Dear Brigadier Shareholders,
In our ongoing efforts to provide market information and/or commentary, we
are pleased to provide you, with Industry Sector Bulletins discussing
current market opinions and/or conditions that affect the price, use and supply
& demand of Gold.
The following article expresses multiple key factors as to why Gold futures
for April delivery soared to a record level, above $1,000 an ounce. In the
near term the article stresses Gold will continue to rise. One sector set
to benefit from high Gold prices is the resource exploration industry,
primarily exploration companies focused on Gold.
Regards,
AGORACOM
Gold Futures Soar To Record Above
$1,000 An Ounce
Dow Jones
March 14, 2008: 12:47 AM EST
NEW YORK (Dow Jones) -- Gold futures broke above the psychologically key
level of $1,000 an ounce Thursday, propelled by ongoing dollar weakness and
bleak news from the financial sector.
Early Thursday, gold for April delivery soared to a record high of
$1,001.50 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange. This was the first
time that gold surpassed $1,000 an ounce.
Later in the session, the gold contract gave up some of its gains and ended
up $13.30 at $993.80 an ounce.
"Today's spike will likely become known as the Carlyle/Drake rally,"
said Jon Nadler, senior analyst at Kitco Bullion Dealers, in a research
note.
"The
imminent doom of the Washington-based bond fund and probable demise of the
hedge fund sent icy shivers through the financial markets that way
overshadowed the cheer we witnessed following the Fed's term facility plan
the other day," Nadler said.
On Wall Street, U.S. stocks reversed early sharp losses to end higher after
Standard & Poor's suggested that the bulk of write-downs linked to bad
home loans may be behind for banks.
The statement helped to partially offset concerns about the potential
collapse of a fund owned by Carlyle Group (CCC.AE) and another weak report
on retail sales.
Carlyle Capital, the bond fund affiliated with private equity firm The
Carlyle Group, is on the verge of collapse after failing to agree a new
financing deal with lenders.
The fund said late Wednesday that it expects lenders will soon take
possession of "substantially all" its remaining assets after it
was unable to meet surging margin calls on its portfolio of
residential-mortgage-backed securities.
Adding to the bad news from the financial sector, Drake Management LLC, a
hedge-fund firm run by Anthony Faillace and Steve Luttrell, is mulling
options that include shutting its largest fund after losses and redemption
requests from some investors, according to a letter sent to clients
Wednesday.
Gold at $1,000 "will one day, and likely not too far off in the
future, be looked at as a foreshadowing milestone," said Peter Spina,
an analyst at GoldSeek.com..
"The gravity of the unfolding situation is starting to sink in with
investors and that leads many more of them to move capital into real money
-- into gold and silver," Spina said.
The dollar rebounded in afternoon trading Thursday from its earlier plunge
against the Japanese yen, when the U.S. currency briefly fell through the
psychologically key 100-yen level for the first time in over 12 years.
The dollar also recovered from all-time lows against the euro and the Swiss
franc hit earlier Thursday.
The gold market is boosted by "dollar weakness, extreme concern over
the market and a continued bid by funds that are taking the Fed money they
are given and speculating with it vs. lending it," said Zachary Oxman,
a senior trader at Wisdom Financial.
"This is just the start of things, and if the government continues to
give away money and torpedo the dollar, gold will do nothing but move
higher," Oxman said.
On Tuesday, the Federal Reserve and other leading central banks doubled to
more than $400 billion the amount of money they're willing to lend to banks
and bond dealers, hoping to flood dysfunctional credit markets with enough
money to get them working again.
In more bleak economic news Thursday, the Commerce Department reported that
consumer spending weakened again in February as U.S. retail sales fell
0.6%.
Most kinds of retail stores reported lower seasonally adjusted sales in
February even before the impact of inflation was counted. The figures were
weaker than expected by Wall Street economists, who forecast no change in
retail sales.
Also on the Nymex, May silver rose 42 cents to $20.42 an ounce. April
platinum gained $27.50 to end at $2,097.50 an ounce and June palladium rose
$5 to $515.90 an ounce.
May copper ended down 1 cent at $3.83 a pound.
Crude-oil futures gained for a fourth straight day, closing above $110 a
barrel for the first time and hitting a new record of $111 a barrel in the
morning.
The Amex Gold Bugs Index (HUI) soared 3.7% at 507.50 points.
As for the sector's exchange-traded funds, the StreetTracks Gold Trust ETF
( GLD) gained 1.4% at $98.34, the iShares Silver Trust ETF (SLV) surged
2.2% at $ 204.06 and the Market Vectors-Gold Miners ETF (GDX) rallied 3.7%
at $55.63.
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