Gold Seeker Closing Report: Gold and Silver End Slightly Higher

	Close	Gain/Loss
Gold	$1161.85	+$1.25
Silver	$18.35	+$0.02
XAU	174.96	-1.15%
HUI	443.42	-1.38%
GDM	1328.93	-1.13%
JSE Gold	2331.35	-28.88
USD	80.59	-0.34
Euro	135.87	+0.88
Yen	107.27	-0.04
Oil	$84.34	-$0.58
10-Year	3.846%	-0.042
T-Bond	115.50	+0.59375
Dow	11005.97	+0.08%
Nasdaq	2457.87	+0.16%
S&P	1196.48	+0.18%

Gold jumped as much as $8.50 to as high as $1169.10 at the open of trade in Asia before it fell back off to see a $2.90 loss at $1157.70 in early New York trade, but it then rallied back higher for most of the rest of trade and ended with a gain of 0.11% at a new four month high. Silver rose as much as $0.27 to $18.60 in Asia before it fell to see a slight loss at $18.302 shortly after the open of trade in New York, but it then rallied back higher for most of the rest of trade and ended with a gain of 0.11%.

Euro gold fell to about €855, platinum gained $12.50 to $1730, and copper remained at about $3.58.

Gold and silver equities rose to see modest gains by late morning, but they then fell back off in afternoon trade and ended with over 1% losses.

Report	For	Reading	Expected	Previous
Treasury Budget	Mar	-$65.4B	-$62.0B	-$191.6B

Tomorrow at 8:30AM EST brings Import and Export Prices for March and the Trade Balance for February expected at -$39.0 billion.

The U.S. dollar index fell as the euro rose on details of the rescue package for Greece.

Among the big names making news in the market today were Cerberus and DynCorp, Double-Take, UBS, Palm, Citigroup, MasterCard, Apple, and GM.

“The Commitment of Traders report for positions held at the end of trading on Tuesday, April 6th were wall-to-wall ugly... and have deteriorated even more since then. The bullion banks increased their short position in silver by a whopping 5,369 contracts. That's 26.8 million ounces worth of paper silver that they've sold short to stop the price rise as the tech funds rush in. Here's the full colour COT graph for silver linked here.

Gold was just as ugly. The bullion banks increased their net short position by a monstrous 37,215 contracts... 3.72 million ounces of paper gold since the prior week. As I said a couple of times during the last week or so... this rally is not going unopposed! Here's the full-colour gold COT report linked here.

I had my usual chat with Ted Butler yesterday, and he acknowledged that once you factor in the deterioration in open interest since Tuesday's cut-off, the total open interest in gold is now back to levels that we haven't seen since gold's peak price back in the first week of December 2009... and the gold price is now $60 lower than it was then.

One thing that Ted pointed out was that JPMorgan does not appear to be going short silver on this rally... as other bullion banks are taking up the slack. I'm of two minds on this turn of events. Either the CFTC has told JPMorgan to get out of Dodge... and they're trying to do just that without the other bullion banks finding out... or, they're just spreading out the short position equally between all '8 or less' traders' to take the heat off JPMorgan. But JPMorgan is the ring leader... and by far the biggest short in silver... so we'll see how this new turn of events works as time goes on.”– From Ed Steer’s Gold & Silver Daily, read the full report here.

A quick look at this past week’s Commitment of Traders data reveals a strong increase in money flows from the Managed Money category. This is the source of the force behind the moves in today’s commodity markets whether to the upside or to the downside. This category of traders has slowly bled down their speculative long side exposure in gold over the last few months and it now appears that they have bottomed out in that process and are beginning to rebuild it. This bodes well for gold’s fortunes. Strong inflows into gold will enable it to push higher against concerted selling on the part of the big banks.

When we consider that the Managed Money net long position size was down to levels last seen in August 2009 there is substantial room for a sizeable increase in this category before it will reach anywhere near its recent record levels. Gold is less than $70 off its all time high so it is not difficult to see gold having the potential to easily surpass that level should managed money flows continue at their current pace.

You will also notice that the same category of sellers has also begun increasing their net short side exposure as price has moved higher. Both the commercial/producer/user/merchant category and in particular, the swap dealer categories have ramped up their selling as price has moved higher. It is this category, particularly the swap dealers which have my attention.

Any signs of fallout from the CFTC hearings will show up in this category should they begin to get squeezed and attempt to head for the exits.

The big mover of the day was news of the Greece bailout (okay – call it a “rescue package” – it is still a bailout) put together by the EU to the tune of €30 billion ($41 billion) at 5%. Further icing on the cake is to come from the IMF which is providing €15 billion. The Forex markets went into a tizzy last evening with the Euro jumping more than 2 points at one time before things began settling down and a bit of relative calm descended on the currency markets as traders attempted to sort out the implications. Once they did, the Euro surrendered over a full point worth of gains and the Dollar moved back ½ cent off its worst overnight lows.

Gold shot all the way to $1,170 when the news broke but as it came into New York and as the Dollar began recovering, the sell side crowd went back to work and knocked it down off its best levels of the session. The same thing occurred with both silver and copper as well, the latter which had made a new yearly high before sellers came in and took it down.

It was particularly odd seeing the bonds moving higher as the whole idea behind the party in the Forex markets was that a meltdown had been avoided and it was time to play the risk trades once again. Something tells me that the feds are playing in the bonds as they are particularly worried about rising interest rates and would have us believe that they can conjure unlimited amounts of money into existence with little to no effect on yields. The reason cited for the higher prices today was a lack of upcoming auctions over the next couple of weeks.

I must admit I will never come to terms with the repugnant idea of calling numberless scraps of paper backed by nothing but debt a thing of value. Anyone else doing the same thing would be rightfully called a counterfeiter or a flim-flam artist and would summarily be hauled off to the dungeon where his stinking carcass would be left as food for the maggots. Only when the federal government does the same is it hailed as “providing liquidity” or “aiding the recovery process”. Oh well, it is what it is and as long as the majority believe the fairy tale, it will be true. With all that is transpiring in this nation I suspect that it is only a matter of time before the sleeping majority awaken to this wholesale fraud and demand the return of honest money. Let us hope for that day for the sake of our children.

Enough of my little rant for today however as the price chart of gold beckons for further analysis. I mentioned last Friday that there was one more level of resistance between gold and a potential revisiting of its all time high and that level was near the $1,170 – $1,175. Should gold clear that, it would no doubt draw in huge flows by the Managed Money sector that would take it back to the old highs. Well, guess what? It ran exactly to that level and that is where it was capped by the usual crowd. They can read a price chart as well as we can and know where they are vulnerable to attack.

The setback from this level is therefore not particularly surprising but the weakness in the Dollar has thus far kept the sellers from dropping price down significantly. Momentum in gold is still strong and the rising moving averages detail a market in a bullish posture which should keep dip buying active on setbacks. Please refer to the chart for the technical support and resistance levels. Gold would have to drop below $1100 to do any serious damage on the chart although I would not want to see it below $1,130 any time soon as that would bring out the top callers once again.

Open interest continues to rise which is a healthy sign as it indicates the influx of fresh money flows. The big move higher on Friday came on a rather small increase in the total open interest by recent standards so it appears that we did get some weaker-handed shorts pushed out of the market. The stronger-handed bullion banks are digging in however.

The HUI seems stuck near the 450 level as if waiting for some further signal to give it the impetus it needs to move higher. Initial support lies down near 430 with the index needing to take out 455 to give it a legitimate shot at advancing to 460 – 462.

Crude oil set back a bit but the market still appears firm. Rising energy prices will help to keep a firm bid under the gold market as will a rising CCI (Continuous Commodity Index) which is within a couple of points of making a 2 month high. Both bear watching as they will have a definite impact on the gold market.” - Dan Norcini, More at JSMineset.com

Note: Change in Total Tonnes from yesterday’s data: The LSE subtracted 0.13 tonnes.

COMEX Gold Trust (IAU) Total Tonnes in Trust: 76.94 - No change from yesterday’s data.

Silver Trust (SLV) Total Tonnes in Trust: 9,178.27 - No change from yesterday’s data.

Randgold’s (GOLD) comments on the partnership between public and private sectors in African gold mining, Rubicon’s (RBY) drill results, Richmont’s (RIC) drill results, Midway’s (MDW) closed private placement, Gammon Gold’s (GRS) board nominations and first quarter results, First Majestic’s (FR.TO) first quarter production, and Fortuna’s (FVI.V) first quarter production 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.

Grayd Expands Drill Program at La India Gold Project - More
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Compass Gold Announces Approval of Acquisition Agreement and Closing of Financing - More
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Katanga Mining Limited - News release - More
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Southern Silver Exploration Corp.: Corporate Update - More
- April 12, 2010 | Item | ShareThis

Newcastle Hires Mallette Drilling for Its Carscallen Property - More
- April 12, 2010 | Item | ShareThis

Avanti Mining receives Environmental Assessment Act order under section 7(3) - More
- April 12, 2010 | Item | ShareThis

Sandspring Resources Ltd. Announces Filing of Amended and Restated Third Quarter 2009 Financial Statements and Related Management's Discussion and Analysis - More
- April 12, 2010 | Item | ShareThis

Fancamp Announces Brokered Financing - More
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USPR Announces Commencement of Drilling Activities and Appointment of New Assayer - More
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Partnership Between Private and Public Sectors Essential for African Gold Mining - "The development of sustainably profitable gold mining industries in Africa requires a committed long-term partnership between the mining companies, their investors and the governments of their host countries, Randgold Resources (NASDAQ:GOLD - News) chief executive Mark Bristow said here today." More
- April 12, 2010 | Item | ShareThis

Plexmar Resources Inc. Completes $387,850 Private Offering - More
- April 12, 2010 | Item | ShareThis

Amarillo Reports Further Positive Results From its Butia Prospect Drill Program, Including an: Intercept of 121m @ 1.08 g/t Au - More
- April 12, 2010 | Item | ShareThis

Riverstone Provides Drilling Program Update on Karma Gold Project - More
- April 12, 2010 | Item | ShareThis

Blue Note to Drill Unexploited Gold Zones at Chimo - More
- April 12, 2010 | Item | ShareThis

Alterra Resources Inc. and Great Western Minerals Group to Explore Labrador Rare Earth Property - More
- April 12, 2010 | Item | ShareThis

Ressources Appalaches Makes the Second Payment for the Dufferin Mine - More
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Dia Bras Warrants Exercised Bring $3.8 Million in Cash - More
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Brazil Gold Appoints Mitsuchi to Board of Directors - More
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Rare Earth Metals Inc Announces Additional Results From Drilling on Its Clay-Howells Rare Earth Element/Niobium/Iron Deposit - More
- April 12, 2010 | Item | ShareThis

Lake Victoria Accepts $1,594,600 In Private Placements - More
- April 12, 2010 | Item | ShareThis

Positive Infill Drilling Results to Date at Bombore - More
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Caldera Announces Financing - More
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Former Yukon Premier Appointed to Board of Directors - More
- April 12, 2010 | Item | ShareThis

European Goldfields Limited - Directors Dealings - More
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Canadian Mining Continues Drilling at Bullard with Encouraging Indicators - More
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Sparton's Secondary Uranium Recovery Programs Highlighted in the Economist - More
- April 12, 2010 | Item | ShareThis

Gold World Resources dispatches Due Diligence Team to the Jin Yin Dong Gold Mine, Guizhou Province, China - More
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3.13 Ounces Gold and 55.6 Ounces Silver Over 7.4 Foot Vein Width as RX Reaches Charly Vein With Underground Ramp at Drumlummon Mine - More
- April 12, 2010 | Item | ShareThis

Taku Expands Rose & Bute Property With Shawn Ryan to Become Third Largest Claim Holder in White Gold District of Yukon - More
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Iberian Minerals Signs Facility Agreement for Senior Financing at Aguas Tenidas, and Refinances Existing $25 Million Convertible Debenture - More
- April 12, 2010 | Item | ShareThis

Extract Resources - Notification of Board Changes - More
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Pacific North West Capital Corp. - Phase II Final Drilling Intersects 8.46 g/t Gold over 3 metres - Discovers New Vein System in the DAC Deposit, Québec - More
- April 12, 2010 | Item | ShareThis

Detour Gold Signs Letter of Agreement With Conquest Resources for Claims Adjacent to the Detour Lake Project - More
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Trevali Drills Additional High-Grade Mineralization in Magistral North, Central and South Deposits - More
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Alto Ventures Ltd.: Phase 2 Final Drilling Intersects 8.46 g/t Gold over 3 Metres, Discovers New Vein System in the DAC Deposit, Quebec - More
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Conquest Signs Letter of Agreement With Detour Gold Corporation on Conquest's Properties Adjacent to Detour Lake Gold Project - More
- April 12, 2010 | Item | ShareThis

Due to Investor Interest Emgold Increases Amount of Private Placement Financing - More
- April 12, 2010 | Item | ShareThis

Caerus Resource Corporation: Letter of Intent in Colombia - More
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Gold Reach Resources Ltd. Plans Extensive Exploration Program On Auro Property - More
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Fission Energy Corp. and ESO Stake New Uranium Target at Patterson Lake South Joint Venture Area S.W. Athabasca Basin, Saskatchewan - More
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Otis Appoints Charles W. Reed as Director - More
- April 12, 2010 | Item | ShareThis

ESO and Fission Energy Corp. Stake New Uranium Target in the Patterson Lake South Joint Venture Area, S.W. Athabasca Basin, Saskatchewan - More
- April 12, 2010 | Item | ShareThis

Condor Options Chavin Property, Peru, to Golden Minerals Company - More
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Titan Uranium Announces Positive Preliminary Feasibility Study for Sheep Mountain Project, Wyoming - More
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Romios Gold Announces Stock Options Grants - More
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American Consolidated Closes Private Placement - More
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Sulliden Completes Final Mortgage Payment on Shahuindo Property - More
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MERCATOR GOLD plc: Paniai Gold Update - More
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Black Hawk Exploration Commences Exploration Programs for Dun Glen Gold and Silver Properties - More
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European Goldfields - DIRECTORS DEALINGS - More
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First Majestic Silver Corp.: Production Increases by 30% to 1,619,403 Equivalent Ounces Silver - "First Majestic Silver Corp. ("First Majestic" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that total production at its three mines in Mexico for the first quarter ending March 31, 2010 increased to a new Company record of 1,619,403 equivalent ounces of silver, representing a 30% increase over the prior quarter production and a 56% increase over the first quarter of 2009 production (See Production Details Table below)." More
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Fortuna reports 30% increase in silver production in Q1 2010 - "Q1 2010 record silver production is due to to improved grades in production stopes with respect to the mine plan and contribution of development material from the new high grade discovery made in the upper levels of the Caylloma vein. Exploration drilling of this discovery is ongoing concurrent with stope preparation for production. The Company is prioritizing the definition of resources in this new area to incorporate them into the mine plan this year. This is the first full quarter of commercial operation for the copper circuit with a production of 295,854 pounds of Cu in concentrate." More
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More High-Grade Gold from Rubicon's F2 Gold System, Red Lake, Ontario - "Rubicon Minerals Corporation (RMX:TSX: / RBY:NYSE-AMEX) is pleased to provide an update of the latest diamond drilling results from its 100%-owned Phoenix Gold Project, located in the heart of the prolific Red Lake Gold District of Ontario. New drill results, focused in the central and northern parts of the F2 Gold System, continue to intersect numerous high-grade and broad gold-bearing intervals which further expand the system where approximately 116,000 metres of drilling has been completed to date (see news releases since March 12, 2008 and http://www.rubiconminerals.com/ for details). Ongoing exploration is part of a 158,000 metre drill program aimed at testing and infilling a 1200-metre by 1600-metre target area, referred to as the '9X drill plan'. Significant new drill results are summarized below and all new results are presented in Table 1 and Figures 1 and 2." More
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Richmont Mines Hits 73.54 g/t Au Over 7 Metres at Its Cripple Creek Property - "Richmont Mines Inc. (TSX:RIC - News)(AMEX:RIC - News)("Richmont" or "the Company") is pleased to announce preliminary assay results from the surface drilling program at the Company's 100%-owned Cripple Creek property, located west of the Timmins Gold Deposit in Ontario. Exploration results obtained so far are very promising and confirm the overall potential of this asset." More
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Midway Closes Private Placement - "Midway Gold Corp. ("Midway") (TSX-V:MDW - News)(AMEX:MDW - News) is pleased to announce that it has completed a non-brokered private placement (the "Private Placement") of units ("Units"), at a subscription price of Cdn$0.60 per Unit, and for gross proceeds of Cdn$800,000." More
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Gammon Gold Announces Nomination of Four Additional Independent Board Members Including a New Independent Chairman - "Gammon Gold Inc. ("Gammon") (TSX:GAM.to - News): announces the nominations of four additional independent board members including a new independent Chairman of the Board. Two individuals have been appointed effective April 12, 2010 to fill vacant positions on the Board. It is anticipated that the nominations will be confirmed at the Company's Annual General and Special Meeting ("Annual Meeting") scheduled for May 13, 2010. Should all nominations to the Board of Directors be confirmed, the Board would be comprised of nine directors, seven of which would be considered independent. The Company also announces that Mr. Kent Noseworthy, a 5 year Board Member, will not be seeking re-election as a member of the Board of Directors." More
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Gammon Reports First Quarter 2010 Consolidated Production Results - "As we previously disclosed, we encountered some operational challenges specific to the first quarter that our operating team has largely addressed. This positions our operations for consistent production growth in the coming quarters", stated Rene Marion, President and Chief Executive Officer of Gammon Gold. He continued, "The Company begins the year in a strong financial position and we continue to realize strong cash flow margins that together with our expanded $26 to $30 million exploration program, will best position the Company's assets to deliver on their long- term potential". More
- April 12, 2010 | Item | ShareThis

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