Gold traded about $1-$4 lower in Asia before it dropped even further in early New York trade to under $547 at one point, but it then rallied back to climb to about unchanged around $555 in early afternoon trade before it fell a bit into the close and ended a few dollars lower.

Silver traded between $10.20 and $10.30 in Asia and London before it dropped to around $10.15 in early New York trade, but it then surged higher just before noon EST to about $10.50 as the SEC approved a rule change that will “allow the American Stock Exchange to list shares in Barclays Plc's iShares Silver Trust.”  Silver backed off near $10.35 after the initial surge, but it then rallied into the close and ended near its highs of the session.

More on the ETF from Tom Szabo of SILVERAXIS.com:

There is news out that the SEC has approved the rule change to allow the Barclays iShares Silver ETF to trade on the AMEX. The rule change clears the remaining regulatory hurdles which means that approval of the registration statement (Form S-1) is now a technicality. Many of the points I raised in my Silver ETF Ironies piece have been addressed in the SEC Release announcing approval of the rule change. I have already analyzed the release and will be providing more detailed comments shortly, but for now I should point out that the SEC feels the silver ETF will increase the efficiency and transparency of the silver market and appears to believe that concerns about liquidity are overblown.

I must say that reading over the SEC Release makes some of my arguments seem a little loony and conspiratory. There appear to be good answers for almost every point I made and I certainly need to revisit this topic with a sharper pencil. So, have I changed my opinion that the silver ETF will not be approved by the SEC? Obviously yes. I was dead wrong! But I still have some nagging issues.

So what does this mean as to the tightness of supplies in the silver market? Curiously, the SEC barely addressed this in its 32 pages of comments, instead focusing on COMEX and LBMA daily trading volumes in light of the 1.5 million ounce initial demand by the silver ETF. I believe the situation is more complicated than this, but in essence the SEC seems to be saying that the physical or spot silver market is big enough to handle whatever demand the ETF can throw at it. On the opposite side of this argument are Ted Butler and the CPM Group, which is quite a rare sight for people familiar with the silver story. I personally believe that some details have been glossed over by the SEC, but only time will tell who in fact was right.

For now, I will leave you with this statement from the SEC Release which sums up its position very well:

"The Commission agrees with Amex that, like other derivative products, the Silver Shares will increase the efficiency and transparency of the market for this underlying instrument, i.e., silver. In this regard, the Commission finds that the proposed rule change is in the public interest. The Commission also does not believe that the Silver Shares are likely to cause serious liquidity problems in the silver market such that approval of the proposed rule change is not consistent with the Act."

- Tom Szabo

Euro gold remained above €455, platinum lost $6 to $1,028, palladium dropped $3 to $313 to fall from 23 month highs, and copper again made new all-time highs before it fell off into the close and ended just slightly lower but still above $2.30.

Gold and silver equities fell over 2% in the first half hour of trade before rebounding to find slight gains a little after noon EST, but they then fell back off into the close and ended near their lows of the session.

More Precious Metals Analysis:

“The gold market was divergent from the silver and copper market for most of the session Tuesday, Certainly seeing the Dollar rise markedly and at the same time seeing the headline PPI reading contract much sharper than expected undermined the gold but one would have expected the silver action to have provided some support to gold. The silver market was lifted sharply by news that the SEC had allowed the silver ETF to move forward but part of the potential bullishness from the news was countervailed by SEC statements that the Silver ETF would not create a supply shortage in the metal. Nonetheless, the progress on the ETF is supportive as that facilitates investment interest in silver. However, in order to see investment in silver soar, might still require improving fundamentals.” - The Hightower Report, Futures Analysis and Forecasting

Oil fell under $60 in morning New York trade, but it then rallied in afternoon trade and closed with slight gains as traders prepared for inventory reports tomorrow that are expected to see a build in crude inventories but drops in gasoline and distillate inventories.

The U.S. dollar index found nice gains and treasuries fell on the outlook for further interest rate increases.

The Dow, Nasdaq, and S&P started off near unchanged and found decent gains midday, but all three indices fell off in afternoon trade and ended near their lows as interest rate worries grabbed hold of the market and oil turned higher on the day.

Among the big names making news in the market today were Nike, Little Caesars, Colgate-Palmolive and Tom's of Maine, GM and Delphi, Jones Apparel, Virgin Group and Bally Total Fitness, Guidant, Perry Ellis, and Oracle.

GATA Posts:

SEC approves rule change for silver ETF

Bank's economists appeal to central banks for more market intervention

Refusing to sell gold, Bundesbank rebuffs German government

Committee for Monetary Research and Education dinner is May 11 in NYC

Mogambo Guru is 'Back with a Vengeance'

Chancellor under fire for gold sale as price nears $600

Credit derivatives rocked by loss at GM finance arm

Gold & Silver Stock News Update from GoldReview.com:

Yamana’s earnings, Kinross Gold’s exploration venture with Geocom, U.S. Energy’s agreement with the state of Utah, the unrest in Indonesia, Canyon Resources’ earnings announcement, and Coeur’s exercised over-allotment option were among the big stories in the gold and silver mining industry making headlines today.

WINNERS

LOSERS

All of today's gold and silver stock news:

Golden Queen Mining Co. Ltd. Obtains NI 43-101 Technical Report on Soledad Mountain Project - More
- March 21, 2006 | Item | E-mail

Western Sierra Retains the Firm of JohnsonStout, Certified Public Accountants, for SEC Audits - More
- March 21, 2006 | Item | E-mail

San Gold Hits High Grade West of Rice Lake Gold Mine - More
- March 21, 2006 | Item | E-mail

Taranis Resources Intersects 14.4 g/t Au / 0.50 m - Pushes Kettukuusikko North Zone Southward - More
- March 21, 2006 | Item | E-mail

Freegold Appoints Vice President of Exploration - More
- March 21, 2006 | Item | E-mail

Sacre-Coeur Minerals Encounters Long Gold Intercepts and Reports That High Grade Extends Into Hard Rock at Million Mountain in Guyana - More
- March 21, 2006 | Item | E-mail

Canyon Resources Corporation Schedules Release of Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year End Results - "Canyon Resources Corporation, a Colorado based mining company, today announced that the Company will release financial results for its fiscal 2005 fourth quarter and full fiscal year, ended December 31, 2005, on Monday, March 27, 2006, at 4:00 p. m. (EST). Senior management will hold a conference call on Tuesday, March 28, 2006, at 11:00 a. m. (EST)." More
- March 21, 2006 | Item | E-mail

Cabo divisions awarded drilling contracts by ESO Uranium Corp. - More
- March 21, 2006 | Item | E-mail

Western Warrior completes private placement OF $1.0 million unsecured convertible debt offering to its Chairman - More
- March 21, 2006 | Item | E-mail

Geocom Enters Exploration Venture With Kinross Gold Corporation - "Kinross and Geocom will jointly explore and acquire gold and other mineral targets developed by the exploration program. Properties acquired by the venture will be managed via individual joint venture on a 50-50 basis. Kinross has the right to acquire a majority interest by making additional expenditures on individual properties and by exercising warrants granted to Kinross by Geocom." More
- March 21, 2006 | Item | E-mail

Big Red Diamond Acquires Property In Bristol Township - More
- March 21, 2006 | Item | E-mail

Normabec Mining Resources Ltd.: Pitt Gold Property, Diamond Drilling Program Initiated on the High Grade Zone - More
- March 21, 2006 | Item | E-mail

Au Martinique Silver Inc. Enlarges the Potonico Mineralized Area and Identifies Significant Gold Values in Surface Veins - More
- March 21, 2006 | Item | E-mail

President Updates Newmont Relationship, Exploration Goals & Market Successes - More
- March 21, 2006 | Item | E-mail

Paramount Gold Begins Drill Program to Upgrade and Expand 32.9 million ounce Silver Equivalent Resource on the La Blanca Zone, San Miguel Project, Mexico - More
- March 21, 2006 | Item | E-mail

Capital Gold Secures Listing on the Toronto Stock Exchange - More
- March 21, 2006 | Item | E-mail

Houston Lake Completes Bulk Sample Shipment to Mill, IP Survey Increases Angel Hill Gold Zone Strike Length to over 1500m - More
- March 21, 2006 | Item | E-mail

Tara Gold Resources Begins Drill Program to Upgrade and Expand 32.9 Million Ounce Silver Equivalent Resource - More
- March 21, 2006 | Item | E-mail

Temex reports progress on Temagami diamond project - More
- March 21, 2006 | Item | E-mail

Bear Creek announces more positive drill results following resource estimation at Corani silver deposit - More
- March 21, 2006 | Item | E-mail

Inter-Citic Reports on Consolidation of Remaining Results From 2005 Exploration Season - More
- March 21, 2006 | Item | E-mail

Alhambra Resources Ltd. - Frankfurt Listing and Investor Tour - More
- March 21, 2006 | Item | E-mail

High River Gold Intersects More High-Grade Mineralization at Bissa Additional Drilling in Planning Stage - More
- March 21, 2006 | Item | E-mail

Magnus International Resources, Inc. Exploration Update on the Mangshi Property - More
- March 21, 2006 | Item | E-mail

Marifil Acquires Attractive Gold Project - More
- March 21, 2006 | Item | E-mail

Results to Date Indicate that CompuPrint SteP(TM) Technology Successfully Predicted Hydrocarbons Location and Depth in First U.S. Exploration Effort - More
- March 21, 2006 | Item | E-mail

Alexis Minerals Corporation: Lac Herbin Interim Results Return 25.88 Grams Gold Over 7.0 Metres-Second Diamond Drill Mobilized - More
- March 21, 2006 | Item | E-mail

El Capitan Contracts with Christensen - More
- March 21, 2006 | Item | E-mail

USCorp Announces Completion of Drilling at Its Kingman Area Gold Tailings Project - More
- March 21, 2006 | Item | E-mail

U.S. Energy Corp./Crested Corp. d/b/a USECC Signs Memorandum of Agreement With State of Utah for Shootaring Uranium Mill - "U.S. Energy Corp. and its majority-owned subsidiary, Crested Corp., are engaged in a joint venture known as USECC that conducts various business activities, primarily associated with natural resources. Through a number of subsidiaries, including Sutter Gold Mining Inc., Plateau Resources Limited, Inc., U.S. Moly Corp, U.S. Uranium Ltd. and USECC, they own various interests or properties prospective for gold, uranium, vanadium and molybdenum." More
- March 21, 2006 | Item | E-mail

Indonesia Unrest May Not Deter Investment - "A rash of attacks and protests aimed at U.S. business interests in Indonesia are isolated, politically motivated incidents, and probably won't hurt foreign investment, analysts and government officials said Tuesday. Since the recent outbreak of violence, the government has moved to calm investor fears, with Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono on Monday describing the various incidents as "integrated and coordinated" by a small group of individuals." More
- March 21, 2006 | Item | E-mail

Coeur Notified That Underwriters Have Exercised Over-Allotment Option - "With the exercise of the 3.6-million share over-allotment option, the total number of shares to be issued upon the closing of the transaction on March 22 is 27.6 million shares at the previously announced public offering price of $5.60. Coeur now expects to receive total net proceeds, after the underwriters' discount, of approximately $146.8 million." More
- March 21, 2006 | Item | E-mail

Yamana Reports Mine Operating Earnings of $8.6 Million - "Mine operating earnings were $8.6 million and $4.8 million for the year and quarter ended December 31, 2005, respectively. Mine operating earnings for the quarter increased by 227% from the third quarter ended September 30, 2005. Mine operating earnings for the fourth quarter reflect operations from the Fazenda Nova Mine coming on stream and the initiatives that the Company undertook to improve efficiency and reduce costs at the Fazenda Nova Mine." More
- March 21, 2006 | Item | E-mail

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Winners & Losers tracks NYSE and AMEX listed stocks that trade over $1.

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