-- Posted Tuesday, 27 March 2007 | Digg This Article
| Close | Gain/Loss |
Gold | $661.80 | -$1.20 |
Silver | $13.18 | -$0.13 |
XAU | 137.54 | -1.18% |
HUI | 340.50 | -1.57% |
GDM | 1075.68 | -1.44% |
JSE Gold | 2850.20 | +0.05% |
USD | 82.97 | -0.10 |
Euro | 133.48 | +0.15 |
Yen | 84.82 | +0.06 |
Oil | $62.93 | +$0.02 |
10-Year | 4.612% | +0.025 |
T-Bond | 111.75 | -0.28125 |
Dow | 12397.29 | -0.58% |
Nasdaq | 2437.43 | -0.74% |
S&P | 1428.61 | -0.62% |
The Metals:
Gold traded mostly slightly higher in Asia and London before it turned marginally lower in late New York trade and ended near its low with a loss of 0.18%. Silver rose to over $13.35 by early trade in London, but it then fell about 10 cents heading into New York trade, dropped another 10 cents in late morning New York trade, and ended with a loss of 0.98%.
Euro gold fell under €497, platinum lost $3 to $1,231, palladium remained unchanged at $350, and copper fell roughly 7 cents to about $3.05.
Gold and silver equities fell about 1.5% in morning trade and remained near their lows into the close.
The Economy:
Report | For | Reading | Expected | Previous |
Consumer Confidence | Mar | 107.2 | 109.0 | 111.2 |
Also making economic news today was an S&P housing index that showed depreciating home prices in January and added to housing concerns raised by yesterday’s poor New Home Sales data. Tomorrow at 8:30AM EST brings Durable Goods Orders for February expected at 3.5% and at 10:30 is the start of Bernanke’s testimony before the congressional Joint Economic Committee on the economic outlook.
The Markets:
Charts Courtesy of http://finance.yahoo.com/
Oil fell a bit on profit taking for most of the day, but some late session buying left it with a small gain as traders prepared for tomorrow’s inventory reports which are expected to show a slight build in crude inventories and slight draws in gasoline and distillate inventories.
The U.S. dollar index fell as Consumer Confidence came in worse than expected and the euro found some strength on a stronger than expected German Ifo business climate indicator reading.
Treasuries found small losses despite the fact that Consumer Confidence came in worse than expected as elevated inflation expectations in the survey kept interest rates elevated.
The Dow, Nasdaq, and S&P fell on continued concerns over the housing sector and its impact on the economy as a whole.
Among the big names making news in the market today were Tribune, Vonage, Delta, Lennar, EDP and Horizon Wind, and Gildan.
The Commentary:
“The bottom line for gold:
*Demand is firm and rising.
*Mine supply is on the wane, despite a rising price, and will remain that way for a couple of more years, or more.
*The US housing market is noticeably deteriorating, putting the Fed in a serious bind regarding their interest rate policy.
*In reaction to a potential housing nightmare, the Fed has caved in on their fight against inflation. They will let inflation go in order to protect the US real estate market...” - From yesterday’s Midas report by Bill Murphy of LemetropoleCafe.com
“April Gold finished down 1.4 at 662.5, 3.3 off the high and 0.7 up from the low.
May Silver closed down 0.13 at 13.28. This was 0.04 up from the low and 0.14 off the high.
Concerns over economic growth have been raised once again with a weaker than expected drop in March consumer confidence today coming on the back of a weak February new home sales on Monday, and this uncertainly has some traders taking profits in the gold market. If the market begins to expect more significant slowing in the US economy that outlook certainly will not be supportive to gold. Heightened political tensions with Iran are helping to limit gold losses, but outside markets are having mostly a negative influence. The Dollar remains surprisingly steady despite the weak consumer confidence data today which is also undermining gold. The Dollar maybe garnering some support from a rise in consumer 1-year expectations for inflation, the highest since October, on ideas the Fed will keep interest rate steady. A softer stock market and lower energy prices for most of the session also weighed on gold.
With the market running into resistance around $13.50, the weaker than expected consumer confidence data for March offered a good excuse for some traders to book profits. The weakness in consumer confidence raises concerns for economic growth ahead and another report showing a year over year drop in the Jan housing price index, the first decline since Jan 1994 certainly sours the demand outlook for industrial metals. Copper prices fell hard on Tuesday with selling spilling over into the silver market as recent data raises doubts the US housing sector is on the mend and if the US housing sector remains weak the industrial sector will also remain soft.” - The Hightower Report, Futures Analysis and Forecasting
GATA Posts:
John Embry: Time for gold 'to go ballistic' approaches
Rush into commodities worries British financial regulator
James Turk urges New Hampshire to remonetize gold and silver
The Statistics:
As of close of business: 3/26/2007
Gold Warehouse Stocks: | 7,577,548 | -805 |
Silver Warehouse Stocks: | 122,849,857 | - 248,601 |
Global Gold ETF Holdings
[WGC Sponsored ETF’s]
| Product name | Total Tonnes | Total Ounces | Total Value |
New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) AND Singapore Exchange (SGX) | Streettracks Gold Shares | 479.31 | 15,410,289 | US$ 10,214m |
LSE (London Stock Exchange) AND Euronext Paris | Gold Bullion Securities | 88.85 | 2,856,537 | US$ 1,894m |
Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) | Gold Bullion Securities | 11.42 | 366,946 | US$ 244m |
Johannesburg Securities Exchange (JSE) | New Gold Debentures | 11.10 | 356,917 | US$ 236m |
Note: No change in Total Tonnes from yesterday’s data.
COMEX Gold Trust (IAU)
Profile as of 3/26/2007 | |
Total Net Assets | $953,667,365 | Ounces of Gold
in Trust | 1,437,943.875 |
Shares Outstanding | 14,500,000 | Tonnes of Gold
in Trust | 44.73 |
Note: No change in Total Tonnes from yesterday’s data.
Silver Trust (SLV)
Profile as of 3/26/2007 | |
Total Net Assets | $1,722,682,786 | Ounces of Silver
in Trust | 129,961,277.700 |
Shares Outstanding | 13,050,000 | Tonnes of Silver
in Trust | 4,042.25 |
Note: No change in Total Tonnes from yesterday’s data.
The Stocks:
Metallica’s (MRB) 2006 results, Fronteer’s (FRG) 2006 results and corporate appointments, Cardero’s (CDY) optioned property, Golden Star’s (GSS) accelerated option exercise, Solitario’s (XPL) drill results, Pacific Rim’s (PMU) surface trenching, Great Basin’s (GBN) appointed general manager, Eldorado’s (EGO) drill results, Abcourt’s (ABI.V) director appointment, First Majestic’s (FR.V) completed purchase, Silvercorp’s (SVM.TO) exploration results, and Orko’s (OK.V) assay results were among the big stories in the gold and silver mining industry making headlines today.
WINNERS
1. Orezone | OZN +8.33% $1.95 |
2. International Royalty | ROY +7.59% $5.81 |
3. Claude Resources | CGR +1.31% $1.47 |
LOSERS
1. Minco Gold | MGH -5.13% $1.48 |
2. Golden Star | GSS -5.04% $4.33 |
3. Agnico Eagle | AEM -3.59% $36.48 |
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:
Final Bridge Repairs at El Teniente Underway - More
- March 27, 2007 | Item | E-mail
Aurora Reports 2006 Annual Results and New Corporate Appointment - More
- March 27, 2007 | Item | E-mail
Fronteer Reports Fiscal 2006 Results - "The Company's net income for the year ended December 31, 2006, was $15,011,639 or basic earnings per share of $0.27 compared to a net loss of $5,304,538 or loss per share of $0.12 for the year ended December 31, 2005. Contributing to the year over year differences were the recognition of dilution gains on the Company's investment in Aurora offset by the Company's share of Aurora's operating loss, an increase in stock-based compensation expense, wages and benefits costs, accounting and audit, legal, property investigation costs and interest income offset by decreases in investor relations, promotion and advertising costs and write-downs to exploration properties." More
- March 27, 2007 | Item | E-mail
Fronteer Announces New Corporate Appointments - "Fronteer Development Group (Fronteer) (Toronto:FRG.TO - News)(AMEX:FRG - News) ("Fronteer" or "Company") is pleased to announce that Mr. Chris Lee (P.Geo.) has joined the Company as Chief Geoscientist. This new appointment fills a crucial role in Fronteer as its key projects advance towards feasibility, and as the Company continues to seek growth through ongoing discoveries, and acquisitions." More
- March 27, 2007 | Item | E-mail
Shoreham Options Ontario Uranium Property from Rampart Ventures Ltd. - More
- March 27, 2007 | Item | E-mail
Lounor hits Ni and CU - More
- March 27, 2007 | Item | E-mail
ESO Uranium - Media Advisory - Webcast available - More
- March 27, 2007 | Item | E-mail
Carpathian Gold Inc. Announces Closing of $12 Million Financing - More
- March 27, 2007 | Item | E-mail
Cardero Options Los Manantiales Gold Property to Hochschild Mining Holdings Limited - "Cardero Resource Corp. ("Cardero" or the "Company") - (Toronto:CDU.TO - News)(AMEX:CDY - News)(Frankfurt:CR5.F - News) is pleased to announce that it has entered into a letter of intent with Hochschild Mining Holdings Limited ("HMHL"), a subsidiary of Hochschild Mining plc (LSE:HOC.L - News), pursuant to which it has granted HMHL the option to earn up to a 70% interest in the Los Manantiales Gold property, located in Chubut Province, Argentina." More
- March 27, 2007 | Item | E-mail
Moody's ups Freeport-McMoran rating on debt effort - "Moody's Investors Service on Tuesday raised its ratings for Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold Inc. (FCX.N: Quote, Profile , Research), citing the copper producer's efforts to reduce its debt following its acquisition of Phelps Dodge Corp." More
- March 27, 2007
Gold Seeker Closing Report: Gold & Silver Fall Slightly in Tight Trade