-- Posted Wednesday, 22 August 2007 | Digg This Article
| Close | Gain/Loss |
Gold | $658.30 | +$2.30 |
Silver | $11.57 | +$0.14 |
XAU | 137.71 | +3.63% |
HUI | 321.09 | +2.23% |
GDM | 1002.41 | +2.99% |
JSE Gold | 2224.59 | +0.91% |
USD | 81.25 | -0.23 |
Euro | 135.35 | +0.69 |
Yen | 87.01 | -0.49 |
Oil | $69.36 | -$0.21 |
10-Year | 4.620% | +0.030 |
T-Bond | 110.375 | -0.25 |
Dow | 13236.13 | +1.11% |
Nasdaq | 2552.80 | +1.25% |
S&P | 1464.07 | +1.17% |
The Metals:
Gold dipped slightly in Asia, rose back to find small gains in London, and then furthered its gains in New York to trade at over $660 by late morning before it fell back off a bit into the close, but it still ended with a gain of 0.35%. Silver topped $11.80 before it also pared its gains in the last couple hours of trade, but it still ended with a gain of 1.22%.
Euro gold remained at about €487, platinum lost $6 to $1,238, palladium gained $1 to $318, and copper rose over 8 cents to about $3.29.
Gold and silver equities rose over 2% at the open and remained near their highs into the close.
The Economy:
There were no major economic reports today, but a report showing a drop in mortgage applications compared to last week did have some talking.
The Markets:
Charts Courtesy of http://finance.yahoo.com/
Oil rose in early trade as it looked like a now weak Hurricane Dean may turn into the Gulf of Mexico, but prices then fell and closed lower after crude inventories built rather than an expected drop. Crude inventories built 1.9 million barrels, gasoline inventories fell a greater than expected 5.7 million barrels, distillates built 1.3 million barrels, and refinery utilization fell 0.9% to 90.9%.
The U.S. dollar index fell despite a large drop in the yen as the euro rallied on ECB comments that there was no change in stance to their monetary policy stance which led many to believe that euro-zone rates will continue to rise despite recent credit problems.
Treasuries fell as calls for an immediate fed rate cut faded and four large U.S. banks each borrowed $500 million from the fed at the recently lowered discount rate of 5.75%.
The Dow, Nasdaq, and S&P rose as relative calm remained in the markets for a third day and confidence returned to stocks on takeover news and rumors.
Among the big names making news in the market today were Accredited Home, HSBC, Ameritrade and E-Trade, Dubai Word and MGM Mirage, and Toll Brothers.
The Commentary:
“December Gold finished up 2.5 at 668.7, 2.9 off the high and 1.2 up from the low.
September Silver closed up 0.055 at 11.565. This was 0.005 up from the low and 0.215 off the high.
While the gold market saw some moderate gains early in the session, some of those gains were pared in the face of news that major Banks had availed themselves of discount window borrowing. Typically the gold market would have been lifted by news that some major banks were borrowing to diffuse the credit crunch, but instead that news sparked a mid day correction in the stock market, witch buoyed the Dollar and caused gold to slide back about $3 an ounce off its highs. In the end, it was still clear that gold was garnering a significant amount of direction from the ebb and flow in the stock market.
The reaction in silver prices to the news that up to four major US Banks had taken advantage of the Fed's discount rate window was difficult to determine. While seeing the banks implement strategies that could diffuse the crisis is potentially bullish to prices, it is possible that the borrowing reconfirmed the severity of the problem. However, it was a mark in the bull camps favor to see the market mostly ignore the news of a slight rise in US silver production. However, many traders suggested that the US silver production was pretty old news and perhaps more importantly that the silver market hasn't been that interested in physical supply news lately.”- The Hightower Report, Futures Analysis and Forecasting
GATA Posts:
Dodd denies 'political pressure' but still expects rate cut
Ted Butler: Fighting back
The Statistics:
As of close of business: 8/21/2007
Gold Warehouse Stocks: | 7,087,953 | - |
Silver Warehouse Stocks: | 134,860,323 | - |
Global Gold ETF Holdings
[WGC Sponsored ETF’s]
| Product name | Total Tonnes | Total Ounces | Total Value |
New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) AND Singapore Exchange (SGX) | Streettracks Gold Shares | 514.21 | 16,532,431 | US$ 10,867m |
London Stock Exchange (LSE) AND Euronext Paris AND Borsa Italiana AND Frankfurter Wertpapierbörse (Deutsche Börse ) | Gold Bullion Securities | 88.48 | 2,844,792 | US$ 1,875m |
Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) | Gold Bullion Securities | 12.71 | 408,358 | US$ 269m |
Johannesburg Securities Exchange (JSE) | New Gold Debentures | 15.02 | 482,908 | US$ 317m |
Note: Change in Total Tonnes from yesterday’s data: The JSE added 0.74 tonnes.
COMEX Gold Trust (IAU)
Profile as of 8/21/2007 | |
Total Net Assets | $997,754,274 | 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 8/21/2007 | |
Total Net Assets | $1,652,099,166 | 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:
NovaGold’s (NG) cash investments, Cardero’s (CDY) Induced Polarization survey, Fronteer’s (FRG) project advancement, Canyon’s (CAU) Chairman and Founder passing, Paramount’s (PZG) Board appointment, Yamana’s (AUY) positive construction decision, Northern Orion’s (NTO) approved merger with Yamana (AUY), Lundin Mining’s (LMC) expired offer for Rio Narcea (RNO), and Excellon’s (EXN.V) assay results were among the big stories in the gold and silver mining industry making headlines today.
WINNERS
1. Ivanhoe | IVN +9.37% $11.09 |
2. Entree Gold | EGI +8.72% $2.12 |
3. Pan American | PAAS +8.50% $23.86 |
LOSERS
1. New Gold | NGD-6.73% $4.57 |
2. Seabridge | SA -5.76% $23.73 |
3. Paramount | PZG -5.10% $2.42 |
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:
AMEX Exploration Inc closes a private placement of $300,000 - More
- August 22, 2007 | Item | E-mail
Northern Orion OKs Yamana deal, Meridian opposed - "The takeover plan was approved by 83 percent of the votes cast at a Northern Orion meeting, but completion of the deal is conditional on the success of Yamana's takeover bid for Meridian.
Yamana sweetened its offer for Meridian last week, but Meridian repeated on Wednesday its unanimous recommendation that shareholders reject the unsolicited offer." More
- August 22, 2007 | Item | E-mail
Getty announces restructured board of directors - More
- August 22, 2007 | Item | E-mail
Meridian Gold Comments on Northern Orion Business Combination with Yamana - "Meridian Gold Inc. ("Meridian Gold" or the "Company") (TSX:MNG - News; NYSE:MDG - News), in response to the announcement that Northern Orion Resources Inc. ("Northern Orion") shareholders approved the business combination with Yamana Gold Inc. ("Yamana"), today reiterated the unanimous recommendation that Meridian Gold shareholders reject Yamana's unsolicited amended offer to acquire Meridian Gold common shares." More
- August 22, 2007 | Item | E-mail
Golden Odyssey Reports Progress on Washiki Project - More
- August 22, 2007 | Item | E-mail
Tagish Appoints Stuart Green as General Manager - Operations - More
- August 22, 2007 | Item | E-mail
Roxmark Mines retains Renmark Financial Communications Inc. - More
- August 22, 2007 | Item | E-mail
Ecuador wants mining reforms via assembly - "Ecuador's President Rafael Correa wants an upcoming special assembly on rewriting the constitution to forbid open pit mining and to prevent drilling in biologically rich areas, said the government's top candidate for the body." More
- August 22, 2007 | Item | E-mail
Kobex Launches New Website and Provides Corporate Update - More
- August 22, 2007 | Item | E-mail
NovaGold Comments on Its Cash Investments - "NovaGold Resources Inc. (Toronto:NG.TO - News)(AMEX:NG - News) has no exposure to any asset-backed commercial paper (ABCP) investments. NovaGold currently has approximately C$120 million in cash and marketable securities. The cash and equivalents are held as short-term deposits, banker's acceptance notes and non-asset-backed commercial paper, all with the two highest possible investment ratings." More
- August 22, 2007 | Item | E-mail
Adriana to Develop Port Development Site in Brazil for Iron Ore Export - More
- August 22, 2007 | Item | E-mail
Shareholders of Northern Orion Resources Support Merger With Yamana Gold, Yamana One Step Closer to Completion of Arrangement With Northern Orion - "With the Northern Orion vote now behind us, the acquisition of Meridian is one major step closer to being completed", said Peter Marrone, chairman and chief executive officer of Yamana. "Investors can now focus on the profile of the company that will be created upon completion of the Northern Orion and Meridian transactions. We remain convinced that the strategic fit and value of the combination between the companies is compelling and we look forward to a positive outcome on September 7." More
- August 22, 2007 | Item | E-mail
Northern Orion Shareholders Approve Plan of Arrangement With Yamana Gold Inc. - "Northern Orion Resources Inc. (Toronto:NNO.TO - News)(AMEX:NTO - News) is pleased to announce that its shareholders have approved the Plan of Arrangement with Yamana Gold Inc. ("Yamana"). At a Special Meeting of Northern Orion shareholders held in Vancouver earlier today, the Arrangement was approved by 83.1% of the votes cast and no notices of dissent were received." More
- August 22, 2007 | Item | E-mail
Centamin Egypt Continues to Intercept High Grade Gold at Sukari - More
- August 22, 2007 | Item | E-mail
Cardero Resource Corp.: IP Results Extend Huachi Copper-Gold Porphyry System - "Cardero Resource Corp.
Gold Seeker Closing Report: Gold and Silver Cut Early Gains, But Still End Nicely Higher