Latest Headlines

Search

-- Posted Monday, 31 March 2008 | Digg This Article | Source: GoldSeek.com

The Metals:

Gold rose about 1% at as high as $940.75 by early trade in New York, but it then steadily sold off for the rest of the session and ended at about its low of the session with a loss of 1.55%.  Silver saw nearly 30 cent gains at as high as $18.165 by early trade in New York, but it also sold off for most of the rest of trade and dropped to as low as $17.022 before it rebounded about 1% in the last hour of trade and ended with a loss of 3.75%.

Euro gold fell to about €580, platinum gained $10 to $2010, and copper remained at about $3.85.

Gold and silver equities fell over 3% by mid-afternoon, but they then rallied back higher in the last coupe of hours of trade and ended with only about 2% losses.

The Economy:

Treasury Secretary Paulson unveiled today a 218 page plan that overhauls the regulatory system and essentially gives the fed more power to oversee the entire financial system.  Highlights include the merging of the SEC and CFTC, a new federal Mortgage Origination Commission, and many other far reaching steps that have not been attempted since the Great Depression, but all of it is subject to Congressional approval which most assuredly will be a lengthy process.

The Markets:

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

Oil fell on a lower demand outlook and restored output in Iraq as the U.S. dollar index rebounded on a better than expected Chicago PMI reading, though dollar gains were minimal as the euro rose on a high eurozone inflation reading.

Treasuries rose as traders remain concerned about the overall health of the economy.  While Chicago PMI came in higher than expected, it still gave a reading below 50 which indicates contraction in manufacturing activity.

The Dow, Nasdaq, and S&P rose slightly on the last day of the first quarter which overall turned in the worst quarterly performance in over five years for the major indices.

Among the big names making news in the market today were Schering, Merck, Citigroup, and IAC.

The Commentary:

“April Gold finished down 14.4 at 916.2, 21.8 off the high and 0.2 up from the low.

May Silver closed down 0.63 at 17.31. This was 0.125 up from the low and 0.88 off the high.

The gold market initially waffled around unchanged early in the trading session Monday but as the trading session progressed, prices began to weaken. In fact, with an aggressive slide in crude oil prices on Monday morning and a host of selling seen in a number of physical commodity markets, it seemed as if broad based commodity fund selling was coming back into vogue again. In fact, with the exception of strength in the corn and natural gas markets very few commodity markets were able to get out from under a moderate wave of selling pressure. While the gold market might have been pressured by trade talk of a weekend story touting an increase in Peru gold production, the Peru numbers weren't significant enough to prompt much in the way of fresh gold selling. However, seeing slightly better than expected Chicago purchasing managers, a higher equity market and a sharp slide in oil prices might have prompted some gold traders to downplay the flight to quality status of gold again.

Like the gold market, the silver market started out the session by waffling around unchanged but after a weak attempt to rally, prices became progressively weaker. In fact, May silver prices after making a fleeting attempt to rise above $18.00 early in the trading session actually fell back toward the vicinity of the $17.00 per ounce level and that forged an extremely wide trading range for the session. Interestingly enough favorable US economic news and a mostly strong US equity market failed to provide support to silver and the rest of the industrial metals markets. In short, the silver market seemed to be locked into sync with the gold market and perhaps with most physical commodity markets.”- The Hightower Report, Futures Analysis and Forecasting

GATA Posts:

Peter Brimelow: Indians buying up gold supplied by Fed?

Fed eyes Nordic-style nationalization of U.S. banks

'Trillion-Dollar Meltdown' paints scary economic picture

Deepcaster letter: Defeating the cartel ... with profit

European Central Bank keeps pumping into banks

German Finance Ministry denies wanting to sell gold

Fed may not want its cash loans back any more than governments want their gold loans back

The Statistics:

As of close of business: 3/28/2008

Global Gold ETF Holdings

[WGC Sponsored ETF’s]

 Note: Change in Total Tonnes from yesterday’s data: The ASX added 0.30 tonnes and the JSE subtracted 0.25 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:

A proposed US$1.6 billion business combination between Metallica (MRB), New Gold (NGD), and Peak Gold (PIK.V), Gammon Gold’s (GRS) 3-year outlook and 2007 financial results, Ivanhoe’s (IVN) Mongolian worries, Goldcorp’s (GG) cyanide clarification, Rubicon’s (RBY) drill results, ASA’s (ASA) tender offer program, US Gold’s (UXG) CFO appointment, Gold Fields’ (GFI) leadership changes, Kirkland’s (KGI.TO) safety awards, Seabridge’s (SA) filed financial statements, Orko Silver’s (OK.V) increased resource estimate and drill results, Scorpio’s (SPM.TO) mill construction completion, and ECU’s (ECU.TO) new vein 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:

Richview Files Its Annual Financial Statements - More
- March 31, 2008 | Item | E-mail

Africo Resources Ltd.: Update regarding DRC legal issues - More
- March 31, 2008 | Item | E-mail

Miner New Gold makes C$1.37 bln in acquisitions - "New Gold Inc (NGD.TO: Quote, Profile, Research), a small Canadian gold producer, will acquire two peers for a combined C$1.37 billion ($1.34 billion) in a deal that allows the companies to take advantage of hot gold prices, the three miners said on Monday.

Under the deal, which would create a mid-tier miner, shareholders of Metallica Resources Inc (MR.TO: Quote, Profile, Research) would receive 0.9 common shares of New Gold for each common share, while shareholders of Peak Gold Ltd (PIK.V: Quote, Profile, Research) would receive 0.1 common share of New Gold for each share." More
- March 31, 2008 | Item | E-mail

Hard Creek Nickel Funds Carbon Sequestration Research - More
- March 31, 2008 | Item | E-mail

Hard Creek Nickel Corporation: Northwest Power Line Study to Dease Lake Announced - More
- March 31, 2008 | Item | E-mail

North Atlantic Resources Files Year End Audited Financial Statements and MD&A - More
- March 31, 2008 | Item | E-mail

Pacific North West Capital Closes $3,350,000 Private Placement - More
- March 31, 2008 | Item | E-mail

ICS Acquires "Karukuruku Concession" - More
- March 31, 2008 | Item | E-mail

Marathon signs Memorandum of Understanding with the Pic Mobert First Nation - More
- March 31, 2008 | Item | E-mail

AXMIN Inc.: Passendro Gold Project Feasibility Study Results Conference Call Notification- April 2nd, 2008 at 11:00am (ET) - More
- March 31, 2008 | Item | E-mail

MacDonald Mines Exploration Ltd. - 2,500 metre drill program underway on Big Mac property in James Bay Lowlands - More
- March 31, 2008 | Item | E-mail

Mantis extends warrants - More
- March 31, 2008 |