By Barry Stuppler – MintStateGold.com
GOLD
Early this morning, the Labor Department reported a September increase of 103,000 in non-farm jobs. The increase was larger than the 59,000 gain expected by Wall Street economists. The Stock Market, U.S. Dollar, Oil, Gold and Silver were all trading higher, then the Fitch Agency downgraded the debt of Italy and Spain and everything went south quickly. To see this dramatic of a reaction of these markets to a potential European sovereign default is very disconcerting. Eurozone leaders are meeting this weekend in an attempt to finalize a bailout agreement for the PIIGS countries, and re-capitalize problem banks. The problem was accentuated by Moody’s Investor Services downgrading the credit rating of 12 UK Banks and 9 Portuguese banks. At 11am PDT gold was trading at $1,639.40, down $8.90 per ounce on very active trading, for a Friday.
SILVER
Silver was down $0.84 at 11am PDT, trading at $31.04 per ounce on heavy volume, for a Friday. We are seeing increasing demands from the Asian market for Silver. The attractive low price and 53:1 Silver to Gold ratio, has made silver more popular as a precious metal investment.
Other Important news that affects precious metal prices:
The Commerce Department reported today that Inventories at U.S. wholesalers rose 0.4% in August, and were up 14.4% from the prior year.
