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-- Posted Monday, 25 February 2008 | Digg This Article | Source: GoldSeek.com

The Metals:

Gold rose to $952.10 by late trade in Asia and early trade in London before it plunged to $932.80 in midmorning New York trade on more IMF gold sale rumors, but it then rallied back higher into the close and ended with a loss of just 0.68%.  Silver rose to $18.15 before it fell to $17.868, but it also rallied back higher in the last few hours of trade and ended with a gain of 0.44% at a new 27 year closing high.

Euro gold fell to about €633, platinum fell $10.50 to $2135, and copper fell roughly 5 cents to about $3.74.

Gold and silver equities fell over 1% the first half hour of trade, but they then rallied back higher into the close and ended with slight gains.

U.S. Treasury backs IMF gold sales, but Congress can still block  Resource Investor

NY gold falls as U.S. may support IMF gold sales  Reuters

Gold drops on report that U.S. backs IMF gold sales  MarketWatch

U.S. Backs Plan for IMF to Sell Some Gold Reserves  Bloomberg

The Economy:

Existing Home Sales fell less than expected, but they still fell to a 9-year low as the median home price fell 4.6% from a year ago.  Tomorrow at 8:30AM EST brings PPI for January expected at 0.4% and Core PPI expected at 0.2%.  At 10AM is the Consumer Confidence report for February expected at 82.0.

The Markets:

Charts Courtesy of http://finance.yahoo.com/

Oil traded mostly slightly higher and heating oil set a new all time high near $2.80 on geopolitical worries over Iran, Turkey, and Iraq.

The U.S. dollar index fell slightly despite notable yen losses as traders waited for more economic data and Bernanke testimony later in the week.

Treasuries fell markedly and the Dow, Nasdaq, and S&P rose over 1% after S&P eased credit market worries by reaffirming its AAA credit rating on bond insurers Ambac Financial and MBIA.

Among the big names making news in the market today were Ambac Financial, MBIA, Electronic Arts and Take-Two, Visa, Citigroup, Lowe’s, Getty Images and Hellman & Friedman, and American Tower.

The Commentary:

“April Gold finished down 7.3 at 940.5, 11 off the high and 4.5 up from the low.

March Silver closed up 0.05 at 18.085. This was 0.205 up from the low and 0.065 off the high.

The gold market broke this morning after a US Treasury Department official brought up the idea of IMF gold sales. His comments that he saw the US Congress approving such a sale took the market off of its highs down to below last Friday's low. This was in the wake a some rather bullish attitude regarding inflationary pressures and ongoing energy concerns in mining countries but some negative pressure from lower platinum prices. Later in the day the Treasury official's elaboration referring to work already down with members of Congress to move this along failed to send the market to any new lower territory. So far the news seems to have put longs on edge but has not inspired any massive sell off.

The IMF gold sales talk had little effect on the silver market today as it held strong in the face talk of future sales. Silver also held its own despite lower copper and platinum markets. This morning's existing home sales data more or less confirmed a slumping housing market in the US, with inventories increasing to 4.19 million units, up 5.5% and about a 10.3 month supply. This was bearish for copper but also not good for the economy in general, which should hurt silver as well. However, silver does benefit from inflation ideas as an investment vehicle and from the fact that it may still be a "bargain" relative to other metals.”- The Hightower Report, Futures Analysis and Forecasting

GATA Posts:

A precious metals that's not just an investment but a worldview too

James Turk: More solid gains for the precious metals

Banks lose to deadbeat homeowners as loans sold in bonds vanish

Jason Hommel documents Barrick's continuing huge gold short

Casey Research conference will include GATA perspective

Commerce Department relents, will continue site with economic indicators

Peter Schiff: Inflation is America's greatest export

The Statistics:

As of close of business: 2/22/2008

Global Gold ETF Holdings

[WGC Sponsored ETF’s]

 Note: Change in Total Tonnes from yesterday’s data: The ASX added 0.39 tonnes.

COMEX Gold Trust (IAU)

 Note: No change in Total Tonnes from yesterday’s data.

Silver Trust (SLV)

 Note: No change in Total Tonnes from yesterday’s data.

The Stocks:

NovaGold’s (NG) projects update, Newmont’s (NEM) divestiture deadline extension, Great Basin’s (GBN) production estimate, Northern Dynasty’s (NAK) updated resource estimate, Anatolia’s (ANO.TO) project update, Gold Fields’ (GFI) impact from South Africa’s electricity crisis, Stillwater’s (SWC) fourth quarter profit, Silver Wheaton’s (SLW) record annual earnings, Aquiline’s (AQI.TO) drill results, Bear Creek’s (BCM.V) drill results, Apogee’s (APE.V) drill results, and Apex Silver’s (SIL) operations update were among the big stories in the gold and silver mining industry making headlines today.

WINNERS

LOSERS

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:

Stillwater Mining Reports Modest Fourth Quarter 2007 Profit, Loss for Full Year; Post-2007 PGM Price Surge - "For the full-year 2007, Stillwater Mining Company reported a net loss of $14.3 million, or $0.15 per fully diluted share, on revenues of $619.2 million. In 2006, the Company reported full-year net income of $7.9 million, or $0.09 per fully diluted share, on revenues of $613.1 million." More
- February 25, 2008 | Item | E-mail

East West Resource Corporation: Second Nickel-Copper-PGE Property Staked East of Norton Deposit, and South of the Double Eagle Discovery - More
- February 25, 2008 | Item | E-mail

Maestro Ventures Announces Key New Board Members, Private Placement of Units - More
- February 25, 2008 | Item | E-mail

Maestro Ventures Closes Private Placement - More
- February 25, 2008 | Item | E-mail

Aurelio Completes Non-Brokered Equity Financing with European Institutional Investors - More
- February 25, 2008 | Item | E-mail

Noront Resources Ltd.: EAGLE TWO HAS LANDED - More
- February 25, 2008 | Item | E-mail

International Barytex Resources Ltd.: Update on DRC Mining Contract Review - More
- February 25, 2008 | Item | E-mail

New Cantech Ventures Inc.: Joint Venture Agreement Discussions - More
- February 25, 2008 | Item | E-mail

North American Gem Inc. Announces Completion of 2008 Louise Lake Program; Sub-"Terminator" Mineralization Identified - More
- February 25, 2008 | Item | E-mail

Lake Shore Gold Completes Financing and Enters Into Strategic Alliance With Hochschild Mining plc - More
- February 25, 2008 | Item | E-mail

Wesdome Gold Mines Ltd. - More encouraging results from exploration at the Kiena Mine - More
- February 25, 2008 | Item | E-mail

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