NEW YORK (TheStreet ) — Gold prices followed the euro lower after Greece failed to secure its second bailout deal.

Gold for April delivery closed down $15.40 at $1,724.90 an ounce at the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The gold price has traded as high as $1,740.90 and as low as $1,714 an ounce while the spot price was shedding just $4, according to Kitco’s gold index.

Silver prices closed flat $33.75 an ounce while the U.S. dollar index was up 0.20% at $79.10.

Gold prices have now fallen 2% in two days on a stronger U.S. dollar. The currency was helped by better U.S. economic data but also by a weak euro. The European currency was coming under pressure as the Greek government failed to agree on austerity measures needed to secure its second bailout.

Private bondholders must also approve a deal on the loss they are going to take when they swap in old bonds for new, longer dated ones, a key factor in helping Greece pay down their debt. A failure to convince the International Monetary Fund, European Central Bank and European Union that it will cut its deficit substantially could result in a default come mid-March when the country has 14.5 billion euros of debt maturing.

Portugal is also a worry, with many thinking the country might need more bailout money. Interest rates on five-year debt have risen to more than 17%. The combo was weighing on the euro and hurting gold.

Gold prices also rallied 5.5% since the Federal Reserve announced its intention to leave rates low until late 2014. In the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s latest commitment of traders report, speculative long positions rose by 24,000 contracts in the week ending January 31st, which means traders are starting to rebuild their positions. The increase in longs, however does leave the door open to profit taking as well as shift out of gold if investors start to think the Fed will raise interest rates earlier than expected.

“Continued weakness may technically bring us to $1,700 area of support,” says George Gero, senior vice president at RBC Capital Markets, “we may only be in a corrections phase for now.”

“Gold still has hurdles to overcome, such as potential bouts of dollar strength, technical resistance levels and profit-taking,” wrote Barclays Capital in a recent note, but “gold remains in the ascendancy and we remain bullish.”

Source: http://feeds.thestreet.com/~r/tsc/feeds/rss/latest-stories/~3/MdrKJmlbRRI/gold-prices-continue-to-slide-on-stronger-dollar.html

Gold for April delivery was down $20.10 at $1,720.20 an ounce at the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The gold price has traded as high as $1,740.90 and as low as $1,714 an ounce while the spot price was shedding just $9, according to Kitco’s gold index.

Silver prices were 38 cents lower at $33.36 an ounce while the U.S. dollar index was up 0.58% at $79.40.

Gold prices have now fallen more than 2% in two days on a stronger U.S. dollar. The currency was helped by better U.S. economic data but also by a weak euro. The European currency was coming under pressure as the Greek government failed to agree on austerity measures needed to secure its second bailout.

Private bondholders must also approve a deal on the loss they are going to take when they swap in old bonds for new, longer dated ones, a key factor in helping Greece pay down their debt. A failure to convince the International Monetary Fund, European Central Bank and European Union that it will cut its deficit substantially could result in a default come mid-March when the country has 14.5 billion euros of debt maturing.

Portugal is also a worry, with many thinking the country might need more bailout money. Interest rates on five-year debt have risen to more than 17%. The combo was weighing on the euro and hurting gold.

Gold prices have also rallied 5.5% since the Federal Reserve announced its intention to leave rates low until late 2014. In the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s latest commitment of traders report, speculative long positions rose by 24,000 contracts in the week ending January 31st, which means traders are starting to rebuild their positions. The increase in longs, however does leave the door open to profit taking as well as shift out of gold if investors start to think the Fed will raise interest rates earlier than expected.

“Continued weakness may technically bring us to $1,700 area of support,” says George Gero, senior vice president at RBC Capital Markets, “we may only be in a corrections phase for now.”

“Gold still has hurdles to overcome, such as potential bouts of dollar strength, technical resistance levels and profit-taking,” wrote Barclays Capital in a recent note, but
“gold remains in the ascendancy and we remain bullish.”

Source: http://feeds.thestreet.com/~r/tsc/feeds/rss/latest-stories/~3/MdrKJmlbRRI/gold-prices-continue-to-slide-on-stronger-dollar.html

Source: http://feeds.thestreet.com/~r/tsc/feeds/rss/latest-stories/~3/iEd_nwNRf5Y/gold-prices-in-a-fed-rate-hike.html

The recent non-farm payroll report came out on Friday: non-farm employment expanded by 243,000 during January; this news may have been among the factors to trade down gold and silver on Friday. The Euro and other “risk” currencies such as the Australian dollar and Canadian dollar slightly depreciated against the U.S. dollar during last week. This shift in the direction of the U.S. dollar may have also been responsible for curbing the rally of gold and silver prices during last week.

The video link above includes a short outlook for gold and silver prices for the week of February 6^th to February 10^th; the forecast includes reviewing the main reports, events, decisions and news items that will published during the upcoming week. Some of these reports and decisions include: U.S. trade balance report, ECB rate decision, the testimony of  Ben Bernanke in the Senate, China’s CPI, BOE rate decision, and the U.S. jobless claims weekly update (just to name a few).

For further reading:

• Gold and Silver Prices Outlook for February 2012
• Weekly Outlook for 6-10 February
• Gold Silver Prices | Weekly Recap 30 January – 3 February
• Why is Gold More Expensive than Platinum?
• Where are Gold and Silver Headed in 2012?

Tags: Gold price forecast, silver prices outlook February 2012

Source: http://www.tradingnrg.com/gold-price-forecast-silver-prices-outlook-for-february-6-10/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gold-price-forecast-silver-prices-outlook-for-february-6-10

Precious Metals:

Gold price declined on Friday by 1.08% to $1,740.3; Silver price also traded down by 1.25% to $33.75. During the week, gold rose by 0.3% and silver fell by 0.1%. 

The Euro/USD slightly increased by 0.11% to 1.3158; the U.S Dollar also depreciated against other currencies such as the AUD.

Oil and Gas:

WTI price traded up by 1.54% to $97.84 per barrel; Brent oil also increased by 2.06% to $114.28 per barrel;

Due to these changes, the difference between Brent and WTI oil prices sharply increased to $16.44/bbl. During the week, WTI slipped by 1.7%, while Brent rose by 3.2%.

The Henry Hub future price (March delivery) fell by 1.96% to $2.50/mmbtu; the Henry Hub spot rose to $2.41/mmbtu; the difference between the spot and future sharply fell to $0.09, i.e. Contango.

A Summary of Changes for February 3rd:

The table below includes: closing prices, daily percent changes, and daily changes:

For further reading:

• Gold and Silver Prices Outlook for February 2012
• Gold Silver Prices – Daily Outlook February 3
• Weekly Outlook for 30 January – 3 February
• Gold and Silver Prices Weekly Outlook for January 30- February 3

Tags: Gold price, silver prices

Source: http://www.tradingnrg.com/gold-silver-price-fell-oil-prices-increased-february-3-2012/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gold-silver-price-fell-oil-prices-increased-february-3-2012

The U.S. FEDERAL RESERVE’S status update last month, about how it still loves cheap money always and forever, was sure to work magic, writes Adrian Ash at BullionVault.

Never mind that the pixie-dust blew straight past output, incomes and capital formation. European crude oil this week pushed up through $112 per barrel, taking the average price since Quantitative Easing began in February 2009 above the 3-year “oil bubble” average of mid-2005 to 2008. Swiss commodities trader Glencore is looking to merge with Xstrata mining to create a $79 billion giant – all settled in paper. And the Nasdaq ended this week at an 11-year high, just as Facebook gets ready to float with little but Farmville for income.

Facebook’s valuation adds the tang of nostalgia to frontal lobotomies. More than 1 human in every 8 now alive apparently spends an average 33 minutes per day in the roomful of mirrors. But Facebook’s profit for scalping their souls? Scarcely a dollar a lobe in 2011. So its brokers expect a price-to-sales ratio near 27 and a likely price/earnings ratio of 100-to-1 – the kind of mindless pricing we saw when the Nasdaq first crossed 2,900.

To repeat: the silver and Gold Price have both risen on the same tsunami of cheap money, that seismic tide set to gift even Facebook’s worst enemies a $300 million payday. When the flood next retreats, both gold and silver will likely be left well below their high-water mark, too. But that could look nothing next to the destruction around them.

Which is why cheap-money love is proving so very more-ish to the big central banks.

See how UK housing, in terms of average income, is still more expensive today than at the very top of the late 1980s’ bubble? And see where the sharp discounting, back towards something like affordable on the Nationwide’s data, was stopped in early 2009 by the Bank of England’s first injection of queasing?

Cheap money continues to cause more trouble than mischief, in short. And thanks to Ben Bernanke’s old-new best friend forever, gold just put in its best 1-month gain of the century so far.

Now, after that rate of gain, it’s not surprising to see Friday’s trade taking a profit. But cheap money will surely get another +1 when London and Frankfurt’s central banks both meet next Thursday. Euro investors in particular will want to like the ECB’s Mario Draghi, what with Greece on the verge of default and another two weeks still left before the next round of unlimited 3-year lending to banks.

The Euro Gold Price already topped €1335 per ounce this week. It breached that level on only 5 trading days in last summer’s frenzy.

Buying Gold today…?

Source: http://goldnews.bullionvault.com/facebook_gold_020320126

NEW YORK (TheStreet ) — Gold prices ended Friday with a thud after the U.S. reported a positive January jobs report.

Gold for February delivery closed down $19 to $1,740.30 an ounce at the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange and were continuing their declines in after hours trading. The gold price has traded as high as $1,765.90 and as low as $1,735.50, while the spot gold price was sinking $30, according to Kitco’s gold index.

Silver prices lost 42 cents at $33.74 an ounce. TheU.S. dollar index was slightly higher at $78.98.

Gold prices fell Friday as investors rotated out of the metal and into stocks after a killer jobs number. The number beat expectations with the private sector adding 257,000 jobs and with the unemployment rate falling to 8.3% while the labor force participation rate stayed firm, which means the decline in the unemployment rate was due to more actual hiring.

The dollar strengthened as the outlook for the U.S. economy brightened and it was also given a lift by a weaker euro as rumors started to swirl that Greece’s prime minister might resign as the country is trying to secure its second bailout. The stronger currency weighed slightly on gold.

In addition, the good reading might ease pressure on the Federal Reserve to try to pump more money into the system through another round of quantitative easing, or QE. Although Fed chairman, Ben Bernanke, reiterated his commitment to low rates until the end of 2014 Thursday at a House Budget Committee in Washington, the better job data might prevent additional monetary easing, which would have been good for gold.

Oliver Pursche, co-portfolio manager of the GMG Defensive Beta Fund, didn’t think that the jobs number had a meaningful impact on precious metals. It was a “non mover,” he said attributing the price decline to profit taking as investors opted for stocks.

“The gold story right now is watching some of the global inflation numbers, the better-than-expected strength out of China and the physical demand as a whole,” he said. Technically, Pursche said gold still has more room to go. “It can probably still go up a couple of percentage points,” he said.

David Morgan, founder of Silver-Investor.com, says “Fridays are the squaring of books anyway. A lot of the professional traders don’t carry any positions over the weekend.” Morgan says gold has a wide range of $1,650-$1,750 and thinks that gold could slide below the $1,700 level.

In the meantime, resurfacing Asian demand is helping to support prices. Nigel Moffatt, treasurer and manager at the Perth Mint Depository, noted no real change in demand from China yet as the country returned this week from a week-long holiday, but said Indian demand is starting to improve.

“India has started to take some metal in,” he said. The country lowered the amount of money banks have to keep in their reserves and officials from the Reserve Bank of India indicated they would cut interest rates once inflation slowed, which is still more than 9%.

Source: http://feeds.thestreet.com/~r/tsc/feeds/rss/latest-stories/~3/30beTWasdLI/gold-prices-stall-ahead-of-jobs-number.html

Precious Metals:

Gold price rose again on Thursday by 0.56% to $1,759.3; Silver price also traded up by 1.09% to $34.18. During the week, gold rose by 1.4% and silver by 1.1%. 

The Euro/USD slightly decreased by 0.12% to 1.3144; the U.S Dollar also appreciated against other currencies such as the British Pound.

Oil and Gas:

WTI price traded down again by 1.28% to $96.36 per barrel; Brent oil on the other hand increased by 1.26% to $111.97 per barrel;

Due to these changes, the difference between Brent and WTI oil prices sharply rose to $15.61/bbl. During the week, WTI slipped by 3.2%, and Brent rose by 1.1%.

The Henry Hub future price (March delivery) changed direction again and sharply rose by 7.14% to $2.55/mmbtu; the Henry Hub spot fell to $2.30/mmbtu; the difference between the spot and future sharply rose to $0.25, i.e. Contango.

A Summary of Changes for February 2^nd:

The table below includes: closing prices, daily percent changes, and daily changes:

For further reading:

• Gold and Silver Prices Outlook for February 2012
• Gold Silver Prices – Daily Outlook February 3
• Weekly Outlook for 30 January – 3 February

Tags: Gold price, silver prices

Source: http://www.tradingnrg.com/gold-silver-increased-oil-prices-fell-february-2-2012/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gold-silver-increased-oil-prices-fell-february-2-2012

Natural gas prices started the month on a negative note as they have sharply declined again. Crude oil was also traded down during yesterday’s trading. On the other hand precious metals rallied from their slowdown as gold and silver prices increased on Wednesday. The Euro rallied from its decline on Tuesday and slightly appreciated yesterday against the U.S dollar; other exchange rates including the Australian dollar also rose. Here is a summary of the developments of precious metals and energy commodities for February 1^st, 2012:

Precious Metals:

Gold price increased again on Wednesday by 0.52% to $1,749.5; Silver price also traded up by 1.52% to $33.81. During the week, gold rose by 0.8% and silver by 0.1%. 

The Euro/USD bounced back and slightly increased by 0.59% to 1.3160; the U.S Dollar also depreciated against other exchange rates such as the Australian dollar.

Oil and Gas:

WTI price fell again by 0.88% to $97.61 per barrel; Brent oil also decreased by 0.30% to $110.58 per barrel;

Due to these changes, the difference between Brent and WTI oil prices rose to $12.97/bbl. During the week, WTI slipped by 2%, and Brent by 0.1%.

The Henry Hub future price (March delivery) started off the month declining by 4.8% to $2.38/mmbtu; the Henry Hub spot also sharply fell to $2.32/mmbtu; the difference between the spot and future rose to $0.06, i.e. Contango.

A Summary of Changes for February 1^st:

The table below includes: closing prices, daily percent changes, and daily changes:

For further reading:

• Gold and Silver Prices Outlook for February 2012
• Gold Silver Prices – Daily Outlook February 1
• Weekly Outlook for 30 January – 3 February
• Gold and Silver Prices Weekly Outlook for January 30- February 3

Tags: Gold price, silver prices

Source: http://www.tradingnrg.com/gold-price-and-silver-rose-natural-gas-prices-sharply-fell-february-1st-2012/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gold-price-and-silver-rose-natural-gas-prices-sharply-fell-february-1st-2012

Gold for February delivery closed up $9.10 at $1,749.50 an ounce at the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The gold price has traded as high as $1,754 and as low as $1,735.40 an ounce while the spot price was adding $9, according to Kitco’s gold index.

Silver prices rose 54 cents to close at $33.80 an ounce while the U.S. dollar index was down 0.48% at $78.90.

Gold prices were adding to their January gains Wednesday as the dollar fell against the euro. The Automatic Data Processing employment report showed that the private sector added just 170,000 jobs in January, which was less than expected, and revised December’s whopping 325,000 private job gain down to 292,000. The lackluster reading underscored the Federal Reserve’s commitment to keep rates low until the end of 2014. Extended low rates have been a catalyst for gold.

Based on Deutsche Bank‘s estimates, the Fed won’t look to tighten monetary policy until the unemployment rate is at least 7.6% or lower. The firm, however, does think the rate could fall more quickly than expected which would force the Fed’s hand.

“Over the past four months, the unemployment rate has declined 0.6%,” said Deutsche Bank in a recent note. “This has only happened 7 times before, and over the ensuing 12 months the unemployment rate on average has fallen by another 0.8%.” The firm says policy makers could be in for a big surprise.

Martin Murenbeeld, chief economist at Dundee Wealth, thinks the Fed will stick to its long term rate forecast as he sees no big strength in the U.S. economy. “I don’t see restrictive monetary policy,” he says also speculating the Fed would do another quantitative easing program, or QE.

“If there is an implosion in the banking sector in Europe, the Fed is going to put money into the system to make sure U.S. banks are secure.” Murenbeeld also thinks the Fed might take additional steps to prop up the housing market especially if Washington follows suit.

Although the Fed has increased the M2 supply — money in circulation plus savings, checking and travelers checks — by $2 trillion since the start of 2008, the money hasn’t really made it into circulation, resulting in weak inflation. Murenbeeld says however that asset prices have seen inflation and that gold is “agnostic in terms of where inflation is.”

Source: http://feeds.thestreet.com/~r/tsc/feeds/rss/latest-stories/~3/ovz6y3NI7Z0/gold-prices-build-on-januarys-11-rally.html