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Gold has traded between $1,260 and $1,269 so far today…as of 6:40 am Pacific, bullion is up $6 an ounce at $1,266…Silver is 10 cents higher at $19.30…Copper is flat at $3.03…Crude Oil, aided by escalating violence and instability in Iraq, has surged $1.63 a barrel to $106.03…Islamist militants swept out of northern Iraq yesterday to seize their second city in two days, threatening Baghdad and pushing the country’s besieged government to signal it would allow U.S. airstrikes to beat back the advance…the U.S. Dollar Index is down slightly at 80.73…

Concern over the potential market impact of a metals-financing probe in China may be overblown, however, said Bank of America Merrill Lynch…“Assuming that around 300,000-400,000 tons of copper stocks in China are locked up in financing deals at present, the tonnages affected in Qingdao are worth no more than a day of national demand,” said the bank…furthermore, Merrill Lynch added, the chance that Chinese banks will withdraw from metals financing as a result of the probe is extremely small, and while uncertainty over the situation is likely to damp market sentiment in the short-term, the impact of the probe should be negligible in the longer term…

China’s Bureau of Raw Materials states that Chinese domestic Gold resources grew strongly in recent years and at 8,200 tonnes (264 million ounces) are now the world’s second largest, exceeded only by known South African resources of 31,000 tonnes (close to 1 billion ounces)…these latest figures suggest that China will be able to at least retain its current output levels and comfortably maintain its global No. 1 producer status…it currently produces around 65% more Gold annually than global No.2 miner, Australia, and almost 140% more than South Africa’s current production…South Africa dominated world Gold output for most of the last century…

Palladium prices have hit a 13-year high, propelled by investors’ worries that supplies of the precious metal are dwindling amid a nearly five-month-old miners’ strike in South Africa…

Today’s Markets

Asia

The mainland’s benchmark Shanghai Composite dipped 3 points to 2052 despite news of another “mini-stimulus”…yesterday, premier Li Keqiang said the government should develop a transportation network in order to form an “economic belt” along the Yangtze river…Japan’s Nikkei fell 96 points overnight to

Europe

European markets are mixed in late trading overseas…

North America

After its first triple digit loss since May 20, the Dow is off another 35 points through the first 10 minutes of trading…U.S. retail sales rose less than expected in May, but that probably will do little to change expectations of an acceleration in growth this quarter as data for the prior months was revised higher…the Commerce Department reported this morning that retail sales, which account for a third of consumer spending, gained 0.3% last month and rose by a revised 0.5% in April…economists polled by Reuters had forecast May sales gaining 0.6% after a previously reported 0.1% rise in April…

The TSX is 10 points higher while the Venture is flat at 989…

Updated Venture Chart

We’ve posted numerous very bullish longer-term Venture charts in recent weeks (and months), pointing to a potentially surprisingly robust second half of 2014…below is a 6-month daily chart that shows the Venture poised for a possible near-term breakout above a temporary downtrend line (within the context of a primary uptrend) that formed after the March high of 1050…the broader uptrend, of course, is supported by many indicators, not the least of which is a rising 200-day moving average (SMA) currently at about 970…

Note how RSI(14) found support at 30% and a bullish “W” formed after the May 20 intra-day low of 968…buy pressure is now increasing and the 50-day SMA has flattened out just below 1000…the Venture will gain significant near-term momentum in the event of a breakout above this downtrend line and the 50-day SMA…

Garibaldi Resources Corp. (GGI, TSX-V) Update 

After reporting bonanza grade Silver results from the very first hole at the Silver Eagle target at the Rodadero North Project in Mexico May 14, it’s likely safe to assume that an update from GGI regarding Rodadero can’t be far off…we’re optimistic regarding Rodadero given the science behind the selection of targets there, and confirmation of promising Hyperspectral signatures from surface sampling…keep in mind, it was through the use of Hyperspectral Remote Sensing Technology that allowed GGI to cash in on the Temoris option in 2009 (sold to Paramount Gold & Silver, PZG, TSX & AMEX) which has emerged as an important piece of ground for Paramount with impressive high-grade drill intercepts…

The 10-year GGI chart remains potentially very explosive with the overall bullish trend continuing to gain strength…Fib. support has held at 21 cents (immediately above the rising 50 and 100-day SMA’s which have converged at 20 cents) on the healthy pullback from the recent multi-year intra-day high of 28 cents (May 20-21)…RSI(14) at 60% on this long-term chart is following an uptrend line and has plenty of room to head higher…for various technical and fundamental reasons, it appears that GGI’s 475% move from last year’s low of 4 cents could be just the first stage of a very dramatic run if success continues in both Mexico and B.C. for this well-run company…as always, perform your own due diligence…

TSX Gold Index Updated Chart

A strong TSX Gold Index support band between 160 and 165 has held, so far, and that has to be encouraging for Gold bugs…the Index closed yesterday above Fib. resistance at 175 but exactly at its declining 200-day SMA, so it’ll be interesting to see what develops in the coming days…the 6-month daily chart features increasing buy pressure and a bullish +DI/-DI crossover…

Crude Oil Updated Chart

Crude Oil (WTIC) continues to climb an RSI trendline in place since late last year as you can see on this 1-year weekly chart…key areas to watch are $104-$105 (resistance) and of course strong resistance around $110…

Contact Exploration Inc. (CEX, TSX-V) Update

Calgary-based Contact Exploration (CEX, TSX-V) has been one of our favorite oil and gas plays over the last year, especially after a confirmed breakout above a horizontal channel in early December…a week ago, the company announced the closing of a non-brokered private placement for total gross proceeds of approximately $10 million, and yesterday CEX closed at another multi-year high of 48 cents…below is an updated 2.5-year weekly chart…as always, perform your own due diligence…

Kaminak Gold Corp. (KAM, TSX-V) Update

Investors responded favorably to results from a NI-43-101 Preliminary Economic Assessment for Kaminak Gold’s (KAM, TSX-V) Coffee Project in the Yukon…this 2.5-year chart is interesting as you can see how KAM broke above a long-term downtrend line early this year…it retraced to test that new support, and then moved sharply higher yesterday on the news…a possible inverted head-and-shoulders pattern could be forming here which would be bullish…KAM is down 7 cents at 86 cents as of 6:40 am Pacific…

Note:  John and Jon both hold share positions in GGI.