Apmex Gold & Silver Market Report -- 7/14/2011

The following is a commentary from APMEX

APMEX Morning Gold & Silver Market Report -- 7/14/2011
by Ryan Schwimmer July 14, 2011

GOLD IN UNCHARTED TERRITORY YET AGAIN

Gold is hovering above yesterday's record-high close thanks to the fallout of Moody's placing the U.S. bond rating on review. Silver is also enjoying moderate gains of approximately 3%. Yesterday's Aden Report explained, "With one crisis following another, it's not surprising that gold didn't stay down long. It again emerged as the world's safe haven and the upside is wide open." A different analyst looks at the charts and says that "gold is in a most bullish position -- out in the clear at a new high -- with no overhead resistance above it."

Surprisingly, economists were spot-on with their consensus of a drop to 405,000 in the jobless claims report. U.S. stock futures are pointing to a higher open for Wall Street after the news. The dollar is strengthening after taking a dive last night as a result of President Obama "abruptly" walking out of debt-ceiling negotiations. Obama took a very stern stance in the face of #2 House Republican Eric Cantor. The President is not moving from his refusal to sign a short-term deal, while the Republicans don't seem to be moving from their refusal to allow any tax hikes and that any increase in the debt ceiling should be matched by spending cuts.

Last week, PIMCO chief Mohamed El-Erian explained that Italy was a major focal point of the European sovereign-debt crisis. Today, Italy had what is considered to be an encouraging bond auction and found strong demand. The European debt crisis has so far been focused on relatively smaller countries (Greece, Ireland, Portugal). Italy is the continent's fourth-largest country, so debt issues there would obviously have a much bigger impact on the euro than some of the other countries.

At 8:01 am (CT) the APMEX precious metals spot prices were:

Gold - $1,591.60 -- Up $4.80 on the day.
Silver - $39.22 -- Up $1.01.
Platinum - $1,779.50 -- Up $12.50.
Palladium - $789.00 -- Up $3.00.


Closing Gold & Silver Market Report -- 7/14/2011
by Robert Davis July 14, 2011

ANOTHER DAY CLOSER TO THE DEADLINE, NO PROGRESS TO REPORT -- How many times can new agencies report that there's no news to report on budget talks? The most recent talks ended tensely, with both sides deeply entrenched in their ideologies. President Obama told Republican lawmakers today "Don't call my bluff," alluding to his threats to veto any short term, stopgap bargain. A group of House Republicans have sent a letter to President Obama stating that even if the debt ceiling is not raised, the government will still have enough money to pay U.S. creditors, Social Security and military pay after the Aug 2 deadline. However, if the debt ceiling is not raised senate Democrats argue that after those bills are paid, there will be little money left for anything else. Money that is used for things like the Federal Bureau of Investigation, border security, health research, the Department of Education, and food inspections.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke clarified his comments yesterday, stating a third round of quantitative easing was not immediately in the works. Gold tumbled from a new all-time high of $1,594.90 on the news. However, open interest, a measurement of the number of outstanding futures contracts, swelled by 35,000, indicating strong buying.

At 12:12 PM (CT) the APMEX precious metals spot prices were:

Gold - $1,587.70 -- Up $2.20 on the day.
Silver - $38.25 -- Up $0.04.
Platinum - $1,769.00 -- Up $2.00.
Palladium - $779.40 -- Down $6.60.