Gold Seeker Closing Report: Gold and Silver Fall Over 2% and 3% While Stocks Rebound

	Close	Gain/Loss
Gold	$969.25	-$23.85
Silver	$13.98	-$0.505
XAU	119.24	-7.08%
HUI	290.48	-8.14%
GDM	919.65	-8.21%
JSE Gold	2760.53	-113.09
USD	86.89	-0.43
Euro	128.39	+1.40
Yen	103.28	-2.47
Oil	$39.96	+$1.52
10-Year	2.799%	+0.022
T-Bond	127.875	-0.015625
Dow	7350.94	+3.32%
Nasdaq	1441.83	+3.90%
S&P	773.14	+4.01%

Gold and silver traded mostly slightly lower in Asia and London before they rose at the New York open to see gains of $2.55 and $0.107 at as high as $995.65 and $14.592 at about 9AM EST, but they then tumbled lower for the rest of the morning and gold fell to as low as $959.00 before closing with a loss of 2.4% while silver fell to as low as $13.69 before it ended with a loss of 3.5%.

Euro gold fell to about €757, platinum lost $31.50 to $1041, and copper gained roughly 5 cents to about $1.48.

Gold and silver equities fell over 7% by late morning and remained near their lows for the rest of the day.

Report	For	Reading	Expected	Previous
S&P/CS Home Price Index	Dec	-18.55%	-18.25%	-18.20%
Consumer Confidence	Feb	25.0	35.0	37.4

Bernanke gave his Monetary Policy Report before the Senate Banking Committee and stated that the recession may end in 2009 and a rebound in economic activity may come as early as 2010.

Tomorrow at 10AM EST is the Existing Home Sales report for January expected at 4,810,000 and Bernanke gives his Monetary Policy Report to the House Financial Services Committee.

Oil rose back near $40 on more evidence of OPEC cuts and hope that demand may finally start to come back.

The U.S. dollar index rose in early trade as the yen fell markedly on worries over a severe economic downturn in Japan that removed the yen’s previous status as a store of value and a refuge from the global financial crisis, but more poor economic data in the US turned the dollar lower in later trade and the index ended slightly lower on the day as traders appeared to be putting some of their large amounts of cash to work.

Treasuries rose for most of trade after more poor economic data and strong demand for a treasury auction of $40 billion of two-year notes, but they fell back off by the close as traders appeared to be moving some money into the stock market.

The Dow, Nasdaq, and S&P rose over 3% despite a slew of horrible earnings reports as Bernanke was able to instill some confidence in the markets with his testimony before the Senate Banking Committee.

Among the big names making news in the market today were Macy’s, Home Depot, AIG, Target, Heinz, and Medco.

The outrageous machinations of the market place, as Trader Dan has described to you this afternoon, are a combination of hedge funds attacking by shorting the middle European low cap currencies, the Cando and the Down Unders, which by mirror reflection display an image of temporary dollar strength.

One of the tools of a short against a country’s currency is to work the Default Derivative Index violently upwards on the bonds of that country, thereby making the debt of the country look terminal.

All of this is feeding into the EUR/USD cross rate. Markets in securities and general commodities are in turn raked by the emotional fallout of paper implosions in the currency markets. As the hedgie sharks eat each other only a few fat hedgie sharks remain. The mega wealth they represent will in time turn their big guns broadside to the US dollar and long side to gold, producing levels on both that few consider possible, even today. It must happen because already the algorithm of gold is beginning to demand it.

As the hedgies go for cover in the middle European currency units, the momentum of the dollar will roll over, triggering the early dollar algorithm to magnetize money to the short side.

The same fund right now raping the middle European currencies will eventually dig a grave for the buck.

World flows of money know no human feelings, but like the demons at their heart, spread death and destruction wherever they flow. It is like a massive volcanic eruption poisoning the air and water, bringing with it a planetary malaise.

Remember that JP Morgan had to get Jesse Livermore to agree to stop raiding stocks, commodities and currencies short before Morgan could rescue the US banking system from a credit lock up.

I may be the only one who knows why the world is ending in the equity markets and why no 1930 style rally with staying power can occur until certain procedural trading matters are worked out

Hell has broken lose. It will be more than two generations before this plague of greed is overcome. This is not a short-term aberration. It is a cataclysm brought about by the uncontrolled greed of an army of sociopaths.

Gold is the only safe haven because unlike paper money it is impossible to create twice as much with the strike of a bailout plan pen.

Gold is the difference from being the cause of your future or a victim of this colossal theft of unprecedented proportions. Be a survivor, and save yourself for you and your families sake.

After having to listen to the long-winded Senator from Connecticut, also known as “Senator What-a-Deal I got on my Home Mortgage”, pontificating on the current economic meltdown as he chaired Fed Chairman Bernanke’s Senate hearing, I am surprised that the DOW is only trading near 7,000 instead of 4,000 and that gold is not closer to $2,000. My initial reaction is” what did we do to deserve this band of fools and economic ignoramuses?”

“It’s all the failure of the bank regulators”, says he, affecting great disdain and terrible indignation. “They failed us all”, he snorts. Hey Senator – so explain to us all why when a few brave souls in the Congress were crying for reform and overhauls of Fannie and Freddie and were warning about heavy-handed government pressure being put on lending institutions to provide mortgages for people who had no way of ever meeting their contractual obligations, that you were standing in front of them with a big, fat, giant, red STOP sign. What? No answer – Oh yes, I forgot – you were too busy making speeches about fairness and some sort of ephemeral right you concocted in the Constitution stating that every single American citizen has a “RIGHT” to own a house. Watching this parade of fools is like sending the chief arsonist to investigate the cause of a 4 alarm fire who then blames the low water pressure in the fire hydrants as the culprit….

Scotty beam me up- there is no intelligent life among those now in charge of our Congress.

Once the lowest consumer confidence reading on record was released, the usual bottom pickers descended on the equities in the hopes of nailing that very elusive bottom at the exact low so that they could brag for years about how they caught the very end of the bear market in stocks and ask all others to join with them as they celebrate their own greatness and acumen. They were then egged on by Chairman Bernanke’s remarks which “were not as bad as possibly expected” as he assured us that the economy would recover at the end of 2009 and into 2010 “IF” the stimulus package works. No comment – the attitude speaks a great deal for the madness that now passes for investment analysis.

That pop higher in the equities then brought out the hedgies once again as they dumped gold (remember – gold is no longer needed when the economy is right, smack dab on the verge of recovering), which was taken down sharply. Funny thing is that the bond market wasn’t apparently buying it – bonds moved higher even as equities went higher. I thought there was something wrong with my quote service provider when I saw that taking place. The Yen was being pounded lower (Yipee – let’s hear it for the risk trades once again), gold was selling off, the Dollar was being unloaded, the commodity currencies were moving higher but bonds were not going down… Hmmm…. If money was flowing out of so-called safe haven bonds and into stocks, I sure as hell couldn’t see it happening. That action in the bonds is more than telling…

Let me just say this – day traders and scalpers have taken over the markets and are running the show for now. It is this crowd which is buying emini futures against the major support level in that index that dates back to October 2002. They are hoping against hope that they will forge a technical double bottom and then cause a technically induced short covering squeeze. Many longer term oriented players are getting out of the markets altogether and sitting on the sidelines because there is so much uncertainty, confusion and fear. Don’t let the one minute bar chart geeks keep you from focusing on the overall big picture which is deteriorating even more rapidly that some of us have envisioned. The drop in the consumer confidence numbers to that record low speaks volumes. People are fearful and the current mood is not going to be as easily turned as the hot shot hedgies and day traders flip market prices. Ain’t gonna happen…

I don’t even know what to say about the massacre in the mining indices. It is so utterly stupid and illogical that I really have no way of even attempting to come up with some sort of rational explanation for it. To see 6 or 7 days’ worth of gains to be wiped out in one session in a sector that has been one of the few bright spots in the entirety of the equity universe really has no rational explanation. Let others who are more imaginative than I come up with something. My own view is that those who are stupid enough to throw away quality mining shares in the face of the greatest financial collapse ever seen on the planet deserve what they get. Those who are buying the shares are in effect buying gold in the ground. To throw away the shares means that 1.) you either believe that the miners are not going to show any profits or 2.) gold is going to collapse or 3.) both of the above.

The rally in gold, while it has come a long way, is not, and I repeat this, is not the result of hot money chasing gains. It is rather the result of investors seeking a shelter from the coming financial tsunami. How do I know that? Easy – just look at the low open interest readings. It is 60% of what is was the last time gold rallied over $1,000. What you are seeing today in gold is the exit of that portion of the gold market comprised of the short-term oriented trading crowd. That crowd does not give a rat’s arse what the fundamentals are; they are purely technical traders whose long term horizon is a 60 minute bar chart. Once upward momentum stalls out, they sell. Opportunistic short sellers, of which there are plenty at the Comex, understand this phenomenon quite well and use it to their advantage. I would look for gold to stabilize soon and then move sideways for a brief period before resuming its uptrend. The conditions that have led to the sustained gold buying are not going anywhere and as it drops into support regions on the price chart, buyers will emerge and begin increasing their long side exposure.”- Dan Norcini, More at JSMineset.com

“April Gold closed down 25.5 at 969.5. This was 5.5 up from the low and 21.5 off the high.

March Silver finished down 0.455 at 13.995, 0.415 off the high and 0.16 up from the low.

The gold market fell sharply on technical profit taking as well as being undermined by a strong recovery in the equity markets which lowered the metal’s safe haven appeal. With gold's upward momentum seeming to stall just above the $1,000 per oz level last week, nervous investors were prompted to take profits as investment flows into gold backed securities also ebbed. The majority of the sell off in gold seemed to be technical in nature since the market paid little attention to a string of bad news including a record low in consumer confidence and a decline in regional manufacturing. However, Bernanke's comments that inflation pressures were easing and another drop in home prices may have stirred up deflation anxiety in gold. Bernanke's testimony helped to keep the gold market under pressure since his remarks seemed to calm investors' jitters over the banking system. Bernanke's made assurances that the Fed didn't need to nationalize US banks to make them viable.

The silver market was also hit by heavy liquidation pressure mostly tied to technical signals and investor's desire to take profits in a metal that had reached a six month price high. There were clear signs the market had become extremely overbought and the push under key price levels seemed to trigger more aggressive chart based selling. The rally in equity markets evaporated the safe haven demand for the metal and encouraged profit taking. Silver also seemed to be undermined by a drop in a regional manufacturing index and by Bernanke's comments downplaying inflation pressures while calming banking sector jitters.”- The Hightower Report, Futures Analysis and Forecasting

Note: Change in Total Tonnes from yesterday’s data: 153.35 tonnes were added to the trust to a new record high holding.

Eldorado’s (EGO) withdrawn public offering, Gold Fields’ (GFI) gold price outlook, Revett’s (RVM.TO) operations update, MAG’s (MVG) resource updated, Silver Standard’s (SSRI) public offering pricing, Minco’s (MSV.TO) comments on Sterling’s (SRLM.OB) news release, SNS Silver’s (SNS.V) board appointment, and Silver Dragon’s (SDRG.OB) updated mining licenses 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.

Azteca Two Mile Update: DDH-006 and 005B Intersecting Stock-Works - More
- February 24, 2009 | Item | E-mail

GoldSpring Announces 65 Foot Interval of 0.123 Ounces Per Ton Gold and 2.23 Ounces Per Ton Silver at Its Hartford/Lucerne Deposit, Comstock District, Nevada - More
- February 24, 2009 | Item | E-mail

Revett Minerals Inc. - Troy Mine Operations Update and Year End Reserves - "Revett achieved record production from its 70% held Troy Mine during 2008. All numbers presented below are on a 100% basis. 2008 silver production of 1.2 million ounces and copper production of 9.8 million pounds (increases of 8% and 4% respectively from 2007)" More
- February 24, 2009 | Item | E-mail

Reunion Gold Corporation Announces Filing of its Financial Results for the Third Quarter Ended December 31, 2008 and Grant of Options - More
- February 24, 2009 | Item | E-mail

Eldorado Gold Withdraws Public Offering of Common Shares - "Eldorado Gold Corporation ("Eldorado" or the "Company") (Toronto:ELD.TO - News)(AMEX:EGO - News) announced today that is has elected to withdraw its preliminary prospectus filed in connection with its previously announced public offering ("Offering"). While the Offering received strong support, the terms presented by our underwriters did not meet our minimum expectation of net proceeds without exceeding an acceptable limit of dilution. Accordingly, we are withdrawing our preliminary prospectus and will not be proceeding with the Offering and have no current intention of issuing further equity." More
- February 24, 2009 | Item | E-mail

African Queen Abandons Cazula Project in Mozambique to Focus on Highly Prospective Fingoe Belt Gold Project - More
- February 24, 2009 | Item | E-mail

Tournigan Doubles Contained Uranium and Increases Grade of Indicated Resource at Kuriskova Uranium Deposit, Slovakia - More
- February 24, 2009 | Item | E-mail

Gowest Receives Shareholder Approval for Acquisition of 100% Interest in Frankfield Project - More
- February 24, 2009 | Item | E-mail

Mirasol's La Curva Project Returns High-Grade Gold Values and New Disseminated Gold Potential - More
- February 24, 2009 | Item | E-mail

Gold Fields sees gold higher, 'sizeable' Q3 profit - "The gold price, which is near an all-time high, is expected to keep climbing and boost Gold Fields Ltd's (GFIJ.J)(GFI.N) quarterly profit, the chief executive of the South African gold miner said on Tuesday.

"The fundamentals for gold are good," CEO Nick Holland told a BMO Capital Markets mining conference in Florida. "The gold price has done particularly well, and we are pleased with $1,000 gold." More
- February 24, 2009 | Item | E-mail

Metals Creek Resources Corp. identifies drill targets on its Timmins Ogden gold property - More
- February 24, 2009 | Item | E-mail

Metanor/Drilling Update: MJL-2 Property-New Potential, Barry Pit-Drill to Investigate 580g/t Over 1m Channel Sample - More
- February 24, 2009 | Item | E-mail

HudBay rises, Lundin falls after takeover scrapped - More
- February 24, 2009 | Item | E-mail

Rockgate Begins Spring Program on Falea Uranium, Silver, Copper Project, Mali, West Africa - More
- February 24, 2009 | Item | E-mail

Abitex and Azimut report encouraging uranium results on the Kangiq property, Nunavik, Quebec - More
- February 24, 2009 | Item | E-mail

Etruscan closes first tranche of Cdn$10.5 million private placement - More
- February 24, 2009 | Item | E-mail

MAG Silver Reports First Indicated Resource at Valdecanas, Juanicipio Joint Venture - "MAG Silver Corp. (Toronto:MAG.TO - News)(AMEX:MVG - News) ("MAG") is pleased to announce an independently prepared National Instrument 43-101 ("NI 43-101") compliant resource update for the Juanicipio project located in Zacatecas State, Mexico. MAG holds a 44% interest and Fresnillo plc ("Fresnillo") owns the remaining 56% interest in the project at Juanicipio through the Minera Juanicipio S.A. de C.V. joint venture company (the "Juanicipio Joint Venture")." More
- February 24, 2009 | Item | E-mail

Vena Resources Signs Letter of Intent on Pucara Gold/Copper Project - More
- February 24, 2009 | Item | E-mail

Fortune Minerals announces pilot plant hydrometallurgy results for the NICO gold-cobalt-bismuth-copper deposit - More
- February 24, 2009 | Item | E-mail

Azimut and Abitex report encouraging uranium results on the Kangiq property, Nunavik, Quebec - More
- February 24, 2009 | Item | E-mail

Sails Capital Management Creates Alliance With Nirek Resources - More
- February 24, 2009 | Item | E-mail

Market Headquarters Interviews San Anton Resource Corporation - More
- February 24, 2009 | Item | E-mail

Virginia Mines Inc.: Update on Eleonore Gold Deposit Royalty - More
- February 24, 2009 | Item | E-mail

New Guinea Gold at PDAC - More
- February 24, 2009 | Item | E-mail

Orbite Provides Four Environmental Studies to Governmental Authorities - More
- February 24, 2009 | Item | E-mail

Lithic Intersects 10.06 Metres of 7.20% Zinc and 126.6 ppm Indium at Crypto - More
- February 24, 2009 | Item | E-mail

Ontex 2009 Focus to Increase Gold Resources on Brookbank Gold Property - More
- February 24, 2009 | Item | E-mail

Capital Gold Buys Out Remaining Ounces Under The Gold Hedge Agreement - More
- February 24, 2009 | Item | E-mail

New Exploration Program on Midland James Bay Gold Project - More
- February 24, 2009 | Item | E-mail

Lexam & Golden Valley Extend Near Surface Mineralization at Otish Uranium Project - More
- February 24, 2009 | Item | E-mail

Arianne Completes Drilling on the Lac a Paul Phosphorous Property - More
- February 24, 2009 | Item | E-mail

Golden Valley Mines: Otish Basin Uranium Project Drill Result Update - More
- February 24, 2009 | Item | E-mail

Urex Reports on Cerro Solo Airborne Geophysical Survey - More
- February 24, 2009 | Item | E-mail

Asia Now confirms gold-silver zones at Beiya - More
- February 24, 2009 | Item | E-mail

Merrex Launches 2009 Siribaya Exploration Program - More
- February 24, 2009 | Item | E-mail

Alexis to Produce 50,000 Ounces Gold in 2009, Increasing to 75,000-85,000 Ounces Gold Per Year From 2010 - More
- February 24, 2009 | Item | E-mail

Gemini Explorations, Inc. Enters Into Negotiations With a New Prospective Joint Venture Partner to Assist in the Development of Its La Tapata Gold Mine - More
- February 24, 2009 | Item | E-mail

Mexican Court Rules on Hermiston Civil Case - More
- February 24, 2009 | Item | E-mail

Acari: Dynacor increases its Milling Capacity by 100% - More
- February 24, 2009 | Item | E-mail

Castle Gold Announces 625,000 Ounce Transition/Sulphide Zone Gold Resource Below El Castillo Open Pit Mine - More
- February 24, 2009 | Item | E-mail

Continental Nickel Discovers a Second Mineralized Intrusion at the Nachingwea Project and Defines Two New Drill Targets - More
- February 24, 2009 | Item | E-mail

Boxxer provides update on corporate activities including private placements - More
- February 24, 2009 | Item | E-mail

DPM Streamlines Executive Management Structure - More
- February 24, 2009 | Item | E-mail

Silver Standard Announces Pricing of Public Offering of Common Shares - "Silver Standard Resources Inc. (Toronto:SSO.TO - News)(NasdaqGM:SSRI - News) has increased the aggregate gross proceeds to approximately US$92.6 million and priced its previously announced public offering of common shares (the "Offering"). Pursuant to the Offering, the company will issue 5.45 million common shares at a price of US$17.00 per share, for aggregate gross proceeds of approximately US$92.6 million." More
- February 24, 2009 | Item | E-mail

Minco Silver Comments on Sterling's News Release - "Minco Silver Corporation (the "Company" or "Minco Silver") (Toronto:MSV.TO - News) wishes to restate that Minco Silver has a secured interest in all of the personal and real property of Sterling Mining Company ("Sterling") including the Sunshine Mine Lease." More
- February 24, 2009 | Item | E-mail

SNS Silver Corp Welcomes Charles Pitcher P.Eng. to the Board of Directors - "Mr. David Greenway, President and Chief Executive Officer of SNS Silver Corp. ("SNS" or the "Company") (CDNX:SNS.V - News) announces the appointment of Mr. Charles G Pitcher, P.Eng. to the Company's Board of Directors. Mr. Pitcher is a graduate of the Colorado School of Mines with 40 years of experience in mine operations, engineering and corporate management." More
- February 24, 2009 | Item | E-mail

Silver Dragon Updates Erbahuo Mining License Transfer From HIC to Chifeng Silver - "Silver Dragon Resources Inc. (OTC BB:SDRG.OB - News) is pleased to report on the progress of the mining license transfer of Erbahuo Silver Mine. The license is being transferred from the current holder, Huaguan Industrial Corp. (``HIC''), a Chinese state-owned entity and Silver Dragon's joint venture partner, to Chifeng Silver Dragon Resources & Technologies, Ltd. (``Chifeng Silver''), an American-Chinese joint venture that will be 70% owned by Silver Dragon upon completion of the relevant government approval process." More
- February 24, 2009 | Item | E-mail

- Would you like to receive the Free Daily Gold Seeker Report in your e-mail? Click here

Note: This article may be reproduced provided the article, in full, is used and mention to Gold-Seeker.com is given.

Disclosure: The owner, editor, writer and publisher and their associates are not responsible for errors or omissions. The author of this report is not a registered financial advisor. Readers should not view this material as offering investment related advice. Gold-Seeker.com has taken precautions to ensure accuracy of information provided. Information collected and presented are from what is perceived as reliable sources, but since the information source(s) are beyond Gold-Seeker.com’s control, no representation or guarantee is made that it is complete or accurate. The reader accepts information on the condition that errors or omissions shall not be made the basis for any claim, demand or cause for action. Past results are not necessarily indicative of future results. Any statements non-factual in nature constitute only current opinions, which are subject to change. Nothing contained herein constitutes a representation by the publisher, nor a solicitation for the purchase or sale of securities & therefore information, nor opinions expressed, shall be construed as a solicitation to buy or sell any stock, futures or options contract mentioned herein. Investors are advised to obtain the advice of a qualified financial & investment advisor before entering any financial transaction.