Bullion & Business Monthly Report – April 2010

New York gold jumped to its highest price in five months on Friday, marking a weekly gain of 2.3 percent and very bullish 5.9 percent April increase.

The yellow metal garnered safe-haven buying, driven by the wider euro zone debt crisis that was prominently highlighted this week by Standard & Poor’s credit ratings downgrades of Greece, Portugal and Spain.

"Importantly, the deepening European Union debt crisis this week saw traders and investors change their perspective on gold, from one of a speculative commodity play, to a safe-haven investment during times of heightened uncertainty," wrote Jim Wyckoff of Kitco News.

Less risk-averse investments, however, tended lower this week. European and U.S. stocks declined. Major U.S. indexes posted their worst week since January, breaking away from eight weeks of gains. Higher corporate earnings through April, however, helped stocks record a third straight positive month.

In New York precious metals weekly prices, June gold gained $27.00, or 2.3 percent, to close at $1,180.70 an ounce. Silver for July delivery surged 45 cents, or 2.5 percent, to $18.639 an ounce. July platinum climbed $3.40, or 0.2 percent to close at $1,745.10 an ounce. June palladium was the single precious metal to decline, falling $7.45, or 1.3 percent, to $555.75 an ounce.

The metals rallied with spectacular April gains. Gold added 5.9 percent, silver 6.4 percent, platinum 6.0 percent and palladium soared 15.8 percent.

"The big thing today [Friday] is that gold held above the $1,160 level," Matt Zeman, a trader at LaSalle Futures Group in Chicago, said via MarketWatch. "We did see it break through. It looks very bullish to me and looks like it’s going to keep working its way higher. We may see going to $1,200 in the next couple of sessions."

"In the last few days, it has almost turned into panic-type buying. Every time you hit the wire, the European crisis worsens, and it’s worsening day by day," Michael Daly, gold specialist at futures broker PFGBest, said on Reuters. "Gold is taking on legs of its own right now. It’s a flight to safety."

In London bullion weekly prices, gold was fixed to $1,179.25 an ounce, jumping $39.75, or 3.5 percent. Silver soared 73 cents, or 4.1 percent to $18.620 an ounce. Platinum settled at $1,738.00 an ounce, advancing $13.00, or 0.8 percent. Palladium declined $3.00, or 0.5 percent to $552.00.

For monthly gains in April, gold and platinum rose 5.7 percent, silver added 6.4 percent, and palladium advanced 15.2 percent.

"This is a powerful move for gold," Frank McGhee, the head dealer at Integrated Brokerage Services LLC in Chicago, said on Bloomberg. "There’s significant concern over sovereign debt. While the dollar is the least odious of the paper currencies, gold is going to outperform all currencies."

"Keep an eye on resistance near the $1185 level in gold, and monitor the temperature of eurozone apprehensions, as fears about that country’s fate have been spreading faster than the oil slick in the Gulf this week," wrote Jon Nadler, senior analyst at Kitco Metals, Inc.

"Should the IMF/EU life preserver be tossed into the Aegean Sea over the weekend (even though Germany continues to be recalcitrant on the matter) we might have a substantially different market week to contend with in the early days of May."

To follow are silver, gold, platinum and palladium performance charts, oil news, week-ending stocks, and precious metal article summaries.

London Fix Charts: Silver, Gold, Platinum and Palladium

(April 23 – 30)

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 Precious Metals Prices

World Business News: Oil, Gasoline, and Stocks Prices

Oil prices rallied on Friday and for a third straight day "as inventors focused on the positive macroeconomic news of the day and a weaker dollar to continue to push prices up," wrote Claudia Assis and Kate Gibson of MarketWatch.

"Optimism is still there even though it’s been tested this week by Greece," Thina Saltvedt, a commodities analyst at Nordea Bank AB in Oslo, said on Bloomberg. "Macro figures have been better-than- expected, and the oil data in the U.S. is adding to the optimism. I wouldn’t be surprised to see $90 before very long if the eurozone calms down."

New York crude oil for June delivery ended at $86.15 a barrel, jumping 0.98 cents, or 1.2 percent, for the day and marking a two-week high. Oil rose 1.2 percent for the week as well, and climbed 2.9 percent in April — the third monthly increase.

Prices at the pump rose four-tenths of a cent between Friday and Saturday. The national average for regular unleaded gasoline is $2.885 a gallon, according to a AAA fuel report. The price is 3.4 cents higher than last week, 8.2 cents more than a month back, and 83.1 cents higher than a year ago.

U.S. stocks plummeted Friday, "after reports that Goldman Sachs is facing a criminal probe sparked analyst downgrades and a selloff in the financial sector. Worries about Greece’s lingering debt problems also weighed," wrote Alexandra Twin of CNNMoney.com.

"Investors are very quick to pull the trigger and buy Treasuries in this risk-averse atmosphere," Sergey Bondarchuk, an interest-rate strategist in New York at BNP Paribas, one of 18 primary dealers that are required to bid at Treasury auctions, said on Bloomberg. "Now there is a flight-to-quality bid in the market as stocks fell off a cliff. Worried fixed income investors are preparing for another massive flight to quality."

Friday closing figures for the three major US indexes follow:

• The Dow fell 158.71 points to close at 11,008.61.

• The S&P declined 20.09 points to finish at 1,186.69.

• The NASDAQ lost 50.73 points to 2,461.19.

Stocks fell for the week, with the Dow losing 1.8 percent, the S&P declining 2.5 percent and the Nasdaq tumbling 2.7 percent.

The major indexes rose in April, however, and for a third straight month. The Dow gained 1.4 percent, the S&P climbed 1.5 percent and the Nasdaq advanced 2.6 percent.

And in other world markets:

• The German DAX ended down 9.21 points to close at 6,135.70.

• The Paris CAC 40 declined 23.63 points to close at 3,816.99.

• The London FTSE 100 fell 64.55 points to finish at 5,553.29.

For the week, the DAX lost 2.0 percent, the CAC 40 tumbled 3.4 percent and the FTSE 100 declined 3.0 percent.

Bullion and Business Articles

In related bullion, business and United States Mint news, interesting or quick-read articles from the week include:

• Rescue Dawn – Jon Nadler, Kitco Metals Inc.
  Gains in the euro to three-day highs did not manage to dissipate lingering concerns about the broader region’s debt problems and investors took refuge in the dollar as well as in gold despite rising hopes that a Greek bailout was very likely to see the light of day over the coming weekend. Gold prices touched a 2010 high at $1179 per ounce ahead of the opening of the New York trading session for Friday.

  This morning’s economic news roundup from Europe showed that regional unemployment remained static at 10% while inflation rose one-tenth of one percent, to 1.5% in March. Two exceptions to note here: one is that Spain’s unemployment figure was far worse — double that of the regional number, the other that — at 1.5% annualized — the inflation number in the EU remains well below the ECB’s target of just under 2%.

  Market players awaited US GDP data for the first quarter of 2010 this morning. Expectations were…

• 2010 Gold Buffalo Bullion Coins: First Day Sales Hit 48,500
  2010 $50 American Gold Buffalo bullion coins debuted to roaring sales of 48,500 on their first day of issue, according to the United States Mint.

  The U.S. Mint on Tuesday told its authorized purchasers that the 24 karat gold coins would be released Thursday, April 29. Buyers were ready.

  The one day sales represent 15.0% of all the bullion Buffalos sold in their inaugural 2006 year, 29.0% of those in 2007, 28.2% of 2008 and 24.3% of 2009…

• US Mint Sales: 2010 Park Quarters, Silver Dollars and Gold Coins
  US Mint 2010-dated coins are the attention grabbers in the latest sales report, although the buying public has already spent most of their money on them which has pressured weekly demand.

  2010 Boy Scouts Silver Dollars are among the youngest of the 2010 releases, but the end of their sales is approaching the quickest as the uncirculated coins have already sold out. Fence sitters are left with the proof version or must sign up on a waiting list in the hopes that an older uncirculated order will be canceled.

  330,602 of the available 350,000 Scouts coins are gone, leaving just 19,398 as of Sunday. There are probably just several thousand left as of this writing. For more on the BSA pieces, read the article…