-- Posted Wednesday, 13 December 2006 | Digg This Article
| Close | Gain/Loss |
Gold | $327.50 | +$0.40 |
Silver | $13.72 | -$0.08 |
XAU | 143.67 | +0.10% |
HUI | 343.84 | -0.07% |
GDM | 1094.51 | +0.02% |
JSE Gold | 2825.77 | +0.24% |
USD | 83.33 | +0.37 |
Euro | 132.06 | -0.64 |
Yen | 85.13 | -0.42 |
Oil | $61.37 | +$0.35 |
10-Year | 4.577% | +0.086 |
T-Bond | 112.96875 | -1.00 |
Dow | 12317.50 | +0.02% |
Nasdaq | 2432.41 | +0.03% |
S&P | 1413.21 | +0.12% |
The Metals:
Gold rose a couple of dollars in after hours Access trade late yesterday and held higher in Asia before it fell back off near unchanged in London and then dropped to as low as $622.80 in midmorning New York trade, but it then rallied over $5 higher in the next 75 minutes of trade, remained near its highs into the close, and ended with a slight gain. Silver dropped to as low as $13.54 before it also rallied into the close, but it still ended slightly lower in New York after having traded mostly higher in Asia and London.
Euro gold rose above €475, platinum lost $2 to $1,108, palladium remained unchanged at $325, and copper fell roughly 5 cents to about $3.02.
Gold and silver equities dropped over 1% at the open, rebounded to find slight gains by late morning, fell back off a bit, and then rallied into the close and ended mixed and near unchanged.
The Economy:
Report | For | Reading | Expected | Previous |
Retail Sales | Nov | 1.0% | 0.2% | -0.1% |
Retail Sales ex-auto | Nov | 1.1% | 0.3% | -0.3% |
Business Inventories | Oct | 0.4% | 0.5% | 0.3% |
Tomorrow at 8:30AM EST brings Import and Export Prices for November and Initial Jobless Claims for 12/09 expected at 320,000, but most are already looking ahead to CPI data on Friday.
The Markets:
Charts Courtesy of http://finance.yahoo.com/
Oil rose as inventory reports did not come in as strong as expected, but any gains were limited due to uncertainty about OPEC’s meeting tomorrow.
The U.S. dollar index rose and treasuries fell markedly as Retail Sales surprised to the upside and pushed interest rates higher as hopes for an interest rate cut by the fed anytime soon were diminished.
The Dow, Nasdaq, and S&P opened higher on economic optimism over strong Retail Sales, but they then fell back off near unchanged and ended with just minimal gains as oil rose and interest rates remained near their highs into the close.
Among the big names making news in the market today were AirTran and Midwest Air, United Airlines and Continental, and Home Depot.
The Commentary:
“Gold is finding support from long term buyers of gold, steadily buying as we see the holdings of the gold Exchange Traded funds rise. To us it is clear that any news deemed negative for gold is simply slowing gold's next rise for the consolidation has left a very narrow trading band. We expect volatile action soon. Any good news for gold is putting upward pressure on gold.
Tomorrow's O.P.E.C. meeting could produce cuts in oil production, which will be gold-positive.” - Julian D.W. Phillips, www.goldforecaster.com
“February Gold finished up 0.7 at 632.4, 2.3 off the high and 4.9 up from the low.
March Silver closed down 0.065 at 13.915. This was 0.19 up from the low and 0.065 off the high.
Gold traded mostly sideways in a choppy trade as the market was able to hold above Monday's low despite solid gains in the Dollar. The 1% jump in retail sales did rally the Dollar which may have limited attempts to push gold higher, but the strong reading on consumer retail demand also bodes well for jewelry sales during the holiday shopping season. Gold mostly treaded water on Wednesday as trading is becoming thin as year end approaches. With outside markets in equities and energy also seeing a choppy trade they did not provide much direction for the metals. While the Dollar gained sizable ground, sentiment remains generally negative toward the currency and therefore, it seems gold traders paid little attention to the move. Gold may also have been able to shrug off the stronger Dollar since a survey by Barclays Capital showed investors plan to expand their holdings in commodities including metals by $50 billion over the next several years.
Profit taking pressured silver to just under Monday's low, but the market seemed to reject these price levels and losses were significantly trimmed by the close. The jump in retail sales does suggest an economy that may be stronger than previously thought and that helps to keep sentiment positive in silver. Strong retail sales may also reflect rising silver jewelry demand this holiday season. However, the strong retail sales number does suggest the Fed may delay lowering rates next year which is a limiting factor.” - The Hightower Report, Futures Analysis and Forecasting
GATA Posts:
Inflation is four times higher than CPI, U.S. economist says
Canadian gold stock index replaced with a global one
Government appeals order to redesign currency for blind
MorganChase buys protection against SEC actions
Barrick open to acquiring more gold and copper assets
Al Jazeera joins ROB-TV in exposing the gold price suppression scheme
The Statistics:
As of close of business: 12/12/2006
Gold Warehouse Stocks: | 7,491,102 | - |
Silver Warehouse Stocks: | 110,579,783 | - |
Global Gold ETF Holdings
[WGC Sponsored ETF’s]
| Product name | Total Tonnes | Total Ounces | Total Value |
New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) AND Singapore Exchange (SGX) | Streettracks Gold Shares | 446.15 | 14,344,012 | US$ 8,949m |
LSE (London Stock Exchange) AND Euronext Paris | Gold Bullion Securities | 90.31 | 2,903,557 | US$ 1,826m |
Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) | Gold Bullion Securities | 10.53 | 338,445 | US$ 213m |
Johannesburg Securities Exchange (JSE) | New Gold Debentures | 9.88 | 317,662 | US$ 199m |
Note: Change in Total Tonnes from yesterday’s data: The NYSE added 4.63 tonnes.
COMEX Gold Trust (IAU)
Profile as of 12/12/2006 | |
Total Net Assets | $855,682,097 | 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 12/12/2006 | |
Total Net Assets | $1,532,639,188 | 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:
Rio Narcea’s (RNO) inclusion in the S&P/TSX Global Gold Index, Pacific Rim’s (PMU) drill program update and drill results, Royal Gold’s (RGLD) closed transaction, Tanzanian Royalty’s (TRE) drill results, Fronteer’s (FRG) new member on the Board of Directors, Palmarejo’s (PJO.V) power generation agreement, and Arian’s (AGQ.V) acquired mine were among the big stories in the gold and silver mining industry making headlines today.
WINNERS
1. Orezone | OZN+4.96% $1.48 |
2. Fronteer | FRG+3.09% $8.33 |
3. Richmont | RIC +3.02% $2.39 |
LOSERS
1. Pacific Rim | PMU -9.73% $1.02 |
2. U.S. Energy | USEG -6.64% $5.06 |
3. New Gold | NGD -5.73% $7.41 |
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:
El Capitan Adds Experienced Leadership to the Board - More
- December 13, 2006 | Item | E-mail
Alma Resources Welcomes Art Soregaroli to the Advisory Board - More
- December 13, 2006 | Item | E-mail
Rio Narcea Included in the S&P/TSX Global Gold Index - "Rio Narcea Gold Mines, Ltd. ("Rio Narcea" or "the Company") (TSX:RNG.TO - News)(AMEX:RNO - News) today announced that the Company has been added to the S&P/TSX Global Gold Index, effective Monday, December 18, 2006. The S&P/TSX Global Gold Index is designed to provide an investable index of global gold securities. Recently, the index name has been changed from the S&P/TSX Capped Gold Index to reflect its methodology and expanded coverage, allowing for the inclusion of non-Canadian securities." More
- December 13, 2006 | Item | E-mail
Crescent Closes Non-Brokered Private Placement - More
- December 13, 2006 | Item | E-mail
Pacific Rim Mining Corp.: Santa Rita Drill Program Update - "Pacific Rim Mining Corp. ("Pacific Rim" or "the Company") (TSX:PMU.TO - News)(AMEX:PMU - News) has elected to temporarily suspend its drill program at the Santa Rita gold project in El Salvador in order to constructively manage localized protests related to the Company's activities at Santa Rita." More
- December 13, 2006 | Item | E-mail
C2C Inc. Begins Exploration Program-Opinaca, Quebec - More
- December 13, 2006 | Item | E-mail
Global Minerals Ltd.: Geophysics Complete; Drill Program Begins - More
- December 13, 2006 | Item | E-mail
DIOS: Pivate Placement - More
- December 13, 2006 | Item
Gold Seeker Closing Report – Gold & Silver End Mixed & Near Unchanged