-- Posted Monday, 18 December 2006 | Digg This Article
| Close | Gain/Loss |
Gold | $614.90 | +$0.30 |
Silver | $12.40 | -$0.41 |
XAU | 140.60 | -1.63% |
HUI | 332.34 | -2.07% |
GDM | 1063.77 | -1.98% |
JSE Gold | 2878.21 | +1.07% |
USD | 83.97 | -0.02 |
Euro | 130.87 | +0.13 |
Yen | 84.67 | +0.02 |
Oil | $62.21 | -$1.22 |
10-Year | 4.587% | -0.010 |
T-Bond | 113.71875 | +0.03125 |
Dow | 12441.27 | -0.03% |
Nasdaq | 2435.57 | -0.88% |
S&P | 1422.48 | -0.32% |
The Metals:
Gold traded slightly higher in Asia and London before it dipped a few dollars in morning New York trade to as low as $611.30 at about 11AM EST, but it then rallied into the close and ended with a small gain. Silver also traded slightly higher in Asia and London before it fell in New York, but its drop was much more severe than gold’s. It fell to as low as $12.26 before it rallied a bit off its lows in the last hour of trade, but it still ended with a loss of 3.20%.
Euro gold remained above €470, platinum remained unchanged at $1,100, palladium gained $2 to $320, and copper rose a few cents to about $3.03.
Gold and silver equities steadily fell off for most of trade and ended with about 2% losses.
The Economy:
Report | For | Reading | Expected | Previous |
Current Account | Q3 | -$225.6B | -$225.0B | -$217.1B |
The Current Account came in about as expected at a record high deficit. Tomorrow at 8:30AM EST brings Housing Starts for November expected at 1,550,000, Building Permits expected at 1,535,000, PPI for November expected at 0.5%, and Core PPI expected at 0.2%.
The Markets:
Charts Courtesy of http://finance.yahoo.com/
Oil fell despite news of explosions at oil company facilities in Nigeria as OPEC “said that the fundamentals of the world oil market show signs of weakening in 2007 as economic growth slows and supply from non-OPEC countries rises faster than global demand.”
The U.S. dollar index and treasuries remained near unchanged as traders looked ahead to economic data later in the week, but bonds did find small gains by the close and the dollar fell slightly.
The Dow, Nasdaq, and S&P rose in early trade on merger and acquisition news, but the Dow and S&P fell off by the close and ended slightly lower while the Nasdaq closed almost 1% lower.
Among the big names making news in the market today were Express Scripts and Caremark, Harrah’s, Biomet, and Loral.
The Commentary:
“February Gold finished down 1.2 at 617.9, 3.2 off the high and 2.8 up from the low.
March Silver closed down 0.455 at 12.525. This was 0.125 up from the low and 0.535 off the high.
Surprisingly the gold market turned the tables and managed to outperform the silver market by not coming under as much pressure. With the Dollar mostly holding up around its recent highs, it is not surprising that the bear camp in gold was lurking early in the US action. With oil prices also weakening considerably during the session, the overall environment in gold was simply conducive to ongoing selling pressure. Certainly the prospect of year end selling was present and with another new low for the move it is possible that more weak handed longs are feeling the heat, which could be more distinct because of the proximity to the year end. In fact, given the aggressive pressure in the silver market, the gold market probably saw some indirect selling pressure.
Around the lows Monday the silver market was almost $2.00 below the December highs and that would certainly serve to level the recently overbought technical condition of the market. While the trade doesn't seem to be poised to abandon the upbeat long term view, the presence of year end liquidation is certainly weighing on psychology. Apparently some Press reports were suggesting that the Funds were dumping positions and that initially sent prices cascading below the critical chart support level of $12.50 basis the March contract. However, the silver market did show the capacity to reject the sub $12.50 trade and that gave some traders hope that the washout in prices was close to running its course.” - The Hightower Report, Futures Analysis and Forecasting
GATA Posts:
Iran announces switch from dollars to euros
Lawsuits target 'first strike' coins
James Turk: The gold cartel at work
Kevin Horrigan: A Wall Street Christmas story
Honest accounting would raise U.S. budget deficit by 81%
Two Internet radio interviews for GATA Chairman Murphy
Weak dollar has mixed results for U.S. businesses
Barrick may bid for Freeport, CIBC research note says
The Statistics:
As of close of business: 12/15/2006
Gold Warehouse Stocks: | 7,469,964 | - 21,138 |
Silver Warehouse Stocks: | 110,131,081 | + 133,451 |
Global Gold ETF Holdings
[WGC Sponsored ETF’s]
| Product name | Total Tonnes | Total Ounces | Total Value |
New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) AND Singapore Exchange (SGX) | Streettracks Gold Shares | 448.92 | 14,433,279 | US$ 9,001m |
LSE (London Stock Exchange) AND Euronext Paris | Gold Bullion Securities | 90.31 | 2,903,397 | US$ 1,786m |
Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) | Gold Bullion Securities | 10.53 | 338,426 | US$ 208m |
Johannesburg Securities Exchange (JSE) | New Gold Debentures | 9.88 | 317,645 | US$ 198m |
Note: No change in Total Tonnes from yesterday’s data.
COMEX Gold Trust (IAU)
Profile as of 12/15/2006 | |
Total Net Assets | $854,534,843 | Ounces of Gold
in Trust | 1,389,719.369 |
Shares Outstanding | 14,000,000 | Tonnes of Gold
in Trust | 43.23 |
Note: No change in Total Tonnes from yesterday’s data.
Silver Trust (SLV)
Profile as of 12/15/2006 | |
Total Net Assets | $1,539,826,371 | Ounces of Silver
in Trust | 112,173,316.800 |
Shares Outstanding | 11,250,000 | Tonnes of Silver
in Trust | 3,488.98 |
Note: No change in Total Tonnes from yesterday’s data.
The Stocks:
Aurizon’s (AZK) addition to the S&P/TSX Global Gold Index, Northgate’s (NXG) increase in gold resources, Great Panther’s (GPR.TO) drilling, Strategic Nevada’s (SNS.V) new geologist, ECU’s (ECU.V) drill results, Avino’s (ASM.V) drill results, and MAG Silver’s (MAG.V) stock options were among the big stories in the gold and silver mining industry making headlines today.
WINNERS
1. Fronteer | FRG+7.06% $8.64 |
2. Rubicon | RBY+5.69% $1.30 |
3. Solitario | XPL+1.00% $4.04 |
LOSERS
1. Exeter | XRA -9.44% $1.63 |
2. Orezone | OZN-8.44% $1.41 |
3. Rio Narcea | RNO-8.42% $2.61 |
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:
Stellar grants stock options - More
- December 18, 2006 | Item | E-mail
Mansfield Adds New Project to Portfolio - More
- December 18, 2006 | Item | E-mail
Duran and MacMillan Gold Agree to Property Option Amendments - More
- December 18, 2006 | Item | E-mail
Peru Copper announces new discovery - More
- December 18, 2006 | Item | E-mail
Great Panther Commences Diamond Drilling at Km66 Property - "GREAT PANTHER RESOURCES LIMITED (TSX:GPR.TO - News) is pleased to announce that a 5,000 metre diamond drilling program has commenced at the Company's Km 66 Project in northeastern Durango State, Mexico. The 3,508 hectare property hosts significant silver-lead-zinc-gold mineralization with excellent potential for a large bulk tonnage deposit." More
- December 18, 2006 | Item | E-mail
Oxiana joins forces with Kalimantan in the hunt for Indonesian copper - More
- December 18, 2006 | Item | E-mail
Eagle Plains Completes $3.1M Financing - More
- December 18, 2006 | Item | E-mail
MacDonald Mines: McNugget Expands VMS Zones and Intersects Higher Tenor Mineralization up to 7.46% Zn Over 3.59m - More
- December 18, 2006 | Item | E-mail
Aurizon Added to S&P/TSX Global Gold Index - "Aurizon Mines Ltd. (TSX:ARZ.TO - News)(AMEX:AZK - News) is pleased to announce that its common shares have been added to the S&P/TSX Global Gold Index (formerly the S&P/TSX Capped Gold Index), effective December 18, 2006." More
- December 18, 2006 | Item | E-mail
Lakota Announces TEMBO Aircore Drill Results - More
- December 18, 2006 | Item | E-mail
Olympus' Takeover Target Completes State 1 Exploration on Napai Gold Project, N. Vietnam - More
- December 18, 2006
Gold Seeker Closing Report – Gold Gains Slightly While Silver Falls Over 3%