By Barry Stuppler – MintStateGold.com
GOLD
At 11am PDT, Gold is trading at $1,675.50, down $49.60 per ounce in very active trading. The entire precious metal, commodities, energy and equity markets are reacting to a worsening European debt and banking crisis.
Chinese gold demand for 2011 is estimated to be another record of 750 Metric Tonnes, a 31% increase over 2010. In 2010, China purchased 571.5 metric tonnes, and that was a 21% increase over 2009. In spite of higher gold prices the Chinese appetite for gold continues to grow dramatically.
Exchange-traded product provider ETF Securities Monday said its physically-backed gold ETPs last week received their largest influx of capital in five weeks as the metal benefited from fresh safe-haven demand amid rocketing European bond yields. The London-based company’s gold ETPs took net inflows of around $130 million last week “as investors look to defensive assets to counter escalating sovereign concerns.”
Overview of what is happening with Budget Super-Committee in Washington DC
“The markets are now in the process of pricing in the epic failure of the [US] super-committee,” a US-based fund manager said. “With everything going on in Europe, we forgot about how dysfunctional Washington has become.” If the 12-member budget committee does not reach an agreement on $1.2 trillion in savings over the next decade, massive across-the-board automatic spending cuts would be triggered starting in 2013.
The Republican members of the committee said they will not budge on tax increases, while the Democrats have refused to support deep cuts to entitlement programs such as Social Security and Medicare.
SILVER
Today Silver’s decline is $1.30, with silver trading at $31.10 at 11am PDT on a heavy volume. Global recession concerns are spreading, please read the Reuters report below.
Reuter’s reported today that the financial contagion from Europe is pushing global economies toward the brink, and the risks of slipping into worldwide recession are rising significantly. China’s exports have plunged to half their year-ago levels. Factory orders in Germany, Europe’s economic powerhouse, are slumping as China weakens. Australia and Indonesia have cut interest rates to ward off damage from Europe, while Japan, Britain and Brazil have slashed their growth forecasts.
