Morning Gold & Silver Market Report – 11/15/2011
November 15, 2011EUROPEAN SITUATION FRAGILE GEOPOLITICAL TENSION CONTINUES
Gold is trading down this morning, shadowing the expected slump of U.S. stocks due to the euro zone debt crisis. The ongoing fears over the debt problems in Europe has been contagion. Before Greece, there was Ireland, Portugal, and Greece again. The recent, second bailout of Greece was intended to stop such contagion, but that has not gone as planned. The critical 7% yield level for government bonds was breached by Italy last week, and Spain’s government bonds are creeping dangerously close to that level, at 6.25%. Analysts from Deutsche Bank seem to believe that the next step is printing more money. They wrote, “We remain in a fragile situation where, without the European Central Bank, the euro-area bond markets as we know them could collapse within days, and where if they suddenly decided to step up operations, they could give the market a huge lift.”
With all the focus recently on financial crises, another factor that affects precious metals prices, geopolitical tension, has been pushed off the front page. The conflict in Syria continues, with at least 69 more people killed Monday in clashes between troops loyal to President Bashar al-Assad and army deserters. The U.S. Army’s exit from Afghanistan doesn’t mean that country’s problems are over, as Afghans search for “the people’s voice.” Iran is suspected to be seeking nuclear arms capability, and experts aren’t convinced that international action will deny the Middle Eastern country the means to make a bomb.
Dominic Schnider of UBS AG said, “Gold is definitely a store of value and still very attractive for asset managers,” referring to hedge funds such as Soros Fund Management LLC and Paulson & Co. “Given the reality of the debt situation in Europe, the need to hold real assets remains a top priority,” he said. While Schnider was referring to the “big boys,” even small investors can be managers of their own assets.
At 8 a.m. (CST), the APMEX precious metals spot prices were:
- Gold - $1,773.30 – Down $7.10.
- Silver - $34.33 – Up $0.27.