-- Posted Tuesday, 12 December 2006 | Digg This Article
| Close | Gain/Loss |
Gold | $627.10 | -$2.70 |
Silver | $13.80 | -$0.03 |
XAU | 143.52 | -0.99% |
HUI | 344.07 | -1.17% |
GDM | 1094.25 | -1.28% |
JSE Gold | 2819.10 | -1.37% |
USD | 82.94 | -0.26 |
Euro | 132.70 | +0.17 |
Yen | 85.55 | -0.04 |
Oil | $61.02 | -$0.20 |
10-Year | 4.491% | -0.029 |
T-Bond | 113.96875 | +0.25 |
Dow | 12315.58 | -0.10% |
Nasdaq | 2431.60 | -0.46% |
S&P | 1411.56 | -0.10% |
The Metals:
Gold rose above $630 in Asia, fell back near unchanged in London, fell off a bit further in New York, and closed near its lows of the session with a loss of 0.43%. Silver traded in a tight 10 cent range on either side of unchanged and closed near the bottom of that range with a loss of 0.22%. In reaction to the fed’s policy announcement, both metals have recouped today’s losses and are trading slightly higher in after hours Access trade at the time of writing.
Euro gold remained near €475, platinum gained $3 to $1,110, palladium lost $4 to $325, and copper lost roughly 4 cents to about $3.07.
Gold and silver equities fell throughout the morning and saw over 2% losses before they rebounded following the fed’s policy decision and closed with about 1% losses.
The Economy:
Report | For | Reading | Expected | Previous |
Trade Balance | Oct | -$58.9B | -$63.0B | -$64.3B |
Treasury Budget | Nov | -$75.6B | -$73.0B | -$83.1B |
The fed kept rates unchanged at 5.25% as expected. The only change to their statement from the last meeting was the addition of the word “substantial” to their view on the cooling of the housing market. Lacker again dissented and voted for a 0.25% increase in rates.
Tomorrow at 8:30AM EST brings Retail Sales for November expected at 0.2%. Excluding autos, sales are expected at 0.3%. At 10AM are Business Inventories October expected at 0.5%.
The Markets:
Charts Courtesy of http://finance.yahoo.com/
Oil traded mostly higher on speculation over OPEC cuts at their meeting on Thursday, but it closed lower on uncertainty about a cut.
The U.S. dollar index fell and treasuries rose on speculation over, and eventually confirmation that the fed will likely not raise interest rates anytime soon.
The Dow, Nasdaq, and S&P rebounded from deep early losses and ended just slightly lower as oil turned lower by the end of the day and the fed announcement brought no surprises.
Among the big names making news in the market today were Nucor, Sabre, Nasdaq and LSE, Goldman Sachs, and Best Buy.
The Commentary:
“Paulson and Bernanke aren’t going to China for the chow mein. The stakes for the dollar poker game are huge. With the US reeling over the Iraq debacle, the last thing our Administration can afford is a collapsing dollar. Seems to me the Chinese have us over a barrel. I wonder what sort of horse trading this important gathering will produce…
While the big picture for gold and silver could not be brighter, we have to be on guard this week due to this trip to China by the US financial powers. It is hard to imagine their letting gold really roar during this trip, knowing how they have been of late, and all these years, when it comes to such strategic events.” - From yesterday’s Midas report by Bill Murphy of LemetropoleCafe.com
“February Gold finished down 3.1 at 631.7, 3.1 off the high and 0.7 up from the low.
March Silver closed down 0.045 at 13.98. This was 0.04 up from the low and 0.08 off the high.
While the Press continued to carry bullish predictions for gold in 2007, the market wasn't specifically lifted in the wake of the FOMC meeting statement. However, in the hour after the Fed statement was floated the Dollar did slide into negative ground and the stock market seemed to come under added selling pressure. However, weakening oil prices and a favorable US Trade Balance reading just seemed to give the bear camp an edge for most of the session. With the February gold contract falling right down to the 200 day moving average on Tuesday, it would seem like the market is facing a technical decision directly ahead. In the end, the gold market was largely unmoved by a bullish prediction from the Barrick CFO, who predicted that gold prices still had significant upside potential ahead. In retrospect, the gold market seemed to view the Fed statement initially as a negative, probably because the Fed seemed to express concern over the significance of slowing in the US housing sector. However, eventually the Dollar weakened as a result of the Fed and that served to perk up interest in the gold market. Some players suggest that a decline below 82.47 in the March Dollar Index might be needed to energize the gold bulls again.
While the silver market attempted to hold in positive ground into mid session and in the process discounted the weakness in gold and copper prices, the market dipped into negative ground in the wake of the Fed outcome. With the Copper market extending its early weakness and the Fed seemingly concerned about the threat of slowing, it is not surprising that the silver attempts to rise above $14.00 ran into difficulty. However, the recovery in the stock market in the wake of the Fed meeting was somewhat short lived and that might have been a limiting development for silver prices. It should be noted that the Dollar did manage to weaken slightly after the Fed statement was absorbed and that could end up supporting gold and in turn supporting silver prices.” - The Hightower Report, Futures Analysis and Forecasting
GATA Posts:
Having the U.S. government as a subsidiary is good business
Dow Jones interviews Blanchard's Ryan on gold's prospects
Heroic Afghans safeguarded their country's golden heritage
Mortgage delinquencies threatening U.S. borrowers and banks
Ted Butler: The record speaks for itself
The Statistics:
As of close of business: 12/11/2006
Gold Warehouse Stocks: | 7,491,102 | - |
Silver Warehouse Stocks: | 110,579,783 | - |
Global Gold ETF Holdings
[WGC Sponsored ETF’s]
| Product name | Total Tonnes | Total Ounces | Total Value |
New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) AND Singapore Exchange (SGX) | Streettracks Gold Shares | 441.52 | 14,195,233 | US$ 8,896m |
LSE (London Stock Exchange) AND Euronext Paris | Gold Bullion Securities | 90.31 | 2,903,589 | US$ 1,829m |
Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) | Gold Bullion Securities | 10.53 | 338,449 | US$ 213m |
Johannesburg Securities Exchange (JSE) | New Gold Debentures | 9.88 | 317,666 | US$ 199m |
Note: No change in Total Tonnes from yesterday’s data.
COMEX Gold Trust (IAU)
Profile as of 12/11/2006 | |
Total Net Assets | $859,786,239 | 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 12/11/2006 | |
Total Net Assets | $1,518,271,855 | Ounces of Silver
in Trust | 110,677,935 |
Shares Outstanding | 11,100,000 | Tonnes of Silver
in Trust | 3,442.5 |
Note: No change in Total Tonnes from yesterday’s data.
The Stocks:
Northern Dynasty’s (NAK) shareholder rights plan, Taseko’s (TGB) increase in mineral reserves, Eldorado’s (EGO) 2007 production guidance, MAG Silver’s (MAG.V) drill results, Silver Dragon’s (SDRG.OB) resource identification, Aura Silver’s (AUU.V) exploration work, Great Panther’s (GPR.TO) drill results, and Bear Creek’s (BCM.V) drill results were among the big stories in the gold and silver mining industry making headlines today.
WINNERS
1. International Royalty | ROY +3.42% $5.14 |
2. Solitario Resources | XPL +2.75% $4.11 |
3. Claude Resources | CGR +2.07% $1.48 |
LOSERS
1. Minco Mining | MMK -7.72% $1.58 |
2. Tanzanian Royalty | TRE -5.85% $5.96 |
3. Mines MGMT | MGN -4.68% $5.29 |
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:
StrataGold announces grant of stock options - More
- December 12, 2006 | Item | E-mail
Affinor Resources Inc.: Nomination of Daniel Barrette - More
- December 12, 2006 | Item | E-mail
Canarc Resource Corp.: Deepest Drill Hole of 2006 Drilling Program at New Polaris Intersects 7.1 gpt Gold Over 10.2 m Length; - More
- December 12, 2006 | Item | E-mail
Condor Resources Inc.: Drilling Commences on the Escudo Porphyry Copper Target - More
- December 12, 2006 | Item | E-mail
Beartooth Issues Retraction of Disclosure of Gross Metal Values - More
- December 12, 2006 | Item | E-mail
MAG Silver and Penoles Intersect More High Grade at Juanicipio - "MAG Silver Corp. (TSX VENTURE:MAG.V - News) and Industrias Penoles S.A. de C.V. announce drilling results of 6 completed holes from the 18,000 metre definition drill program currently underway on the Valdecanas Silver/Gold vein discovery within the Juanicipio joint venture, Fresnillo District, Zacatecas State, Mexico. " More
- December 12, 2006 | Item | E-mail
Aldershot Resources Ltd.: George Creek Project Update - More
- December 12, 2006 | Item | E-mail
Yorbeau Resources Inc.: Gold Bearing Zones at Augmitto Extend at Depth - More
- December 12, 2006 | Item | E-mail
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Gold Seeker Closing Report – Gold & Silver Fall Slightly Before Fed Announcement; Rise Slightly After