Gold Seeker Weekly Wrap-Up: Gold and Silver Gain Over 5% and 8% on the Week

	Close	Gain/Loss	On Week
Gold	$912.60	+$7.50	+5.28%
Silver	$12.89	+$0.14	+8.96%
XAU	125.74	+5.39%	+9.35%
HUI	310.81	+6.94%	+12.92%
GDM	955.62	+5.96%	+12.00%
JSE Gold	2418.00	+62.90	+8.24%
USD	84.70	-0.75	-1.50%
Euro	132.42	+0.95	+1.69%
Yen	102.97	+0.97	+2.20%
Oil	$51.55	+$1.93	+2.42%
10-Year	2.996%	+0.069	+2.25%
Bond	124.234375	-0.984375	-0.89%
Dow	8076.29	+1.50%	-0.68%
Nasdaq	1694.29	+2.55%	+1.27%
S&P	866.23	+1.68%	-0.39%

Gold rose $7.90 to $913.00 in late Asian trade in reaction to the news that China has increased its gold reserves by 76% to 1,054 tons before it fell back off in London and early New York trade to see a $0.95 loss at $904.15 at about 11AM EST, but it then shot back higher in the last two and a half hours of trade and ended near its new session high of $913.50 with a gain of 0.83%.

Silver climbed $0.15 to $12.90 in late Asian trade, fell to see a $0.062 loss at $12.688 in London, and then exploded to a new high of $12.94 at the New York open before it dropped back to $12.80 by about 11AM EST, but it then climbed back near its earlier high in the last two and a half hours of trade and ended with a gain of 1.1%.

Euro gold fell to about €688 on euro strength, platinum lost $2 to $1173.50, and copper gained nearly 6 cents to about $2.05.

Gold and silver equities climbed higher throughout the day and ended with about 6% gains.

Report	For	Reading	Expected	Previous
Durable Orders	Mar	-0.8%	-1.5%	2.1%
Durable Orders, Ex-Auto	Mar	-0.6%	-1.3%	2.0%
New Home Sales	Mar	356K	337K	358K

The fed also reported today that the “top 19 U.S. banks need to hold a "substantial" amount of capital above regulatory requirements to weather a potential worsening of the economic recession… The Fed said so-called "stress tests" that regulators conducted at major banks are aimed at ensuring the institutions have enough capital in reserve to continue to lend in potentially bleaker conditions, and are not a measure of banks' current solvency.” The actual stress test results will be published May 4^th.

Next week’s economic highlights include Consumer Confidence and the S&P/CaseShiller Home Price Index on Tuesday, GDP and a FOMC Rate Decision on Wednesday, Initial Jobless Claims, Personal Income and Spending, the Employment Cost Index, and Chicago PMI on Thursday, and Michigan Sentiment, Factory Orders, and the ISM Index on Friday.

Oil climbed back above $51, the U.S. dollar index and treasuries fell markedly, and the Dow, Nasdaq, and S&P rose about 2% on better than expected earnings and economic reports.

Among the big names making news in the market Friday were GM, Xerox, Schlumberger, 3M, Ford, and Honeywell.

Gold bulls managed to build on yesterday’s technical gains and moved prices on up and into the 40 day moving average before selling appeared the blunt the change higher. It has still not broken free of that downsloping trendline which dominates its daily chart but it is closing in on it. The short term 10 day moving average has turned up which is friendly especially since gold bounced higher off of its rising 100 day moving average but the 40 and 50 days are still moving lower. Thus there is still no clear trend that has been defined – the long term is up (rising 100 day MA), the intermediate is still down (falling 40 and 50 day MA) and the short term is up (rising 10 day MA). That works to give a bit of a mixed signal which is why we need to see further strength next week to build on this week’s impressive performance. Price must take out both the downsloping trendline and the 40 day MA and then 50 day MA to give the bulls all the wind at their back. Bears are hoping to thwart the rise near $920 - $925. The weekly chart looks much better now.

The mining shares as indicated by the HUI and the XAU outperformed their counterpart at the Comex. The HUI in particular has victory within the bulls’ grasp if it can maintain it gains going into the closing bell today. It looks to have confirmed a double bottom near 275 as long as it can close convincingly above the 305 level. A failure here when it closes will embolden bears. That is why it is critical that bulls stand their ground if they hope to engender more short covering and attract new allies. As price now stands on that index at the time I am writing this, it has moved above last week’s high, taken out the 40, 50 and 20 day moving averages, bounced from the 100 day moving average and flipped the 10 day MA higher. It still has some work to do to repair the sharp plunge that occurred in the first week of April but the price action is quite bullish in the short term.

Euro gold has been hovering near the 680 level and thus far looks to be finding fairly good support near that region the last few days. Sterling gold is oscillating around the 610 level. It would be helpful to see it stabilizing and moving higher from here as the ideal setup for sustained gold rallies is a simultaneous move higher for gold priced across a wide basket of currencies. Remember, the last leg higher in gold was led by a move higher while priced in terms of the European currencies. Gold rallies that tend to be only in Dollar price terms do not have the staying power that the alternative does.

Speaking of the Dollar, it suffered a major technical setback in today’s session plunging beneath the 10 , 20, and most importantly, the 100 day moving average. The weekly chart is threatening a breakdown of a bearish pennant formation which would tend to validate the double top formed just above the 89 level. The Dollar has significant double bottom technical support near 83.50 on that same chart and if that were to give way we could see a sharp, swift move down to near the 82 level. It will have to climb back above 87 to get out of immediate danger. For the most part it continues to move inversely to the US equity markets falling when they rise and rising when they fall. I should note here that the measure of risk sentiment, the Euro-Yen cross, is strongly higher today.

Gold deliveries for April reached 1.28 million ounces. The last two trading days, open interest has increased in the April gold contract and deliveries have increased also. The stoppers obviously have clients who want physical bars or are obtaining them for their own accounts.

Copper recovered a large portion of yesterday’s losses today but it is difficult at this point to say whether this was just shorts ringing the cash register after its sharp decline from the $2.20 level this week or the end of a correction in price after a prolonged, sustained rally dating back to March of this year. Next week’s price action will be most telling as to its future course. Copper has been drawing support from Chinese buying of the metal for restocking purposes and should that buying abate for any reason, it will be left to fend for itself

Crude oil not only managed to claw its way back to the $50 level but exceeded that and pushed on up almost $52. Between strength in crude, sugar and the metals, the CCI (Continuous commodity Index) moved higher today recapturing just about all of this week’s previous losses. It continues to move along a gently, upcurving or rounded bottom formation. It is evident that the commodity markets are no longer pricing in deflation but have now moved to a more forward looking inflation problem down the road ahead. Only a break below the December 2008 low would cause me to change that view. As stated here previously, a rising CCI is beneficial for gold. Again, the kind of chart pattern being carved out by this index is one that does not anticipate a sharp upturn in economic activity but rather a sort of rising crawl out of the current morass. At some point the inflationary impact of the reckless quantitative easing policies of more than a few Central Banks is going to turn this index into a steeper uptrend in price. We will be able to see the shift in psychology take place by monitoring this chart. My fear is that this genie will in no wise be able to be shoved back into his bottle.

That brings me to the action in the bond market. After managing a brief bounce yesterday and allowing the bond bulls to breathe a sigh of relief, bonds resumed their downward trend within that broad range defined by the huge range day of the Fed’s quantitative easing announcement. Bonds are now within a whisker of taking out the low of that day (16 ticks to be exact). If they do break down, the Fed’s intention to artificially prop up the market and by consequence shove long term rates lower, is going to be severely tested. It is looking increasingly likely that the bond market vigilantes – those extinct or at least hibernating species – are making a reappearance. And why should they not? The sum of money that is being printed into existence is a virtual guarantee that the plague of inflation is going to descend on this nation and consume all that it touches, in much the same fashion as the locust swarm did to biblical Egypt. Thus far the locusts have not visited us – but price action in the bond market will tell us when to expect their arrival. The scene I envision in my mind as I watch the price action in the bonds is a picture of a peasant with a straw broom in his hand wildly swinging away at a cloud of locusts swarming all around him and attempting to beat back the millions of invading insects in the desperate hope of avoiding complete ruin.

About the only saving grace that I can see for the bond have been equity weakness. If equities fail near current level then bond bulls will probably dodge a bullet. Barring that however, they are in a tenuous condition to say the least.

Meanwhile US equities continue to move blithely higher in apparent obliviousness to all that ails us. My pal Dave informed me this AM in an email that insider selling has reached levels last seen in October 2007, right before the market peaked and the 17 month bear market began. That is something that should not be ignored.”- Dan Norcini, More at JSMineset.com

“June Gold closed up 7.5 at 914.1. This was 9 up from the low and 1.3 off the high.

May Silver finished up 0.165 at 12.92, 0.02 off the high and 0.225 up from the low.

Apparently seeing optimism in the US equity market wasn't a factor that undermined the gold market, as gold managed to hold near its highs right in the face of the big mid day bulge in the equity markets. However, it is possible that currency related buying of gold more than offset flight to quality long liquidation in gold. Perhaps the gold market was bidding up prices into the Bank Stress test meeting around mid day but given the recent revelation about Chinese gold reserve intentions, it is possible that long term Chinese demand expectations were lifting prices.

The silver market managed a new high for the move and seemed to be maintaining a tight correlation with the gold market. Clearly the silver market was cheered by the prospect of strong Chinese gold demand and it is also likely that the latest downside extension in the US Dollar provided the silver market with a bit of currency related buying interest. With a strong reversal in the copper market it is even possible that silver prices were lifted industrial metals market action.”- The Hightower Report, Futures Analysis and Forecasting

Note: Change in Total Tonnes from yesterday’s data: SPDR subtracted 1.53 tonnes and the JSE subtracted 0.86 tonnes.

Centerra’s (CG.TO) agreement with the Kyrgyz government, US Gold’s (UXG) drill results, and Harmony’s (HMY) shut mine in order to free trapped workers were among the big stories in the gold and silver mining industry making headlines Friday.

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

Pacific Gold Corp. - Update - More
- April 24, 2009 | Item | E-mail

NQ Exploration Makes Changes to its Option Plan - More
- April 24, 2009 | Item | E-mail

Red Dragon Resources Corp. 2008 financial results - More
- April 24, 2009 | Item | E-mail

Colorado Goldfields Inc. Executive Management Holds Hennis Summit - More
- April 24, 2009 | Item | E-mail

Gold Canyon Holds Annual General Meeting of Shareholders - More
- April 24, 2009 | Item | E-mail

Cartier Files New NI 43-101 Report on Kinojevis Property - More
- April 24, 2009 | Item | E-mail

Inspiration Mining Corporation to Extend Warrant Expiry Date - More
- April 24, 2009 | Item | E-mail

Brazauro Grants 2,050,000 Stock Options - More
- April 24, 2009 | Item | E-mail

Lounor acquires a gold property - More
- April 24, 2009 | Item | E-mail

Toronto Stock Exchange Puts Firstgold on Delisting Review - More
- April 24, 2009 | Item | E-mail

Centerra Gold Reaches Agreement With the Kyrgyz Government and Cameco Regarding the Kumtor Project - "Centerra Gold Inc. ("Centerra" or the "Company") (Toronto:CG.TO - News) announced today that the Company has reached an agreement (the "Agreement") with the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic (the "Government") and Cameco Corporation ("Cameco") that resolves all of the existing disputes between Centerra and the Government with respect to the Kumtor Project. The Agreement provides for the Government's full commitment to and support for Centerra's continuing long-term development of the Kumtor Project and the Government has agreed not to take any action that deprives Centerra or its affiliates of any of their rights in respect of the Kumtor Project." More
- April 24, 2009 | Item | E-mail

Unico, Inc. Announces Plans to Process Gold and Silver From Concentrate at the Deer Trail Mine - More
- April 24, 2009 | Item | E-mail

US Gold Corporation-El Gallo: Longer, Deeper & Rich - "US GOLD CORPORATION (Toronto:UXG.TO - News)(AMEX:UXG - News)(NYSE Amex: UXG.A)(Frankfurt:US8.F - News) is pleased to announce that core drill results from the El Gallo project in Sinaloa State, Mexico have returned the widest intersection to date and extended the mineralization at depth: 12.3 ounces of silver per ton (opt) (423.3 grams per tonne (gpt)) over 34.4 feet (ft) (10.5 meters (m)), including 33.8 opt silver (1,160.0 gpt) over 2.8 ft (0.9 m). This interval was inside of a wider zone that averaged 3.9 opt silver (135.4 gpt) over 316.6 ft (96.5 m). Another high-grade intercept was: 64.5 opt silver (2,210.0 gpt) over 1.3 ft (0.4 m)." More
- April 24, 2009 | Item | E-mail

Copper Fox Metals Inc. - Termination of Letter of Intent with Lions Gate Metals Inc. - More
- April 24, 2009 | Item | E-mail

San Anton Announces Results of Kings Minerals Share Purchase Plan Offer - More
- April 24, 2009 | Item | E-mail

Radisson Mining Announces Sale of Properties to Clifton Star - More
- April 24, 2009 | Item | E-mail

Harmony says workers trapped underground, shuts mine - "Harmony Gold Mining Co. (HARJ.J), the world's No. 5 producer said on Friday it had temporarily stopped production at its Tshepong mine in South Africa after a fall of ground trapped two workers underground.

"The mine is not blasting and is not producing so as to prevent further danger to our employees," Marian van der Walt, Harmony's executive of corporate and investor relations said." More
- April 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.