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Gold has traded between $1,647 and $1,660 so far today…as of 6:15 am Pacific, the yellow metal is up $10 an ounce at $1,657…Silver is 26 cents higher at $30.42…Copper is flat at $3.64…Crude Oil has gained 44 cents to $93.63 while the U.S. Dollar Index is up one-quarter of a point at 80.36…

Today’s Markets

Asian markets ended lower today as investors took a break from the the recent rally with caution setting in ahead of corporate earnings season for the last quarter of 2012 and the European Central Bank’s policy meeting later in the week…Japan’s Nikkei average lost 90 points to 10508 while China’s Shanghai Composite fell 9 points to 2276…European shares are up slightly despite some mixed economic data this morning.. retail sales for the bloc showed a 0.1% rise for November from the previous month, but a -2.6 percent drop from the same month the previous year…economic sentiment data showed the business climate in the euro zone was at its highest level since July, climbing to a figure of 87.0 from 85.7 in November…unemployment data was released showing another record high for November with 113,000 people losing their jobs…futures in New York as of 6:15 am Pacific are pointing to a slightly negative open on Wall Street…the Venture Exchange finished down 4 points yesterday on low volume at 1224, several points above the 10-day moving average (SMA)…the rising 20-day moving average (SMA) at also expected to provide strong support…

U.S. State & Local Governments In Best Financial Shape Since Recession

Interesting article from Bloomberg this morning…U.S. state and local governments are in their best financial shape since the recession, giving them leeway to cushion the U.S. economy from federal budget cuts with spending and hiring of their own…after slashing their workforces by about half a million in the past five years, state and local authorities will add employees in 2013, according to Pennsylvania-based Moody’s Analytics…their payrolls in the fourth quarter will be 220,000 larger than in the same period for 2012, Moody’s projects…other expenditures including investment will also be higher, rising by 1.8%, triple the increase last year, according to projections by St. Louis-based Macroeconomic Advisers…the shift will help the U.S. weather the blow from federal tax increases and spending cuts, keeping the expansion on course…states and municipalities accounted for 12% of GDP in 2011 and won’t be a drag on growth this year for the first time since 2009..

Venture-Shanghai Comparative Chart

As we’ve been pointing out, there are some interesting parallels in chart patterns the last several years between the Venture and China’s Shanghai Composite…below is an updated chart from John comparing the two markets in a monthly chart going back to 2001…note the different phases – the climb, the crash, the recovery and the consolidation…it appears China has finally turned the corner, breaking out of a downtrend that had been in place since early 2011, and we believe that bodes well for the Venture as 2013 progresses…

Canadian Dollar Updated Chart

Another good indicator for the Venture is the very healthy state of the Canadian dollar which is underpinned by a very strong support band as shown in John’s chart…the dollar is trading above the weekly EMA(20), and the 300-day SMA at $1.00 is rising…all indications are, the Canadian dollar should continue to gradually gain strength…

Tinka Resources (TK, TSX-V) Chart Update

Tinka Resources (TK, TSX-V) was halted about 30 minutes ago (5:45 am Pacific), at the request of the company, pending news…we’ve been watching Tinka closely over the last few months as it has been making steady progress with its 100% owned Colquipucro Silver-lead-zinc project in Peru..the stock was a strong performer in 2012 and showed impressive strength in the final quarter when many other stocks were under pressure…we’ll see what this morning’s news brings…the EMA(20) has provided excellent support and is currently at 91 cents…the stock closed yesterday at 96 cents…

Corvus Gold (KOR, TSX)

Corvus Gold (KOR, TSX) has backed off marginally from an all-time high of $1.83 in early December…it closed at $1.62 yesterday, a penny or two above its rising 50-day moving average (SMA) which is significant as the 50-day has provided unflinching support for this stock since mid-September…the rare occasions when KOR has dropped below its 50-day over the past year have proven to be smart buying opportunities…the stock has traded within an upsloping channel since the beginning of 2012…the bottom of that channel, as John shows below in a 2-year weekly chart, and the EMA-20  at $1.44, are also areas of very strong support…

Note:  John, Jon and Terry do not hold positions in TK or KOR.

Gold has traded between $1,645 and $1,663 so far today…as of 5:35 am Pacific, the yellow metal is down $8 an ounce at $1,649…Silver is off a dime at $30.06…Copper has slid 3 pennies to $3.62…Crude Oil is down 47 cents at $92.62 while the U.S. Dollar Index has climbed slightly to 80.58…below are John’s regular Monday morning Silver chart updates, short-term and long-term…we remain very bullish on Silver for 2013…

Silver Chart Updates – Short-Term and Long-Term

Short-Term Chart

Long-Term Chart

Today’s Markets

Asian markets were generally lower overnight though China’s Shanghai Composite gained another 8 points to 2285…European shares are slightly negative today, though bank stocks surged on news that lenders have won more flexible liquidity requirements…the Basel committee’s recast rules will be less strict than originally expected and will not be enforced until 2019…the market sensitive “liquidity coverage ratios” will also be less onerous…the LCRs mark the first time that global regulators have sought to require individual banks to hold enough cash and easy-to-sell assets to allow them to survive a short-term market crisis…futures in New York as of 5:35 am Pacific are pointing toward a slightly negative open in New York…on Friday, the S&P 500 posted its best closing high since December, 2007, following better than expected data from the ISM non-manufacturing index and December’s jobs report which showed 155,000 positions were added with the jobless rate holding steady at 7.8%..the fourth quarter earnings season kicks off tomorrow with Aloca, the first Dow component to report…there are a handful of other major companies reporting this week including Wells Fargo, ahead of the heavy deluge of earnings reports in the following week…there are just a few economic reports, including weekly jobless claims and trade data…third-quarter earnings for the S&P 500 saw a good many declines and, as a whole, profits rose just 0.1%, while fourth-quarter earnings are expected to rise 2.8%, according to Thomson Reuters…

Venture Exchange Update

Further to our Week In Review And A Look Ahead yesterday, what the recent action in the Venture is suggesting is that the underpinnings for Gold and base metals are very supportive given global accommodative monetary policies, a Chinese economy on the rebound and signs of stabilization in Europe…the Venture couldn’t be knocked down to a new 52-week low in December – it held critical support – and the psychology of this market could change significantly in the coming weeks…what we’re watching for is a breakout by the Index through a down trendline (around 1240) that has been in place since early 2011 as you can see in John’s weekly chart below…the RSI(14) trend is looking very positive and the red line is the 1,000-day moving average (SMA) that ended a four-year decline in the fourth quarter (very significant)…2013 is going to be a much better for the Venture Exchange in our view given these technical conditions including the double bottom, but investor patience is important as the Index works its way through areas of resistance…

Deveron Resources (DVR, TSX-V)

A few months ago, we alerted our readers to an interesting 25-cent Venture IPO that was in the works for Deveron Resources which finally started trading at the end of November under the symbol “DVR“…at the moment, Deveron has just one property asset – its Nechako claims in the Blackwater district, strategically located immediately above Parlane Resources‘ (PPP, TSX-V) Big Bear land package…as readers know, we’re bullish on this district in general as it makes sense geologically that it’s just a matter of time before a company makes another Gold-Silver discovery on top of the 10 million ounces of Gold (plus Silver) that New Gold Inc. (NGD, TSX) has already established…but what we consider to be Deveron’s most valuable asset is its incredible share structure…in today’s market, share structure is critical…Deveron has just 11,794,505 shares outstanding and Greencastle Resources (VGN, TSX-V) holds two-thirds of that total (7,569,505 shares or 64%)…3 million shares were issued in the IPO and those are essentially the only shares for sale in this deal for the foreseeable future as Greencastle has to be viewed as a long-term player…the balance of shares (approximately 1.2 million) are held by insiders…Deveron has a very low burn rate and is also backstopped financially by cash-rich Greencastle, so we view the downside risk as minimal…the upside potential, on the other hand, is huge in our opinion, and not simply because of Blackwater…the group behind this deal has a reputation for finding significant projects and turning them into a success…Seafield Resources (SFF, TSX-V) was a classic example as Deveron CEO Jim Pirie, a geologist, and long-time business partner Tony Roodenburg took Seafield from pennies and virtually no cash in 2009 to a major success story by late 2010 by vending in a Colombian Gold property…they eventually turned over Seafield to another group after completing a $15 million private placement and establishing a 1.5+ million ounce Gold resource…with such an attractive share structure, the possibilities for Deveron are exciting…what we’re expecting – given the track records of the individuals involved – is that the company will add a second project that is probably much more advanced than its Nechako play…success for Deveron will also bode well for Greencastle which at 10 cents is currently trading below cash value…Deveron closed Friday at 38 cents…as always, perform your own due diligence…

Rainbow Resources (RBW, TSX-V) Update

Over the last several days we’ve had time to review Rainbow Resources‘ (RBW, TSX-V) Gold Viking drill results released last Wednesday, and learn a little bit more about the Slocan Valley area…the high-grade Gold and Silver intercepts near-surface, including 17.3 g/t Au over 1.9 metres, are extremely significant especially when combined with important supporting information such as a Fugro heli-borne electromagnetic survey that revealed a very low-resistivity feature over a large area that corresponded almost exactly to a multi-element soil geochemical anomaly…this suggests a structural break that has acted as a conduit for mineralizing fluids…Gold Viking is located right beside Rainbow’s Ottawa Property which formed part of the Ottawa Mines’ production of nearly 2 million ounces of Silver in the 1900’s at an average grade of more than 60 ounces per ton…the interaction of the Slocan Fault, the Nelson Batholith and the Valhalla Metamorphic Complex may have cooked up cooked up something quite significant at Gold Viking in terms of both Gold and Silver…the early drill results show vein continuity and mineable widths…what’s rather remarkable is a company producing those kind of drill results from a property that had previously never been drilled…that’s highly uncommon in this industry…we’ll have much more on all of this in the coming days, but it’s time for investors to wake up as Gold Viking is for real…

Everton Resources (EVR, TSX-V) Chart Update

Comstock Metals (CSL, TSX-V)

Note: John and Jon hold share positions in RBW while Jon also holds a share position in DVN.

TSX Venture Exchange and Gold

This is our final abbreviated posting due to the holidays.  Regular postings resume tomorrow.

The Venture Exchange had another good week, though on relatively light volume due to the holidays.  The Index climbed 26 points to close at 1228, just a few points below its still-declining 50-day moving average (SMA).  The 20-day (SMA) has reversed to the upside after being in decline since mid-October.  As we have pointed out repeatedly, the fact that the Venture could not be driven to a new 52-week low in December despite the pressures of tax loss selling, weakness in Gold, and the ridiculous “fiscal cliff” hysteria whipped up by an ignorant mainstream media, is extremely bullish.  The low from last June (1154) was successfully tested in a double bottom pattern, so the psychology of this market could soon change rather dramatically with the belief that 1154 was indeed the low of the bear market that commenced in early March, 2011.  The drop was 53%.

Regular readers will know that we have charted quite a few similarities in recent years between the Venture Exchange and China’s Shanghai Composite Index.  Their trading patterns have been quite similar, strangely enough.  One reason could be that they are both speculative markets.  Late last month, the Shanghai finally broke out from a down trendline that had been in place since early 2011.  The Venture is currently very close to breaking out of its down trendline (around 1240).  The Shanghai has typically moved first on trend changes, slightly ahead of the Venture, so we do expect the Venture to soon bust loose if this pattern continues and we have every reason to believe it will.

Below is an updated 7-month daily Venture chart from John.  RSI(2) has recently unwound an overbought condition.  Previous resistance at 1220 now appears to have become support.  Near-term minor resistance is at 1240.  The Index has some serious heavy lifting to do, however, to power through a resistance area between 1260 and 1275.  The energy required to do so should come from breaking out above the down trendline.  Investor patience is required.  We’re certain the “big picture” trend has changed given the fourth quarter reversal to the upside in the long-term 1,000-day SMA.  That was a significant technical event.  2013 for the Venture will have its ups and downs but overall it should be a much better year than 2012, just based on the technical picture.

Gold

Gold ended up relatively unchanged for the week, closing at $1,657, despite plummeting Thursday and early Friday after release of December’s Fed minutes that showed some surprising dissension within the Federal Reserve as to how long QE3 should continue.  As we commented Friday morning, traders likely over-reacted to the Fed minutes, which has occurred in the past.  Gold dropped briefly into the $1,620’s before rallying strongly and finishing above important support at $1,640 (very bullish).  Friday’s employment report from the Labor Department shows the U.S. economy still has a long way to go before unemployment can fall to the Fed’s target level of 6.5%.  And doves including Chairman Ben Bernanke also still remain in the driver’s seat of Fed policy.  The ever-expanding Fed balance sheet ($85 billion per month currently after December’s fresh stimulus) is of concern to some Fed members, though, and so it should be.  They worry that, among other things, the Fed’s large and growing balance sheet could make it hard to tighten credit down the road if inflation heats up.  There are many factors driving Gold and we just don’t see the Fed acting hastily to end QE3 before the end of 2013.

Below is an updated 6-month daily Gold chart from John.  Note how Gold recently broke above an RSI(14) down trendline.  This is usually a good sign.

Silver closed 15 cents higher for the week at $30.18.  Copper was strong, adding 8 cents to $3.64 on positive economic news out of China.  Crude Oil gained $2.29 a barrel to $93.09 while the U.S. Dollar Index jumped nearly a full point to 80.51.  Tomorrow morning, John will have his usual short-term and long-term Silver charts.

The “Big Picture” View Of Gold

As Frank Holmes so effectively illustrates at www.usfunds.com, Gold is being driven by both the Fear Trade and the Love Trade.  The transfer of wealth from west to east, and the accumulation of wealth particularly in China and India, is having a huge impact on Gold.

The fundamental case for Gold remains incredibly strong – currency instability and an overall lack of confidence in fiat currencies, governments and world leaders in general, an environment of historically low interest rates and negative real interest rates that won’t end anytime soon (inflation is greater than the nominal interest rate even in parts of the world where rates are increasing), money supply growth, massive government debt from the United States to Europe, central bank buying, flat mine supply, physical demand, investment demand, emerging market growth, geopolitical unrest and conflicts, and inflation concerns…the list goes on.  QE3 has arrived, and massive central bank intervention is now taking place to prevent a breakup of the euro zone and to kick-start the global economy.  It’s hard to imagine Gold not performing well in this environment.

Gold continues to be under pressure today following the release of yesterday’s FMOC minutes that revealed some surprising dissension within the Federal Reserve as to how long QE3 should continue…as of 7:50 am Pacific, Gold is recovering but is still down $18 an ounce to $1,646 after slipping to $1,625 overnight – a 4.5 month low…traders likely have over-reacted to the Fed minutes, which has occurred in the past…technically, Gold has plenty of support around current levels and this morning’s employment report from the Labor Department shows the U.S. economy still has a long way to go before unemployment can fall to the Fed’s target level of 6.5%…doves including Chairman Ben Bernanke also still remain in the driver’s seat of Fed policy….the ever-expanding Fed balance sheet ($85 billion per month currently after December’s fresh stimulus) is of concern to some Fed members, though, and so it should be…they worry that, among other things, the Fed’s large and growing balance sheet could make it hard to tighten credit down the road if inflation heats up…what the the Fed does appear to be signaling to the market is that extraordinarily accommodative monetary policy is not something that will last forever…weaning the economy off the stimulus drip feed will likely be a very gradual process, however, that may not rock the markets too much…there are also many factors driving Gold and they are not likely to disappear anytime soon…

Silver nearly touched $29 an ounce overnight, its lowest level since August, but has since rebounded to $29.80, a 30-cent loss for the day…Copper is off a penny at $3.65…Crude Oil is 36 cents lower at $92.63 while the U.S. Dollar Index is essentially unchanged at 80.62…

Overall Venture Exchange volume remains light given that many traders/investors are still on holidays…we continue to be on an abbreviated postings schedule until Monday, January 7, when activity should begin to pick up…

U.S. Adds 155,000 Jobs In December

The Labor Department reported this morning that the U.S. economy added 155,000 positions last month as the jobless rate held at 7.8% (November’s jobless rate was revised slightly upward)…that number was pretty much in line with expectations and was very close to the average monthly job creation figure for 2012 of 153,000…it will take a considerable stretch of 200,000+ new jobs each month to bring the unemployment rate down significantly from current levels…that’s why the Fed is not likely to take its foot off the monetary easing peddle anytime soon…

Volatility Index- Interesting Chart

From time to time it’s interesting to take a look at the Volatility Index which recently spiked over media-inspired fears regarding the “fiscal cliff”…you’ll notice that near the end of last month, the VIX climbed all the way up to its declining 200-week moving average (SMA) around 23 where it met stiff resistance (it also met resistance at this SMA in the May-June period)…it has fallen dramatically this week…it’s good for stocks when the VIX is below 25…

Today’s Markets

Markets in Japan and China were higher overnight as they each played catch-up on their first trading day of the year…Japan’s Nikkei share average rose to a 22-month high (10,688) as a deal in Washington to avert the so-called “fiscal cliff” buoyed investor risk appetite and a weaker yen lifted exporters like Toyota Motor…China’s Shanghai Composite gained another 8 points to 2277…European shares were generally flat today while North American markets are up slightly…as of 7:50 am Pacific, the Dow is 3 points lower at 13388 while the Venture Exchange is down 4 points at 1222…

Cap-Ex Ventures (CEV, TSX-V) Chart Update

In December, we wrote about how an improving economic situation in China would be helpful to commodities in general including the graphite and iron ore sectors…some of those stocks began to move last month including Cap-Ex Ventures (CEV, TSX-V) which has risen more than 50% off its December and 52-week low of 20 cents…CEV closed at 32.5 cents yesterday and is up another 3.5 pennies as of 7:50 am Pacific to 36 cents, albeit on low volume…below is an updated 6-month daily chart from John…CEV has formed a very distinctive cup-with-handle pattern…RSI(14) is now relatively high at 72% (entering today), so CEV may need to take a breather soon to digest its recent gains and after reaching the mid-30’s rather quickly as John projected…any near-term pullback could be a good entry point for those who may have missed out on this one a few weeks ago in the low-to-mid-20’s…as always, perform your own due diligence…

TrueClaim Exploration (TRM, TSX-V) Update

There has been some interesting trading activity in Trueclaim Exploration (TRM, TSX-V) since the end of October when the stock crashed to 2 cents on record volume…the stock has rebounded sharply since then, and yesterday the company announced that Byron Coulthard, with an extensive background in mining and finance, has assumed the position of President and Chief Executive Officer with Brian Larsen added to the board of directors…the company intends to move forward aggressively with its Black Diamond Silver-Gold-Copper Property in Arizona and its Scadding Gold Property in Ontario, though we wouldn’t be surprised if they come up with something new to add to the mix…below is a 2.5-year weekly TRM chart from John showing short-term resistance at 8-9 cents…overall, though, this chart looks impressive and suggests that Trueclaim could make some noise in 2013 with new blood at the helm…

Note: John, Jon and Terry do not hold positions in TRM.

Gold has traded between $1,676 and $1,689 so far today…as of 5:00 am Pacific, the yellow metal is down $8 an ounce at $1,678…Silver is off 14 cents to $30.84…Copper is down slightly at $3.69 after a strong move to the upside yesterday…Crude Oil is off 55 cents to $92.57 while the U.S. Dollar Index has surged one-third of a point to 80.15…

We continue to be on an abbreviated postings schedule until Monday, January 7…

Today’s Markets

Asian markets closed higher overnight on hopes of a steady economic revival in China, though gains were marginal compared to the previous session’s strong gains as investors took some money off the table and braced for more U.S. budget battles…markets in Japan and China remain closed until tomorrow…stocks are generally flat in Europe while futures in New York as of 5:00 am Pacific are pointing toward a slightly negative open on Wall Street after yesterday’s robust start to 2013…

Below is an updated 2.5-year Venture chart from John that compares the Venture with Gold and the CRB Index…yesterday, the CDNX climbed 19 points to close at 1240…you can see that once again, the Venture is threatening to break above its down trendline that has been in place since early 2011…we’re not saying this is about to happen right away, but the probability of this event occurring in the coming weeks appears to be very high…investor patience is critical…this market is looking much healthier technically for 2013…

Rainbow Resources (RBW, TSX-V) Update – Rainbow Intersects High-Grade Gold and Silver at Gold Viking

News from Rainbow Resources (RBW, TSX-V) yesterday was highly significant in our view as the company reported drill results from two additional holes from the southern part of Gold Viking (GV-12-04 and GV-12-03) that were even better than the first two.  Below is our explanation as to why these results, including 17.3 g/t Au over nearly 2 metres near-surface, are so important.

This particular area of British Columbia (Slocan Valley) has a rich history of high-grade deposits, and of course right next door to the Gold Viking Property is Rainbow’s Ottawa Property that is part of the past producing Ottawa Mines – the Slocan Valley’s #1 Silver source in the early 1900’s.  Nearly 2 million ounces came out of the Ottawa Mines at an incredible average production grade of 61 ounces per ton.  Ottawa is developed on nine levels, five of each are serviced by adits driven at vertical levels of about 30 metres.  A broad shear/breccia zone in coarse-grained, porphyritic, Nelson quartz monzonite comprises two well-defined lodes with most of the historical work completed on the east lode that is 0.6 to 6 metres wide.   Narrow veins, but very high grade.

Importantly, the first four holes EVER drilled at Gold Viking show continuity of a vein system (more than one vein was hit in these initial holes) that likely “pinches and swells” and could lead Rainbow into a stockwork system, a rich mineralized “shoot”, a breccia pipe or some other type of significant high-grade underground deposit.  Where there’s “smoke” in this particular region, there’s often “fire”.    These high-grade deposits in B.C. can be very economic to mine as Huldra Mining (HDA, TSX-V) is discovering at its Treasure Mountain Property near Hope, B.C., a silver-lead-zinc fracture-controlled deposit where veins occur in proximity to the Treasure Mountain Fault and a feldspar porphyry dyke that partially occupies the fault.

Huldra has been a great success so far as it has managed to fast-track Treasure Mountain into production which began in the fourth quarter of last year.   In 2011, Huldra completed a 51-hole drill program (5,000+ metres) over its main mine development area at Treasure Mountain.

Out of 51 holes drilled at the main mine development area, here is what Huldra reported:

– A total of 67 significant intercepts

– Only 15 of the 67 intercepts were 2 metres or more in width (drilled lengths, not true width)

– 23 of the intersections graded 100 g/t Ag or better with several in excess of 1,000 g/t

Treasure Mountain includes no Gold – just Silver, lead and zinc.

The point is that you don’t need long intercepts to make these high-grade situations work.  You just need HIGH GRADE at reasonable depths, in an area close to infrastructure.  Huldra is extracting rich ore using short mining widths.  They are shipping the ore to a 200-tonne per day mill they constructed just over an hour’s drive away in Merritt, then it heads off to a smelter.

Out of the first 4 holes drilled at the Gold Viking Property, here is what Rainbow has reported NEAR-SURFACE:

– 1.9 metres grading 17.3 g/t Au and 65.6 g/t Ag – the Silver grade will increase as there was 1 over-limit Ag sample

– 2.7 metres grading 34.1 g/t Ag and 2.4 g/t Au – again, the Silver grade will increase as there was 1 over-limit Ag sample

– 4.6 metres grading 45 g/t Ag and 0.6 g/t Au – again, the Silver grade will increase as there were 2 over-limit Ag samples

– 1.2 metres grading >100 g/t Ag and 1.1 g/t Au – again, the Silver grade will increase as this 1.2-metre sample was 1 over-limit Ag sample

In this case, the Gold mixed in with the Silver makes the situation at Gold Viking particularly interesting, plus the fact of course THAT THIS PROPERTY HAD NEVER BEEN PREVIOUSLY DRILLED.  It is rare these days in the exploration business that a company will hit high-grade intercepts like this in the first holes drilled on a property.  Importantly, Rainbow now has a trail of mineralization to follow for the next phase of drilling.  And that’s when they could start hitting the “sweet spot” with even thicker intersections of higher grade. Given the area, it would not be surprising to see a system that also hosts plunging ore-shoots.  It’s important for investors to understand how these type of mineralized systems can work.  Gold Viking is a completely different situation than Rainbow’s International Property.

Keep in mind also that Rainbow completed a Fugro heli-borne electromagnetic survey at Gold Viking that revealed a very prominent low resistivity feature that corresponded with a multi-element geochemical anomaly that extended beyond the areas drilled in the Phase 1 program.  There appears to have been a lot of hydrothermal activity in this area.  Given the Slocan Fault, the Nelson Batholith and the thrusting effect of the nearby Valhalla Metamorphic Complex, all the necessary “plumbing” exists to have created the heat and fracturing necessary to produce late stage quartz veining and a significant mineral deposit.

Rainbow is gearing up to get a drill rig back at Gold Viking for Phase 2 drilling shortly – in the middle of the winter, which demonstrates the importance and urgency of this discovery.  As the structure and orientation of this vein system is better understood, the company has an excellent chance of drilling even better intersections in the next round.  This is something we expect the market will be anticipating which should keep interest in this play at a high level.  And of course, more results from the recently completed drill program are still pending.

Gold Viking is a large, intrusive body in the right structural setting for the discovery of a deposit.  In addition – and this is critical – the property is right off the main road from Slocan.  Easy access plus a power line in an area with a mining history.

Just 8 miles to the north, Discovery Ventures (DVN, TSX-V) has plans to put its underground Willa deposit into production.  A possibility we see for this general area is consolidated ownership of the Camp – gold-silver production from a few different mines with ore processed at a local concentrator.

Rainbow is well-positioned for success at Gold Viking, an attractive early-stage property.  We like the fact that drilling is planned to start again shortly.  Between Gold Viking and the more advanced Jewel Ridge Project in Nevada, this should be an exciting first quarter of 2013 for Rainbow.

Technically, Rainbows has several positive factors in its favor at the moment with RSI(14) at support and accumulation continuing.  Below is an RBW 2.5-year weekly chart update from John.

Abcourt Mines (ABI, TSX-V) Chart Update

We continue to see a lot of fundamental value in Abcourt Mines (ABI, TSX-V) with its Elder-Tagami Gold Project and Abcourt-Barvue Silver Property…like with many situations at the moment, investor patience is important here…below is a 2.5-year weekly ABI chart from John…note that the top of the stock’s down trendline is 13 cents – this is ABI’s key technical hurdle at the moment…

Note: John and Jon both hold positions in RBW.

Happy New Year, everyone…Gold is starting 2013 on a positive note…as of 7:50 am Pacific, the yellow metal is up $16 an ounce at $1,691…Silver has jumped 84 cents to $31.19…Copper has rocketed 14 cents higher to $3.72…Crude Oil is up $1.80 a barrel to $93.62 while the U.S. Dollar Index has fallen one-quarter of a point to 79.49…

Markets are cheering the “fiscal cliff” deal approved by the U.S. Congress, though the agreement leaves many issues unresolved including the U.S. debt ceiling which will likely need to be raised from its current $16.4 trillion to approximately $18 trillion by the end of the first quarter…

Asian markets were strong overnight, European shares are up 2% today while North American equity markets are also flying high…as of 7:50 am Pacific, the Dow is up 235 points to 13339, the TSX has climbed 69 points to 12503 while the Venture Exchange has easily cleared the 1220 resistance level and is up 18 points at 1239…as John’s charts have shown, there’s important resistance in the 1260-1275 area – right around the 100 and 200-day moving averages (SMA’s) and the top of a down trendline that has been in place since early 2011…we have little doubt the Venture will blast through this down trendline at some point in January or February (patience will be required) which should signal the beginning of a substantial new uptrend…from a technical standpoint, our outlook for the Venture for 2013 is very positive…

We continue to be on an abbreviated postings schedule until Monday, January 7…

John has three charts this morning beginning with the TSX Gold Index (an updated Venture chart was posted Sunday) which is coming off two poor years (2011 and 2012) but appears ready to bounce back…buying pressure has been strong since July…

ATAC Resources (ATC, TSX-V)

ATAC Resources (ATC, TSX-V) continues to rebound from strong support at the December 24 two-and-a-half year low of $1.54…selling pressure has been intense since October, but RSI(14) is beginning to rebound out of oversold conditions…this appears to be a good bottom-fishing opportunity as the best Yukon plays became heavily oversold in December and should rebound during the first half of 2013…below is a 2.5-year weekly ATC chart from John…as always, perform your own due diligence…as of 7:50 am Pacific, ATC is up 4 cents at $1.78…

Kaminak Gold (KAM, TSX-V)

Our other Yukon favorite is Kaminak Gold (KAM, TSX-V) which was a tremendous bottom-fishing opportunity last month when it briefly dipped just below $1 a share on an intra-day basis before releasing its maiden NI-43-101 resource estimate for its Coffee Project…it’s now approaching its 100 and 200-day SMA’s between $1.75 and $1.80 where strong resistance (for now) can be expected…as of 7:50 am Pacific, KAM is down 12 cents to $1.53…below is a 2.5-year weekly chart from John…look for the 20-day SMA to provide support (currently at $1.35)…

Note: John, Jon and Terry do not hold positions in ATC or KAM.

To all of our readers, a very happy New Year.  May your 2013 be filled with peace, joy, good health, and prosperity.

Terry