Gold and other precious metals spiked Thursday, as did crude oil and US stocks following a report by the Commerce Department saying the economy expanded at a 3.5 percent annualized pace in the third quarter. Gold’s rise broke a losing streak that had extended to five days. The Dow and S&P enjoyed their best one-day jumps in three months.

New York bullion figures follow:

• Silver for December delivery jumped 41.5 cents, or 2.6 percent, to $16.655 an ounce. It ranged from $16.12 to $16.71.

• Gold for December delivery advanced $16.60, or 1.6 percent, to $1,047.10 an ounce. The yellow metal ranged from $1,048.40 to $1,026.90.

• January platinum surged $31.30, or 2.4 percent, to $1,338.20 an ounce.

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Read the rest of Gold, Silver and US Stocks Rally (2,395 words)

Gold ended slightly lower Wednesday, marking the fifth consecutive day the yellow metal has declined. Again cited as the catalyst for the loses was a rallying US dollar. Silver and platinum also fell, as did crude oil which plunged 2.6 percent. US stocks followed along, with the three major indexes tumbling between 1.2 percent and 2.7 percent.

New York precious metals figures follow:

• Silver for December delivery fell 30 cents, or 1.8 percent, to $16.240 an ounce. It ranged from $16.155 to $16.77.

• Gold for December delivery declined $4.90, or 0.5 percent, to $1,030.50 an ounce. The yellow metal ranged from $1,042.60 to $1,027.10, which is the lowest price since Oct. 6.

• January platinum ended down $12.10, or 0.9 percent, to $1,306.90 an ounce.

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Read the rest of Gold Continues Decline for Day Five, Stocks Tumble (2,367 words)

New York gold futures ended lower Tuesday for the fourth straight day as the US dollar advanced on news of a decline in consumer confidence. Silver was hit exceptionally hard for the second straight day, falling more than 3 percent. Platinum declined as well. In other markets, crude oil finished 1 percent higher and US stocks ended mixed.

New York precious metals figures follow:

• Silver for December delivery plummeted 55.5 cents, or 3.2 percent, to $16.540 an ounce. It ranged from $17.250 to $16.500.

• Gold for December delivery declined $7.40, or 0.7 percent, to $1,035.40 an ounce. The yellow metal ranged from $1,044.30 to $1,032.90, which was the lowest level since Oct. 6.

• January platinum fell $26.80, or 2.0 percent, to $1,319.00 an ounce.

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Read the rest of Gold Drops for Fourth Day, Silver Plunges, Stocks Mixed (2,493 words)

Przemyslaw Radomski submits:

This essay is based on the Premium Update posted October 23rd, 2009

The crude oil market has lost most of its popularity since it is no longer near $150 per barrel (no longer do oil-related topics dominate the main financial websites), but nonetheless I’m sure that nobody can deny crude oil’s importance in today’s globalized economy. It is vital for both businesses and individual consumers, as fuels are derived from it. Most of us need to drive and purchase goods that also need to be transported to us directly or indirectly.

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Precious metals enjoyed modest gains on the week as the US dollar was the predominating driver of where prices went. A weaker greenback on Friday combined with lower crude oil prices helped gold slide slightly from earlier week highs. Oil did jump nearly 3.5 percent this week while gasoline prices at the pump were almost 13 cents higher than last Saturday.

In other markets, US stocks declined for the first week in three while European indexes finished mixed with the London FTSE advancing.

In London bullion weekly figures, gold climbed 1.4 percent, silver rose 2.0 percent and platinum jumped 2.4 percent. Friday precious metals prices follow:

London silver closed to $17.65 an ounce, rising 34 cents from last Friday’s close. New York December silver futures ended at $17.723 for a 30.3 cent weekly increase.

London gold was fixed at $1,061.75 an ounce for a $14.25 gain on the week. New York gold for December delivery finished at $1,056.40 for a weekly gain of $5.70.

London platinum ended at $1,372.00 an ounce, advancing $32.00 since last Friday’s close. New York platinum for January delivery ended at $1,369.50 for a $21.00 weekly rise.

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Read the rest of Bullion & Business Weekend Report – Oct. 24 (1,447 words)

Gold declined nearly $6 Thursday, breaking away from a four-day winning streak as the US dollar gained ground. Silver and platinum also fell, as did crude oil which retreated from a one-year high. US stocks rallied on positive news from several corporate earnings reports.

New York precious metals figures follow:

• Silver for December delivery fell 28 cents, or 1.6 percent, to $17.545 an ounce. It ranged from $17.365 to $17.790.

• Gold for December delivery declined $5.90, or 0.6 percent, to $1,058.60 an ounce. The yellow metal ranged from $1,052 to $1,062.40.

• January platinum edged lower by $4.50, or 0.3 percent, to $1,369.90 an ounce.

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Read the rest of Gold, Commodities Decline; Stocks Rally (468 words)

Gold ended higher Wednesday and for the fourth straight day as a decline in the US dollar propped precious metals higher — silver and platinum advanced as well. In other markets, crude oil surged above $81 a barrel to a one-year high while US stocks retreated from their own earlier one-year highs.

New York precious metals figures follow:

• Silver for December delivery rose 26.7 cents, or 1.5 percent, to $17.825 an ounce. It ranged from $17.300 to $17.835.

• Gold for December delivery climbed $5.90, or 0.6 percent, to $1,064.50 an ounce. The yellow metal ranged from $1,048.10 to $1,065.70.

• January platinum advanced $18.10, or 1.3 percent, to $1,374.40 an ounce.

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Read the rest of Gold, Silver Rise; Stocks Fall (1,839 words)

A Bubble in Bubbles Not So Tiny

Good Day,

Gold prices started the new week off in Asia overnight by reversing Friday’s slim gains and re-testing the $1050 level as a strengthening US dollar was once again part of the background picture. More than 13.5 tonnes of gold flowed out of the combined balances of gold ETFs on Friday. During a week when the metal inked new records into the books?

The overnight losses in gold did not amount to more than $5 however, and the yellow metal was able to retake the mid-$1050s prior to the start of Monday’s NY session. The European common currency also fell in the early hours, for a second day, due to concerns that Old World financial policy makers will discuss the currency’s recent strength and what to do about it, when they meet later today.

New York spot precious metals dealings opened with a light step into the red, with gold down by $0.10 per ounce at $1052.70 an ounce. This, as against a fresh small dollar decline (except against the yen) on the trade-weighted index (last seen at 75.51) and very small losses in crude oil (last quoted at $78.46 per barrel). Post-Dhanteras activity in India amounted to…not very much.

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Read the rest of Gold, Silver, Metal Prices: Commentary (10/19/2009) (1,829 words)

New York gold futures lost ground Thursday as the yellow metal moved further away from an all-time high as the US dollar rebounded. Silver and platinum also declined. In other markets, crude oil rallied to a one-year high on news of a decline in gasoline inventories and US stocks rose modestly.

New York precious metals figures follow:

• Silver for December delivery fell 49.3 cents, or 2.8 percent, to $17.415 an ounce. It ranged from $17.360 to $18.000.

• Gold for December delivery declined $14.10, or 1.3 percent, to $1,050.60 an ounce. The yellow metal ranged from $1,047.40 to $1,066.80.

• January platinum lost $11.10, or 0.8 percent, to $1,355.50 an ounce.

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Read the rest of Gold, Silver Decline; Stocks Slightly Higher (2,008 words)

Bullion Vault

Expect volatility in Gold, oil and every other ‘hard asset’ inflation hedge…

IS THE THREAT of inflation advancing? Depends whom you ask, says Eric Fry in the Rude Awakening…

If you ask Bill Gross, manager of tens of billions of Dollars worth of investments that would suffer during an inflation, the answer would be “No”.

But if you ask the guy who just made a few billion Dollars betting that mortgage-backed securities would collapse during 2008, the answer would be “maybe”. So let’s ask that second guy…

John Paulson, a guy who made billions from a variety of bets against the American financial sector, is a bit worried about the prospect of inflation and a lot worried about the US Dollar. That’s why Mr. Paulson has been amassing substantial investments in Gold and gold-related investments. For example, Paulson’s hedge fund is the largest holder of the SPDR, New York’s securitized gold-exchange-traded trust fund – a near proxy for Gold Prices.

A couple weeks back, Paulson explained his affinity for Gold to the attendees of the Grant’s Interest Rate Observer Fall Conference:

“I lost faith in the Dollar as a reserve currency for my assets…What I’m looking at is not where Gold is going to be tomorrow, one week from now, one month from now, three months from now. What I’m looking at is where gold is going to be vis-à-vis the Dollar one year from now, three years from now, five years from now. And I think with a high probability at each one of those points, gold will be higher than it is relative to the Dollar today. That probability increases the further out you go. So when I looked at what the risk is, the risk to me is far more staying in Dollars than it is in gold at this point.”

Paulson seems to have a lot of company at the moment…maybe too much. Gold is “overbought” on the short term and is, therefore, vulnerable to a correction.

Read more….