Bullion & Business Weekend Report – Aug 9

The dollar’s rally against other major currencies and the continual slippage in crude oil prices surged US stocks forward while silver, gold and platinum took it on the chin.

The precious metals experienced their third consecutive weekly losses in London with silver falling 9.3 percent, gold 6.3 percent and platinum 4.8 percent.

Earlier talk of $200-per-barrel oil prices by year’s end has been replaced by forecasts for $100. Oil’s easing has punished precious metals, making them less attractive for investors.

London silver closed the week to $15.76 an ounce — a loss of $1.61 for the week and $1.83 from last Friday.

London platinum fell to $1,552 an ounce — a drop of $79 for the week and $123 from last Friday.

London gold closed to $853 an ounce, losing $58 for the week and $61 from last Friday.

"Beijing’s 30,000 fireworks paled in comparison to the millions that were likely lost in today’s Great Unwind," said senior analyst Jon Nadler at Kitco Bullion Dealers.

"The only ones apparently left “going for (the) gold” are now the athletes competing in China. "

Silver, gold and platinum performance charts and tables follow as well as a Reuters weekly business recap video and three related precious metal articles.

CoinNews London Fix Charts: Silver, Gold and Platinum
(Aug 4-8)

The London Fix is one of the most used bullion quotes around the world. The London AM fix for gold and platinum begins at 10:30am GMT (5:30am in New York), and the PM fix begins at 3pm GMT (10am in New York). The London Fix for silver begins each business day at 12pm GMT (7am in New York).

London Fix figures: percent and dollar changes

July 28-Aug 1

July 21-25

July 14-18

Bullion and business related articles for the week

In related news, interesting or quick-read articles:

• August 8 – Metals futures succumb in broad-based retreat – MarketWatch
  Gold futures closed more than $13 per ounce lower Friday, and the weekly loss for silver prices exceeded 12% amid fresh buying interest in the U.S. dollar, which pressured dollar-denominated commodities such as gold and oil.

• August 8 – Gold slides to three-month low as dollar rises – Reuters
  Gold slid more than 2 percent on Friday to a three-month low as the dollar headed for its biggest weekly rise in 3-1/2 years, and looked set to fall further as investors liquidated commodity holdings.
  

• August 8 – Memo from the Dollar: Die Hard With a Vengeance – Jon Nadler
  On the triple eight convergence date that is regarded as auspicious enough for the Olympics to have been set to begin at 8:08 on 08.08.08 most commodities suffered a setback that can only be described as a sea-change and the start of a new paradigm.

Business week overview and wrap-up by Reuters News

Crude oil futures dropped nearly $5 on Friday even as Russian tanks rolled into the Georgian capitol of Tbilisi.

In stock market action, the three major US indexes:

• The Dow gained 302.89 points to close at 11,734.32, and gained 3.6% for the week.

• The S&P 500 increased by 30.25 points, closing to 1,296.32.

• The Nasdaq rose by 58.37 points Friday to finish at 2,414.10, and gained a healthy 4.5% for the week.

In other world markets:

• The German DAX gained 18.16 points to close at 6,561.65.

• The Paris CAC 40 rose 34.42 points to close at 4,491.85.

• And the London FTSE 100 increased by 11.7 points to close at 5,489.2.

Speaker: Ted Weisberg, NYSE floor trader, Seaport Securities Conway Gittens reports from New York.

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