By Barry Stuppler – MintStateGold.com
GOLD
Today we are seeing gold build an excellent trading range from $1,763 to $1,787 on solid volume. At 11am PDT gold is trading at $1,781.30 up $18.10 per ounce on the day. After this morning’s comments by French President Nicolas Sarkozy on euro zone proposals the gold market rallied higher as the Stock Market fell dramatically.
As our country moves forward to a possible gold standard with two pieces of legislation in Washington D.C., it is interesting to remember that yesterday was the 40th Anniversary of President Nixon taking the U.S. off of the gold standard.
The Federal Reserve is sending up a trial balloon ahead of the August 26th Jackson Hole meeting. Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank President Dennis Lockhart says U.S. recession risks have risen. He stated that the risk of a new U.S. recession has risen over the last couple of months, but an outright contraction will most likely be avoided. Lockhart said there is plenty the central bank could do if the economy does deteriorate further, including ramping up asset purchases or shifting their composition.
SILVER
Silver is having a difficult time staying above the resistance level of $40 per ounce. Silver did reach $40.26 and quickly came back to $39.70 as the bulls and bears in the trading pit are trying to take control. It is interesting to watch the trading because it is completely divorced from the gold trading activity; as the gold market rallied on the Euro Zone proposal, both the stock market and Silver markets sold off. At 11am PDT Silver is trading at $39.78, up $0.18 per ounce on excellent volume today.
ANA WORLD’S FAIR OF MONEY UPDATE
A SPECIAL AWARD
Last night I was truly honored to present the Professional Numismatic Guild’s (PNG) Significant Contribution Award to Joel and Charles Anderson. The presentation took place at the PNG’s awards banquet, which is part of the World’s Fair of Money convention activities. You may not recognize the names Joel & Charles Anderson, however their companies are Whitman Publishing, Whitman Convention Expos, and Stack Coin Auctions (Now part of Stacks-Bower Auctions) which are very well known to most collectors and dealers. These two extraordinary men have contributed substantially to making the study of numismatics available to both beginners and advanced numismatists, while engaging in Philanthropic and Humanitarian activities.
Rare Coin Report
The largest Rare Coin and Precious Metal Dealers Convention of the year started today in Chicago at 9am EDT as the opening ribbon was cut at the ANA’s World’s Fair of Money. Collectors, investors, and dealers filled the hallway waiting to enter the bourse trading floor. It’s too early to report specific information but buying activity is very heavy.
Other Important news that affects precious metal prices:
Builders began work on fewer homes in July, indicating residential real estate is failing to contribute to U.S. growth two years into an economic recovery. Commerce Department figures showed today in Washington that housing starts fell 1.5 percent to a 604,000 annual rate (in line with the median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News) from June’s 613,000 pace that was less than previously estimated. Building permits, a proxy for future construction have dropped.
Higher crude oil prices drove import prices up by 0.3% in July, the Labor Department reported Tuesday. The rise in import prices was a surprise. Economists surveyed by Market Watch were expecting import prices to fall 0.1% in July. Import prices had fallen 0.6% in June.
