-- Posted Thursday, 21 February 2008 | Digg This Article
| Source: GoldSeek.com
| Close | Gain/Loss |
Gold | $945.50 | +$11.15 |
Silver | $17.91 | +$0.21 |
XAU | 190.56 | +0.53% |
HUI | 465.80 | -0.10% |
GDM | 1401.01 | -0.05% |
JSE Gold | 2585.22 | +144.09 |
USD | 75.59 | -0.53 |
Euro | 148.17 | +1.10 |
Yen | 93.13 | +0.68 |
Oil | $98.23 | -$1.47 |
10-Year | 3.784% | -0.133 |
T-Bond | 117.25 | +1.34375 |
Dow | 12284.30 | -1.15% |
Nasdaq | 2299.78 | -1.17% |
S&P | 1342.53 | -1.29% |
The Metals:
Gold rose to a new record high at $953.80 by about noon EST in New York before it fell back off a bit in the last hour and a half of trade, but it still ended with a gain of 1.2%. Silver rose to a new 27 year high of $18.045 before it also came back off a bit into the close, but it still ended with a gain of 1.2%.
Euro gold rose near €638, platinum rose $31 to a new record high of $2151, and copper rose over 10 cents to $3.81 to its highest level since May 2006.
Gold and silver equities rose over 2% and 3% by late morning, but they then fell back off in afternoon trade along with the major indices and ended mixed and near unchanged.
The Economy:
Report | For | Reading | Expected | Previous |
Initial Claims | 2/16 | 349K | 345K | 358K |
Leading Indicators | Jan | -0.1% | -0.1% | -0.1% |
Philadelphia Fed | Feb | -24.0 | -10.0 | -20.9 |
There are no major economic reports due out tomorrow.
The Markets:
Charts Courtesy of http://finance.yahoo.com/
Oil eventually fell after inventory reports showed crude inventories built a larger than expected 4.2 million barrels. Gasoline inventories built 1.1 million barrels and distillates fell 4.5 million barrels.
The U.S. dollar index fell markedly and treasuries found impressive gains as the Philadelphia Fed manufacturing survey did not rebound from last month’s surprise drop and even came in at a worse level than January’s reading.
The Dow, Nasdaq, and S&P fell over 1% on recession fears after this morning’s weak economic data.
Among the big names making news in the market today were Microsoft, J.C. Penney, Research In Motion, and MGM Mirage.
The Commentary:
“April Gold finished up 11.4 at 949.2, 7.9 off the high and 3.7 up from the low.
March Silver closed up 0.19 at 17.95. This was 0.09 up from the low and 0.09 off the high.
Gold rallied to new all time highs today but was trading well off those levels by the afternoon. Today's economic reports were disappointing, especially the Philadelphia Fed's February manufacturing survey, which came in at -24, much weaker than expected. While a sharply lower dollar and talk of further Fed rate cuts provided an impetus for gold's move to its highs, that optimism was probably undercut by a sharp downturn in crude oil prices. The crude oil market took a decidedly negative spin off of today's crude oil stock data, which came in at the bear side of expectations, and the poor economic data, which seemed to highlight a reduced demand outlook for gasoline. This may have taken some of the optimism out of the gold market as well.
Like gold, silver was carried to new contract highs today on apparent fund buying in the wake of a weaker dollar and strong inflationary indicators, particularly talk of the Fed making some more rate cuts or at least holding them down. And like gold, silver gave up a good portion of those gains later in the session, possibly because of a steep sell off in the crude oil market and disappointing economic data today, which was more recessionary than inflationary.”- The Hightower Report, Futures Analysis and Forecasting
The Statistics:
As of close of business: 2/20/2008
Gold Warehouse Stocks: | 7,621,403 | - |
Silver Warehouse Stocks: | 133,859,161 | - |
Global Gold ETF Holdings
[WGC Sponsored ETF’s]
| Product name | Total Tonnes | Total Ounces | Total Value |
New York Stock Exchange Arca (NYSE Arca) AND Singapore Exchange (SGX) | StreetTRACKS Gold Shares | 631.15 | 20,292,100 | US$ 18,664m |
London Stock Exchange (LSE) AND Euronext Paris AND Borsa Italiana AND Frankfurter Wertpapierbörse (Deutsche Börse ) | Gold Bullion Securities | 107.90 | 3,469,025 | US$ 3,280m |
Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) | Gold Bullion Securities | 18.56 | 596,443 | US$ 564m |
Johannesburg Securities Exchange (JSE) | New Gold Debentures | 27.02 | 868,791 | US$ 802m |
Note: Change in Total Tonnes from yesterday’s data: The ASX added 0.18 tonnes.
COMEX Gold Trust (IAU)
Profile as of 2/20/2008 | |
Total Net Assets | $1,800,400,301 | Ounces of Gold
in Trust | 1,926,796.406 |
Shares Outstanding | 19,500,000 | Tonnes of Gold
in Trust | 59.93 |
Note: No change in Total Tonnes from yesterday’s data.
Silver Trust (SLV)
Profile as of 2/20/2008 | |
Total Net Assets | $2,839,978,788 | Ounces of Silver
in Trust | 163,073,646.800 |
Shares Outstanding | 16,450,000 | Tonnes of Silver
in Trust | 5,072.16 |
Note: No change in Total Tonnes from yesterday’s data.
The Stocks:
Fourth quarter results from Newmont (NEM), Barrick (ABX), Goldcorp (GG), and Richmont (RIC), Exeter’s (XRA) land use, Barrick’s (ABX) acquired project interest, US Gold’s (UXG) drill results, Midway’s (MDW) drill results, Silvermex’s (SMR.V) sampling results, MAG’s (MVG) completed warrant exercise, Apex Silver’s (SIL) drilling at Almaden’s (AAU) project, Excellon’s (EXN.V) drill results, U.S. Silver’s (USA.V) safety award, ECU’s (ECU.TO) corporate update, Metalline’s (MMG) feasibility study, Fortuna’s (FVI.V) drill results, SilverCrest’s (SVL.V) progress update, Pan American’s (PAAS) fourth quarter results, and an earthquake in Nevada’s gold country were among the big stories in the gold and silver mining industry making headlines today.
WINNERS
1. New Gold | NGD +16.84% $6.66 |
2. Taseko | TGB +13.67% $4.74 |
3. Ivanhoe | IVN+11.69% $11.56 |
LOSERS
1. Silver Standard | SSRI -6.74% $33.33 |
2. ITH | THM -5.97% $1.99 |
3. Coeur d’Alene | CDE -5.25% $4.69 |
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:
Silvermex Resources Ltd.: Grades of 137.8 g/t Silver and 17.85% Zinc Over 1.55 Meters Returned From Preliminary Surface Sampling at Lety Project in Durango - "The Lety property covers 5,130 hectares in the Northern portion of the state of Durango and is located near the historical mining districts of Magistral del Oro, Santa Maria del Oro and Guanacevi, in the Sierra Madre Occidental of Mexico. The Lety Project is 17 km north of the Pitarilla deposit of Silver Standard Resources Inc. on which a resource estimate in excess of 600 million ounces of silver has been reported." More
- February 21, 2008 | Item | E-mail
MAG Silver Announces Completion of Warrant Exercise - "MAG Silver Corp. (Toronto:MAG.TO - News)(AMEX:MVG - News) ("MAG") announces that 1,380,000 warrants have been exercised at a price of $10.00 per warrant for gross proceeds of $CDN 13,800,000. The warrants exercised represent 100% of those available for exercise and were issued in connection with a private placement that closed in February 2007 and were due to expire on February 14, 2008." More
- February 21, 2008 | Item | E-mail
High costs, labor shortages hampering mining -Teck - "Base metals mining projects could continue to face delays or cancellation from higher costs and a lack of available personnel, Teck Cominco's (TCKb.TO: Quote, Profile, Research) chief executive said on Thursday." More
- February 21, 2008 | Item | E-mail
Katanga Receives Summary Findings of DRC Mining Contract Review - More
- February 21, 2008 | Item | E-mail
As South American rivers dry up, miners tap ocean - "Vast mines in Peru and Chile that supply the world with crucial metals have started to pump water from the Pacific Ocean high into the Andes Mountains because of chronic water shortages exacerbated by climate change." More
- February 21, 2008 | Item | E-mail
Atlas takes over Bolivia lead-silver smelter - More
- February 21, 2008 | Item | E-mail
Strong 6.0 quake shakes Nevada's gold country - "A strong 6.0 magnitude earthquake struck northeastern Nevada at dawn on Thursday, damaging buildings, rupturing water lines and knocking down power lines, officials reported." More
- February 21, 2008 | Item | E-mail
Louvem Mines Reports its Fourth Quarter and Year End Results for 2007 - More
- February 21, 2008 | Item | E-mail
Opawica Explorations Inc. ("Opawica"/ the "Company") Announces Atikwa Lake, Ontario Results and Update - More
- February 21, 2008 | Item | E-mail
Ireland Inc. Completes Acquisition of Columbus Project - More
- February 21, 2008 | Item | E-mail
Apex Silver Commences Drilling at Almaden's Viky Project, Mexico - "Almaden Minerals Ltd. (Toronto:AMM.TO - News)(AMEX:AAU - News) ("Almaden", "the Company") is pleased to announce that Apex Silver Mines Ltd. ("Apex Silver") has commenced a diamond drilling program on Almaden's wholly owned Viky silver lead zinc project located in western Coahuila State, Mexico." More
- February 21, 2008 | Item |
Gold Seeker Closing Report: Gold and Silver Gain Over 1% to New Highs