-- Posted Monday, 20 August 2007 | Digg This Article
| Close | Gain/Loss |
Gold | $655.50 | -$0.80 |
Silver | $11.71 | -$0.02 |
XAU | 131.96 | +2.01% |
HUI | 312.65 | +2.11% |
GDM | 970.66 | +1.54% |
JSE Gold | 2219.97 | +0.76% |
USD | 81.38 | -0.02 |
Euro | 134.76 | -0.11 |
Yen | 87.13 | -0.64 |
Oil | $71.12 | -$0.86 |
10-Year | 4.634% | -0.039 |
T-Bond | 110.25 | +0.40625 |
Dow | 13121.35 | +0.32% |
Nasdaq | 2508.59 | +0.14% |
S&P | 1445.55 | -0.03% |
Calm once again returned to the markets today, but as seen last week another piece of news referencing problems in the credit markets could surface at any time and set off another financial storm. While there were no significant announcements or events evidencing themselves today, uncertainty remains and that nervousness pushed bonds higher while oil fell on weather forecasts and the metals remained near unchanged.
The Metals:
Gold traded mostly slightly lower in Asia and mostly slightly higher in London before it dipped in early New York trade to as low as $653.20 by about 10AM EST, but it then spiked roughly 1% higher to approximately $660 in the next 20 minutes of trade ahead of some choppy trade lower into the close that left it with a loss of 0.12%. Silver rose to over $11.90 in London and held near that level in early New York trade, but it also fell back off into the close and ended with a loss of 0.17%.
Euro gold roes over €488, platinum gained $18 to $1,243, palladium gained $1 to $328, and copper rose a couple of cents to about $3.21.
Gold and silver equities rose over 2% in the first hour of trade before they steadily sold off and saw only minimal gains by mid-afternoon, but they then rallied back higher in the last 2 hours of trade and ended back near their highs of the session with roughly 2% gains.
The Economy:
Report | For | Reading | Expected | Previous |
Leading Indicators | July | 0.4% | 0.4% | -0.3% |
There are no major economic reports due out tomorrow.
The Markets:
Charts Courtesy of http://finance.yahoo.com/
Oil fell as it appears Hurricane Dean will miss key energy structures in the Gulf of Mexico. Natural gas was hit especially hard and fell over 14% as the majority of its structures are concentrated in the gulf region and have so far been unaffected.
The U.S. dollar index remained near unchanged while the yen fell due to traders putting carry trades back on to take advantage of the so far calmer market.
Treasuries continued to rise on safe haven buying, on speculation the fed will reduce rates, and also on rumors that companies are moving out of commercial backed paper and into short term treasuries instead. There was even talk of people moving out of money markets and into government bonds on worries that credit problems could spread to that arena as well.
The Dow, Nasdaq, and S&P remained mixed in morning trade before they fell off in afternoon trade as energy stocks were hurt on declining oil prices and financials dropped on the apparent loss of confidence in commercial paper, but stocks moved higher in the last couple hours of trade and ended modestly higher on hopes that the fed may cut the fed funds rate to ease pressure on the credit markets.
Among the big names making news in the market today were SunTrust, Thornburg, Luminent Mortgage, Lowe’s, Nasdaq and LSE, and KKR Financial.
The Commentary:
“December Gold finished down 0.3 at 666.5, 4 off the high and 2 up from the low.
September Silver closed down 0.065 at 11.735. This was 0.015 up from the low and 0.205 off the high.
While the gold market attempted to trade on both sides of unchanged, the resumption of aggressive selling in the stock market seemed to foster renewed strength in the Dollar and that seemed to correlate with a drift into negative ground in the gold futures. Certainly the gold market garnered some support from the news that US Leading Indicators were higher but with the sharp slide in equities from their early highs, a large portion if not all of the support from the scheduled US data was countervailed.
With silver and gold unable to track in the positive footsteps of copper and platinum during the action Monday it would seem like the precious metals are even more concerned about a resumption of the sub-prime loan situation than the base metals markets. Certainly both gold and silver have the added burden of concerns that the Dollar will rise in the face of a resumption of the financial market crisis and that seemed to be very clear during the Monday trade.” - The Hightower Report, Futures Analysis and Forecasting
GATA Posts:
How a panicky day led the Fed to act
Ambrose Evans-Pritchard: Bernanke fears economy will hit brick wall
Another German bank bailed out amid credit crunch
China seen likely to keep investing in private equity
Expectations grow for another interest rate cut by Fed
Jim Sinclair: A new Sodom and Gomorrah run by the money changers
In withdrawal line, Countrywide customer muses about buying gold
Bank of England suppresses speech on financial system's (in)stability
Fed lectures financial houses: Borrow quick at our discount window
James Turk: The Fed blinks
The Statistics:
As of close of business: 8/17/2007
Gold Warehouse Stocks: | 7,093,523 | -1,699 |
Silver Warehouse Stocks: | 134,256,622 | - |
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 | 507.14 | 16,304,928 | US$ 10,718m |
London Stock Exchange (LSE) AND Euronext Paris AND Borsa Italiana AND Frankfurter Wertpapierbörse (Deutsche Börse ) | Gold Bullion Securities | 88.48 | 2,844,855 | US$ 1,868m |
Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) | Gold Bullion Securities | 12.71 | 408,367 | US$ 268m |
Johannesburg Securities Exchange (JSE) | New Gold Debentures | 14.28 | 459,201 | US$ 304m |
Note: No change in Total Tonnes from yesterday’s data.
COMEX Gold Trust (IAU)
Profile as of 8/17/2007 | |
Total Net Assets | $998,101,962 | Ounces of Gold
in Trust | 1,519,696.371 |
Shares Outstanding | 15,350,000 | Tonnes of Gold
in Trust | 47.27 |
Note: No change in Total Tonnes from yesterday’s data.
Silver Trust (SLV)
Profile as of 8/17/2007 | |
Total Net Assets | $1,655,022,598 | Ounces of Silver
in Trust | 141,612,134.500 |
Shares Outstanding | 14,250,000 | Tonnes of Silver
in Trust | 4,404.63 |
Note: No change in Total Tonnes from yesterday’s data.
The Stocks:
Freeport-McMoRan’s (FCX) increased holding by Atticus hedge fund, Crystallex’s (KRY) recent market activity comments, Fronteer’s (FRG) drill results, Miramar’s (MNG) short-term investment status, Meridian’s (MDG) recommended rejection of Yamana’s (AUY) amended offer, and ECU Silver’s (ECU.TO) short term investments were among the big stories in the gold and silver mining industry making headlines today.
WINNERS
1. Rubicon | RBY+14.47% $1.74 |
2. Crystallex | KRY +9.77% $2.92 |
3. Eldorado | EGO +9.30% $4.82 |
LOSERS
1. Tanzanian Royalty | TRE -4.36% $5.26 |
2. Vista Gold | VGZ -4.11% $4.20 |
3. Allied Nevada | ANV -3.36% $4.31 |
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:
East Delta Releases Positive Drilling Results At Bake - More
- August 20, 2007 | Item | E-mail
New Cantech Ventures Inc. Announces Completion of the Phase 4 Infill Drilling Program and Start of Geotechnical Drilling - More
- August 20, 2007 | Item | E-mail
Harte Does Not Proceed with Private Placement - More
- August 20, 2007 | Item | E-mail
Pro-Or Signs Important Supply Contract for its St-Augustin PGM Recovery Plant - More
- August 20, 2007 | Item | E-mail
Genco Announces Santa Ana Drill Results - More
- August 20, 2007 | Item | E-mail
Crystallex Comments on Recent Market Activity and Statement Regarding the Las Cristinas Project by Venezuelan Official - "Crystallex International Corporation (Toronto:KRY.TO - News)(AMEX:KRY - News) commented today that the Company is not aware of any adverse corporate developments - other than general stock market conditions - which could account for the recent trading activity and that, to its knowledge, the process for the issuance of the environmental permit for Las Cristinas remains on track." More
- August 20, 2007 | Item | E-mail
Gold Canyon Intercepts 25 Feet of 245 Grams Gallium at Cordero Gallium Project - More
- August 20, 2007 | Item | E-mail
Benton Options New High Grade Platinum-Palladium Discovery - More
- August 20, 2007 | Item | E-mail
Adex Mining Inc. Engages Primoris Group to Provide Investor Relations Services - More
- August 20, 2007 | Item | E-mail
Fronteer Development Group Inc.: Halilaga Copper-Gold Project Continues to Expand - "Fronteer Development Group Inc. ("Fronteer") (Toronto:FRG.TO - News)(AMEX:FRG - News) is pleased to report that a new drill hole designed to increase the dimensions of copper-gold mineralization at its Halilaga project has intersected a 383 metre wide zone of porphyry-style mineralization. Copper-gold has now been intersected in eight widely spaced drill holes over an area measuring 1,000 metres in length and up to 300 metres in width, demonstrating the considerable resource potential of this emerging deposit." More
- August 20, 2007 | Item | E-mail
Searchlight Minerals Corp. provides metallurgical testing results and project updates - More
- August 20, 2007 |
Gold Seeker Closing Report: Gold and Silver End Barely Lower After Earlier Gains