-- Posted 23 August, 2006 | | Source: SilverSeek.com
| Close | Gain/Loss |
Gold | $623.20 | -$1.20 |
Silver | $12.45 | +$0.23 |
XAU | 147.78 | -0.32% |
HUI | 345.64 | -0.54% |
GDM | 1095.07 | -0.42% |
JSE Gold | 3049.79 | -0.82% |
USD | 85.13 | -0.03 |
Euro | 127.90 | -0.01 |
Yen | 85.93 | +0.24 |
Oil | $71.76 | -$1.34 |
10-Year | 4.813% | +0.002 |
T-Bond | 109.875 | UNCH |
Dow | 11297.90 | -0.37% |
Nasdaq | 2134.66 | -0.71% |
S&P | 1292.99 | -0.45% |
The Metals:
Gold fell $2-$3 in Asia before it rebounded in London and came into New York near unchanged at about $625. It then rose to over $630 by 10AM EST before it fell off sharply in the next hour to about $621.20, but it then rebounded into the close and ended just 0.19% lower on the day. Silver remained near unchanged in Asia before it started to rise in London and traded at over $12.60 by 9AM EST in New York. It then fell off about 20-25 cents in the rest of morning trade, but a slight rebound in afternoon trade allowed it to close with a 1.88% gain on the day.
Euro gold remained near €487, platinum remained unchanged at $1,220, palladium gained $4 to $342, and copper fell slightly but remained near $3.45.
Gold and silver equities rose about 2% in the first half hour of trade, but they then steadily fell off throughout the rest of trade and ended slightly lower on the day.
The Economy:
Report | For | Reading | Expected | Previous |
Existing Home Sales | July | 6.33M | 6.55M | 6.60M |
Existing Home Sales fell 4.1% to the lowest in more than 2 and ½ years and inventories rose a large 3.2% as sellers are not lowering prices and buyers are waiting until they do. Tomorrow at 8:30AM EST brings Durable Goods Orders for July expected at -0.8% and Initial Jobless Claims for 8/19 expected at 315,000. At 10AM are New Home Sales for July expected at 1,105,000.
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The Markets:
Charts Courtesy of http://finance.yahoo.com/
Oil traded slightly lower ahead of this morning’s inventory reports which showed crude inventories fell 600,000 barrels, gasoline inventories built 400,000 barrels, and distillates built 2.3 million barrels. Crude inventories fell less than expected, gas inventories built instead of an expected fall, and distillates built more than expected, so oil prices soon fell off further as a result. Refiners operated at an increased 92.8% of capacity.
Despite weaker than expected Existing Home Sales data, the U.S. dollar index rose and treasuries fell as traders took profits and protected recent gains from potential reverses in action of the past few weeks. But by the end of trade, both currencies and treasuries reversed course to end the day largely unchanged.
The Dow, Nasdaq, and S&P fell on worries that the economy is slowing too fast as Existing Home Sales slowed much more than expected.
Among the big names making news in the market today were Lucent and Alcatel, GE, CKE, Nestle, Payless, BHP, Microsoft and Facebook, Sony and Grouper, Gateway, Weyerhaeuser and Domtar, IBM and Internet Security Systems, GE and VNU, and Rambus and Hynix.
The Commentary:
“As an example, years ago few outside of the GATA camp said gold could rally sharply and the dollar do nothing. GATA said not so. We said The Gold Cartel was using the action of the dollar to rig the gold price and that relationship could change at any time as The Gold Cartel began to lose control of their manipulation scheme. Time and time again I categorically stated at conferences that gold could rally $100 and the dollar do nothing. Most of the gold pundits (even the really good ones) chuckled. After Gold Rush 21, gold rallied $300 and the dollar barely moved.
What is key here is to appreciate that when the gold price action, outside market events, or a greater understanding of what GATA knows, begins to kick in with the investment world, the share prices of the smaller golds will go berserk, as they did during the DOG/Internet bonanza days. Fortunes will be made in relatively short order because the tiny gold/silver market sector will not be able to accommodate the new capital without driving many share prices much higher.
I thought years ago that $500 gold might do it, bring the investing public in. Not a chance. $600 gold has not done it and all $700 gold did was scare people re the downside. We are not even close to the conclusion of the gold/silver bull markets. In some ways we are only approaching the end of the BEGINNING stage.” - From yesterday’s Midas report by Bill Murphy of LemetropoleCafe.com
“December Gold closed down 1 at 633. This was 1.8 up from the low and 6.8 off the high.
September Silver finished up 0.25 at 12.515, 0.165 off the high and 0.09 up from the low.
The gold market flopped around on both sides of unchanged and at times seemed to be poised to come under pressure. Apparently the periodic weakness in the Dollar provided a decent countervailing force to the sharp slide in oil prices. It is possible that moderate weakness in the equity market prompted some buying interest in gold, which would seem to be counter intuitive to recent trading patterns in gold. It was clear that the silver market was in relatively more favor than the gold market but in the end the December gold contract did manage to claw out another higher high for the move. In the end the trade might have to fight off periodic bouts of selling if the general track in prices is for declines in energy prices and in the event that the Iranian situation looks to offer little in the way of fresh news. The gold market might have been partially undermined by news that Russian gold production in the first 7 months of 2006 actually managed an increase of 1.2% and that news could be seen as an offset to talk earlier this month that many production levels were still on the decline.
The silver market managed yet another session of relatively stronger performance than the gold market and that might continue to foster an extension of recent talk, that the silver market is a better fresh long play than gold. Some traders are suggesting that gold is being held back by the slide in energy prices and that silver might actually be expected to benefit from a slide in energy prices as that might serve to lift up the economy and in turn stimulate industrial demand for silver. While the Peru government is looking into ways to collect a windfall profit from miners in that country we don't detect that the market is overly concerned yet about some reduction in silver output from that country due to the governments interference.” - The Hightower Report, Futures Analysis and Forecasting
GATA Posts:
Chinese banks struggle to hedge bloated dollar holdings
The Statistics:
As of close of business: 08/22/2006
Gold Warehouse Stocks: | 8,142,411 | - 20,535 |
Silver Warehouse Stocks: | 103,500,709 | - 4,918 |
Global Gold ETF Holdings
[WGC Sponsored ETF’s]
| Product name | Total Tonnes | Total Ounces | Total Value |
New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) | Streettracks Gold Shares | 388.98 | 12,506,073 | US$ 7,786m |
LSE (London Stock Exchange) AND Euronext Paris | Gold Bullion Securities | 78.19 | 2,513,881 | US$ 1,564m |
Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) | Gold Bullion Securities | 9.78 | 314,034 | US$ 196m |
Johannesburg Securities Exchange (JSE) | New Gold Debentures | 11.13 | 357,765 | US$ 222m |
Note: No change in Total Tonnes from yesterday’s data.
COMEX Gold Trust (IAU)
|
Profile as of 08/22/2006 | |
Total Net Assets | $865,857,917 | Ounces of Gold
in Trust | 1,386,595.482 |
Shares Outstanding | 13,950,000 | Tonnes of Gold
in Trust | 43.13 |
Note: No change in Total Tonnes from yesterday’s data.
Silver Trust (SLV)
Profile as of 08/22/2006 | |
Total Net Assets | $1,193,705,697 | Ounces of Silver
in Trust | 97,908,068 |
Shares Outstanding | 9,800,000 | Tonnes of Silver
in Trust | 3,045.3 |
Note: Change in Total Tonnes from yesterday’s data: SLV added 31.1 tonnes to the trust.
The Stocks:
Fronteer’s (FRG) selection to conduct an engineering study, Miramar’s (MNG) drill results, and Great Basin’s (GBN) updated results were among the big stories in the gold and silver mining industry making headlines today.
WINNERS
1. U.S. Energy | USEG +4.17% $4.00 |
2. Richmont Mines | RIC +4.13% $3.29 |
3. Rio Narcea | RNO +3.88% $2.41 |
LOSERS
1. Entree Gold | EGI -4.24% $1.13 |
2. Hecla Mining | HL -4.17% $5.98 |
3. Anglo American | AAUK -3.9% $22.42 |
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:
Aura Gold Inc. Appoints Carlos H. Bertoni as Chief Operating Officer - More
- August 23, 2006 | Item | E-mail
Escondida - El Victor Mineralized Trend Extended into San Carlos Area, Mulatos Deposit, Mexico - More
- August 23, 2006 | Item | E-mail
Jaguar Mining announces normal course issuer bid and departure of Robert Jackson - More
- August 23, 2006 | Item | E-mail
Fronteer Sees Aurora Select SNC-Lavalin for Engineering Study at Michelin, Labrador - "Fronteer Development Group Inc. announces that Aurora Energy Resources Inc., in which Fronteer holds a 49.3% interest, has appointed SNC-Lavalin Inc. to conduct a preliminary engineering study on its 100% owned Michelin uranium deposit in the Central Mineral Belt of coastal Labrador." More
- August 23, 2006 | Item | E-mail
Sirios Resources Inc.: Cheechoo Project, James Bay, Quebec Exploration Program Update - More
- August 23, 2006 | Item | E-mail
Goldrea Focusing on China Production Growth - More
- August 23, 2006 | Item | E-mail
Superior Mining International Corporation Middelvlei Update - More
- August 23, 2006 | Item | E-mail
Taranis Completes Agreement To Purchase 100% Interest in the Thor Property, located near Ferguson, Revelstoke Mining District, B.C. - More
- August 23, 2006 | Item | E-mail
Lakota Receives Regulatory Approval for Property Acquisitions - More
- August 23, 2006 | Item | E-mail
Miramar Identifies New Mineralized Zone at Boston and Continues to Extend Naartok East - "Miramar Mining Corporation today announced additional results from the 2006 drilling program at its Hope Bay Project in Nunavut. The bulk of the program is concentrating on the Madrid district, where drills are testing for continuity and expansion of the known mineralized zones to support a potential large open pit development concept at Madrid. In addition, exploration drilling at Boston has identified a new mineralized zone, termed the BN zone, with potential for adding new resources." More
- August 23, 2006 | Item | E-mail
MGM Mineral Resources Acquires Two Mines in the Segovia-Remedios Area of Colombia - More
- August 23, 2006 | Item | E-mail
Palladon Closes Second Tranche of Oversubscribed Non-Brokered Private Placement - More
- August 23, 2006 | Item | E-mail
International Epithermal Expert, Dr. Richard Sillitoe, Issues Geological Report on Aurelian's Fruta Del Norte Project - More
- August 23, 2006 | Item | E-mail
DPM Completes Acquisition of 80% Interest in Armenian Deno Gold - More
- August 23, 2006 | Item | E-mail
Azimut and Everton confirm the 1.7-km gold bearing trend and prepare a drilling program at Opinaca (A Block), James Bay region - More
- August 23, 2006 | Item | E-mail
Premier secures key management personnel - More
- August 23, 2006 | Item | E-mail
Adjusted Cost Base of Virginia Mines Shares - More
- August 23, 2006 | Item | E-mail
AfriOre Announces Further Well-Mineralized Drill Intersections for the Akanani Platinum Project - More
- August 23, 2006 | Item | E-mail
Golden Valley Mines Ltd.: James Bay, Quebec-2006 Cheechoo Exploration Program Update - More
- August 23, 2006 | Item | E-mail
Patricia Mining Corp. Plans for Mill Start Up During the Week of August 27, 2006 at the Island Gold Joint Venture - More
- August 23, 2006 | Item | E-mail
Galantas Gold to Exhibit at Toronto Resource Show - More
- August 23, 2006 | Item | E-mail
Romarco Increases Private Placement - More
- August 23, 2006 | Item | E-mail
Augyva Announces the Discovery of a New Gold Mineralization in Metasediments - More
- August 23, 2006 | Item | E-mail
First tranche of private placement completed for $800,000 - More
- August 23, 2006 | Item | E-mail
Pioneer Update on Status of Takeover Bids and Litigation With NovaGold - More
- August 23, 2006 | Item | E-mail
GBS Gold International Inc.: Commencement of Plant Commissioning - More
- August 23, 2006 | Item | E-mail
Everton and Azimut Identify 12 Gold Outcrops-September Drilling Planned on the 1.7 Km Gold Bearing Trend on Opinaca "A", James Bay, Quebec - More
- August 23, 2006 | Item | E-mail
Raven Gold Corp. Partners with Tara Gold for Mill Expansion - More
- August 23, 2006 | Item | E-mail
Ascendant Copper Corporation Announces Preparation Work for Drilling at Its Chaucha Copper Porphyry Project, Ecuador - More
- August 23, 2006 | Item | E-mail
Semafo's Kiniero Owner Miner Fleet on Schedule - More
- August 23, 2006 | Item | E-mail
Bear Creek Mining - Corani silver resource increased - More
- August 23, 2006 | Item | E-mail
Goldex signs drill contract - More
- August 23, 2006 | Item | E-mail
Infinex Ventures, Inc. Announces Plans to Finalize Acquisition of a 60% Interest in the Yew Property - More
- August 23, 2006 | Item | E-mail
African Gold Group, Inc.: Intersects 81 Metres of 1.21 g/t Au, Including 18 Metres of 2.26 g/t Au at Kobada, Mali - More
- August 23, 2006 | Item | E-mail
GREAT WEST GOLD, INC. - 30% STOCK DIVIDEND - More
- August 23, 2006 | Item | E-mail
De Beira Announces that it has Signed an Agreement over the Condoroma and Suyckutambo Project Areas in the Cuzco Region of South Peru - More
- August 23, 2006 | Item | E-mail
Sumitomo says Pogo gold mine costs up to $378 mln - More
- August 23, 2006 | Item | E-mail
Great Basin Updates Results from Hecla's Underground Program at the Hollister Development Block - "Great Basin Gold Ltd. announces that excellent progress is being made on the underground program at the Hollister Development Block (DB) Project at its Hollister (previously known as Ivanhoe) gold-silver property on the Carlin Trend in Nevada, USA. Hecla Mining Company is earning a 50% interest in the Hollister Development Block Project by funding the exploration and development program." More
- August 23, 2006 | Item | E-mail
