Despite Record Physical Demand And A Short-Covering Rally, GLD Still Bleeding Assets

For anyone who has not been paying attention, gold and silver are in the grasp of the bears now. Prices of gold are now down almost 24% since hitting an all-time high of $1,920.80 an ounce in September 2011. Silver is now down 52% from its April 2011 highs of $49.51. This price action has sparked fears that the bull market in metals, particularly gold and silver, is coming to an end. Investors have been bailing out of the SPDR Gold Trust (GLD) and the iShares Silver Trust (SLV). The GLD is trading at $141.60, whereas the SLV is trading at $23.50. They are now down 125% and 22.0% in 2013, respectively. With the historic sell-off that took place last week, huge physical buyers stepped in. Much of the physical demand came from Asia and the U.S. On the silver front, physical demand is...............READ MORE

Record Demand Lifts Gold Prices, U.S. Mint Suspends Sales

The disconnect between the price of gold as determined by futures trading and ETF selling versus the demand for physical gold and silver continues to grow. Demand is now near all-time highs after a historic sell-off last week. The most popular ETFs that track gold and silver, the SPDR Gold Trust (GLD) and the iShares Silver Trust (SLV), are now at $138.69 and $22.42, respectively. With the sell-off in the metals, GLD has been forced to liquidate about $12 billion worth of gold in order to meet shareholder redemption demand as a result of the selling. This pressure on the GLD may continue due to the redemption need, however the price of gold has a tailwind in the form of near record physical bullion buying. The buying is so great that national Mints are having difficulty keeping pace with buyer demand......................READ MORE

Gold, Silver, And Copper Are In A Bear Market - What To Look For This Week

Prices of gold are now down almost 26% since hitting an all-time high of $1,920.80 an ounce in September 2011. Silver is now down 53% from its April 2011 highs of $49.51. Copper has also been very weak, plunging 25% from a recent February 2012 high of $3.98 a pound. This price action has sparked fears that the bull market in metals, particularly gold and silver, is coming to an end. Investors have been bailing out of the SPDR Gold Trust (GLD) and the iShares Silver Trust (SLV). The GLD is trading at $135.47, whereas the SLV is trading at $22.40. They are now down 16.4% and 23.8% in 2013, respectively. The Copper ETN (JJC) has lost 15% year to date, trading at $39.18. This article will.............................READ MORE

The Pain Of Lower Gold Prices: Barrick To Sell Assets

As most of us know, the only way to describe the price action in gold and silver on April 12th and April 15th is panic selling. There were several reasons for the initial bearishness on April 12th which led to technical and panic selling into April 15th in the precious metals market. We have witnessed the strongest sell-off in gold since 1980. Much of the selling seems to have subsided for now, as gold has stabilized this week, coming up each day of the past week. Gold has come back from the lows of the week and is currently at $1407, while silver is at $23.23 an ounce. The pain in the precious metals has sent the SPDR Gold Trust (GLD) and the iShares Silver Trust (SLV) down considerably, trading now at $135.47 and $22.44, respectively. The pain in the metals has crushed the miners. The Gold Miners Index (GDX) is down another 6.5% this week, and down 40% year to date. The drop in gold prices is leading to one of the top gold producers, Barrick Gold (ABX), to contemplate..................................READ MORE