Gold Seeker Closing Report – Gold & Silver Gain Over 1%

There were no major economic reports today, but there are plenty of economic reports due out the rest of the week starting at 8:30AM EST tomorrow with the Current Account for the 4^th quarter expected at -$218.0 billion and Retail Sales for February expected at -0.9%. Excluding autos, sales are expected at -0.5%. At 10AM is the Business Inventories report for January expected at 0.3%.

	Close	Gain/Loss
Gold	$546.00	+$6.10
Silver	$10.13	+$0.20
XAU	127.75	+0.75%
HUI	295.13	+0.86%
GDM	938.97	+0.36%
JSE Gold	2534.49	+3.27%
USD	90.53	-0.30
Euro	119.56	+0.39
Yen	84.02	UNCH
Oil	$61.77	+$1.89
10-Year	4.775%	+0.020
T-Bond	110.34375	-0.1875
Dow	11076.02	-0.00%
Nasdaq	2267.03	+0.22%
S&P	1284.13	+0.20%

Gold rose near $545 in Asia before dropping a bit heading into London trade, but it soon jumped back up to $545 before again selling off a couple dollars in early New York trade. Gold then started back higher at about 10AM EST, however, and rose throughout the rest of trade to end near its highs with an over 1% gain. Silver remained near unchanged in Asia before rising slightly in London, but it then fell to find slight losses in early New York trade before it rose with gold into the close and ended near its highs with over 2% gains.

Euro gold rose back above €455, platinum gained $7 to $1,011, palladium gained $8 to $296, and copper rose near $2.25.

Gold and silver equities started off slightly lower but soon rose to find about 1% gains and remained near that level for the rest of trade.

“The precious metals markets seemed to come alive after some hints overnight that investors were seeing value in cheaper prices. In fact, after some earnings pressure, Harmony Mines stock apparently came back into value at roughly the same time that both gold and silver forged new highs for the move. Apparently the physical and spec buyers stepped up to the plate, and with the Dollar lower and oil prices firming aggressively during the session, we can understand the new found optimism toward the precious metals.” - The Hightower Report, Futures Analysis and Forecasting

Oil rose throughout trade in New York and ended about 3% higher on renewed geopolitical concerns over Iran.

The U.S. dollar index fell from 3 month highs as traders looked ahead to several economic reports this week that may come in economically weak and influence the fed to stop raising interest rates.

Treasuries fell and pushed the yield on to 10-year to new 20 month highs as overnight selling in Asia and Europe carried into U.S. trade and pushed bonds lower.

The Dow, Nasdaq, and S&P started off decently higher on merger news, but all three indices fell throughout trade and ended near unchanged as higher oil kept investors on the sidelines.

Among the big names making news in the market today were Pinnacle and Aztar, Merck and Schering, Fannie Mae, LSE and Nasdaq, Capital One and North Fork, McClatchy and Knight Ridder, Watson Pharmaceuticals and Andrz, and Kia Motors.

Today’s close (3/13/2006) was strong, signaling that the selling has exhausted itself. The local has been unsuccessful at uncovering sell stops at lower levels, and are switching to more profitable strategies. Locals will soon return to trying to uncover the buy stops on the upside of the Crude market. The Crude Oil market will now stay in neutral until the momentum returns to the upside. Subscribers to THE BLACK GOLD WATCHER (copyright 2006) have already been issued the appropriate instructions to capitalize on this change. The port's scandal, combined with the Iran nuclear question, will keep the drama going, so stay tuned to GOLDSEEK.COM , your source for THE BLACK GOLD WATCHER (COPYRIGHT 2006) for further market developments. Events unfold quickly in the world of energy!

Today’s close again finds the $USD back at the top of its range, and the Loonie at the bottom of its range.

The commercials continue their buyer’s strike! The financial picture is very muddled at this moment. The Loonie’s close today showed a weak market, and more time will be needed to prove to the "market" that the Loonie is a buy! The Loonie is still in its trading range, and will stay here until some "event" occurs!

The $USD is locked in a small range. The locals have given up hunting buy stops for the moment. Commercials are waiting for a resolve on the US Debt Ceiling. The $USD again finished with a strong close, leaving the shorts scratching their heads. The subscribers to THE LOONIE WATCH (copyright 2006) have already received the necessary instructions to capitalize on the new information!

The US Debt Ceiling drama, combined with a possible response from the UAE for overturning the port management deal, gives the fearmongers much material for creating some real daymare scenarios. Add the bird flu drama, and all the Steven King’s wannabes will be going to town in the media. Stay tuned to GOLDSEEK.COM , your source for updates for THE LOONIE WATCHER, and THE BLACK GOLD WATCHER

Apex Silver’s possible improper payments, Ivanhoe’s battle with the Globe and Mail over its reporting about Mongolia, Polyus’ proceeds from their Gold Fields sale, Iamgold’s approved purchase of Gallery Gold, and Goldcorp’s dividend were among the big stories in the gold and silver mining industry making headlines today.

Virginia Wins the Bill Dennis Prospector of the Year 2006 Award - More
- March 13, 2006 | Item | E-mail

Carpathian Gold Inc. announces control block distribution - More
- March 13, 2006 | Item | E-mail

Freegold Ventures Limited - More
- March 13, 2006 | Item | E-mail

First Quantum Minerals to Pay Dividend of Cdn $0.265 per Share - More
- March 13, 2006 | Item | E-mail

Goldcorp Declares Third Monthly Dividend Payment for 2006 - "GOLDCORP INC. is pleased to declare its third monthly dividend payment for 2006 of $0.015 per share. Shareholders of record at the close of business on Friday, March 24, 2006 will be entitled to receive payment of this dividend on Friday, March 31, 2006." More
- March 13, 2006 | Item | E-mail

Canadian Royalties: MOU Signed Concerning the Raglan South Nickel Project - More
- March 13, 2006 | Item | E-mail

Cabo wins contract extension from Barrick Gold Corporation - More
- March 13, 2006 | Item | E-mail

Capital Gold Announces Completion of Equity Financing - More
- March 13, 2006 | Item | E-mail

General Metals Corporation Announces Results of Drilling Program and Proposes Plan for Further Development at Independence Mine - More
- March 13, 2006 | Item | E-mail

Tiberon secures offtake agreement with CMC Cometals for 100% of Nui Phao fluorspar production - More
- March 13, 2006 | Item | E-mail

Bear Creek Mining Conference Call Notification - More
- March 13, 2006 | Item | E-mail

Court OKs Iamgold's purchase of Gallery Gold - "The approval comes about a week after shareholders of Australian-based Gallery Gold voted in favor of being taken over by Iamgold in a deal worth around $200 million. Trading in Gallery Gold shares is expected to stop March 14." More
- March 13, 2006 | Item | E-mail

Formal approval granted in IAMGOLD's acquisition of Gallery - "This formal court approval was the last step in the completion of this acquisition," commented Joe Conway, President and CEO, IAMGOLD. "We thank the Gallery management, Board of Directors and shareholders for their support of this transaction, which not only provides value for shareholders but completes an important strategic step in the evolution of IAMGOLD." More
- March 13, 2006 | Item | E-mail

The truth about Mongolian government support for foreign investment in Mongolia's mining sector ignored again by Globe and Mail newspaper - "A story published today in the Toronto Globe and Mail newspaper's Report on Business section, headlined, "For Ivanhoe, new questions in Mongolia," follows a disturbing pattern of inaccurate and misleading accounts by the newspaper and its reporter, Geoffrey York, during the past 18 months about Ivanhoe Mines' business interests in Mongolia." More
- March 13, 2006 | Item | E-mail

Caledonia Acquires Additional Properties Adjoining its Rooipoort 'PGE-Au-Ni-Cu' Project, South Africa, virtually doubling the Rooipoort Project area - More
- March 13, 2006 | Item | E-mail

Conquest Resources Limited: Drilling Commences At King Bay Gold Project - More
- March 13, 2006 | Item | E-mail

Aurora Gold Corporation Announces Results From Preliminary Exploration Programs at the São Domingos Property - More
- March 13, 2006 | Item | E-mail

Bear Creek announces first resource calculation totaling 250M ounces silver; Corani silver project, Peru - More
- March 13, 2006 | Item | E-mail

Geophysical Program Underway at Gossan's Sharpe Lake Property - More
- March 13, 2006 | Item | E-mail

Boliden: Substantial Increase in Garpenberg Ore Reserves - More
- March 13, 2006 | Item | E-mail

Apogee Expands Land Position At Buena Vista Gold-Silver-Zinc Project - More
- March 13, 2006 | Item | E-mail

Russian Gold Giant Took a Whole Lot - "Russian gold production firm Polyus will get all of the $2.1 billion raised when its former parent, Norilsk Nickel, sold 20 percent of Gold Fields, and plans to expand internationally." More
- March 13, 2006 | Item | E-mail

China to protect foreign miners' rights-vice min - "China will protect the rights of foreign prospectors, as it seeks more exploration investment to increase domestic reserves of metals and other resources, a senior government official said on Saturday. Although rich in many rarer ores, China has relatively poor deposits of more common ores used for industrial metals." More
- March 11, 2006 | Item | E-mail

Apex says unit may have made improper payments - "Mining company Apex Silver Mines Ltd. on Friday said that one of its Latin American subsidiaries may have made "improper payments to government officials," according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Apex Silver said that it informed the U.S. Department of Justice and the SEC this month about the findings of an internal investigation that determined payments may have been made, which it said would be "possible violations" of the Foreign Corrupt Practice Act." More
- March 10, 2006 | Item | E-mail

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