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Gold has hovered between $1,322 and $1,334 so far today…as of 7:45 am Pacific, bullion is off $7 an ounce at $1,325…Silver is down 7 cents at $21.20…Copper is a penny lower at $3.22…Crude Oil is up 17 cents at $102.57 while the U.S. Dollar Index has tumbled nearly half a point to 79.84…

Gold is on track to post its best monthly performance since July of last year…boosted by a variety of technical and fundamental factors, including strong demand out of Asia, a drying up of ETF selling, weak economic data out of the United States, and turmoil (political and economic) in Ukraine, bullion has gained nearly 7% in February…stiff resistance, however, exists around $1,350, but there are near-term potential catalysts that could drive Gold through that level including a further weakening in the U.S. dollar…recent weakness in the yuan, however, is making Gold more expensive in China (the yuan fell sharply against the U.S. dollar today, the steepest one-day decline in nine years)…

SPDR Gold Trust (GLD), the world’ largest Gold ETF, has accumulated just over 10 tonnes of Gold in February – the first monthly gain since December 2012 when it added a mere one tonne…between the beginning of January 2013 and the beginning of February 2014, this single ETF had shed an incredible 557 tonnes of Gold…China eagerly absorbed much of that as physical Gold shifted from west to east…

Axel Merk, head of Merk Investments LLC in Palo Alto, California, summed up what’s happening in Gold very well in an interview with The Wall Street Journal.  “Gold has been playing its role as a great diversifier,” he said.  “U.S. data has raised some doubts about the economy’s performance, and people are choosing to buy Gold as a hedge. This rally is for real.” Merk has $400 million under management and currently has 15.7% of its fund’s assets in Gold, up from 8.4% this time last year…

What Next In The Ukraine?

Armed men occupied two key airports in Ukraine’s restive pro-Russia region of Crimea today, a move that Ukraine’s interior minister called an “armed invasion and occupation” by Russia, stirring already heightened tension in the country…the Crimean peninsula has long been a potent symbol of Moscow’s ability to extend its influence via the Black Sea and a flashpoint in centuries of regional clashes, so this situation seems likely to heat up in the coming days – Gold bullish…

TSX Gold Index Updated Chart

This 12-year monthly TSX Gold Index chart from John shows RSI(2) in overbought territory at 88%, but RSI(2) levels like this have been seen before in this Index and for extended periods of time…clearly, an important bottom occurred in the Gold Index in December at 149 – interestingly, about six months after the Venture bottomed at 859 last June (if you recall, the Venture topped out at 2465 in early 2011 almost exactly six months before the Gold Index hit an all-time high of nearly 460)…

John has cautioned readers to be careful about the “Golden Cross” (when the 50-day SMA crosses above the 200-day SMA)…that’s exactly what we’re seeing right now in the TSX Gold Index…a “Golden Cross” occurred in late 2012 and gave a false signal, but what’s different about this occasion is that the Gold Index’s 200-day SMA is just now beginning to reverse to the upside –  a very bullish development that typically indicates a major change in trend…

Key resistance on the Gold Index is around 210 – a move through that area would likely spark a rally up to the 225-240 resistance band…

Today’s Markets

Asia

A late in China’s Shanghai Composite allowed it to post a 9-point gain and finish February in the green, closing at 2056…Japan’s Nikkei slipped 82 points to finish February at 14841…the latest economic data which indicated that the world’s third largest economy was off to a great start for 2014 did little to help the Nikkei…January retail sales figures beat expectations to rise an annual 4.4%, the fastest annual gain since April 2012…industrial output data also soared 4% in January, marking a second straight month of gains…

Europe

European shares have reversed to the upside in late trading overseas…

North America

The Dow is up 80 points as of 7:45 am Pacific…the U.S. government slashed its estimate for fourth quarter growth as consumer spending and exports were less robust than initially thought, leaving the economy on a more sustainable path of modest expansion…GDP expanded at a 2.4% annual rate, the Commerce Department reported this morning…that was down sharply from the 3.2% reported last month and the 4.1% logged in the third quarter…economists polled by Reuters had expected growth would be revised downward in the fourth quarter to a 2.5% pace…

Fed Chair Janet Yellen told lawmakers yesterday that severe weather had played a role in the weakening of recent U.S. economic data…she said, however, that it would take a “significant change” to the economy’s prospects for the Fed to put on hold its plans to wind down its bond buying…the Fed has trimmed its monthly bond purchases by $10 billion at each of its previous two meetings…its next meeting is scheduled for March 19…

The TSX is up 43 points through the first 75 minutes of trading while the Venture has added 2 points to 1021…

Abcourt Mines Inc. (ABI, TSX-V) Updated Chart

Abcourt Mines (ABI, TSX-V), which has been doing an admirable job advancing its Elder Mine near Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec, to commercial production, has broken above a long-term downtrend line, though this requires confirmation today…what’s also notable about this chart is the growing accumulation in the stock since October of last year as demonstrated by the CMF indicator…with the potential for even firmer Gold prices, and a weak Canadian dollar, Abcourt could be in for a strong 2014 with Elder expected to reach full production capacity during the first half of this year…ABI is unchanged at 9 cents as of 7:45 am Pacific…

High North Resources (HN, TSX-V) Chart Update

High North Resources (HN, TSX-V) has enjoyed a strong month, climbing 52% after yesterday’s 67-cent close…a few weeks ago, the company reported that it has started to receive sales revenue from its first two Montney horizontal wells…they were flowing oil with combined preliminary rates exceeding a total of 350 barrels of oil per day over a seven-day period…

Technically, HN over the last eight trading sessions has been trying to overcome resistance around 70 cents (it hit an all-time high of 74 cents intra-day last Friday) following an important breakout above 48 cents at the beginning of the month…below is a 1-year weekly chart…today’s trading should give a good indication if HN has enough energy to push through this resistance or if it’s temporarily running out of steam and needs to consolidate its recent gains for at least a brief period…it’s up 3 pennies at 70 cents as of 7:45 am Pacific…

Pilot Gold Inc. (PLG, TSX) Drills Into More High-Grade At Kinsley Mountain

Nice move in Pilot Gold (PLG, TSX) yesterday which surged 26 cents to close at $1.58 after the company reported strong results including a 41.7 m intersection grading 6.85 g/t Au at its Kinsley Mountain West Flank target  in eastern Nevada to follow up on a recent high-grade discovery (PLG holds a majority interest in a JV with Nevada Sunrise, NEV, TSX-V)…the high-grade zone is located in a previously unrecognized stratigraphic horizon below the limit of prior drilling…assay results from four additional holes, drilled 25 metres to 50 metres to the north and south of the two holes reported yesterday, are pending…

Kinsley Mountain hosts near-surface mineralization similar to other Carlin-style, sediment-hosted Gold systems along a 2.2-kilometre SE-NW strike extent…the property consists of 380 claims and 7,650 acres (3,095 hectares) and hosts a past producing mine with an extensive exploration database and numerous, untested Gold targets…

Below is a 1.5-year weekly PLG chart…notice how PLG broke above a long-term downtrend line at the beginning of the year, and then pushed through resistance at $1.16 earlier this month…the next Fib. resistance level is $1.72…PLG is down a penny at $1.57 as of 7:45 am Pacific…

John, Jon and Terry do not hold share positions in ABI, HN or PLG.

Gold has traded between $1,323 and $1,337 so far today…as of 7:50 am Pacific, bullion is up $4 an ounce at $1,334…Silver has added a dime to $21.31…Copper is up a penny at $3.22…Crude Oil is off 24 cents at $102.35 while the U.S. Dollar Index is flat at 80.42…geopolitical concerns (tensions in Ukraine) and an unexpectedly upbeat report on U.S. new home sales yesterday helped the greenback enjoy its biggest one-day rise in about a month, prompting selling of Gold after the metal hit its highest level (nearly $1.,350 which is critical resistance) since the end of October…but bullion is bouncing back today…

Commerzbank’s Eugen Weinberg said that the ongoing high level of Gold demand in China played a key role in January’s rally, and he believes it should continue…“Contrary to media reports, Gold demand in China has not cooled noticeably in our view,” he stated (source: Kitco)…“Chinese demand will continue to serve as a key crutch for the Gold price (throughout) 2014, too.”

Market action suggests investors are becoming increasingly concerned about the potential for the crisis in the Ukraine to trigger regional instability, which ultimately could be quite bullish for Gold…the Swiss franc, considered a haven in times of geopolitical stress, has risen to a 10-month high versus the euro…the Russian rouble, meanwhile, has hit its weakest level against the dollar since the height of the global financial crisis in 2009…

HSBC cites a news report in which a Russian official says Russia wants to avoid a break-up of Ukraine, but in the case of a secession of Crimera, an autonomous parliamentary republic within Ukraine, Moscow would feel compelled to back it militarily. “Gold is often sensitive to geopolitical developments, especially when they involve large economies or important regions,” HSBC stated. “Should events in Ukraine deteriorate and involve neighboring countries, Gold could benefit from increased safe haven demand.”

Reuters reported this morning that fighter jets along Russia’s western borders have been put on high alert…NATO defence ministers are meeting in Brussels today with the crisis high on their agenda…U.S. defence secretary Chuck Hagel is expected to address Russia’s sabre-rattling at the end of the day’s meetings…Ukraine’s acting President Oleksandr Turchynov has warned of “dangerous signs of separatism” in parts of the country, amid anger at the ousting of Viktor Yanukovych from power…pro-Russian gunmen have stormed parliament buildings in Ukraine’s Crimean region and raised Russian flags early today…after the incident, Turchynov warned that any movements by the Russian military in Crimea, aside from the Russian Black Sea fleet’s base in Sevastopol, would be treated as an act of aggression…NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen, via his Twitter account, urged Russia not to take any action that would “escalate tension”…

Today’s Markets

Asia

After last week’s disappointing manufacturing data in China and fresh concerns over the country’s property sector, the Shanghai Composite snapped a four-session losing streak today, albeit with a slight gain of just 6 points…Japan’s Nikkei average was relatively unchanged overnight…

Europe

European shares are down modestly in late trading overseas…

North America

The Dow is unchanged as of 7:50 am Pacific…Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen is currently speaking before the Senate Banking Committee, discussing the Fed’s semi-annual monetary policy report…it’s her second delivery of the report before U.S. lawmakers since Feb. 11…analysts doubt Yellen will say anything more in this testimony than she did previously before the House two weeks ago…the TSX is up 40 points as of 7:50 am Pacific while the Venture has added 5 points to 1013…

TSX Updated Chart

A simple but important question regarding the TSX…can it break out above an upsloping channel in place since last summer?…the top of this channel represents significance resistance, and at the moment the Index is trading right around that area…

Ashburton Ventures Inc. (ABR, TSX-V) Update

With a current market cap of just $1.8 million, investors in our view have not yet picked up on the significance of two strategic exploration projects being advanced by Ashburton Ventures (ABR, TSX-V)…the company’s Hackett Property, acquired through some astute staking last year, is on trend and contiguous to Doubleview Capital Corp.’s (DBV, TSX-V) Hat Cu-Au porphyry discovery – in fact, the western border of the Hackett lies within just approximately 1,000 metres of discovery holes HAT-08 and HAT-011 which we’ll be focusing on shortly in the second part of our special report on DBV…importantly, the historic Hoey showing straddles the border between the Hat and the Hackett…ABR has already announced that it will be proceeding with a sampling and mapping program at the Hackett, as soon as weather permits, in order to prioritize potential drill targets…the upcoming field program will concentrate on a large gossanous zone along the western edge of the Hackett…the spotlight will also undoubtedly shine on the Hacket as soon as Doubleview re-starts drilling at the Hat, speculatively as early as sometime in the next few weeks…

Secondly, and this could develop into a major story in the coming months, Ashburton controls over 250 sq. km along the Kluane belt in the Yukon, immediately next to the third largest undeveloped PGM resource outside southern Africa or Russia – Wellgreen Platinum’s (WG, TSX-V) Wellgreen Project approximately 300 km northwest of Whitehorse…the company is expected to produce an updated PEA for the project by the end of the second quarter of this year…ABR has carefully assembled a land package in this area, including ground that’s contiguous to the Wellgreen deposit, with some very interesting historic showings that clearly have drill target potential for this summer…we’re bullish on Platinum and Wellgreen has also been a strong performer so far this year, climbing 33% after closing yesterday at 92 cents…

Below is an updated 2.5-year weekly ABR chart from John…ABR, which closed at a nickel yesterday, has been consolidating recently after climbing as high as 7 cents from a January low of 3 cents…rising 50 and 200-day moving averages (SMA’s) support the view that a significant new uptrend in ABR has started…with its strategic presence in the Sheslay Valley, and a significant PGM-Ni-Cu exploration project coming together in the immediate vicinity of the Wellgreen deposit, Ashburton has all the ingredients for an important near-term breakthrough…ABR is up half a penny at 5.5 cents as of 7:50 am Pacific…

Goldeye Explorations Ltd. (GGY, TSX-V) Update

Further to our introduction of Goldeye Explorations (GGY, TSX-V) to our readers the other day, the company reported this morning that it has drilled 18 holes at its Weebigee Gold Project in northwestern Ontario with drilling still in progress – four additional holes are expected to be completed in the coming days before breakup conditions become a factor…fine visible Gold has been identified in 50% of the holes drilled to date with assays expected by the end of March…drilling has focused on several high-grade targets along a broad structural corridor that hosts the Knoll, Bernadette and RvG4 showings…some speculation could definitely come into GGY in the immediate future based on this morning’s news…as of 7:50 am Pacific, GGY is unchanged at 11 cents…

Discovery Ventures Ltd. (DVN, TSX-V) To Acquire 100% Of Willa Property

Discovery Ventures (DVN, TSX-V) continues to take important steps in the development of its Willa-Max project in southeastern British Columbia…this morning the company announced that it has amended its option agreement to acquire a 100% interest in the 5,300 hectare Willa Property…the new agreement is consistent with the previously announced terms, except it now includes the issuance of an additional 3.6 million common shares of Discovery and $600,000 payable out of the cash flow from the Willa-Max project after repayment of any outstanding production financing…on Monday, DVN announced it has secured a $12 million debt facility to advance the project…$7 million of that is available on the achievement of certain milestones…the company also announced that over the next quarter it anticipates strategic restructuring of both its management team and board of directors…the changes are expected to add significant leadership, technical expertise and experience to the senior management team…

Makena Resources Inc. (MKN, TSX-V)

As a speculative “area play”, it’s worth pointing out that Makena Resources Inc. (MKN, TSX-V) is looking interesting and has been showing some strength recently, not surprisingly given the recent news out of both Fission Uranium Corp. (FCU, TSX-V) and NexGen Energy Ltd. (NXE, TSX-V)…a 3-year weekly chart shows MKN attempting to push through a downtrend line…as always, perform your own due diligence…MKN is up half a penny at 11.5 cents as of 7:50 am Pacific…

Vulcan Minerals Inc. (VUL, TSX-V)

A company we haven’t mentioned previously that certainly appears worthy of our readers’ due diligence is Vulcan Minerals Inc. (VUL, TSX-V) which has seen an uptick in trading volume in recent weeks…the company is in a healthy financial position with its current market cap of $2.6 million considerably below its cash assets of $3.6 million – the company has no debt and 58.5 million shares outstanding…

Yesterday, the company provided an update on its Athabasca area uranium permits – a 100% interest in 10 metallic and industrial mineral permits covering over 200,000 acres in northeastern Alberta along the Saskatchewan border, approximately 50 kilometres east of Fort McMurray…the company is also completing compilation and evaluation reports on its TL Ni-Cu-PGE Property in Labrador, and is also reviewing potential property acquisitions…

Technically, what has caught our attention with VUL is the fact that it is very close to breaking out above a long-term downtrend line as shown in this 5-year weekly chart (VUL closed yesterday at 4.5 cents)…weak buy pressure has now replaced intense sell pressure which has been dominant for most of the past two years…

Note: Jon holds share positions in GGY and ABR.

Gold is under mild pressure this morning, reacting (not unexpectedly) after nearly touching resistance at $1,350 overnight…as of 7:30 am Pacific, bullion is down $9 an ounce at $1,333…Silver is off 41 cents to $21.59…Copper is off a penny to $3.22…Crude Oil is up 46 cents at $102.29 while the U.S. Dollar Index has surged one-third of a point to 80.47…

Gold shipments into China were strong at 96 metric tons in January, based on Hong Kong and Swiss trade data, according to UBS…flows from Hong Kong into China were about 84 tons, a 9% month-on-month decline but much higher than the same period last year, the bank says…another 12 tons made its way from Switzerland…Hong Kong and Switzerland likely account for the bulk of the flow and therefore provide a good indication of how much metal went into China, UBS says.  “The lack of historical data makes it difficult to judge conclusively whether or not this is a strong flow versus other months. But annualizing this volume would imply annual imports of over 1,000 tons, which would be comparable to last year’s volumes.  This would suggest that January imports were actually quite strong, considering that 2013 was an exceptional period for physical demand out of China.”

It’s interesting to note that net exports from Hong Kong to mainland China soared 326% year-on-year in January…the total for January 2012 was a very low 19.6 tonnes…

The recent spate of weak U.S. economic data (despite this morning’s better than expected home sales numbers) have “reinforced the notion that while the Federal Reserve will likely continue cutting its economic stimulus, it is nowhere near raising interest rates,” said Peter Hug, director of the precious-metals division at Kitco Metals in Montreal, in a Wall Street Journal report this morning…

There are media reports this morning that Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered a test of combat readiness for troops in several parts of the country, including an army based around 200 miles from Ukraine’s northern border, but Russia’s defense minister insisted it had nothing to do with unrest there (oh really?)…the move comes amid growing tension between Russia and Ukraine, whose pro-Russian president was ousted by European-leaning protestors over the weekend following violence last week in which more than 80 people were killed…

$10 Million Gold Coin Bonanza

How’s this for some good luck:  A Northern California couple out walking their dog on their property stumbled across a modern-day bonanza: $10 million in rare, mint-condition Gold coins buried in the shadow of an old tree, according to a report yesterday from John Rogers of the Associated Press…nearly all of the 1,427 coins, dating from 1847 to 1894, are in uncirculated, mint condition, said David Hall, co-founder of Professional Coin Grading Service of Santa Ana, which recently authenticated them. Although the face value of the Gold pieces only adds up to about $27,000, some of them are so rare that coin experts say they could fetch nearly $1 million apiece.  “I don’t like to say once-in-a-lifetime for anything, but you don’t get an opportunity to handle this kind of material, a treasure like this, ever,” said veteran numismatist Don Kagin, who is representing the finders. “It’s like they found the pot of Gold at the end of the rainbow.”

The lesson to be learned here – always keep your eyes open when you’re taking the dog for a walk…

Great Panther Resources Ltd. (GPR, TSX) – What’s It Saying About Silver?

The Great Panther Resources (GPR, TSX) chart is quite interesting as for the first time since the stock’s slide began in early 2011, it has broken above a downtrend line as you can see in this five-year weekly chart…that downtrend line of course has become potential new support, so a re-test of that area (also in the immediate vicinity of the rising 20-day SMA) is very likely, followed perhaps by a dramatic push to the upside in a pattern similar to that of the Venture after it initially broke out of a long-term downtrend in October…renewed strength in GPR, and other Silver stocks for that matter, could be signalling an important major move by Silver at some point in the coming months…GPR’s 200-day SMA has reversed to the upside after being in decline for more than two years – that’s definitely a sign that something is brewing…

GPR is down slightly in early trading today, down 8 cents at $1.31 as of 7:30 am Pacific, which will help unwind a currently slightly overbought RSI(14) condition…look for strong support at the top of the downtrend line…

Today’s Markets

Asia

China’s Shanghai Composite snapped a four-session losing streak overnight, gaining 7 points to close at 2041…Japan’s Nikkei average fell slightly to 14971…

Europe

European markets are down modestly in late trading overseas, pulling back from a six-year high, as worries over pressure on Ukraine’s currency and a potential bank run offset upbeat data out of Germany…the GfK German consumer climate indicator for March rose to a six-year high of 8.5 points, topping expectations of 8.2 points…in addition, the second estimate of fourth-quarter U.K. gross domestic product showed growth of 0.7%, matching expectations…

North America

The Dow is up 60 points as of 7:30 am Pacific…sales of new single-family homes surged to a 5-1/2-year high in January, which could ease concerns of a sharp slowdown in the housing market…the Commerce Department said this morning that sales jumped 9.6% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 468,000 units, exceeding expectations and the highest level since July 2008…

In Toronto, the TSX has gained 37 points through the first hour of trading…strong drill results this morning out of Trevali Mining Corp. (TV, TSX) from its Stratmat Zinc-Lead-Silver-Copper-Gold deposit in the Bathurst mining camp of New Brunswick…the Stratmat deposit currently hosts a NI-43-101 inferred resource of 5.5 million tonnes grading 6.1% Zinc, 2.6% lead, 0.4% Copper, 54 g/t Silver and 0.6 g/t Gold, and TV chart is looking strong…the stock is up 4 cents at $1.15 as of 7:30 am Pacific…

Venture Updated Chart – Embrace Any Weakness

The mild pullback in the Venture so far this week, after 11 straight winning sessions, is very healthy from a technical perspective and accumulation remains strong…any dip back below the 1000 level should be brief and would present an excellent buying opportunity given the exceptionally strong Fib. and chart support as seen in this 3-month daily from John…over the last couple of months the Venture has also been underpinned by its EMA-20…as of 7:30 am Pacific, the Index is up a point at 1012…

Fission Uranium Corp. (FCU, TSX-V)

Fission Uranium (FCU, TSX-V) is such a compelling, incredible geological story and could fetch a considerably higher market capitalization on a potential takeover, a scenario the company set itself up for with its acquisition last year of PLS joint venture partner Alpha Minerals…FCU is attempting a breakout above chart resistance at $1.40…it’s up 7 cents at $1.44 as of 7:30 am Pacific…

Azincourt Uranium Inc. (AAZ, TSX-V) Updated Chart

Azincourt Uranium (AAZ, TSX-V), which commenced a drilling program at PLN in late January with JV partner Fission 3.0 (FUU, TSX-V), is showing renewed technical strength and could clearly benefit from heightened interest in the overall area…for nearly a year, AAZ has been trading in a horizontal channel between 20 cents and 33 cents – at some point there is going to be a breakout from this channel or a breakdown…the chart and common sense tell us it’ll be the former…patience is critical…AAZ also has a 100% interest in another uranium asset (Macusani) in Peru with a major, shallow depth resource…AAZ is off half a penny at 27 cents as of 7:30 am Pacific…

Another Company Changes From Metals Into Marijuana

Harry Barr’s Next Gen Metals Inc. (N, CSE) has delisted from the Venture and is now trading on the CSE (Canadian Securities Exchange), and it’s yet another company trying to take advantage of the growth in the legal medical marijuana and industrial hemp industries in North America. “Next Gen’s vision is to be a leading provider of venture capital, management expertise, education and a facilitator for this explosive new industry.” Barr added, “A growing proportion of the medical community believe that Medical Marijuana and, more specifically cannabinoids, have the potential to help patients who are suffering from a variety of ailments and illnesses. In addition, Industrial Hemp is an emerging industry in Canada and hemp is one of the strongest natural fibers known to man. Hemp has a wide range of applications including medicine. Both sectors show the potential for exponential growth.” As always, perform your own due diligence…

Gold fell as low as $1,331 overnight but has reversed, thanks to weaker-than-expected U.S. economic data…as of 8:15 am Pacific, bullion is up $4 an ounce at $1,341…Silver is down 3 cents at $21.93…Copper has slid a penny to $3.23…Crude Oil has retreated $1.19 a barrel to $101.62 while the U.S. Dollar Index has fallen more than one-tenth of a point to 80.06…this is a somewhat abbreviated edition of Morning Musings due to the impact of an unusual late February snowstorm in Vancouver…

Holdings in the SPDR Gold Trust, the world’s largest Gold-backed exchange-traded fund, rose 0.41% to 801.61 tonnes yesterday from 798.31 tonnes on Friday…

Premiums for 99.99% purity Gold on the Shanghai Gold Exchange over cash Gold were about $1 an ounce today, down from a high around $11 last week, indicating at least a temporary softening in Chinese demand…

Good sign or bad sign?…sales of Gold coins by the U.S. Mint are heading for the worst month since September after Gold’s climb to a four-month high…volume so far this month stands at just 24,500 ounces, down sharply from January’s 91,500 ounces which was the highest since April…in February of last year, coin sales totaled 80,500 ounces…

Will Gold Get A Boost From Oil?

Interesting comments from Sean Hyman, editor of the Ultimate Wealth Report, who told CNBC Asia’s “Squawk Box” this morning that global demand is going to drive Crude Oil (WTIC) through critical resistance around $110 a barrel.  “Oil has been consolidating for several years in a sideways pattern and I believe that global demand is picking up and that’s going to shoot it through the top of that range,” he stated.  “Once it finally does, we will see it hit $140 faster than a lot of people’s heads can spin.”

Higher oil prices would certainly put an end to a deflationary trend in many parts of the world…the 10-year monthly WTIC suggests that “decision time” for Oil is drawing near – a major move, in one direction or the other, appears certain at some point in 2014…John’s 10-year monthly chart (see below), combined with the strength we’re seeing in the Venture, suggests to us that the break will be to the upside…

WTIC has been trading in an ascending triangle since 2010…at the very least, another test of resistance around $110 appears to be in the cards…

TSX Gold Index Chart Update

As soon as the TSX Gold Index broke above a downtrend line in early January, it was off to the races…the question now is, after a nearly 40% jump from its December low of 149, is the Gold Index about to pause, catch its breath and digest its recent gains, or is it gearing up to climb even higher and stage an important breakout through chart resistance at 210?…if only we had a crystal ball…

Below is an 18-month weekly TSX Gold chart from John…one thing seems certain – given certain technical indicators including the reversal to the upside in the 200-day moving average (SMA), the overall trend has to be considered very bullish…the 210 area is really critical – a confirmed breakout above 210 (this would likely be accompanied by a breakout in Gold above $1,350) could trigger a tsunami of buying in Gold stocks…the Gold Index is off a point at 204 as of 8:15 am Pacific…

Today’s Markets

Asia

Japan and China went in opposite directions overnight – the Nikkei surged 214 points or 1.4%, while the Shanghai Composite tumbled 42 points or 2% to close at 2034…we see no reason to be concerned by this week’s drop in the Shanghai – in fact, we’re quite encouraged by the “triple bottom” pattern…

Europe

European markets are down modestly in late trading overseas…

North America

The Dow is up 16 points as of 8:15 am Pacific…U.S. consumer confidence sagged in February as expectations worsened, according to a private sector report released this morning…the Conference Board, an industry group, said its index of consumer attitudes fell to 78.1 from a downwardly revised 79.4 in January…economists in a Reuters poll had expected 80.0…investors are looking ahead to Thursday when U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen speaks to the Senate Banking Committee in her semi-annual testimony about monetary policy…

The TSX is off 27 points as of 8:15 am Pacific while the Venture has declined 5 points to 1014…

NexGen Energy Ltd. (NXE, TSX-V)

A modest but healthy pullback in NexGen Energy (NXE, TSX-V) early this week after last week’s 130% gain and a bump a little higher (to 56 cents) in early trading yesterday…the company yesterday reported that it has discovered new zones of uranium mineralization within the first hole at its Arrow prospect (Rook 1 Project) in the southwest Athabasca basin…let’s hope this drilling success continues, and the grades turn out to be as good as the scintillometer readings suggest – all players in the area stand to benefit including of course Fission Uranium Corp. (FCU, TSX-V), the leader of the pack, which continues to report spectacular results from Patterson Lake South…FCU is up 3 pennies to $1.34 as of 8:15 am Pacific…

Below is a 9-month daily NXE chart…a minor consolidation is certainly possible with strong chart and Fib. support around 40 cents…NXE dropped as low as 45 cents this morning and is down 3 pennies at 49 cents as of 8:15 am Pacific…

Goldeye Explorations Ltd. (GGY, TSX-V)

Goldeye Explorations (GGY, TSX-V), which recently started drilling some high-grade Gold targets at its Weebigee Project in northwestern Ontario (230 km north of Red Lake), has caught our eye given increased trading activity and the geological merits of this project…we suggest investors check this one out as it clearly has discovery potential…we’ll have more on GGY in the coming days…

This 2-year GGY chart shows Fib. resistance at 11.5 cents and strong support at 10 cents…the RSI(14) trend is very encouraging, and the 50-day SMA (currently at 9 cents) is just now reversing to the upside…favorable conditions for a breakout – drilling and increasingly bullish technicals…GGY is unchanged at 11 cents as of 8:15 am Pacific…

Note: Jon holds a share position in GGY.

Gold touched a low of $1,320 overnight but has since rebounded and is now up $9 an ounce at $1,335 as of 7:15 am Pacific…Silver is 20 cents higher at $22.06…Copper is off 3 pennies to $3.24, under mild pressure as the growth in new housing prices in China slowed in January…there are renewed concerns about credit restrictions in the country’s huge property sector…Crude Oil is up slightly at $102.26 while the U.S. Dollar Index has added nearly one-tenth of a point to 80.34…

“Gold flooding onto the market in 2013 as a result (of large-scale ETF selling) was used to feed the voracious appetite for physical metal among consumers in India, China and numerous Asian and Middle Eastern markets,” stated the World Gold Council in its latest report…of course the question now is, as Mineweb’s Lawrence Williams pointed out in an interesting article last week, what will happen if there’s an ETF reversal this year and sales are even a net zero which would remove nearly 900 tonnes of supply off the market?…why do so many western investors and analysts not understand the importance of China’s growing appetite for Gold and the extent to which they’ve been accumulating the metal?

JP Morgan has raised its outlook on Gold, saying prices are likely to hit $1,450 by the end of the year as fundamentals have turned bullish…

In a report from www.Kitco.com, Kevin Grady, owner of Phoenix Futures and Options, said there are some fundamental reasons supporting Gold, which is why he is bullish on prices at the moment.  “We continue to see tightness in the forward markets which I feel will spill over into the futures. Although the jewelers do not appear to be buying at these levels, there continues to be a bid under the market. This leads me to believe that we may be seeing some central-bank buying.  A key factor for Gold (last) week was the release of the Federal Reserve minutes. Although the verbiage led us to believe that the current tapering plan would continue, the Gold price held up under immediate pressure. The 200-day moving average comes in around $1,305. We need to hold this area for Gold to attract new buyers,” Grady said.

Gold Stocks Still At Bargain Levels Based On Historical Readings

Despite the nearly 40% jump in the TSX Gold Index since the December multi-year low of 149, many Gold stocks remain highly attractive relative to the price of Gold – especially in situations where producers used The Scare of 2013 to cut costs and focus on the bottom line (quality of ounces) rather than simply production growth.  Below is an excellent chart highlighting this point from www.usfunds.com weekly Investor Alert…

Venture 3-Year Weekly Chart Update

The Venture, on an 11-session winning streak, is up another 3 points to 1025 as of 7:15 am Pacific…not surprisingly, the CMF indicator shows increasing accumulation this month while RSI(14) on this three-year weekly chart recently found support at 50% and is working its way higher again though it’s still below “overbought” territory…

Discovery Ventures Inc. (DVN, TSX-V) Secures Financing For WillaMax Project

Further to our recent update on Discovery Ventures (DVN, TSX-V), the company announced this morning that it has secured a $12 million senior secured term debt facility for development of its WillaMax Project in southeastern British Columbia…DVN is up half a penny at 22 cents through the first 45 minutes of trading…

TSX Venture 50

A total of 10 companies covered consistently by BMR during 2013 have made the “TSX Venture 50” for 2014, a recently-released ranking of strong performers on the Venture spanning Clean Technology, Diversified Industries, Mining, Oil & Gas and Technology & Life Sciences…these 50 companies have shown impressive results in key measures of market performance…the ranking comprises companies from each of the five industry sectors, and they were selected based on four equally weighted criteria: market capitalization growth, share price appreciation, trading volume and analyst coverage…on average, these companies delivered a return of 175% in 2013…the shares of these companies also enjoy a liquid market – a total of 2.3 billion shares traded over the course of 2013…visit the link below, and type in “TSX Venture 50” in the search box,  for a complete view of this list…

www.tmxmoney.com

Only a handful of companies who were part of the “Venture 50” for 2013 are able to claim that honor for 2014, and they include Zenyatta Ventures (ZEN, TSX-V) and Reservoir Minerals (RMC, TSX-V).

In alphabetical order, companies that BMR consistently covered last year that are in the TSX Venture Top 50 for 2014 are Azincourt Uranium Inc. (AAZ, TSX-V), Arianne Phosphate Inc. (DAN, TSX-V), Contact Exploration Inc. (CEX, TSX-V), Macro Enterprises Inc. (MCR, TSX-V), Madalena Energy Inc. (MVN, TSX-V), Mason Graphite Inc. (LLG, TSX-V), Probe Mines Ltd. (PRB, TSX-V), Reservoir Minerals, WANTED Technologies Corp. (WAN, TSX-V), Zenyatta Ventures.

WestKam Gold Corp. (WKG, TSX-V)

Yet another British Columbia company worthy of our readers’ due diligence is WestKam Gold Corp. (WKG, TSX-V) which closed Friday at just 4 cents…the company’s Bonaparte Gold Project covers more than 2,000 hectares of largely unexplored ground about a one hour drive north of Kamloops and approximately 40 km north of New Gold Inc.’s (NGD, TSX) New Afton mine…what’s interesting about WKG is that a 3D IP survey completed last fall extended the exploration target of a high-grade discovery Gold zone (historical drill results, for example intersected 143 g/t Au over 1.2 m and 115.5 g/t Au over 1.1 m) and also located a multi-phase intrusive structure and anomalies indicative of a large Copper-Gold porphyry intrusive…in fact, the potential for a Copper- Gold porphyry system was recognized by the B.C. Geological Survey in a 2013 report…

Technically, John’s 3-year weekly WKG chart shows a breakout above a long-term downtrend line…RSI(14) recently met resistance at 50%, so that’s a key level to watch…strong sell pressure since late last year has been declining rapidly…this could develop into a very interesting play in 2014, and it’s trading under a nickel with 49.5 million shares outstanding…

Reservoir Minerals Inc. (RMC, TSX-V)

What a success story Reservoir Minerals (RMC, TSX-V) is turning out to be, and that’s tremendous for this market…last Thursday, the company announced that it has arranged a pair of financings (non-brokered and a bought deal) at $5.75 per share for total gross proceeds of up to $33 million…this came a couple of days after RMC reported more spectacular drill results from the high sulphide epithermal resource within the Cukaru Peki Copper-Gold deposit in Serbia…hole FMTC 1338 intersected 205.6 m grading 4.81% Cu and 2.88 g/t Au for 6.54% CuEq…meanwhile, wide-spaced drilling to the east and north continue to yield long intercepts of associated porphyry-style Copper-Gold mineralization…the deposit forms part of the Timok Project, a joint venture between Reservoir and Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (FCX, NYSE)…quite simply, RMC and Freeport have a great deposit on their hands with strong upside potential to increase resources through infill drilling and the likelihood of extensions to the system…in addition, other areas of the Timok magmatic complex (100% held by Reservoir) are highly prospective for fresh discoveries…this is a winner, plain and simple, which is why we included it in our late December list of 20 companies to watch closely in 2014…

RMC broke out in December and reminds us a lot of how Richfield Ventures traded when it ran from pennies to more than $10 a share in 2011 when it was taken out by New Gold…

G-20 Meetings Call For $2 Trillion World Growth Boost

Finance leaders from the world’s biggest economies yesterday leaned on central banks and governments to help spur growth, reverting to the global economy’s playbook of recent years, in an effort to safeguard a fragile recovery…Group of 20 officials ended their summit over the weekend stating they would develop policies (Lord, help us) to lift their collective GDP by more than 2% above the trajectory implied by current policies over the coming five years.  they would look to boost world growth by more than $2 trillion over the next few years under a strategy crafted by the International Monetary Fund…according to the communiqué, the G-20 has embraced a goal to generate over $2 trillion in additional output over five years, while creating tens of millions of new jobs.

During the meetings, some developing countries complained that the Fed was moving too fast in withdrawing stimulus, but U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew shot back with some intelligent remarks:  “Emerging markets need to take steps on their own to put their fiscal house in order, to put structural reforms in place.” He added that governments had to move ahead with unpopular reforms even though they might fear inciting social unrest.  “We understand economic transitions are hard,” Mr. Lew said in reference mainly to China, which he accused of treading too slowly on reforms. “But we also know that putting off economic transitions will only make it harder.”

Today’s Markets

Asia

China’s Shanghai Composite suffered its worst single-day loss in seven weeks overnight, tumbling 37 points to close at 2077…attention turns to next week’s National People’s Congress, an annual meeting of Chinese lawmakers, for possible details on further property sector curbs…Japan’s Nikkei was down just slightly overnight…

Europe

European markets are mixed in late trading overseas…

North America

The Dow has surged 127 points through the first hour of trading to 16238…in Toronto, the TSX is up 45 points…

Did You Know? Total government debt in Canada (federal, provincial and municipal) now stands at $1.2-trillion and is higher as a percentage of GDP than the U.S. and the E.U….

Osisko Mining Corp. (OSK, TSX) Intersects 2.26 g/t Au Over 128 Metres At Kirkland Lake

Significant news out of Osisko Mining (OSK, TSX) during the trading day Friday as the company reported it has discovered “a potentially large, bulk-tonnage disseminated-Gold deposit on its 100%-owned Kirkland Lake project. This discovery, named the Canadian Kirkland zone, consists of a previously unreported type of mineralization in this world-class Gold camp. The Canadian Kirkland zone is located 750 metres south of Highway 66, approximately 6.5 km southeast of the village of King Kirkland. Mineralization comprises fine disseminated Gold and pyrite in a pinkish-grey-to-brick-red altered zone that completely replaces volcanic tuffs.”

Outcrop is very poor in this area…Sean Roosen, President and CEO of Osisko, stated, “This is the first of what we expect could be one of many discoveries made using our bulk-tonnage model in the Kirkland camp. The discovery was based on compilation work and our 2013 exploration work in the camp, the first time that Kirkland has seen a district-wide approach to identify bulk-tonnage targets. We have identified a number of additional areas that will be the subject of intensive exploration in the coming year and hope to build on the success of this first discovery.”

Osisko will immediately implement a broad-scale drill program to test an area measuring 2,300 metres by 1,300 metres that covers the Canadian Kirkland and Commodore Kirkland zones, as well as other previously drilled zones in the immediate area that have been historically associated with pink syenites and trachytes, currently interpreted as being part of the same felsite hydrothermal system. The southern limit of the area of interest is the Cadillac/Larder Lake fault, located approximately 200 m south of the Canadian Kirkland zone…

Sabina Gold & Silver Corp. (SBB, TSX)

Arctic resource development will continue to accelerate in the years ahead, thanks in part to the encouragement of local and federal governments…one company sitting on a rich Gold deposit in Nunavut – one of the highest grade development assets in the Americas not owned by a producer – is Sabina Gold and Silver (SBB, TSX) with its Back River Project just 75 km from tide water at Bathurst Inlet…Back River will be a high-grade open-pit and underground operation, and a positive Pre-Feasibility Study was released last October…

Meanwhile, 45 km west of Back River is the Silver-rich Hackett River VMS deposit…in 2011, Sabina sold Hackett River to Xstrata Zinc Canada in exchange for $50 million in cash and the retention of a significant Silver royalty on future production…based on Sabina’s 2009 PEA on Hackett River, the royalty would deliver to Sabina approximately 2.7 million ounces of Silver annually for 16 years…

So the fundamentals with this company are quite compelling…technically, what’s interesting with SBB is that the stock has formed a cup with handle reversal pattern and has broken out above a downtrend line in place for all of 2013…

John has two interesting charts – the first one is an 18-month weekly while the second one is an 11-year monthly…without question, there is a significant turnaround underway in Sabina…

SBB Long-Term Chart (11-Year Monthly)

Macro Enterprises Inc. (MCR, TSX-V) Update

We first alerted our readers to Macro Enterprises (MCR, TSX-V) nine months ago when it was trading around $3 a share…technically overbought conditions emerged when the stock hit an all-time high of $7.35 in October, then a consolidation process started that took MCR down to its 200-day SMA just above $5 a share earlier this month…on December 20, we stated:  “The current chart is showing some weakness, so a further pullback to important support (such as the 200-day SMA) – if that should occur – would represent another outstanding investor opportunity with this situation in our view.  The Macro story is very simple – it’s a construction and maintenance service provider to the energy and resource industries in B.C. and Alberta.  Through the first nine months of its fiscal year ending September 30, Macro recorded net income of nearly $25 million or 91 cents per share.  It’s particularly busy at the moment in the Fort McMurray area.  Pipeline and facility construction, and pipeline repair work, can be quite profitable and there appears to be no shortage of potential contracts for MCR at the moment.”

Macro has found its groove again and the stock has pushed above the downtrend line that formed in December as you can see in this 9-month daily chart from John.  It’s not often you find a Venture company with this kind of revenue and profit growth which is why it’s part of the TSX Venture 50…

Silver Update & Charts

Strong investment demand for Silver drove global sales of one-ounce Silver bullion coins to an all-time record high in 2013, while early indications suggest that investors’ interest in acquiring Silver coins is healthy in the opening weeks of 2014…the U.S. Mint sold 42,675,000 American Eagle Silver Bullion coins in 2013, 26% more than the 33,700,000 coins sold in 2012, hitting a new single-year record for the most purchased since the U.S. Mint began producing the one-ounce Silver coin in 1986 (the Canadian Silver Maple Leaf saw a 60% increase)…and the buying continues…already this year, over 6,500,000 American Eagle Silver Bullion coins have been sold…

Technically, the short-term Silver chart (8-month daily) shows a modestly overbought RSI(14) at 70% and a band of resistance between $22 and $23 while strong support exists between $20.50 and $21.45…the 200-day SMA has been cleared (now support) and appears to be gearing up for a reversal to the upside…the trading range for now appears to be between $20.50 and $23…

Long-Term Silver Chart

RSI(2) on the Silver long-term chart (11-year monthly) is often a very reliable indicator of near-term moves, and what it’s telling us now is that Silver still has room to move higher in the immediate future but temporarily overbought conditions would likely emerge and this would be followed by some consolidation before the next leg up…sell pressure has been dominant since early last year but is clearly weakening…if and when Silver breaks above the downtrend line, watch out…

Note: Jon holds a share position in WKG.

TSX Venture Exchange and Gold

It was another “breakthrough” week for the Venture as the Index, now powered by the first reversal to the upside in its 200-day moving average (SMA) since mid-2009, cut through the psychologically important 1000 barrier like a knife through butter.  A weekly gain of 26 points left the Index at 1022 – its highest level since a 10% drop in April of last year that eventually led to the bear market low of 859 at the end of June.

Yes, a new Venture bull market has commenced and this is confirmed by numerous factors including a breakout in the CRB Index which we’ll show in a chart tomorrow.  The next major Venture resistance is around 1150.  How quickly it gets there is anyone’s guess – the Index has climbed 11 days in a row and may need to pause and catch its breath a few times on the way to 1150.  But the opportunities are enormous, we believe, looking out over the next 6-9 months in particular as the masses finally discover that the bear market in juniors is over.

Canada’s first major “area play” in this new bull market is occurring in the Sheslay Valley of northwestern B.C., a prolific under-explored region we initially brought to our readers’ attention in June of last year.  Dozens of companies may ultimately get involved in this district, and BMR has learned – this is very interesting – that privately-held Kalt Industries, an early player in the Athabasca uranium frenzy, has been staking ground aggressively in the Sheslay Valley in recent days.  The three Venture companies with the most advanced drill-ready properties in the area have risen substantially since their December lows – in alphabetical order, Doubleview Capital Corp. (DBV, TSX-V), Garibaldi Resources Corp. (GGI, TSX-V) and Prosper Gold Corp. (PGX, TSX-V) have posted gains of 525%, 181% and 74%, respectively.  This is just the beginning, in our view, as the masses have yet to discover what’s unfolding in the Sheslay Valley or even where this area is for that matter – quite stunning, actually, when a quick look at the B.C. regional map reveals that this under-exploited area blankets the northern flank of the incredible Stikine Arch and is only 90 km northwest of Imperial Metals’ (III, TSX) Red Chris mine about to go into commercial production.  The Northwest Transmission Line is going to open up all of northern B.C.  With the strong possibility of not one, not two, but multiple Cu-Au porphyry deposits along NW/SE parallel trends in the Sheslay Valley, millionaires could be made out of this area play in the coming months.  The Sheslay Valley will pour gasoline on the Venture fire, as will some other discoveries.

In Saskatchewan, Fission Uranium Corp. (FCU, TSX-V) reported more spectacular high-grade results from its PLS Property and climbed 9 cents last week which added nearly $30 million to its market cap.  Meanwhile, NexGen Energy Ltd. (NXE, TSX-V) reported an early discovery on its Rook 1 Project (“Arrow” target) and jumped 130% last week on total volume (all exchanges) of about 14 million shares.

A combination of discoveries and healthier commodity prices should give the Venture an excellent opportunity, in our view, to reach at least the first Fib. resistance level this year of 1465.  Below is an updated 5-year weekly Venture chart from John.  Buy pressure is increasing, the trend is very bullish, and RSI(14) has plenty of room to move higher.

The Importance Of Being Selective

We caution, as always, that a rising tide will not lift all boats.  In this new Venture bull phase, we suspect that how money is going to be deployed (into financings and the open market) will be different than how it was deployed in previous bull markets.  Investors will be more selective – many have learned the hard way from recent mistakes – and the companies that will be favored will be the ones that can demonstrate they have highly competent management and geological teams, and properties of very strong merit.  That means many Venture companies – hundreds literally – won’t fully participate in this upswing.  Continue to avoid “lifestyle” companies like the plague.  They don’t deserve a nickel of your money.

The Seeds Have Been Planted (And Continue To Be Planted) For The Next Big Run In Gold Stocks

There’s no better cure for low prices than low prices.  The great benefit of the collapse in Gold prices in 2013 is that it forced producers (at least most of them) to start to become much more lean in terms of their cost structures. Producers, big and small, have started to make hard decisions in terms of costs, projects, and rationalizing their their overall operations.  Exploration budgets among both producers and juniors have also been cut sharply.  In addition, government policies across much of the globe are making it more difficult (sometimes impossible) for mining companies to put Gold (or other) deposits into production, thanks to the ignorance of many politicians and the impact of radical and vocal environmentalists (technology has made it easier for groups opposing mining projects to organize and disseminate information, even in remote areas around the globe).   Ultimately, all of  these factors are going to create a supply problem – think about it, where are the next major Gold deposits going to come from? On top of that, grades have fallen significantly just over the past decade.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that the next huge bull market in Gold stocks is just around the corner due to demand-supply dynamics, much leaner producers who will suddenly become earnings machines, and a junior market that will be healthier simply because a lot of the “lifestyle” companies sucking money out of investors will simply disappear or get taken over by individuals or groups who are actually competent and serious about building shareholder value.   A healthy “cleansing” in the market has been taking place.  As this continues, more and more seeds are being planted for an incredible future move in well-managed Gold producers and explorers that could make the dotcom bubble look like a tea party.  As for the juniors, focus on the small universe of companies that have the ability to execute both on the ground and in the market.  Companies that are strong financially, have superior exploration prospects, competent management and clean share structures.

Gold

It was another solid week for Gold which climbed $9 an ounce to finish at $1,326.  As you can see on John’s 9-month daily chart below, a double bottom reversal pattern formed in 2013 as bullion definitely appears to have turned the corner.  In the immediate future, it’s reasonable to expect that Gold will test resistance around $1,350 and then consolidate its recent gains to unwind temporarily overbought conditions.  There are two very strong support areas – the 200-day SMA, currently at $1,307, and $1,275 which provided stiff resistance throughout December and into mid-February.

For the first time since 1980, Switzerland has released monthly Gold trade data, providing a more transparent picture of physical Gold flows.  In January alone, the Swiss report showed an incredible 80% of Gold shipments went to Asia which underscores how bullion has been moving from the west to the east.  Why do so many western investors and analysts not understand the importance of China’s growing appetite for Gold and the extent to which they’ve been accumulating the metal?

As Mineweb’s Lawrence Williams (www.mineweb.com) wrote last week, “If we assume ETF sales become a net zero this year, which is certainly possible, that immediately takes 880.8 tonnes off the market and if Eastern demand remains at anything like 2013 levels that is going to create a huge shortage in physical Gold supply.”

Silver gained 35 cents last week to close at $21.86 (John will updated Silver charts tomorrow morning).  Copper finished up a penny at $3.27.  Crude Oil surged another $1.90 a barrel to $102.20 while the U.S. Dollar Index gained one-tenth of a point to 80.26.

The “Big Picture” View Of Gold

As Frank Holmes so effectively illustrates at www.usfunds.com, the long-term bull market in Gold has been 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, has had a huge impact on bullion.  Despite Gold’s largest annual drop in three decades in 2013, the fundamental long-term case for the metal remains solidly intact – currency instability and an overall lack of confidence in fiat currencies, governments and world leaders in general, an environment of historically low interest rates, a Fed balance sheet now at $4 trillion and still expanding, money supply growth around the globe, massive government debt from the United States to Europe, central bank buying, flat mine supply, physical demand (especially from China), emerging market growth, geopolitical unrest and conflicts…the list goes on.  However, deflationary concerns around the globe and the prospect of Fed tapering had a lot to do with Gold’s plunge during the spring below the technically and psychologically important $1,500 level, along with the strong performance of equities which drew “momentum traders” away from bullion.  June’s low of $1,179 was likely the bottom for Gold.  Extreme levels of bearishness emerged in the metal last year.  With the long-term bull market remaining intact, we expect new all-time highs in Gold as the decade progresses.  Inflationary pressures should eventually kick in around the globe after years of ultra-loose monetary policy.

We are in the process of updating our eAlert list, especially in light of developments in the Sheslay Valley.  If you wish to be included in the BMR eAlert system, which sends out occasional important and timely market information that’s not always posted on our site (or before it’s posted on our site), simply click on the “Contact Us” button you see in the top right hand corner of this page, type in “Alert” in the subject line, give us your first name, and hit the send button.  Your email address is not given out to any other party.

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Welcome to our site, or at least the initial version of it!  BMR has been online for more than four years and strictly through word-of-mouth we have built a loyal following.  We encourage reader feedback and the exchange of helpful opinions and ideas among investors in our forum. 

We’re continuing with our plans to ultimately construct a very unique investment and money-management resource site that goes considerably beyond what we have now.  We focus a great deal on the Gold, Silver and Copper markets as well as trends in the global economy, in addition of course to the technical health of the TSX Venture Exchange (CDNX).  An important component of this site, as well, will always be original research on high quality junior exploration companies or small producers that offer very real and significant upside potential. We are extremely selective in the companies we feature and put forward to investors – we prefer quality over quantity, and we are being more selective than ever in the current market environment.  We look for companies with the ability to execute both on the ground and in the market, who are determined to build shareholder value, which actually excludes most Venture stocks.  However, investors must understand that the companies we do put forward for our readers’ due diligence are still highly speculative situations and entail considerable risk, volatility and unpredictability.

Our intent is to provide you with information that you can use as part of your own due diligence.  Our stock coverage is for informational and entertainment purposes only and must not be viewed or interpreted as “buy”, “sell” or “hold” recommendations. We are not Registered Securities Advisers. Our opinions can only be construed as a solicitation to buy and sell securities when they are subject to the prior approval and endorsement of a Registered Securities Adviser operating in accordance with the appropriate regulations in your area of jurisdiction. Always perform your own due diligence and please read our disclaimer at the bottom.

We use a combination of fundamental and technical factors in determining the value and potential of a stock.  In terms of fundamentals we look for a company with a superb project supported by strong management.  Management must possess integrity, solid ethics and a determination to succeed and build shareholder value.

At BullMarketRun (BMR) we approach the handling of money from a biblical perspective and this is an important topic we will be sharing with our readers (and listeners) as the site continues to develop. The Bible teaches so much about money and how to handle it and invest it –  there are literally thousands of verses on how we should handle the money and possessions that God entrusts us with.  By examining the life of Jesus and reading the Word of God, we can all become fully equipped to be successful investors and handle money wisely.  We have a God who thinks big – He created the universe – and He wants us to think big  in every area of our lives.  When we handle money from a Biblical perspective (His money that we have been given stewardship of), He will bless you.  This all begins, of course, with a personal relationship with Jesus Christ by accepting Him as your Lord and Savior and putting Him at the throne of your life.  It is the most important decision you’ll ever make.

God Bless,

Terry Dyer

Owner/Publisher, www.BullMarketRun.com

Disclaimer:

BullMarketRun.com (BMR) is completely independent from any companies it covers.  BMR accepts no compensation of any kind from any groups, individuals or corporations for coverage of any company mentioned on this site.  We accept no advertising either.  Our stock coverage is for informational and entertainment purposes only and must not be viewed or interpreted as “buy”, “sell” or “hold” recommendations. No investment opinion or other advice is being rendered on any stock or company. We strongly recommend that you consult with a qualified investment adviser, one licensed by appropriate regulatory agencies in your legal jurisdiction, and do your own due diligence and research before making any investment decisions. The stocks we cover, by definition, are highly speculative and potentially very volatile. Investors are cautioned that they may lose all or a portion of their investment if they make a purchase or short sale in these speculative stocks.  We are not Registered Securities Advisers. Our opinions can only be construed as a solicitation to buy and sell securities when they are subject to the prior approval and endorsement of a Registered Securities Adviser operating in accordance with the appropriate regulations in your area of jurisdiction. It should be assumed that BMR personnel, writers and their associates may hold or dispose of or trade in positions in any securities mentioned herein at any time.  Owner/Publisher of BullMarketRun.com is Terry Dyer of Langley, British Columbia.

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