Gold has traded between $1,219 and $1,234 so far today…as of 9:20 am Pacific, bullion is up $5 an ounce at $1,223…Silver is 6 cents higher at $16.84…Copper has added 7 cents to $2.61…Crude Oil has climbed nearly $2 a barrel to $50.54 while the U.S. Dollar Index has fallen three-quarters of a point to 94.08…
The World Gold Council (WGC) issued its quarterly demands trend report today…on a positive note, demand ended the year on a strong note as it grew to 987.5 tonnes in Q4, an increase of 6% compared to the same quarter in 2013…however total demand for the year came in at 3,923.7 tonnes, down 4% on the year (its lowest level since 2009)…at the same time, total supply was little changed at 4,278.2 tonnes…
Although demand was down in India and China in 2014, the WGC said that demand in those two countries has grown 71% in the last 10 years…looking at last year, India and China accounted for 54% of consumer Gold demand, an increase from 33% in 2005…
More Central Bank Gymnastics
Sweden’s central bank today cut its main interest rate into negative territory for the first time and announced a bond-buying program, as it joined a widening group of central banks trying out unconventional measures to battle low inflation…
Meanwhile, the Bank of England today signaled it remains on course to raise interest rates in the U.K. next year, despite a sharp slowdown in inflation in Britain and renewed concern in the global economy over the risk that debt-laden Greece stumbles out of the neighboring euro zone…
However, in a sign that officials are mindful of the risks that threaten to undermine a recovery, Canadian and BOE Governor Mark Carney said he and his colleagues on the rate-setting Monetary Policy Committee are willing to cut the BOE’s main interest rate further below its record-low level of 0.5% or embark on a fresh round of asset purchases if the prospects for growth and inflation in the U.K. deteriorate…
Emboldening Putin
Appeasing dangerous dictators (in this case, Vladimir Putin) is never a wise strategy, but that’s exactly what some key European nations have done today as the leaders of Germany and France have brokered a renewed deal to “end” Ukraine’s 10-month conflict with Russia-backed separatists, reviving and amending a failed September truce agreement in marathon talks that lasted through the night…
As Germany and France see it, the deal offers fresh hope for peace in Ukraine, but how they think Putin can even be remotely trusted is incredibly naive given his track record…the texts of the documents approved in the Belarusian capital of Minsk showed concessions on both sides, although Russia’s tough negotiating appeared to have won significant gains for the rebels…
One can almost be certain that Putin’s strategy is to claim at some point down the road that Ukraine has violated this agreement, thereby justifying whatever actions he decides to take – either through the rebels he has control over or influences, or by Russia officially…Putin is cunning and he’s playing Germany and France like puppets on a string, and this is merely another example why the world is a more dangerous place than ever (bullish ultimately for Gold)…the United States has turned very inward-looking under President Obama, who can’t even think in continental terms (the U.S., Canada and Mexico), while Western political leadership on the international is abysmal…
U.S. Dollar Index Updated Chart
The U.S. Dollar Index is an excellent example of how a market can remain technically overbought on an extended basis…below is John’s updated 2.5-year weekly chart for the Dollar Index with a new Fib. measured resistance level of 102…
Keep in mind, Gold and the greenback have generally been moving in tandem in recent months (not the historical norm), so a significantly higher Dollar Index does not necessarily mean that bullion is about to collapse…in fact, the opposite could be true…both Gold and the Dollar Index are consolidating at the moment, and at some point in the near future (after testing support) both could off in unison to the upside…
The Dollar Index has exceptional support at its 50-day moving average (SMA) which continues to rise sharply and is currently at 92.52…
Canadian Dollar Updated Chart
The loonie continues to churn in the 78-80 cent support band, though the possibility of a near-term rally out of that zone is very real given the current extent of oversold conditions…divergent monetary policies between the U.S. and Canada are obviously bearish for the loonie, giving ample reason for a collapse below 78 cents at some point this year – exact timing obviously is impossible to predict…this would coincide with an expected further drop in Oil prices (renewed weakness in both should be bullish for Canadian Gold producers and near-producers)…
Today’s Equity Markets
Asia
Asian markets were mostly higher overnight with China’s Shanghai Composite adding 16 points while Japan’s Nikkei average surged to a 2-month high as the yen fell to a near 6-week low against the dollar…
Europe
Investors in Europe cheered the “peace deal” between Ukraine and Russia and substantially drove up stock prices across the board today…meanwhile, the Financial Times reported this morning that euro zone finance ministers’ first attempt to grapple with the bailout demands made by the new Greek government broke down in recriminations after the 2 sides failed even to agree on a way to take negotiations forward after 6 hours of talks in Brussels…trying to carve out a deal on money with a group of communists is not likely to work…
North America
The Dow is up 70 points as of 9:20 am Pacific despite (or perhaps because of) some disappointing economic news that has also knocked down the U.S. dollar…
U.S. retail sales slumped in January for a second straight month, a worrisome signal of weak consumer spending over the holidays and entering 2015…sales at retailers and restaurants decreased 0.8% last month to a seasonally adjusted $439.77 billion, the Commerce Department said today…retail sales dropped 0.9% in December after rising 0.4% in November…gasoline prices have plunged since last summer…but even excluding purchases at gas stations, retail sales were flat in January after ticking down 0.2% in December…
First-time weekly jobless claims in the U.S. rose by 25,000, more than expected, to a seasonally adjusted 304,000 during the week to Saturday, the Labor Department reported this morning…
The TSX is off slightly as of 9:20 am Pacific while the Venture is up 2 points at 693…
Walker River Resources (WRR, TSX-V) Update
When fundamentals and technicals both come together in a stock at the same time, the result can be explosive – especially in the speculative space…
Walker River Resources (WRR, TSX-V) has some very compelling high-grade Gold targets at its Lapon Canyon Property on a proven trend in Nevada…we did our due diligence on this about a year ago, but timing is everything…now with drill permits in hand, and a source of financing to move forward, Walker should be able to generate some near-term excitement as the geological team appears to have an excellent early understanding of the steeply dipping cross-fault structures that cut across this property…Lapon is on the important Walker trend, and what WRR sees here is a system that is analagous to other cross-fault structures responsible for many Gold and base metal deposits in the world…these faults are heavily sheared and altered with abundant silica…they vary in width from 60 to 300 m…aiming some drill holes here should be a lot of fun…
It is one of those properties that has simply been under-explored…some small-scale mining took place at Lapon in the early 1900’s…underground sampling in the early 1900’s returned numerous assay values in the range of 1 ounce per ton, with a sample at the end of an adit returning 20.6 ounces per ton (Gruenwald, 1994, National Instrument 43-101 report dated Feb. 15, 2004, by Dr. J.H. Montgomery, P.Eng., and N. Barr, BSc) as reported by WRR March 27, 2014…
We’re even more comfortable with this property knowing that geologist Tom Shuster has visited it and also joined the company’s board of directors…Tom, who has done some excellent work as a trusted consultant for Jordan Capital in Vancouver, is a first-class guy and knows his stuff…he’s genuinely fired up about this property…
The claims are easily accessible by secondary state roads from the main highway, and a power transmission line passes within 3 km of the property…
By the way, in December, Walker River picked up a land package in the James Bay area of northwest Quebec where Visible Gold Mines (VGD, TSX-V) has been enjoying some exploration (and market) success (drilling continues there)…Quebec could also deliver some joy for this company, but the treasure in our view is at Lapon Canyon and that’s where the company’s focus is going to be…
There are never any discovery guarantees in this business, but we believe Walker has an unusual chance of success on its initial round of drilling…
WRR Chart Update
There are so many aspects of this chart that fascinate us, including of course the recent breakout above the downtrend line on big volume…the CMF shows increasing accumulation, RSI(14) is accelerating and following an uptrend line, while the ADX indicator also confirms the primary bullish trend (not shown on this chart are the 100 and 200-day moving averages which are beginning to reverse to the upside, putting WRR at current levels in the “sweet spot”)…as always, perform your own due diligence…
WRR is unchanged at 4.5 cents as of 9:20 am Pacific…
Pikoo Camp & Athabasca Nuclear Corp. (ASC, TSX-V) Update
We’re excited about the possibilities of the emerging Pikoo diamond camp in central-eastern Saskatchewan which, like the Sheslay district in northwest B.C., has huge exploration upside as a district-scale opportunity…
A reminder to our readers that North Arrow Minerals‘ (NAR, TSX-V) drill program is now under way at its Pikoo Project under a joint venture with Stornoway Diamond Corp. (SWY, TSX)…this was announced yesterday…approximately 3,000 m of drilling is planned to follow up on diamond-bearing kimberlite discoveries made in 2013 and to test new targets defined by the 2014 till sampling program..initial ground geophysical surveys of selected target areas are complete and the drill is on the property…the program is expected to run through to the end of March…
Diamonds were first discovered at NAR’s Pikoo Project in 2013 when kimberlite was identified in 9 of 10 drill holes, including the PK150 kimberlite discovery…
Athabasa Nuclear, in a healthy financial position, has assembled a quality land package in the Pikoo camp and is therefore extremely well positioned to benefit from a pick-up in interest in this area…another hit by NAR will give the Pikoo camp a major boost…
ASC has been hovering between 3 cents and a nickel since the start of the year, and its 50-day SMA (currently at 4 cents) has recently reversed to the upside…importantly, a confirmed breakout above the downtrend line appears to be in the works…
Note: John and Jon both hold share positions in WRR.
BLO – As I mentioned yesterday, blo did a bearish doji star. It did twice the volume of its record day volume the previous green day. This spelled for a serious correction. So far today, it has blown past its 2 light support numbers. The next support in U.S. is .17 and that is a strong support number. I missed blo on the first go around but I have a bid in at .20 U.S.
WRR – Jon, if you talk to Shuster, I was wondering if you can bring something up to him. He may already know this, but ask if he can check to see if there are any 20 acre mining claims surrounding his property. They can be obtain for $288 and this includes the staking of the four corners. I believe the blm office in Nevada is located in Yerington.
Comment by dave — February 12, 2015 @ 9:47 am
By the way, congrats to all of you who were in blo and made some serious cash. I hate to see people lose money. Congrats to all of you.
I guess I was late to realize the fundementals on this one and I believe in it now and will play the chart swings in my favor.
Comment by dave — February 12, 2015 @ 9:49 am
Regarding the new deal to end the Ukraine crisis, the winners are,
the men, the women, the children & even the animals, all living
today, but stand a good chance of leaving this world, without the
deal. Judging the deal by what some journalists write, who have
their own agenda, may not be appropriate.
Comment by Bert — February 12, 2015 @ 10:12 am
Dave,
Thanks for the little tech analysis. A lot of important news ahead of us… which will probably drive the SP higher. A lot of volatility on the American and Canadian side, but the stock held up very well in Frankfurt- closed at 0.36 Euro (about 0.51 C$), down 3% from yesterday.
Comment by chris — February 12, 2015 @ 10:42 am
Interesting Chris. I have a bid in at .20 U.S. – I think we will see another correction day tomorrow. Usually you have 3 correction days after a parabolic run. The .17 support does not mean it will necessarily go there, just means it should’nt go much lower. I am gambling on .20 – It did hit .24 earlier. We shall see what tomorrow brings. All the best to ya.
Comment by dave — February 12, 2015 @ 10:55 am
Dave, hope your bid gets filled. Like I wrote yesterday…I want the stock to consolidate and catch its breath. So I wouldn’t be surprised if we see another down day tomorrow. The fundamentals on this stock are very strong, and I am pretty certain we will see a new 52 week high sooner or later. All the best.
Comment by chris — February 12, 2015 @ 11:06 am
Based on the US Chart
The FIBS are as follows
US CAN
100% 65 81 ( The CAN Exch only reached a high of 77c)
61.8 45 56
50 39 49
38.2 33 41
0.0 13 16
$CAD = $US0.80
Use these figs for closing values, not intraday.
Hope this helps
Comment by John BMR — February 12, 2015 @ 11:32 am
Sorry…the spaces disappeared
Comment by John BMR — February 12, 2015 @ 11:34 am
Hi Chris – currently at 2:30 eastern, the 20sma is at .20 – as you know the 20sma is always between the upper and lower bollinger band. Of coarse, as you also know it hasn’t hit .20 yet U.S. of coarse. The RSI is at 71. It would not be uncommon to see the rsi drop into the 60’s which SHOULD bring the price down to the .20 level. I learned many years ago that a stock will usually come down to the 20sma after going above the upper bollinger band. HOWEVER, strong fundamental stories can divert this. It should be interesting and I will continue to look at daily candles and the other do-da daily.
Comment by dave — February 12, 2015 @ 11:37 am
Hi Jon
When do you visit Quebec?
Comment by Bob — February 12, 2015 @ 12:15 pm
BLO – like I said, the .17 strong support does not mean it will come to that level. It just means it should not go below that level. I failed to do a very simple program that I do to see where the bottom may hit. I did it after market close and it showed .24 U.S. which it hit today. So now I am mad at myself, but maybe I get lucky and she does a double bottom on correction tomorrow. I will change my price at to .24
Comment by dave — February 12, 2015 @ 1:12 pm
NOW GENTLEMAN – Whoever owns WRR, I am going to tell you something that is going to make you sell all your shares tomorrow. It is over bought. The RSI is at 78 on the yearly chart. So please sell all your shares tomorrow so I get my fill at .04. – Hahahaha. Just a little humor to make you laugh. seriously, it coming back to .04 will help the rsi breathe a little. I would not panic as this move would be very natural before it proceeds to take out the last resistance at .06.
Comment by dave — February 12, 2015 @ 2:02 pm
Sorry Dave the shares I picked up earlier this week are not for sale at these prices…lol
Comment by d4 — February 12, 2015 @ 6:07 pm
More “geo political” nonsense from the warmongering BMR team. The FACTS of the situation in the Ukraine is that a twice democratically elected government was overthrown by a bunch of western sponsored militants, many of whom are openly neo nazi. This was admitted to by US ambassador Victoria Nuland who claimed the regime overthrowal had cost $10 billion. Many of the protestors were paid 50 euro a day to protest and there is clear evidence linking Nuland [a taped telephone conversation] with the sniper attack which killed over one hundred people from both sides in the conflict. The reason the sniper attack was ordered was because the government had accepted the demonstrators demands for immediate elections and Nuland did not want to risk a free election which her cronies could easily lose.
These are easily proven facts about the background to the Ukraine conflict. Germany and France want to stop this conflict developing into all out war which seems to be the plan of people like John {I love war} Mc Cain and other extremists in the US government. Modern warfare involves huge amounts of civilian casualties and for this site to openly promote this most disgusting of all human activities and to mock sincere politicians who seek peace is unforgivable. Unless this site stops this war lust I will be looking elsewhere for information on mining companies. You should be ashamed to promote this nonsense with your so called religous conviction.
Comment by patrick — February 13, 2015 @ 2:18 am
Patrick
Well written, thank you !
————————————-
Knock ! Knock !
Who’s there ?
It’s Sgt. — from the Armed forces
How can i be of assistance ?
We are here to inform you your son/daughter was killed in action.
Oh NOOooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo Tears ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Comment by Bert — February 13, 2015 @ 4:42 am
The Russian bear doesn’t respect weakness, Patrick, Bert. Reagan and Thatcher didn’t show weakness, they knew how to handle the Russians. Let’s see where things are at in 6 months – it probably won’t be pretty, but Gold will shine as a result.
Comment by Jon - BMR — February 13, 2015 @ 5:11 am
Jon – Let’s see where things are at in 6 months – it probably won’t be pretty, but Gold will shine as a result.
Bert – Wait & see ! wasn’t that stated about stocks 6 months ago & here we
are… As for Gold shining, is it worth one person’s life to see Gold
shine, not in this person’s mind. I will take a shine in Gold, but i don’t
want to see one person killed in a war. As for the Russian bear, propaganda !
If this war continues, as well as sanctions, along with a decline in oil, we
will see how strong the Russian bear is. He who runs away, will live to fight
another day…I see Sun news is finished, obviously, their line of broadcasting
left much to be desired. R !
Comment by Bert — February 13, 2015 @ 6:23 am
Jon, can you please have an updated chart posted for T.RGX? Since it is sitting at such a juicy price, I am seriously thinking about buying a large amount of shares.
Comment by Steven — February 13, 2015 @ 6:28 am
Hi Steven, we’ll look into it, though not today. We’re behind as it is on some stuff, including DBV. We are compiling quite an update on DBV as we mentioned earlier. The market has not yet fully grasped the significance of H-23 and a much bigger system that clearly seems to be emerging at the Hat. A lot of interesting things are happening on different fronts at the moment, so bear with us.
Comment by Jon - BMR — February 13, 2015 @ 6:57 am
Actually, Patrick is right I have been following the story from the start as I have huge issues in the way the US constantly meddles in international affairs solely on the basis of pushing their own agenda and whats in their own best interests.
All of the conflicts that they get into are always found to be baseless in the end another words…. lies. As an example, did they find any weapons of mass destruction in Iraq? Nope. All lies.
On the economic front and it’s job numbers, they are inflated at best and are out right lies at worst The fact of the matter is the US has been going through economic doldrums worst than anyone else originally and lately almost as bad as everyone else since 2008 – 2009. Did you know that there are the same amount of people working in the US in 2015 as in 1976. Its a fact. Or that 23% of the people in the US some 93 million or so are not working. How is it the Feds report there is 5.6% unemployed in the US then? That is simple…they lie. The actual MINIMUM amount of unemployed people in the US is double the 5.6% at 11.2 but they changed they way they calculate the unemployment numbers. Now, if you are a discouraged worker who has given up after several weeks of looking for work you are not counted as unemployed. That is another 5.6% there. And if you have given up after a year you have been dropped of the unemployed statistical map long ago which is the other 11.2%. This is all true. Other nations (that I know of) don’t do this. A lot of officials have spoken up about this and some have feared repercussions.
This is what Dr Paul Craig Roberts a former Fed Treassurey offical had to say:
Unemployment Number Is Meaningless
On January 9, the US government told Americans that the unemployment rate had fallen to a comforting 5.6 percent, an indication that the Federal Reserve’s policy of Quantitative Easing was successful in restoring the US economy. A 5.6 percent rate of unemployment suggests that Americans have a reasonable chance of finding a job. Yet we know there are millions of discouraged workers who have given up looking for a job.
The explanation of this paradox is that the 5.6 percent unemployment rate (U.3) does not include unemployed people who have not looked for a job in the previous four weeks. These unemployed are called “discouraged workers.” If they have been discouraged for less than one year, they are counted in a seldom-reported measure of unemployment (U.6). This rate stands at 11.2 percent, twice as high as the unemployment rate stressed by government and financial media.
The 11.2 percent rate is an official measure, but it is not publicized because it indicates a dismal employment outlook 5.5 years after the 2008 recession was declared over, in June 2009. What kind of recovery is it when the unemployment rate remains at 11.2 percent years after the recession has officially ended?
Actually the true total amount of people unemployed in the US is 23%
What ? You say you don’t believe it. Check out John Williams stuff about the real unemployment and economic numbers at his website (Shadow Stats). He is a highly regarded economist that the Feds used themselves for years.
Or check out on you tube what other “officials have said
“Gallup CEO Jim Clifton The Real Unemployment Rate In America @ 11.2% Double What Obama Say”
And their are other officials that say the same thing. Its all on you tube. Its there. they are not nuts and they are officials. Check it out.
Comment by Robin — February 13, 2015 @ 7:14 am
I want to provide a couple more comments about the US economy and the prospects of higher interest rates by the Feds by better known and respected people other than my self. Incidently I am solely interested in this stuff to provide the truth and in the end make money in precious metals stocks. F
Former Fed Chairman Allan Greenspan said just a few weeks ago “the US economy is doing mediocre” Does that sound robust to you? Or I guess he is lying. Or he has lost his marbles. No..he knows the truth.
And about the Feds hinting for months now about raising interest rates to cool off the US economy which curiously they keep punting the date down the road. Now they are suggesting they may do it in June or July…. yeah right.It won’t happen folks. The strong US dollar which is…wait for it… based on phony numbers and lies is already hurting their trade numbers as basically all other currencies are weakening to the dollar. They certainly are not going to raise interest rates to strengthen the dollar and slap their trade numbers down further as well as put the breaks on the US economic engine. And at the same time they will be increasing the interest payments on their national dept by billions and billions. A rate hike soon Bwahh ha ha ha I don’t think so. Not with what we KNOW.
Billionaire Warren Buffett said recently ” I don’t think it is FEASIBLE the US can raise interest rates”
So the truth is there if you really want the truth. My only concern is that the US has been able to keep these games going for a long time much longer than one would expect them to be able to.But I have faith that truth will prevail and have made all my investments into precious metal stocks and am currently up about 70%. This is shaping up to be a very interesting year. I believe silver and gold have a long ways to go up before things return back to some form of normal. Just my humble opinion. So keep the faith.
Comment by Robin — February 13, 2015 @ 8:00 am
Posting at approx. 9:30 am Pacific today again, our apologies. We’ve been inundated on the research side on several situations these last few days.
Comment by Jon - BMR — February 13, 2015 @ 8:36 am
Keep an eye on FLX.v
Things are shaping up and this could very well be the stock of year on the Venture.
Comment by John — February 15, 2015 @ 1:55 pm