The Metals:

Gold saw slight gains in Asia before it edged down to $1299.39 at about 8AM EST and then rebounded to $1303.70 in the next hour of trade, but it then fell to a new session low of $1292.51 by late morning in New York and ended with a loss of 0.47%.  Silver slipped to as low as $19.498 and ended with a loss of 0.61%.

Euro gold fell to about €936, platinum lost $1.75 to $1415, and copper remained at about $3.10.

Gold and silver equities fell about 2% in the first hour of trade and remained near that level for the rest of the day.

The Economy:

Tomorrow brings the Case-Shiller 20-city Index and Consumer Confidence.

The Markets:

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

Oil held above $100 a barrel and the U.S. dollar index remained lower after a new round of U.S. sanctions on Russia for its actions in Ukraine.

Treasuries fell on better than expected housing data.

The Dow, Nasdaq, and S&P rose at the open on deal making news and positive company reports, but stocks then fell back off midday and ended mixed on worries about future developments in Ukraine.

Among the big names making news in the market today were Pfizer and AstraZeneca, Comcast, Energy Transfer Partners, BofA, and Forest Labs.

The Commentary:

Speak Loudly and Carry a Wet Noodle

“That pretty much sums up the market's reaction to the announcement of a new set of "sanctions" unveiled by the current administration against Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russia over events in Ukraine.

Sellers in gold wasted no time in declaring their view of the "strong message" (note sarcasm here) being sent to Russia proceeding to knock it back down below the $1300 level.

Further aiding the move lower was the heavy selling in Newmont and more weakness in Barrick over the announcement that any merger between the two was off the table for now.

The Yen also moved lower signaling the absence of any safe haven play as bonds also moved lower. Equities are moving in and out of positive territory as I type these comments. Safe havens are on hold, at least for today. There remains a great deal of volatility with short term technical factors dominating trading today.

I mentioned last Friday that I do not believe gold has much upside here because at this time I do not see events in Ukraine spreading outside of that region. If the market felt like those events could be a harbinger of more to come, gold would be much stronger. That it is not, is evidence enough that while the situation remains tense, most do not see it spreading beyond that region. Rallies in gold are therefore attracting selling even as dips lower are attracting buying from some due to the ongoing geopolitical developments. As stated so many, many times here now, buying gold due to geopolitical events is extremely risky. You have no idea what might or might not happen and thus it is entirely a crapshoot. That is not trading; it is not investing either for that matter; it is gambling. If you want to gamble, head to Las Vegas or Reno - at least they have some great looking showgirls while you are losing your money.

Corn continues to attract buying as traders are concerned over the slow start to planting this year. Also, the cool, wet conditions have raised concerns about poor germination of those crops which have been seeded. Soil temps are not warm enough and the market wants to see more sunshine.

This past Friday's Cattle on Feed report was considered friendly to the market as it caught some by surprise who were expecting to see larger numbers moving ahead. Feeder cattle continue to make all time highs as most small specs are caught on the short side and are getting squeezed out in a brutal fashion. How some of these guys paying the kinds of prices that they are for feeders are going to be able to make any money on them is a big mystery to me but that does not seem to be impacting things at the moment. Hogs are bleeding out of some the premium in there as traders take a "show me" attitude towards the slaughter numbers and the impact from the PED virus.

Crude oil continues weak in today's session further retreating from the double top near the $105 level.

Silver has once again attracted selling as it neared $20. It remains stuck in a narrow range between that level and $19 on the bottom.”- Dan Norcini, More at http://www.traderdannorcini.blogspot.com/

GATA Posts:

Barrick Gold says Newmont terminates takeover talks

Lars Schall interviews Bill Kaye about gold suppression and the aftermath

U.S. Justice Department raises stakes in forex probe

TF Metal Report: Whistling past the graveyard

The Statistics:

Activity from: 4/25/2014

Global Gold ETF Holdings

[WGC Sponsored ETF’s]

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

COMEX Gold Trust (IAU) Total Tonnes in Trust: 164.41: No change from yesterday’s data.

Silver Trust (SLV) Total Tonnes in Trust: 10,282.78: No change from yesterday’s data.

The Miners:

Newmont’s (NEM) terminated merger discussions with Barrick (ABX), Eurasian’s (EMXX) Stock Option Plan, Randgold’s (GOLD) mining code in Cote d'Ivoire and mine progress in the Ivory Coast, and Kirkland’s (KGI.TO) gold reserve and resource estimates 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.

Please see Yahoo’s Mining/Metals News Wire for all of today’s mining news.

- Chris Mullen, Gold Seeker Report

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• http://www.capitalupdates.com
• http://www.goldseek.com
• http://www.silverseek.com
• http://www.goldreview.com 

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