-- Posted Thursday, 17 May 2007 | Digg This Article
| Close | Gain/Loss |
Gold | $656.10 | -$4.00 |
Silver | $12.76 | -$0.07 |
XAU | 134.92 | -0.90% |
HUI | 322.59 | -0.88% |
GDM | 1042.94 | -0.77% |
JSE Gold | 2670.90 | -0.65% |
USD | 82.32 | +0.16 |
Euro | 134.97 | -0.21 |
Yen | 82.45 | -0.37 |
Oil | $64.86 | +$2.31 |
10-Year | 4.756% | +0.048 |
T-Bond | 110.4375 | -0.50 |
Dow | 13476.72 | -0.08% |
Nasdaq | 2539.38 | -0.32% |
S&P | 1512.75 | -0.09% |
The Metals:
Gold rose nearly $4 in after hours and Asian trade, fell back off in London to about $660 by the New York open, and then fell even further in morning New York trade to as low as $653.30 by a little after 11AM EST before it rebounded into the close, but it still ended with a loss of 0.61%. Silver rose over $12.90 in Asia before it fell to $12.65 by about 10AM EST in New York, but it then rebounded nearly 1% off it low in the next three and a half hours of trade and ended with a loss of 0.55%.
Euro gold fell near €487, platinum lost $7 to $1,315, palladium gained $8 to $361, and copper fell another 8 cents to about $3.37.
Gold and silver equities fell nearly 2% in the first half hour of trade, but they then steadily rebounded for the rest of the day and ended with less than 1% losses.
The Economy:
Report | For | Reading | Expected | Previous |
Initial Claims | 5/12 | 293K | 310K | 298K |
Leading Indicators | Apr | -0.5% | 0.0% | 0.6% |
Philadelphia Fed | May | 4.2 | 4.0 | 0.2 |
Bernanke spoke before a Chicago fed conference and noted the following, but his comments had little impact on the markets:
"We believe the effect of the troubles in the subprime sector on the broader housing market will likely be limited, and we do not expect significant spillovers from the subprime market to the rest of the economy or to the financial system."
Tomorrow at 10AM EST brings the preliminary reading for May Michigan Sentiment expected at 86.5.
The Markets:
Charts Courtesy of http://finance.yahoo.com/
Oil and gasoline rose over 3% on several refinery problems as supply disruptions continue in Nigeria as well. Natural gas rose over 1% as supplies built a smaller than expected 95 billion cubic feet.
The U.S. dollar index rose and treasuries fell as Initial Jobless Claims and manufacturing data came in better than expected and pushed interest rates higher.
The Dow, Nasdaq, and S&P traded lower for most of trade as oil and interest rates rose, but losses were limited on optimism over more takeover activity.
Among the big names making news in the market today were Alliance Data Systems and Blackstone, J.C. Penny, and Doral of Puerto Rico.
The Commentary:
“July Silver closed down 0.02 at 12.91. This was 0.145 up from the low and 0.03 off the high.
With another big range down extension in June gold it would certainly seem like the strength in the Dollar is giving the bear camp the confidence to attack prices. Some might have considered the US economic reports from Thursday morning to be mixed, but apparently the currency markets saw the information as supportive for the Dollar and that seemed to leave the gold market in the grips of the recent liquidation wave. Even sharply higher oil prices failed to alter the weak action in gold and with several critical technical levels violated on the charts it is likely that the selling action was stop loss selling. With the copper market at times down as much as 20 cents (5.8%) it wasn't surprising to see spillover selling pressure in gold.
Fortunately for the bull camp, the last scheduled US economic reading of the day was better than expected or the silver market could have come under much more aggressive selling pressure. In fact, with the gold down $3 to $5 for most of the session and the July silver contract mostly hold 4 to 6 cents lower, it was clear that the silver market was actually weathering the selling pressure rather well. In fact, considering that copper prices at one time were as much as 20 cents lower on the day, the silver market was really fortunate to have avoided more significant losses.” - The Hightower Report, Futures Analysis and Forecasting
GATA Posts:
Exchange-traded funds are great tools for short-sellers
Spain risks crisis over vanishing FX and gold reserves
Central bank dishoarding strains to meet industrial demand for gold
The Statistics:
As of close of business: 5/16/2007
Gold Warehouse Stocks: | 7,718,845 | - |
Silver Warehouse Stocks: | 132,058,765 | - |
Global Gold ETF Holdings
[WGC Sponsored ETF’s]
| Product name | Total Tonnes | Total Ounces | Total Value |
New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) AND Singapore Exchange (SGX) | Streettracks Gold Shares | 477.77 | 15,360,808 | US$ 10,255m |
London Stock Exchange (LSE) AND Euronext Paris AND Borsa Italiana AND Frankfurter Wertpapierbörse (Deutsche Börse ) | Gold Bullion Securities | 90.83 | 2,920,387 | US$ 1,920m |
Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) | Gold Bullion Securities | 11.77 | 377,937 | US$ 249m |
Johannesburg Securities Exchange (JSE) | New Gold Debentures | 11.34 | 364,636 | US$ 243m |
Note: Change in Total Tonnes from yesterday’s data: The NYSE/SGX subtracted 8.01 tonnes.
COMEX Gold Trust (IAU)
Profile as of 5/16/2007 | |
Total Net Assets | $958,343,870 | Ounces of Gold
in Trust | 1,451,857.070 |
Shares Outstanding | 14,650,000 | Tonnes of Gold
in Trust | 45.16 |
Note: No change in Total Tonnes from yesterday’s data.
Silver Trust (SLV)
Profile as of 5/16/2007 | |
Total Net Assets | $1,787,018,937 | Ounces of Silver
in Trust | 135,821,754.600 |
Shares Outstanding | 13,650,000 | Tonnes of Silver
in Trust | 4,224.53 |
Note: No change in Total Tonnes from yesterday’s data.
The Stocks:
A possible strike at Peru’s Yanacocha mine, Taseko’s (TGB) mine expansion, Crystallex’s (KRY) auditor appointment, Miramar’s (MNG) drill results, Fronteer’s (FRG) commenced drill program, Yamana’s (AUY) scoping study results, Great Basin’s (GBN) extended time to conclude an agreement, Bear Creek’s (BCM.V) stock option grant, and Mines Management’s (MGN) first quarter results were among the big stories in the gold and silver mining industry making headlines today.
WINNERS
1. Miramar | MNG +5.16% $4.28 |
2. Mines Management | MGN +3.33% $4.03 |
3. Entree Gold | EGI +3.14% $1.97 |
LOSERS
1. Vista Gold | VGZ -5.49% $6.02 |
2. Cardero | CDY -5.29% $1.97 |
3. International Royalty | ROY -5.22% $7.26 |
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:
Golden Goose Resources announces New Nickel drilling results on its Lac Levac Property - More
- May 17, 2007 | Item | E-mail
Taseko Commences Further Expansion to the Gibraltar Mine - "Taseko Mines Limited ("Taseko" or the "Company") (Toronto:TKO.TO - News)(AMEX:TGB - News) announces that the Company has commenced a Cdn$40 million Phase II expansion to the Gibraltar Mine to further increase milling capacity that complements the Phase I expansion now underway." More
- May 17, 2007 | Item | E-mail
Goldbelt Commences 2007 Drill Program - More
- May 17, 2007 | Item | E-mail
Bear Creek Mining Corporation - Grant of incentive stock options - "Bear Creek Mining (TSX Venture: BCM - News; "Bear Creek" or the "Company") announces that the board of directors has authorized the grant of 525,000 incentive stock options under its incentive stock option plan to directors and officers of Bear Creek and a consultant performing investor relations activities, at an exercise price of $7.99 per share." More
- May 17, 2007 | Item | E-mail
Canadian Shield and Southern Peru Copper Corporation, Sucursal Del Peru, Sign Earn-In Agreement for Cerro Cori Property in Peru - More
- May 17, 2007 | Item | E-mail
Vena Resources Receives Conditional TSX Listing Approval - More
- May 17, 2007 | Item | E-mail
Robex: first drilling results from Wili-Wili - an intersection yields 5.42 g/t Au over 3 m - More
- May 17, 2007 | Item | E-mail
Solitaire Minerals Corp. - Port Radium Property Boundaries Established - More
- May 17, 2007 | Item | E-mail
Weststar Exercises the Option to Acquire an Additional 15% Interest in the Axe Property and Now Owns a 66% Interest in the Property - More
- May 17, 2007 |
Gold Seeker Closing Report: Gold & Silver Lose About 0.5%