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Today's AM fix was USD 1,595.00, EUR 1,296.85, and GBP
1,020.47 per ounce.
Yesterday’s AM fix was USD 1,584.00, EUR 1,300.17 and GBP 1,020.68 per
ounce.
Silver is trading at $27.36/oz,
€22.38/oz and £17.59/oz. Platinum is
trading at $1,423.00/oz, palladium at $580.40/oz and rhodium at $1,190/oz.
Gold rose $1.50 or 0.09% in New York yesterday and
closed at $1,589.50/oz. Gold rose and fell in Asia and recovered for the open
in European trading prior to further weakness (lows $1,590/oz & high $1,599/oz).
Gold inched up on Tuesday ahead of Federal Reserve
Chairman Ben Bernanke's Congressional testimony today and Wednesday which
should provide the market with information as to whether the US central bank
will flood the market with more US paper.
Recent soft data from the US such as weak retail sales
that fell in June for a 3rd month in a row, shows further signs that US
economic growth is sluggish, at best.
The market is expecting QE3 in some form to be
announced and gold is finding support from inflation hedging buying and a
pickup in safe haven demand – particularly in Europe.
Marc Faber has again warned that the U.S.
government-bond market is overbought, the U.S. dollar is overbought and gold
is oversold near term.”
Faber is “very negative about the outlook longer
term” according to Paul Farrell writing in Marketwatch
(see Commentary) who writes an interesting article about Faber’s recent
interview on CNBC.
Farrell, like Faber, has been accurate in warning of
the significant risks facing savers and investors in recent years.
Faber warned that “massive wealth
destruction” is coming and that the ‘Super-Rich’ “may
lose up to 50% of their total wealth.”
As Farrell astutely points out “both Wall Street
and Main Street investors invariable don’t wake up … till it’s
too late.”
Cross Currency Table – (Bloomberg)
Farrell agrees with Faber that Bernanke’s money
printing will lead to a crash:
Final warning: Remember Dr. Doom’s Rule One:
“Invest where you’ll lose the least amount of money!” Why?
Because “massive wealth destruction is coming.” A time when
“the rich may lose up to 50% of their total wealth.” With
Bernanke the trigger.
NEWSWIRE
(Thomson Reuters Global Gold Forum)
Jim Steel at HSBC says yesterday's soft US retail sales data will likely have
increased speculation for another round of QE. "The slowdown in consumer
spending reinforces the overall impression that economic activity has decelerated
over the last few months following a relatively strong start to the year.
Furthermore, the level of sales was revised down for April, to a decline of
0.5%, from an initial decline of 0.2%, taking the overall level of spending
down for the entire quarter," he said.
"The data will probably lead to downward revisions
in estimates of GDP growth for Q2. This may contribute to greater pressure on
the Federal Reserve to provide additional monetary accommodation," he
adds.
(Thomson Reuters Global Gold Forum)
On the charts, Barclays Capital, whcih has a
neutral stance on gold, flags up near-term resistance at $1,600/oz, and again at $1,640/oz. ScotiaMocatta
notes downtrend resistance at $1,614.
(Bloomberg) -- South American Silver to Focus on Chile
as Bolivia Seizes Mine
South American Silver Corp. will focus on developing a copper deposit in
Chile as Bolivia takes steps to strip the company of a silver mining
concession valued in the billions, Chief Executive Officer Greg Johnson said.
The company is seeking talks with Bolivia’s
government after Vice President Alvaro Garcia Linera
announced last week that the Andean country was “entitled” to
recover control of the Malku Khota
concession, Johnson said.
South American Silver may not lose its investment in the
silver mine, Johnson said. The Vancouver-based company is studying options
including arbitration to seek compensation. It also has other assets in the
region.
“South American Silver has invested tens of
millions of dollars into the project directly, but the value of this asset is
that future cash flow, which is worth billions,” Johnson said in a July
13 interview. “We believe the story’s not over.”
The company has $38 million in cash and will continue
to develop its Escalones project in Chile, which
has 4 billion pounds of copper and 600,000 ounces of gold in resources,
Johnson said.
Bolivia’s government on July 10 reached an
agreement with local communities to revoke South American Silver’s
exploration license after protests left two dead and company officials were
taken hostage. The government will compensate the company for the silver and
indium deposit located in the southwestern Andes, Garcia Linera
said.
South American Silver’s shares plummeted 55
percent since July 6 after protests at the concession began. President Evo Morales said July 8 he was considering seizing Malku Khota. Since taking
office in 2006, Morales has nationalized gas wells held by Repsol YPF SA and Total SA, and last month took over a Glencore International Plc tin
and zinc mine.
(Bloomberg) -- IShares Silver
Trust Holdings Unchanged at 9,697 Metric Tons
Silver holdings in the IShares Silver Trust, the
biggest exchange-traded fund backed by silver, were unchanged at 9,696.71
metric tons as of July 16, according to figures on the company’s
website.
July 16 July 13 July 12 July 11 July 10
2012 2012 2012 2012 2012
Million Ounces 311.757 311.757 312.823 312.823 312.823
Daily change 0 -1,066,648 0 0 0
Metric tons 9,696.71 9,696.71 9,729.89 9,729.89
9,729.89
Daily change 0.00 -33.18 0.00 0.00 0.00
(Bloomberg) -- Zimbabwe Indigenization Isn’t
Nationalization, Official Says
Zimbabwe’s indigenization laws that aim to boost black ownership in the
economy do not equate to nationalization, mines ministry Permanent Secretary
Prince Mupazviriho said.
“It’s not nationalization,” he said
in a speech in Johannesburg today. “It’s not forced on anyone.
You come up with your own partner. You come up with your own
structure.”
The southern African nation last year introduced a law
compelling foreign and white-owned companies to sell or cede 51 percent of
their shares to black Zimbabweans or a state-owned indigenization fund. The
law initially targeted only mining companies in the country and has now been
extended to foreign- owned banks.
Zimbabwe has the world’s largest platinum
deposits after neighboring South Africa. Gold, diamonds, ferrochrome, coal,
copper and asbestos are some of the minerals mined there by companies such as
Impala Platinum Holdings Ltd.’s Zimplats
unit, Aquarius Platinum Ltd., Sinosteel Corp. and Metallon Corp Ltd.
For breaking news and commentary on financial markets
and gold, follow us on Twitter.
NEWS
Gold inches up as investors await Bernanke testimony
- Reuters
Gold Advances As U.S. Retail Data Increase Stimulus
Speculation - Bloomberg
Gold flat as investors await Bernanke testimony
- MarketWatch
Gold Beats Lafite As Wine
Tracks China Stocks: Chart Of The Day - Bloomberg
COMMENTARY
Faber: Rich will lose 50% in massive wealth
destruction - MarketWatch
Gold 'Divine' As Chinese Sell Wine - ZeroHedge
Things That Make You Go Hmmm - Such As QE3 Marking
An S&P500... Top? – Zero Hedge
Summer Doldrums Over, Gold & Silver To Explode
– King World News
Mark
O’Byrne
Goldcore
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