some gold bulls enticed back into the long side of the market late in the session.

In looking back at private estimates released during the session Wednesday, it seems like the classical supply and demand components in silver were dealt a bit of a blow. However, in the end it does seem like the trade discounted Gold Fields’ forecasts of rising mine production and sagging fabrication demand. It does seem like the silver market is honed in on the action in the gold market and is therefore less sensitive to its internal fundamentals. On the other hand, exchange stocks of silver are creeping higher and that might not mix well with concerns of rising mine output and leveling demand. However, seeing energy and equity prices rise consistently does seem to have tempered the deflationary concerns that were starting to permeate the silver trade early in the week and some traders hope that will contribute to a bottoming effort.” - The Hightower Report, Futures Analysis and Forecasting

GATA Posts:

Silver smashdown imminent

China should 'pick right time' and buy gold, government economist says

The Statistics:

As of close of business: 11/14/2006

Global Gold ETF Holdings

[WGC Sponsored ETF’s]

 Note: Change in Total Tonnes from yesterday’s data:  The NYSE added 3.08 tonnes and the ASX added 0.06 tonnes.

COMEX Gold Trust (IAU)

 Note: No change in Total Tonnes from yesterday’s data.

Silver Trust (SLV)

 Note: No change in Total Tonnes from yesterday’s data.

The Stocks:

Quarterly reports released after the bell yesterday from Goldcorp (GG), Apollo Gold (AGT), Vista Gold (VGZ), Ivanhoe (IVN), North American Palladium (PAL), Miramar (MNG), New Gold (NGD), Gammon Lake (GRS), Crystallex (KRY), Endeavour (EDR.TO), and Bema Gold (BGO), Claude’s (CGR) completed private placement, Almaden’s (AAU) closed private placement, Pacific Rim’s (PMU) new gold zone, Great Basin’s (GBN) drill results, Miramar’s (MNG) drill results, Kimber’s (KBX) personnel addition and drilling update, International Royalty’s (ROY) quarterly revenue, ECU’s (ECU.V) additional properties, Silvercorp’s (SVM.TO) donation, Arian Silver’s (ACQ.V) private placement, and Bear Creek’s (BCM.V) drill results were among the big stories in the gold and silver mining industry making headlines today.

WINNERS

LOSERS

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:

ECU Silver Mining Inc.: Acquires Two Additional Properties - "ECU Silver Mining Inc. 'the Company' is pleased to announce the acquisition of two new properties in Mexico. The company considers both acquisitions to be important land claims that will compliment and enhance our current land base in Mexico." More
- November 15, 2006 | Item | E-mail

Crosshair Exploration and Mining Corp.: Further Drilling to Commence at Golden Promise - More
- November 15, 2006 | Item | E-mail

ESO Uranium Corp. Welcomes Kurt Bordian as Chief Financial Officer - More
- November 15, 2006 | Item | E-mail

Claude Resources Inc. completes private placement offering - "Claude Resources Inc. is pleased to announce that it has completed the non-brokered private placement offering previously announced on October 20, 2006. The offering consisted of a total of 3,333,028 shares, issued on a flow-through basis, at a price of Cdn $1.65 per share, for gross proceeds of Cdn $5,499,496.20." More
- November 15, 2006 | Item | E-mail

Gold Canyon Undertakes Private Placement for US$629,250 - More
- November 15, 2006 | Item | E-mail

Goldcorp looks to future after results disappoint - "Goldcorp Inc.'s quarterly numbers may have disappointed the market, but the gold miner suggests investors should look ahead to a time when when its $8.6 billion purchase of Glamis will reap rewards. Goldcorp's third-quarter results fell short of analyst expectations on lower output, sending its shares down 3 percent early on Wednesday. But by mid-afternoon the stock had recovered, and was unchanged at C$31.66 on the Toronto Stock Exchange and at $27.79 in New York." More
- November 15, 2006 | Item | E-mail

Silvercorp Donates RMB1.25 Million Yuan Towards the Construction of a Youth Center in Luoning County, Henan Province, China - "Silvercorp Metals Inc. is committed to contributing to the growth and prosperity of communities in which it is active. As part of this commitment, Silvercorp's 77.5%-owned subsidiary, Henan Found Mining Co. Ltd. has donated RMB yens 1.25 million (approximately US$159,000)towards the construction of the Henan Found Youth Recreation and Activity Center, in Luoning county of Henan province, China." More
- November 15, 2006 | Item | E-mail

Eagle Plains Increases Financing - More
- November 15, 2006 | Item | E-mail

Amera Resources Corporation: Private Placement Announced - More
- November 15, 2006 |