Gold Seeker Closing Report: Gold and Silver Fall Nearly 4% and 5%

	Close	Gain/Loss
Gold	$820.50	-$33.20
Silver	$10.72	-$0.55
XAU	106.92	-6.64%
HUI	258.79	-6.73%
GDM	795.86	-6.93%
JSE Gold	2184.97	-50.83
USD	83.11	+0.40
Euro	133.72	-0.81
Yen	112.16	+1.56
Oil	$37.59	-$3.24
10-Year	2.309%	-0.098
T-Bond	134.828125	+1.6875
Dow	8474.05	-1.46%
Nasdaq	1538.79	-2.09%
S&P	870.26	-2.26%

Gold and silver remained near unchanged in Asia and London, but they then plummeted at the New York open, remained near their lows for the rest of trade, and gold closed about 0.5% off its low of $816.80 with a loss of 3.89% while silver closed at its low of the day with a loss of 4.88%.

Euro gold fell to about €612, platinum lost $28.50 to $960.50, and copper fell over 7 cents to about $1.48.

Gold and silver equities fell over 6% in the first hour of trade and remained near their lows into the close.

There were no major economic reports today. Tomorrow at 8:30AM EST is the Trade Balance for November expected at -$51.0 billion and at 2PM is the Treasury Budget for December expected at -$33.0 billion.

Oil fell nearly 8% on continued worries over demand while the U.S. dollar index rose as the euro fell on talk the ECB may cut interest rates by 50 basis points to 2.00% on Thursday.

Treasuries rose as the Dow, Nasdaq, and S&P fell about 2% on persistent worries about the economy and upcoming earnings reports.

Among the big names making news in the market today were GM, Citigroup and Morgan Stanley, Harley-Davidson, Abbott Laboratories and Advanced Medical Optics, and Aetna.

Maybe this has been answered on your website and I either missed it or didn't understand it.

What needs to change in order to drive the dollar lower? We seem to have all of the ingredients in place for a weaker dollar yet that doesn't seem to matter. When will it matter? When do the buyers of the dollar become sellers?

Again thanks for all you do. By the way I am 63 and also believe in your "burnout" before "rust-out" theory.

I had lunch this afternoon in Joberg with a group of very well known personalities in African Mining. Rob S, a member of this assemblage, told a story that I believe prophetically answers your question.

The monetary parable was about a special variety of monitor lizard in Australia that lives off road kill (Hedge Funds, I imagine). The species, like the Komodo Dragon, kills by infecting its victim with a vicious saliva.

Fortunately for our Australian friends this lizard becomes terrified quite easily and runs for the nearest high point, usually a bush or tree, when confronted with terror like a human being or a bad dream.

The knee jerk reaction to fears of an imploding world economy, the fear that Obama produced calling for Tarp funds now indicated that crisis is here, up the tree goes the down-under lizard. The Tree is the dollar and long bonds. This awful, stinking, road kill eating, vile lizard is what is left of the hedge fund business after Madoff.

The answer is that Fiscal Stimulation will produce a degree of economic results that draws out a measure of inflation from Monetary Stimulation relative to the intensity of the new Administration's degree of concern. Acting as president and calling for legislative action NOW to release TARP funds before you are the president is a demonstration not only of concern but total panic.

As inflation starts to work its way out of absolute monetary madness, .72 on the USDX comes directly into the market's cross hairs. Three back to back closes below .72 and the dollar show is over. The dollar will plummet after the realization that the Fed will never be able to issue bonds on the crap they have been stuffed with and kills the idea of the Rentendollar coming out of the Fed's inventory of SIVs backing massive future bond issues. The game is then over and the beginning of the concept of the Federal Reserve Gold Certificate Ratio, Modernized and Revitalized becomes the tool of choice starts.

With crude oil getting whacked and the Dollar having another one of those “let’s get out of risky trades” rallies, gold had as much chance as a snowball at one of Al Gore’s global warming symposiums (Note to Al – look out the window every now and then if you want to learn something – that white stuff that is everywhere is called ‘snow’). It collapsed through downside support near $840 and continued lower driven by sell stops until it breached the $830-$828 support level. If gold cannot recapture that $830 level and hold above it, technically-related selling pressure will increase. Support now emerges near the 40 day moving average at $814 with the 100 day moving average just beneath that at $810. Should gold move down into that region, it will be critical from a technical standpoint for the market to attract quality buying or face a much greater exodus of longs that could bring the market down to $800 or below. First resistance is back near $840 and then at today’s high. Above that is $880 which is the level capped by the bullion banks. Last Friday’s release of the Commitment of Traders data proved that it was that same crowd which once again stymied gold’s forward advance, much to the chagrin of the newsletter writers and hedge fund ninnies who were again made fools of as they chased prices higher only to have their pockets summarily picked by these vultures.

Note to the fund managers – this is not the soybean market – if you wish to make money playing the paper gold game against the bullion banks then have the good sense to alter your losing strategy and begin accumulating gold on weakness instead of the brain-dead and discredited method of chasing momentum higher. That will not work for gold. It has not worked for 8 years – why should things be any different in 2009?

Judging from the open interest readings, there are a large number of new speculative short positions being placed in this market. The bullion banks use this selling to cover existing shorts as the markets moves lower in addition to that of exiting longs. Over the last eight years, spec selling into weakness has not proved to be a profitable strategy either. The only way to have consistently made money in the gold market has to buy into weakness and sell into strength – the EXACT OPPOSITE of what these tech driven funds practice.

As a further point of note – the index funds spent the entire portion of their day today running out of all the various commodity markets that they had just run into over the past week as they rebalanced their portfolios. The commodity circus continues…. Corn went limit down, soybeans were beaten back and wheat puked – deflation is back in vogue where last week it was inflation. Copper in particular was mauled which it should have been after the stupid index fund buying of last week. Don’t like the current psyche – stick around another week or so; next week it will probably be hyperinflation only to be followed by a return to the barter system the week after that, and then a round circle back to deflation once again. Don’t feel bad if you cannot understand what the markets are saying right now – the market itself has no idea what it is saying – maybe it is attempting to get in touch with its inner child or some other sort of nonsense. Thanks fund managers for clearing things up for us all….

The impetus for knocking the grains lower was the USDA report this morning which came in with a bearish slant to it. Even at limit down corn is still 75 cents above its low made late last year and it still appears to me that prices went as low as they are going to go in that particular pit. Let’s continue to monitor both the grains and the crude oil to get some clues as to gold’s performance. Crude could not hold above $40 so a test of the low near $35 is right around the corner. What it does with that level will tell us whether a bottom is in this market as well or we are going to try for $30 before bottoming. Stay tuned.”- Dan Norcini, More at JSMineset.com

“February Gold closed down 34 at 821. This was 2.5 up from the low and 14.2 off the high.

March Silver finished down 0.57 at 10.75, 0.18 off the high and 0.02 up from the low.

After initial weakness in the gold market Monday morning, the gold market fell to the lowest level since December 12th. Strength in the US Dollar, weakness in oil prices and concerns of even more slowing ahead in the US economy all seemed to apply pressure to gold prices. However, overt weakness in oil prices seemed to give off the impression of renewed slowing fears and that angle clearly seemed to turn up the pressure on a long list of physical commodities like gold. With the March Dollar Index at least temporarily rising above the 84.00 level, the negative influence off the currency market action was certainly being felt in the gold market. While the market wasn't specifically tossing around the idea of renewed deflationary selling, the chain reaction selling wave brought on by the weakness in the oil market certainly seemed to rekindle concerns of too much slowing ahead.

The silver market initially held up relatively better than the gold market, with March silver seemingly able to hold above the January 5th lows, while the April gold contract in the morning washout fell to the lowest level since December 12th. With significant weakness in copper and platinum prices on Monday morning, it seemed as silver was at least partially undermined by the weak action in the industrial metals markets. Perhaps the silver market managed to hold up better than gold during the trade Monday because of talk of ongoing investment demand for silver. In the end, the silver market seemed to be dragged downward by fresh fears of slowing and broad based weakness in a host of physical commodity markets.”- The Hightower Report, Futures Analysis and Forecasting

Note: Change in Total Tonnes from yesterday’s data: 217.88 tonnes were added to the trust.

Harmony’s (HMY) safety achievement, NovaGold’s (NG) possible TSX delisting, Anatolia’s (ANO.TO) approved senior debt facility, Coeur’s (CDE) gold mine in Alaska and Supreme Court case regarding it, Timberline’s (TLR) hydrogeologic study, Gammon’s (GRS) record operating quarter, Silver Quest’s (SQI.V) drill results, Sterling’s (SRLM.OB) new CEO, MAG’s (MVG) drill results, and Apex Silver’s (SIL) agreement with holders of approximately 43% of the Company's $290 million convertible subordinated notes were among the big stories in the gold and silver mining industry making headlines today.

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

Thorium Energy, Inc. Announces Inclusion in the Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey Update - More
- January 12, 2009 | Item | E-mail

Silver Quest Resources Ltd.: Final Drill Results from the Capoose-Silver Trend Project - "Silver Quest Resources Ltd. (the "Company") (TSX VENTURE:SQI - News) is pleased to report the remaining assay results from an eleven hole, 1,595 metre diamond drill program that was completed during fall 2008 on the Capoose-Silver Trend Project. The property is located approximately 185 kilometres west-southwest of Prince George, British Columbia." More
- January 12, 2009 | Item | E-mail

Katanga approves new shares for Glencore loans - More
- January 12, 2009 | Item | E-mail

PBX Announces Resource Upgrade on Copaquire Molybdenum-Rhenium-Copper Project, Chile - More
- January 12, 2009 | Item | E-mail

Richmond Minerals Inc. Announces Private Placement - More
- January 12, 2009 | Item | E-mail

Sterling Mining Names New CEO - "Sterling Mining Company (OTC Bulletin Board: SRLM / FSE: SMX) is pleased to announce the appointment of John P. Ryan as President and Chief Executive Officer and Ron Ho as Corporate Secretary and Treasurer, both effective immediately. Mr. Ryan will succeed Ken Berscht as interim President, who has resigned but will remain on the Board of Directors. Mr. Ryan was also named to the Board of Directors of the Company." More
- January 12, 2009 | Item | E-mail

Cogitore Reports More Assays From Hole SC-34 at Scott Lake; West Lens Interval Extended by Additional 21 Metres to Reach 53.7 Metres of 1.88% Copper, ... - More
- January 12, 2009 | Item | E-mail

Campbell Resources updates recent activities - More
- January 12, 2009 | Item | E-mail

Outstanding safety achievement at Harmony`s Phakisa mine - "Harmony Gold Mining Company Limited (Harmony) proudly announces that its Phakisa mine in the Free State has reduced its Lost Time Injury Frequency Rate (LTIFR) to 0.98, an outstanding achievement for the deep level gold mining industry in South Africa. The mine reported 173 days of reportable injury-free shifts and 96 lost time injury-free days." More
- January 12, 2009 | Item | E-mail

Katanga Shareholders Approve Increase in Authorized Share Capital - More
- January 12, 2009 | Item | E-mail

Beaufield Enters Into Formal Agreements With Management - More
- January 12, 2009 | Item | E-mail

Goldeye Explorations-Todd Creek 2008 Drill Program and Exploration Results - More
- January 12, 2009 | Item | E-mail

Polar Star-Todd Creek 2008 Drill Program and Exploration Results - More
- January 12, 2009 | Item | E-mail

Palladon Iron Corporation Leases an Additional 1,184 Acres of Mineral Rights - More
- January 12, 2009 | Item | E-mail

Toronto Stock Exchange reviews NovaGold shares - "Shares of miner NovaGold Resources (NG.TO) are being reviewed for possible delisting, the Toronto Stock Exchange said on Monday.

NovaGold, which owns stakes in massive gold and copper deposits in British Columbia and Alaska but has struggled to keep its operations afloat, has been granted 210 days in which to comply with listing requirements, exchange owner TMX Group(X.TO) said in a statement." More
- January 12, 2009 | Item | E-mail

Anatolia's Copler senior debt facility approved at US$62.5 million - "Anatolia Minerals Development Limited ("Anatolia" or the "Company") (TSX:ANO - News) announces that Bayerische Hypo- und Vereinsbank AG, a member of UniCredit Group ("HVB") has received final credit approval to fully underwrite and provide US$62.5 million in senior project debt (the "Debt Facility") for the Company's Copler Gold Project in Turkey." More
- January 12, 2009 | Item | E-mail

Mantis announces high grade gold and mineable widths at its Cree Lake property. - More
- January 12, 2009 | Item | E-mail

Supreme Court To Hear Case Regarding Disposal of Waste from Alaskan Gold Mine - "It was announced Monday that the Supreme Court would hear a case regarding the disposal of waste from an Alaska gold mine.

Back in 2005, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issued a permit for disposing waste at the proposed Kensington mine north of Juneau. Under this permit, waste from the mine would be dumped into Lower Slate Lake." More
- January 12, 2009 | Item | E-mail

Aurora Energy Resources Announces 2009 Program - More
- January 12, 2009 | Item | E-mail

Polar Star: Montezuma Exploration Update - More
- January 12, 2009 | Item | E-mail

El Nino Ventures reports high grade drill results on the Kasala Project in the Democratic Republic of Congo - More
- January 12, 2009 | Item | E-mail

Apella engages Grandich Publications - More
- January 12, 2009 | Item | E-mail

U.S. Energy Corp. Receives Milestone Payment From Thompson Creek Metals Company Inc. - More
- January 12, 2009 | Item | E-mail

UEX/AREVA Drilling in the Prospective Corridor at Shea Creek Connects the Anne Deposit to Kianna Defining Over 900 Metres of Continuous Unconformity Mineral. - More
- January 12, 2009 | Item | E-mail

B2Gold Corp. Announces Continued Positive Exploration Drill Results from the Gramalote Gold Property in Colombia - More
- January 12, 2009 | Item | E-mail

Simberi Copper/Cobalt Reratification of Joint Venture With Gecamines - More
- January 12, 2009 | Item | E-mail

Azteca Gold Corp. Announces Second and Final Closing of Private Placement - More
- January 12, 2009 | Item | E-mail

Altius Reports Final 2008 Iron Ore Drill Intercepts in Labrador - More
- January 12, 2009 | Item | E-mail

Colossus Minerals Drills 60.5 Metres @ 14.37 g/t Gold, 1.81 g/t Platinum and 2.46 g/t Palladium - More
- January 12, 2009 | Item | E-mail

Duluth Metals Files new NI 43-101 Preliminary Assessment Report Confirming Positive Economics for Expanded Nokomis Project - More
- January 12, 2009 | Item | E-mail

Carpathian Drilling Intersects 16 m of 3.96 g/t Au, Including 2.8 m of 18.45 g/t Au on the RDM Gold Project, Brazil - More
- January 12, 2009 | Item | E-mail

MAG Silver Reports New High Grade Intercepts on Valdecanas Vein, Juanicipio Joint Venture - "MAG Silver Corp. (Toronto:MAG.TO - News)(AMEX:MVG - News) ("MAG") reports new high grade assay results have been received from definition drilling along the Valdecanas Vein. These new results continue to add intercepts in areas beyond areas included in previously published resource calculations and also confirm the lateral and vertical continuity of the bonanza zone within the Valdecanas Vein. Remaining untested areas with the potential for additional new resource ounces include the down-dip area of the western part of the Valdecanas Vein on sections G, I and F and the up-dip area of the eastern part of the Valdecanas Vein in the vicinity of sections R, S and T." More
- January 12, 2009 | Item | E-mail

Timberline Receives Positive Hydrogeologic Test Results At Its Butte Highlands Gold Project - "Timberline Resources Corporation (NYSE Alternext:TLR) today announced the completion of a hydrogeologic study at its 100-percent owned, royalty-free Butte Highlands Gold Project in southwestern Montana. The positive results of the study represent a significant milestone in the permitting process and the proposed underground exploration and development schedule. The study was a requirement for permit application and Timberline anticipates submitting the underground permit application to the State of Montana Department of Environmental Quality in the first quarter of 2009." More
- January 12, 2009 | Item | E-mail

Apex Silver Announces Agreement With Certain Convertible Note Holders - "Apex Silver Mines Limited, (AMEX:SIL - News) (the "Company") today announced that it has reached agreement with holders of approximately 43% of the Company's $290 million convertible subordinated notes on the principle terms of a plan of reorganization under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. As contemplated by the proposed plan of reorganization, if the class of convertible subordinated note holders accepts the plan, senior creditors under the Company's guarantees of the San Cristóbal mine's project financing facility will waive and release their senior claims and holders of convertible subordinated notes will receive a pro rata share of approximately $45 million in cash plus common stock of the reorganized Company." More
- January 12, 2009 | Item | E-mail

Gammon Gold Reports Best Ever Quarter for Gold & Silver Production plus Best Ever Cash Cost Performance - "Gammon Gold Inc. ("Gammon") (TSX:GAM and NYSE:GRS): Subject to the year-end independent external audit and annual accounts finalization, Gammon is pleased to report a record operating quarter as highlighted below:" More
- January 12, 2009 | Item | E-mail

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