Gold’s London AM fix this morning was USD
1,622.50, EUR 1,239.21, and GBP 1,022.82 per ounce. Yesterday's AM fix was
USD 1,631.75, EUR 1,239.65 and GBP 1,027.75 per ounce.
Silver is trading at $31.36/oz,
€24.00/oz and £19.80/oz. Platinum is
trading at $1,595.75/oz, palladium at $635.80/oz and rhodium at $1,350/oz.
Cross Currency Table – (Bloomberg)
Gold fell $27.90 or 1.69% in New York yesterday and
closed at $1,618.40/oz. Gold ticked higher in Asia prior to further slight
gains in Europe.
Gold dropped to its lowest level since January but
remains higher on the year. It is poised for its first lower weekly close
since mid March adding to the poor technical
picture.
The very poor Spanish debt auction and renewed concerns
about the euro zone debt crisis has led to another sharp bout of risk off in
global markets. Euro zone concerns and concerns that cheap money and QE
policies may end saw world stocks (MSCI World) fall 1.9% while gold fell 1.7%
yesterday.
European indices are lower again today on renewed risk
aversion.
Commodities fell too yesterday. Platinum for July
delivery fell $61.90, or 3.7%, to $1,598.60/oz. Palladium for June delivery
fell $26.85, or 4.1%, to $632.75/oz and copper for
May delivery fell 12.85 cents to $3.7905 a pound. U.S. crude oil fell $2.54,
or 2.4%, to finish at $101.47 a barrel in New York.
Comments from ECB President Mario Draghi
that the euro zone's growth economic outlook is subject to downside risks
related to the debt crisis and inflation upside risks were gold bullish.
It sounded if the ECB President is concerned about and
warning about stagflation in the Eurozone.
This and concerns about the possible abandonment of QE
led to hedge funds, traders and more speculative players selling many of
their positions and again piling into the perceived safety of US Treasuries
and the US dollar.
Gold 1 Year Chart – (Bloomberg)
Gold’s short term correlation with equities and
commodities has been seen frequently in recent months and years with gold
falling in unison with riskier assets in the initial stages of sell offs and
at intermediate stock market highs. However, what has happened subsequently
is that gold has fallen less than equity and commodity markets and then
recovers faster and rises again soon after short periods of correction and
consolidation.
We expect this pattern to be seen again. While
gold’s sell off has been sharp, the charts below put them into context
and should help create perspective.
Gold, Silver, S&P, DJIA, US 10 Year - YTD
The GoldCore trading desk was
unusually busy yesterday with a large percentage of clients selling their
bullion holdings including some quite large sell orders. It could be
indicative of a bottom as there has been capitulation by weak hands concerned
about the recent price fall.
Despite a recent decrease in physical demand both from
Asia and in western markets, the fundamentals driving the market have not
changed and will be supportive. Demand has abated after the record levels of
demand seen at the height of the Greek debt crisis in November and December.
However, this demand will likely return in the coming
months when Spain, Italy and potentially the UK, Japan and US all experience
similar debt crises.
Gold, Silver, S&P, DJIA, US 10 Year – 1 Year
Risk adverse investors and the prudent should maintain
a “buy and hold” strategy and should continue to accumulate on
the dip.
Jim Rogers “I Will Buy More” Gold –
Still Long Term Bullish
The smart
money continues to accumulate gold and silver on the dip.
Investor Jim Rogers, chairman of Rogers Holdings, said
he remains bullish on gold and silver in the long term and he “will buy
more” on price weakness.
Rogers predicted a global commodities rally and the
gold and silver bull markets in 1999. He also predicted much of what has
transpired in financial markets in recent months and years and has
consistently warned about the risks posed to the US dollar and other fiat
currencies.
In the short term he is not so optimistic about gold
and silver prices. “I expect the price to decline and when that happens
I will buy more,” Rogers said at a conference in Bucharest yesterday.
He recently said that he would buy gold at $1,600/oz and would increase position by even more at $1,500/oz – reiterating that gold is going much higher in
the coming decade.
Rogers did not elaborate, nor was he asked, how much
higher, but he said in November 2011 that gold “will easily go to
$2,000 but it will reach $2,400 over the course of the bull run, which has
years to run.”
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OTHER NEWS
(Bloomberg)
-- Jim Rogers Plans to Buy More Gold, Silver, Sees Falling Prices
Investor Jim Rogers, chairman of Rogers Holdings, said he’s “not
so optimistic” about gold and silver prices.
“I expect the price to decline and when that
happens I will buy more,” Rogers said at a conference in Bucharest
today.
Silver dropped as much as 4.2 percent today and gold
declined 2 percent after the Federal Reserve signalled
it may refrain from more monetary stimulus. The dollar rose as much as 0.6
percent against a basket of six currencies, curbing demand for precious metals
as an alternative investment.
Today’s declines pared gold’s gain for this
year to 3.4 percent and silver’s advance to 13 percent. Rogers
predicted a global commodities rally in 1999.
(Bloomberg) -- Ex-Official Vavilov
to Form Russia’s First Gold ETF, RBC Reports
Russia’s former Deputy Finance Minister Andrei Vavilov
may become the country’s first businessman to create an exchange-traded
fund backed by physical gold supplies, RBC Daily said.
Vavilov plans to deposit gold bullion in Zurich or
London banks and trade the derivatives on them on the Irish stock exchange
and Moscow’s Micex-RTS exchange, the
newspaper said, citing unidentified people familiar with the plan.
(Bloomberg) -- Top 10 Gold-Mining Countries in 2011,
According to CRU (Table)
Following is a table of the world’s 10 biggest gold-producing countries
ranked by 2011 output, compiled by London-based metals-consulting company
CRU. Figures are in metric tons.
Country 2011 Output 2010 Output
1. China 380 341
2. Australia 272 260
3. U.S. 243 236
4. South Africa 221 209
5. Russia 205 197
6. Peru 156 163
7. Ghana 102 92
8. Canada 101 91
9. Indonesia 97 128
10. Mexico 82 72
World Production 2,789 2,638
(Bloomberg) -- Vietnam State “Monopoly” on
Gold Trade to Enter Force May 25
Vietnam’s Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung approved a regulation giving
the state a “monopoly” on the trade and production of gold
bullion from May 25, according to a statement posted on the
government’s website today.
Under circular 24, dated April 3, domestic gold
businesses will only be able to produce and sell jewelry, and will have to
re-register with the central bank in the next six to 12 months.
NEWS
Gold plunges to its lowest level since January
- Business Week
Gold Traders Bearish for First Time in 2012
- Bloomberg
GLOBAL MARKETS-World stocks, gold drop on less hope
of Fed help - Reuters
Americans brace for next foreclosure wave
- Reuters
COMMENTARY
Is This The End Of The Gold Rush? -
Business Week
Gold's Bearish Knife Is White Hot -
The Street
Gartman: Selling Gold Wrong and Ill-Advised
-CNBC
Fleckenstein - The Fed is Trapped, Stock Market
& Gold - King World News
Second Foreclosure Tsunami Coming, About To Kill Any
Hopes Of "Housing Bottom" - Zero Hedge
Mark
O’Byrne
Goldcore
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