Apmex Closing Gold & Silver Market Report -- 7/12/2011

The following is a commentary from APMEX

APMEX Closing Gold & Silver Market Report -- 7/12/2011
by Ryan Schwimmer

GOLD ENDS THE DAY HIGH BASED ON DEBT CRISIS FEARS

With fears that the debt crisis facing Greece would soon spread to Spain and Italy, gold prices soared, spurred by investors looking for a safe haven investment. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner http://www.reuters.com/article/2011...>declared today that he wants an agreement in place with Congress on raising the U.S. debt limit no later than the end of next week[/url]. Secretary Geithner's comments came during a speech he gave at a Treasury Department finance symposium, during which he also promised that the debt limit would be raised before the deadline on August 2^nd. "Failure is not an option," said Geithner. Analysis of the newly-released minutes from the Federal Reserve's June meeting show that http://www.cnbc.com/id/43729104">officials there don't see eye-to-eye on how to help with U.S. economic recovery[/url]. The minutes show that while some officials at the Fed believe monetary policy easing should be given if the recovery continues to be sluggish, other officials felt that policy tightening would be in order if increases in inflation do not level out.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-...">Ireland had its credit rating cut to non-investment grade by Moody's Investors Service today[/url], making it the third European country to be downgraded to junk status after Greece and Portugal. Ireland had previously held a high-level Aaa rating until a few years ago, when a collapse in the real-estate market led to an increase in the country's national debt and a need for bank bailouts. In a statement released today, Moody's said, "The prospect of any form of private sector participation in debt relief is negative for holders of distressed sovereign debt. This is a key factor in Moody's ongoing assessment of debt-burdened euro area sovereigns." At 4:12 pm (CT) the APMEX precious metals spot prices were:

Gold - $1,569.00 -- Up $18.00 on the day.
Silver - $36.23 -- Up $0.47.
Platinum - $1,735.50 -- Up $7.20.
Palladium - $768.00 -- Down $1.50.