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Gold has traded between $1,186 and $1,201 so far today…as of 8:30 am Pacific, bullion is up $4 an ounce at $1,197…Silver is up 8 cents at $17.02…Copper is flat at $2.78…Crude Oil is 31 cents higher at $47.82 while the U.S. Dollar Index has fallen one-third of a point to 96.92 (see updated charts below)…

The factors that weighed on Gold’s decline in 2014 are expected to carry over this year, according to CPM Group, a widely followed New York-based consultancy that has just released its annual Gold yearbook…in 2014, Gold prices faced relatively weaker fabrication demand from China, ongoing selling by shorter-term investors, a stronger U.S. dollar, equity markets scaling record highs, and Oil prices slipping lower in the final part of the year, CPM said…

“Gold prices may weaken based on investors’ likely negative views toward Gold and commodities in the face of imminent U.S. interest rate increases (interesting assumption).  Such speculation could drive Gold prices to their lows for the year,” the research firm stated in a news release.

However, the firm expects Gold prices to rebound from losses relatively quickly. “The downside is limited as much of the impact from these issues already is baked into the price of Gold. In fact, any significant weakening of investor enthusiasm for U.S. stocks, or the dollar, could prove supportive of higher Gold prices, the reverse of 2014’s trends.”

Rule:  “Extremely Frustrated By The Lack Of Issuer Capitulation”

Interesting comments from Rick Rule in “Sprott’s Thoughts” the other day by Henry Bonner, remarks that many companies would be wise to pay attention to…

Rule:  “I have felt extremely frustrated by the lack of issuer capitulation (in the junior resource sector). 

“By that, I mean that Sprott’s ability to invest money on behalf of investors in projects that are suitable has been constrained. The mining industry wails and moans about the lack of capital and their inability to go forward. Those same people in the mining industry aren’t willing to offer equity or debt at market-clearing prices.

“The last time we saw capitulation was in the summer of 2000. That was concurrent with issuer capitulation. The very best issuers decided that they had to raise capital at almost any terms that they could. The attractiveness of the returns they could get from deploying capital at a market bottom overcame the near-term pain that they suffered to their egos for issuing at prices below previous issuance prices.

“In the issuer market today, you see these really luminary financiers, like Robert Friedland, willing to issue full warrants in order to attract capital. Financiers and promoters with, let’s say, less established reputations than Mr. Friedland’s, aren’t willing to do that. I think that the irony there is apparent to everyone.”

Oil Update

U.S. Oil magnate T. Boone Pickens, who wrote a recent article apologizing to Canadians for President Obama’s stance on Keystone and attacks against the Canadian Oil industry, is still standing by his bullish longer-term outlook for Crude, though he has lengthened his time frame for prices returning to the $100 level…he’s now saying that could occur by the end of next year, not by the end of this year as he predicted a few months ago…Pickens said the idea of “Peak Oil” – the point in time at which Oil production will go into an irreversible decline – shouldn’t be dismissed on account of the increase in U.S. production…other regions are seeing their output decline, he said…

Stockpiles of U.S. Crude rose by 8.2 million barrels to record highs in the week ending March 20, according to data released this morning by the U.S. government’s Energy Information Administration…

A Reuters poll of eight analysts forecast the EIA report would show a crude stock build of 5.1 million barrels on average last week…initial data yesterday from the American Petroleum Institute, an industry group, indicated that U.S. Crude Oil inventories rose by 4.8 million barrels in the week to March 20…

U.S. Dollar Index Updated Chart

A temporary top has occurred in the U.S. Dollar Index…the question now is, are we about to see the first major correction in the Dollar Index (within the context of an ongoing bull cycle) since its record move started last summer?…

This 1-year daily chart shows very solid support at the 96 level, previous important resistance…this area also coincides with the rising 50-day moving average (SMA)…a -DI/+DI bearish cross has occurred, and RSI(14) is trying to hold support at the 50% level…

A breach of support around 96 can’t be ruled out at anytime over the next few weeks, and such an event would certainly be bullish for commodities and the Venture…

Gold Bullish? Twisted Foreign Policy And A Vacuum Of Leadership

With developments in the Middle East, Ukraine and elsewhere, the world has never been a more dangerous place – especially given the vacuum of leadership on the international stage created by a U.S. foreign policy that is aloof and growing increasingly bizarre…ultimately, an American national security strategy in shambles will have implications across a broad spectrum of markets including of course Gold…understanding geopolitical dynamics is critical as these dynamics can profoundly dictate the narrative and realities, including economics, that drive markets in volatile ways in the year ahead…

Just one more chapter in the very strange Obama foreign policy story came yesterday when it was reported that the President will not meet with NATO’s new secretary general while he’s in Washington this week, despite requests from the alliance chief’s staff for a discussion…Bloomberg View stated yesterday that Jens Stoltenberg’s office requested a meeting with Obama in advance of his scheduled visit, but did not get any response from the White House…instead, Bloomberg View reported that Stoltenberg had to settle for a last-minute meeting with Defense Secretary Ashton Carter…

Stoltenberg is scheduled to be in Washington through tomorrow, primarily so he can attend a strategic brainstorm session involving military officials and experts from the U.S and NATO…

Stoltenberg, however, did receive the courtesy of a visit with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper Monday, the day before Harper announced that Canada would expand its participation in the war against ISIS in Iraq and Syria…significantly, the report of Obama’s snub comes amid Russia’s growing willingness to test NATO’s military readiness on different fronts…

Meanwhile, it seems the President has put his personal relations with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on par with Russia’s Vladimir Putin.  “I have a very businesslike relationship with the Prime Minister,” Obama declared Tuesday, as reported by the Associated Press (Obama has previously described his relationship with Putin as “businesslike”), as this President continues to put further distance between the United States and its historically staunch ally, Israel…

An American observer summed things up very effectively this way:  “The President and his staff have a very troubling tendency to treat our allies like adversaries and adversaries like allies, which is why we are both less trusted by our friends and (less) feared by our enemies today,” said Josh Block, President of the Israel Project, a pro-Israel education group based in Washington…

Today’s Markets

Asia

China’s red-hot Shanghai Composite broke a 10-session winning streak overnight as it fell 29 points to close at 3662…Japan’s Nikkei average edged up slightly…

Europe

European markets were generally moderately lower today…Germany, Europe’s largest economy, saw business morale rise for the 5th month in a row in March, hitting its highest since July 2014, according to Ifo’s latest business climate index…business morale also rose in France to its highest for nearly 3 years…

North America

The Dow is down 73 points through the first 2 hours of trading…

Demand for big-ticket manufactured goods sank unexpectedly last month, a sign U.S. companies are still cautious about spending amid weak global demand…orders for durable goods – products such as lawn mowers and washing machines designed to last at least 3 years – declined a seasonally adjusted 1.4% in February from a month earlier, the Commerce Department reported today…excluding the volatile transportation sector, orders fell 0.4%, the 5th consecutive monthly decline…

One of Apple Inc.’s biggest believers on Wall Street is getting even more bullish…Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Brian White this week boosted his price target on Apple to $180 per share, a $20 increase…that rockets him far ahead of his peers, and sets his 12-month outlook for the shares more than 40% above where they’re currently trading…if Apple hits White’s target, it’ll become the world’s first $1 trillion company…

In Toronto, the TSX is up 32 points as of 8:30 am Pacific while the Venture has gained 3 points to 678…

Klondex Mines (KDX, TSX) this morning reported net income of $18.3 million or 16 cents per share in its inaugural year of production…KDX expects to produce between 125,000 and 130,000 AuEq ounces in 2015 with all-in-sustaining costs (on a AuEq basis) of U.S. $800 to $850…

International Montoro Resources Inc. (IMT, TSX-V) Update

International Montoro Resources (IMT, TSX-V) enjoyed its highest-volume day in 8 months yesterday as the company announced mobilization of drill crews to test the fascinating Pecors anomaly near Elliot Lake that has caught the attention of not only IMT, but the Ontario Geological Survey…

Originally, Uranium was the focus at this property but some important work by the OGS has provided strong evidence that this massive anomaly (Pecors) could be the result of contact style Ni-Cu-PGE mineralization similar to that found to the east at Sudbury…significantly, that’s the independent interpretation of the OGS…sediment sampling has also shown high levels of Nickel and Chromium, lending further weight to the new analysis…in other words, IMT has every reason to state that it’s aiming for Ontario’s next major Nickel, Cu and PGE deposit…the drill rig – the ultimate “truth machine” – should provide some initial answers shortly, but the mere potential for a significant high-grade hit in this drill program is likely to attract the attention of speculators…the market could use an exciting success story on the exploration front…Pecors is 1 possibility…

IMT’s first drill hole will be right into the heart of this anomaly as shown below…

IMT is a very capable group led by President and CEO Gary Musil who has done an admirable job of moving Highbank Resources (HBK, TSX-V) forward during challenging market conditions the last couple of years…

Technically, IMT has been trading within a horizontal channel between 5.5 cents and 9 cents over the last 6 months, and is showing the same breakout possibilities as John correctly identified recently in Noront Resources (NOT, TSX-V)…

IMT is up half a penny at 8.5 cents as of 8:30 am Pacific…

Noront Resources Ltd. (NOT, TSX-V) Chart Update

A confirmed breakout has occurred in Noront Resources (NOT, TSX-V) above Fib. resistance in the mid-40’s as shown in this 2+ year weekly chart…RSI(14) is also showing strong up momentum…NOT has added another 5.5 cents as of 8:30 am Pacific to 54 cents…

Kootenay Silver Inc. (KTN, TSX-V) Update

Kootneay Silver (KTN, TSX-V) has a high-quality exploration play unfolding with its La Negra Silver discovery, contained within the Promontorio mineral belt in Sonora, Mexico…we all know how prolific Sonora is as a mineral region…the La Negra breccia discovery is situated approximately 6.5 km north of Kootenay’s flagship Promontorio Silver resource, and a 30-hole follow-up drill program commenced about a month ago…

Technically, a significant breakout appears to be unfolding here as KTN has pushed above both a downtrend line (in place since late 2012) and an ascending triangle on this 3-year weekly chart…confirmation is required…

Note:  Jon holds a share position in IMT.