By Barry Stuppler – MintStateGold.com
GOLD
At 11am PDT, Gold is trading at $1,823.80, up $0.40 per ounce on average volume with a tight $22.00 range.
The downgrading of banks should be bullish for gold; however, I was told that since last Friday a large amount of Gold lending in the forward market is rumored to be euro banks trying to raise cash.
SILVER
Silver was down today $0.58 per ounce at 11am PDT, trading at $40.44 per ounce; light trading with a $1.00 price range, staying above the important $40 per ounce level.
Eurozone Debt Update
Moody’s downgraded two French banks, with concerns growing that the euro zone debt crisis could spread to Italy, and Greece might default. Moody’s lowered its rating on Credit Agricole one notch from Aa1 to AA2, and cut its rating on Société Générale to Aa3 from Aa2, hours before the leaders of Greece, France, and Germany were to hold a video conference on measures to head off a potential Greek default.
Other Important news that affects precious metal prices:
Inventories at U.S. businesses rose 0.4% in July, the Commerce Department said Wednesday. Economists had been expecting inventories to rise 0.5%. Business sales rose 0.7%. The inventory-to-sales ratio, an indication of demand, declined to 1.27 in July from 1.28 in the prior month.
Commerce Department data released today showed that U.S. retail and food services sales in August reached $389.5 billion, with virtually no growth from the prior month, as consumers spent more at gas stations and grocery stores, but less at motor vehicles and parts dealers.
