Volatility Continues - Precious Metals Now Up

This graph on gold, as of yesterday shows the price of gold hitting its 50 day moving average. However, this morning gold is well above at 830.90. That it did not break below the average is a bullish sign.
On this daily graph, it appear that gold has been capped again at about 836+.
Silver seems to have been capped at the same time at about 11.05. Silver is currently 11.05.

The mining stocks are responding by moving higher today. We are looking at another three day week end, so the second team will be manning the trading desks this afternoon and trading is likely to be very light. My trading stocks are all up again today, as follows: DROOY 5.46; HMY 10.04 (I am glad that I bought below 10), and VGZ 1.45. These are still not bad entry points depending upon you individual portfolios and risk tolerance. Even the DJI is up about 97 to 8309+. As always, please, make your own decisions, commit them to the Lord and give Him praise for the results. Buyer beware and very cautious is the watch word for these days.

From Mine Web:

Precious metals likely to outperform for commodity investors.

Global financial and economic meltdown has hammered commodities, but investors still see rich pickings in agricultural staples.

Author: Pratima Desai
Posted: Friday , 16 Jan 2009

LONDON (Reuters) -

Global financial and economic meltdown has hammered commodities, but investors still see rich pickings in agricultural staples such as grains and rice -- essentials the world cannot do without.

The strong outlook for the agricultural sector this year is likely to be closely followed by prospects for oil where output cuts by OPEC countries are expected to accelerate over the next few months, leaving the market short. Read the article HERE.

More from Mine Web:

CENTRAL BANK SALES DOWN 42 PERCENT

Gold to the rescue as financial forces overwhelm challenging fundamentals - GFMS

GFMS Ltd expects gold to help safeguard investors against government profligacy in 2009; prices to remain volatile and dips are possible, but followed by a strong bull run. The US jewellery industry has been hard hit.

Author: Rhona O'Connell
Posted: Friday , 16 Jan 2009

LONDON -

The second interim update for the GFMS Ltd annual gold survey highlights gold's highly individual nature, arguing that while recessionary conditions undermine the outlook for physical fabrication of the metal this year, the prospects for investment demand are robust and that an investor-led breach of the March 2008 high of $1,023.50 is quite feasible during the first half of this year. Read the article HERE.

Also from Mine Web:

Gold revaluation - Clutching at golden straws

Some gold analysts are coming up with theoretical moves which could have a huge impact on the gold price, but will the suggested scenarios ever happen?

Author: Lawrence Williams
Posted: Thursday , 15 Jan 2009

LONDON -

Gold analysis and theorising is a hazardous exercise with the metal price seldom seeming to follow what would appear to many to be the logical path to new heights - and on the occasions it does surge dramatically, it then tends to come crashing down again, burning the fingers of many. This is not to say that gold is not a good investment as has been shown by its overall performance against markets in general over the past year, and is not to say it will not regain its upward trajectory before too long, but some of the admittedly well thought out, and perhaps economically logical, theories put out by gold proponents, which would lead to a huge gold price increase, are still, in our view, unlikely to come about

Notable amongst these theories are two, very logical moves either of which would increase the gold price dramatically, but will they in fact ever happen? Read the article HERE.

From the El Paso Times:

U.S. military report warns 'sudden collapse' of Mexico is possible

By Diana Washington Valdez / El Paso Times

Posted: 01/13/2009 03:49:34 PM MST

EL PASO - Mexico is one of two countries that "bear consideration for a rapid and sudden collapse," according to a report by the U.S. Joint Forces Command on worldwide security threats.

The command's "Joint Operating Environment (JOE 2008)" report, which contains projections of global threats and potential next wars, puts Pakistan on the same level as Mexico. "In terms of worse-case scenarios for the Joint Force and indeed the world, two large and important states bear consideration for a rapid and sudden collapse:Pakistan and Mexico. Read it HERE.

From the Guardian UK:

Fear grips banking sector as Barclays cuts 2,100 more jobs

• Bank's total staff losses this week now near 5,000
• Heavy selling on Wall Street on poor retail sales data

Jill Treanor and David Gow 14 January 2009

World stockmarkets fell sharply again today as anxiety over the strength of the banking sector swept through the City.

Shares inHSBC, Barclays,Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds TSB were all hit hard as investors lost faith in the banks. This helped to wipe more than 200 points off the FTSE 100 index of leading shares, which closed down almost 5%, or 218.51 points, at 4,180.64.

Barclays announced plans to cut a further 2,100 jobs at its retail and commercial banking business, taking its total job cull over the past week to almost 5,000, and traders were also unsettled by an admission from Deutsche Bank that it would report a loss for 2008. Read the article HERE.

From Reuters today:

Bank of America gets big government bailout

Fri Jan 16, 2009 1:39am EST

By Patrick Rucker and Jonathan Stempel

WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bank of America Corp was rescued by the U.S. government on Friday through a $20 billion bailout and a guarantee for almost $100 billion of potential losses on toxic assets to cushion the blow from a deteriorating balance sheet at Merrill Lynch & Co, its recently acquired brokerage.

The bailout makes Bank of America the biggest recipient of taxpayer money next to Citigroup as the government pours cash into the nation's banks to plug holes left by bad loans. The worst housing crisis since the Great Depression and the worst recession in many years have hammered U.S. banks. Read the article HERE.

More from Reuters:

Citigroup loses $8.3 billion, to split in two

Fri Jan 16, 2009 9:19am EST

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Citigroup Inc, scrambling to survive losses triggered by the credit crunch, unveiled plans to split in two and shed troubled assets, and reported a quarterly loss of $8.29 billion.

The banking giant also said it expected more departures from its embattled board, which is losing former Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin as a director later this year. Read the article HERE.

Special note of praise to our God: All survive the crash of a US Airways A320 Airbus crash into the Hudson River. It is being proclaimed by many as a miracle.

Each day, I thank the Lord for the wonderful night of rest and ask His help in making the work of the day give Him the glory and be directed toward helping others to spread His kingdom on earth. Thus, each day is a gift for His glory and must be worked out in accordance with His will. I am so thankful for the guidance and strength of the Holy Spirit. We must always praise and thank the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit for everything. Then we are able to rejoice at all times.

Best to each, Doug