Gold has traded between $1,287 and $1,299 so far today…as of 7:45 am Pacific, bullion is down $2 an ounce at $1,295…Silver is off 11 cents at $19.32…Copper is flat at $3.14…Crude Oil is up 38 cents at $101.88 while the U.S. Dollar Index is unchanged at 80.00…
India’s Bharatiya Janata Party has scored a landslide victory in national elections, setting the stage for its pro-business leader, Narendra Modi, to become the country’s next prime minister…the Indian National Congress Party suffered the most crushing defeat in its 128-year history as results were released today…voters were furious over Congress’ inability to address corruption, unemployment and the sputtering economy…with 815 million eligible voters, 915,000 polling stations, and nine days of voting over five weeks, India has finally completed the largest parliamentary election the world has ever witnessed…
An economically stronger India would no doubt be very positive for Gold, and Modi had the backing of the Gold lobby in India with the bullion industry in a dire state due to government mismanagement of the economy…severe Gold import restrictions were introduced – it’s believed Modi’s regime will ease or eliminate those – in an attempt to deal with the country’s current-account deficit…Modi is viewed as being very favorable toward Gold and made these comments in the past regarding bullion: “We have not seen Gold just as money, it is related with all aspects of our social life. We have always attached the term ‘Gold‘ with anything good in our life…In our society, Gold is connected with security, respect and a friend in need during hours of crisis. It is also related to the well-being of our daughters through exchange of the matter during marriage times…After a doctor, the Goldsmith is the most trusted man in the family.”
CME Group is lowering margins for Gold and Silver futures after of the close of business today…
SPDR Gold Trust, the world’s biggest Gold-backed exchange-traded fund, showed the first inflow in a month yesterday…holdings in the fund rose 1.79 tonnes to 782.25 tonnes…data showed that hedge fund Paulson & Co, the largest institutional investor in SPDR, kept its stake in the fund unchanged in the first quarter as bullion prices rebounded from their biggest annual loss in 32 years in 2013…
The volume of Canadian mining and metals deals fell 51% year-on-year in the first-quarter of 2014, but there was some improvement quarter-on-quarter, according to Ernst & Young’s Capital Confidence Barometer report released yesterday. “Low first-quarter deal numbers actually mask growing confidence across the sector,” said Bruce Sprague, EY’s Canadian mining and metals leader, in the report. “Deal value may have fallen 51%, and volume 13%, in the first-quarter over (first-quarter) 2013, but we’ve already seen increased desire to do deals in Canada. Transaction activity will come down to whether companies with an eye on mergers and acquisitions can find the right opportunity.”
Asia
China’s Shanghai Composite gained a point overnight to finish the week at 2026…Japan’s Nikkei fell 201 points to close at 14097, while India’s benchmark Index rose to a fresh record high following news of the landslide win for Modi and the BJP…
Europe
European markets are slightly lower in late trading overseas with continued anxiety over slow growth, low inflation and hefty valuations…
North America
The Dow is off 11 points as of 7:30 am Pacific…a monthly gauge of U.S. consumer sentiment fell in May as a gloomy view on income growth clouded an otherwise positive economic outlook, a survey released this morning showed…the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan’s preliminary May reading on the overall index on consumer sentiment came in at 81.8, down from 84.1 the month before…it was also below the expectation of 84.5 among economists polled by Reuters…
The TSX is down 56 points while the Venture is up a point at 976 as of 7:45 am Pacific…
Below is a 6-month Dow chart that demonstrates the strong support the Dow continues to have in the immediate vicinity of its 50-day moving average (SMA) which it touched during yesterday’s session…the combined 268-point drop the last two days unnerved some investors but followed five straight days of gains and a new all-time record high…in a worst-case scenario, it’s difficult to imagine the Dow not holding support at its 200-day SMA, so the downside from current levels certainly appears limited…
Updated Venture Chart
As we’ve noted repeatedly, the Venture is underpinned by tremendous chart and Fib. support ranging from the 940’s into the 980’s, so it’s currently trading within that wide band which is expected to hold prior to the next wave higher…this test of support is normal and healthy, a necessary part of the process as this new overall bullish phase in the market matures…keep in mind, the rising 200-day (SMA) is currently sitting in the low 960’s…
This 6-month daily chart shows the “choppiness” in the market since late March…a test of the 200-day would not be surprising, along with some basing time, prior to a reversal to the upside…all charts clearly show that the primary trend remains bullish – that’s the key point…
Garibaldi Resources Corp. (GGI, TSX-V) – Interview Clip (Excerpt 1) With President/CEO Steve Regoci
BMR conducted a fascinating interview yesterday with Garibaldi Resources Corp.’s (GGI, TSX-V) Steve Regoci that covered a wide range of topics, from the company’s bonanza grade Silver drill results reported Wednesday (the second hole at Silver Eagle is under way) to events in the Sheslay Valley…below is a first short excerpt of that video interview – a longer Part 1 version will be posted by tomorrow, followed by more next week…
With regard to Doubleview Capital Corp.’s (DBV, TSX-V) results that were released Wednesday, Regoci had the following comments:
“Doubleview has something going there and I think it’s going to be big…I understand that the markets want every hole to be a glory hole, but I think early on – the distance from where they drilled initially and some of these other targets, and from what our geological crew knows – we’re very excited. The fact that it (the Hat discovery) is 9 km away from the Sheslay porphyries that Prosper is about to start drilling, it just really speaks to the scale, the magnitude of the district. The mineralization is very, very prevalent. We expanded the Grizzly a couple of months ago, and we were lucky to acquire the Hat East prospect. And I think Doubleview is in a great position. Ashburton’s got some great ground, and we’ve now got the ground right beside Ashburton. We believe that structure extends right onto Hat East.”
Garibaldi, of course, is the largest landholder among juniors in the Sheslay district with a whopping 262 sq. km, and Regoci said his team is quickly and efficiently working through the process of prioritizing drill targets as GGI and other companies prepare for a major ramping up of exploration in the area…
Click on the arrow to view the short version of Part 1 (Rodadero drill results) of our Regoci interview excerpt…
Probe Mines Ltd. (PRB, TSX-V) Updated Chart
Probe Mines (PRB, TSX-V) launched a 40,000-metre drill program this week at its Borden Lake Project in northern Ontario, aided by four rigs that will be focused on infill drilling in the high-grade zone…regional exploration and drilling are planned for the summer…after climbing to an all-time high of nearly $4 in mid-March, PRB unwound a technically overbought condition by dropping in half – other such declines in 2012 and 2013 presented great buying opportunities as you can see on the chart below…a strong support band exists between $2 and $2.20…PRB rallied as high as $2.55 yesterday where it met resistance at its 200-day SMA…expect more basing and a possible re-test of the support band before PRB kicks back into gear…PRB is up 2 cents at $2.45 as of 7:45 am Pacific…
Note: Jon and John both hold share positions in GGI, PGX and ABR. Jon also holds a share position in DBV.
