Commentary for Friday, Aug 9, 2013 (www.golddealer.com) – Gold closed modestly higher up $2.20 at $1312.90 which makes for a weekly gain of $3.00 so everything is very quiet and today’s trading volume was thin so the “pop” in this market has moved to another neighborhood. We did however test a key support level ($1271.00) this week and survived so let’s be thankful for small favors. To reassert itself gold must push above $1320.00 before anything technically can be claimed and at this point the bulls and bears are just looking at each other so perhaps they want a bit of rest into the weekend.
Positive for gold are better than expected numbers from China and the Bank of England claiming “easing” or monetary debasement will continue uninterrupted. Also consider the Japanese debt mountain (they like to print also) is twice the countries GDP which is startling and nary a blip on their inflation radar screen.
Silver closed up $0.22 at $20.40 with a large yawn on the trading floor so depressed prices attract the physical players but are not particularly interesting to the big paper traders at least for now.
Platinum followed through from yesterday’s pop to close up another $10.00 today at $1500.00 and palladium followed up $3.00 at $741.00.
Now this is interesting regarding our friend rhodium: rhodium still flies under the investment radar but it’s gaining traction. Only 22 tons of rhodium is produced each year versus 200 tons of palladium and 177 tons of platinum. Rhodium now at $1,000 per ounce traded at $10,000 in the mid 2000’s. A new article by Bloomberg maintains rhodium will be the choice by auto producers for catalytic converters. It is more efficient as a pollution scrubber and is priced very close to palladium.
Gold Survey: Higher Gold Prices Forecast For Next Week – Survey Participants (Kitco News) – Following a solid rally and move over $1,300 an ounce, gold prices are expected to continue to press at least slightly higher next week, said a majority of participants in the Kitco News weekly gold survey. In the Kitco News Gold Survey, out of 36 participants, 18 responded this week. Of those 18 participants, 12 see prices up, while 2 see prices down and four see prices moving sideways or are neutral. Market participants include bullion dealers, investment banks, futures traders, money managers and technical-chart analysts. Last week, more than half of the market participants were bearish. As of noon EDT Friday, prices on the week were up about $5 on the week. As of July 29, survey participants have been correct three of the past five weeks. Participants who see higher prices said given the strength in commodities in general and gold’s so-far sustained move over $1,300, they expect the gains to continue. Mark Leibovit, editor of the newsletter VR Gold Letter, said he is “bullish based on (Thursday’s) action. (There was) positive upside volume. If we can break about $1,346, there’s a near-term shot at $1,500,” he said. Several who said they were neutral or saw prices moving sideways said gold will likely remain range-bound, but could test the upper end of the range. Jeffrey Nichols, managing director, American Precious Metals Advisors, and adviser to Rosland Capital, said gold remains range-bound, with support coming from physical demand, but pressure from technical-chart related selling. “So it would seem, gold remains range-bound, though perhaps within a gradually narrowing range. Gold prices are still in a lengthy ‘bottoming phase’ and may have more work – technically speaking – before breaking through overhead resistance and moving substantially higher,” he said. He forecast prices moving to the upper end of the trading range, with a chance to break out. Those who see weaker prices said gold prices could dip back down under $1,300 next week. “The debate on tapering of U.S. bond buying affects gold price volatility but more troubling is the continued erosion of its value relative to equities and key commodities. This is likely to continue given a backdrop of global monetary easing – even with eventual tapering by the U.S.,” said Richard Baker, editor of the Eureka Miner newsletter.
Walk in and phone business was on the slow side today finishing a week which was a light switch as far as action is concerned. The big dollar action still belongs to bullion silver products and actual physical delivery from the CNI Building remains popular for cash buyers. Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter @CNI_golddealer. Thanks for reading and enjoy your weekend. These markets are volatile and involve risk: Please Read Before Investing
Written by California Numismatic Investments (www.golddealer.com).