-- Posted Tuesday, 5 December 2006 | Digg This Article
| Close | Gain/Loss |
Gold | $642.80 | -$2.40 |
Silver | $13.85 | -$0.20 |
XAU | 147.51 | -1.25% |
HUI | 356.11 | -1.14% |
GDM | 1128.82 | -1.27% |
JSE Gold | 3038.66 | -1.21% |
USD | 82.47 | -0.05 |
Euro | 133.21 | UNCH |
Yen | 87.09 | +0.44 |
Oil | $62.43 | -$0.01 |
10-Year | 4.442% | +0.009 |
T-Bond | 114.34375 | -0.25 |
Dow | 12331.60 | +0.39% |
Nasdaq | 2452.38 | +0.16% |
S&P | 1414.76 | +0.40% |
The Metals:
Gold fell near $640 in Asia, rose back near $645 in London, and then rose a few dollars in early New York before it again fell off nearly $10 between 10AM EST and 11AM to as low as $639.10, but it then rebounded a bit into the close and ended with a loss of just 0.37%. Silver saw over 10 cent gains in early New York trade before it also got clobbered just after 10AM EST and dropped to as low as $13.80 before it a rebounded a bit into the close, but it then fell off again in the last hour of trade and ended with a loss of 1.42%.
Euro gold fell to about €483, platinum lost $31 to $1,127, palladium lost $1 to $328, and copper rose about 7 cents to $3.22.
Gold and silver equities opened briefly higher before they fell off with the metals and traded a little over 1% lower for the rest of trade.
The Economy:
Report | For | Reading | Expected | Previous |
Productivity | Q3 | 0.2% | 0.5% | 0.0% |
Factory Orders | Oct | -4.7% | -4.0% | 1.7% |
ISM Services | Nov | 58.9 | 55.5 | 57.1 |
Tomorrow at 8:30AM EST brings Initial Jobless Claims for 12/02 expected at 325,000 and at 3PM is Consumer Credit for October expected at $4.5 billion.
The Markets:
Charts Courtesy of http://finance.yahoo.com/
Oil opened higher, fell in late morning trade, rebounded in early afternoon trade, and ended near unchanged as traders debated weather reports and possible OPEC actions. Traders were also positioning themselves ahead of tomorrow’s inventory reports which are suspected to show slight builds in crude and gasoline inventories and a slight drop in distillates.
The U.S. dollar index opened lower and treasuries opened higher on Productivity data that came in lower than expected and eased inflation fears, but the dollar then rose and treasuries fell off a bit after ISM Services data came in better than expected and raised hopes for a soft landing, rather than a hard landing, for the economy. While treasuries remained near their lows into the close, the dollar erased mid-session gains and ended slightly lower on the day.
The Dow, Nasdaq, and S&P rose on easing inflation worries and on falling concerns about a hard landing for the economy.
Among the big names making news in the market today were Euronext and NYSE, HSBC, Reckson and Icahn, Toll Brothers, and AutoZone.
The Commentary:
“I realize you must find it tedious to read the same ranting gripe from me about how the crooks in The Gold Cartel do their thing every day, right on cue. However, THAT is what this gold market has been about so often … so many days, including this one. The early gold trading in the US was extremely quiet. Gold then drifted up 90 cents due to firm physical buying in the cash market. The PM Fix came in at $646. However, the minute the pricing was over the day, The Gold Cartel attacked to punish the price, quickly taking it down more than $5, close to $640.” - From yesterday’s Midas report by Bill Murphy of LemetropoleCafe.com
“February Gold finished down 3 at 647.9, 6.3 off the high and 3.9 up from the low.
March Silver closed down 0.22 at 14.025. This was 0.02 up from the low and 0.345 off the high.
The gold market was buffeted by a conflicting flow of scheduled US economic numbers on Tuesday. While the majority of the numbers seemed to depict economic weakness and should have pressured the Dollar, it seems like a few select readings stepped up to provide support to an oversold Dollar, which in turn undermined the gold market. Surprisingly the gold market held together relatively better than the silver market and that might have surprised some in the trade. However, unless the outlook for inflation is revived, after the soft Unit Labor Cost reading dampened inflation prospects, the gold bulls will be looking primarily toward the direction of the Dollar for support. In other words, the 82.27 to 82.18 level in the December Dollar Index might be the critical pivot zone for the gold trade in the coming sessions as that is the recent low range in the Dollar.
Surprising the silver market gave ground in the second half of the session and in a sense outperformed the gold market on the downside effort. Even more surprising is the fact that the silver market managed the declines in the face of predictions that Chinese silver consumption was set to grow and that a US silver producer Coeur d'Alene was potentially interested in expanding into China wasn't enough to save the market from a profit taking setback. While some of the economic readings might have been undermining for silver and physical demand driven commodities, the favorable action in the stock market should have mitigated the negative influence from the numbers. In fact, it almost seems like the lower inflation reading from the Unit Labor Costs report dampened the fear of rate hikes and that in turn bolstered economic expectations. However, in the end the precious metals markets weren't impressed with the indications being thrown off by a higher equity market.” - The Hightower Report, Futures Analysis and Forecasting
GATA Posts:
China seeks direct talks with OPEC
Two big Asian central banks learn to live with dollar's fall
British banks probed over adequacy of collateral from hedge funds
Ted Butler: What happens at $100 silver?
Britain's official inflation numbers are all lies too
The Statistics:
As of close of business: 12/04/2006
Gold Warehouse Stocks: | 7,491,102 | - |
Silver Warehouse Stocks: | 108,371,505 | + 601,100 |
Global Gold ETF Holdings
[WGC Sponsored ETF’s]
| Product name | Total Tonnes | Total Ounces | Total Value |
New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) AND Singapore Exchange (SGX) | Streettracks Gold Shares | 441.68 | 14,200,313 | US$ 9,170m |
LSE (London Stock Exchange) AND Euronext Paris | Gold Bullion Securities | 90.32 | 2,903,814 | US$ 1,865m |
Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) | Gold Bullion Securities | 10.48 | 336,652 | US$ 216m |
Johannesburg Securities Exchange (JSE) | New Gold Debentures | 9.88 | 317,690 | US$ 205m |
Note: No change in Total Tonnes from yesterday’s data.
COMEX Gold Trust (IAU)
Profile as of 12/04/2006 | |
Total Net Assets | $880,599,049 | Ounces of Gold
in Trust | 1,364,906.469 |
Shares Outstanding | 13,750,000 | Tonnes of Gold
in Trust | 42.45 |
Note: No change in Total Tonnes from yesterday’s data.
Silver Trust (SLV)
Profile as of 12/04/2006 | |
Total Net Assets | $1,540,942,017 | Ounces of Silver
in Trust | 109,721,369 |
Shares Outstanding | 11,000,000 | Tonnes of Silver
in Trust | 3,412.7 |
Note: No change in Total Tonnes from yesterday’s data.
The Stocks:
NovaGold’s (NG) continued recommendation to reject Barrick’s (ABX) hostile bid, Rio Narcea’s (RNO) exploration program, Freeport’s (FCX) possible environmental study, Eldorado’s (EGO) gold pour, Gammon Lake’s (GRS) mine production, Arian Silver’s (AGQ.V) drilling, Silver Dragon’s (SDRG.OB) engagement letter, and Bear Creek’s (BCM.V) resource update were among the big stories in the gold and silver mining industry making headlines today.
WINNERS
1. Ivanhoe | IVN +16.58% $11.18 |
2. Entree Gold | EGI +10.9% $1.73 |
3. Northern Dynasty | NAK +7.60% $9.06 |
LOSERS
1. DRDGOLD | DROOY 11.93% $0.96 |
2. Crystallex | KRY -5.94% $3.80 |
3. Minco Mining | MMK -4.00% $1.68 |
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:
Network Exploration Receives TSX Venture Exchange Approval for Caldera Property Acquisition - More
- December 05, 2006 | Item | E-mail
Temex signs Bruce Durham - More
- December 05, 2006 | Item | E-mail
Rio Narcea Approves Aggressive Exploration Program for its Nickel and Gold Properties - "The $8.1 million exploration program, to be completed during 2007, will comprise a total of 37,500m of drilling, including 18,000m of exploration drilling and 4,000m of infill drilling in and around the Tasiast gold mine in Mauritania, 10,500m of exploration drilling around the Aguablanca nickel mine in Spain, and 5,000m on identified nickel anomalies within the Ossa Morena region." More
- December 05, 2006 | Item | E-mail
Clarification of Supreme Court Decision on Crucitas Concession - More
- December 05, 2006 | Item | E-mail
C2C Inc.: Private Placement - More
- December 05, 2006 | Item | E-mail
Oriental Minerals to Raise Up to $6.4 Million - More
- December 05, 2006 | Item | E-mail
Former Safe Environment Engineering, Canada, Inc. President Announces Civil Action Brought Against Golden Arch Resources, Limited - More
- December 05, 2006 | Item | E-mail
NY City comptroller wants Freeport environmental study - "New York City Comptroller William Thompson, who oversees the city's pension funds, on Tuesday called for a review of Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc.'s (FCX.N: Quote, Profile , Research) environmental policies and practices in Indonesia. New Orleans-based Freeport-McMoRan, one of the world's largest gold and copper producers, derives most of its income from its Grasberg mine on Indonesia's West Papua island, the world's largest copper and gold mine by reserves." More
- December 05, 2006 |
Gold Seeker Closing Report – Gold & Silver Fall Slightly