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Gold has traded between $1,229 and $1,239 so far today…as of 6:50 am Pacific, bullion is down $2 an ounce at $1,238…Silver is up 7 cents at $15.30…Copper is flat at $2.12…Crude Oil has surged $2.00 a barrel to $39.26 while the U.S. Dollar Index has fallen one-fifth of a point to 94.35…

Credit Suiise has upped its Gold and Silver forecasts, looking for Gold to climb to $1,350 an ounce in the 1st quarter of 2017…that’s still on the low side according to our take on the Gold market, but further upgrades from bank analysts as the year progresses can only be bullish for the yellow metal…Credit Suiise has hiked its 2016 forecast by 10% to an average of $1,270 an ounce and by 12% in 2017 to $1,313…

“We do not believe a return to sub-$1,150 per ounce is likely or a sustainable price for the Gold market as it would accelerate the existing mine-supply issue,” the bank said. “Reserve life has declined from 14 years to 10 years and we forecast supply declining by 8% from 2016-18. Meanwhile, central-bank and Gold-bar purchasers have as good a reason as ever to diversify into fungible assets whose value cannot be printed away by other central banks.”

Gold is on track to enjoy its best week out of 5 as “Brexit” fears mount while the U.S. dollar remains under pressure following last week’s dovish comments from Fed Chair Janet Yellen…analysts attribute part of yesterday’s jump in Gold to Dutch voters overwhelmingly rejecting a Ukraine-European Union treaty that would see closer political and economic ties between the two sides….this was viewed as a test of EU sentiment ahead of the key June 23 vote in Britain…

Oil Update

Oil is getting a lift today on fresh hopes over a proposed freeze in production and firm economic indicators from the U.S. and Germany that cast a positive light on growth in fuel demand…Crude touched strong new support in the mid-$30’s earlier this week…

Iraq continues to increase its Oil production, though some analysts believe that a range of factors could lead to supply disruptions in that country by the summer…Iraq said yesterday that exports from its southern ports had hit almost 3.5 million bpd in April, up from an average of 3.29 bpd in March…major producers including Iraq meet April 17 in an effort to freeze output levels…

Russia’s Oil production could fall in April, sources say, while the country’s energy minister expressed confidence that producer nations will agree to an output freeze…

Capital spending in the Canadian Oilpatch sector is set to drop by $50 billion since 2014 – the largest two-year-decline since at least 1947 — thanks to the protracted plunge in Oil prices, the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers said Thursday, although the election of the NDP in Alberta in the spring of last year (and the Liberals at the federal level in October) did not help matters in our view along of course with President Obama’s rejection of Keystone…Canada urgently needs new pipelines to move product to tidewater…investments were expected to decline 62% to $31 billion in 2016, from a record $81 billion in 2014, and $48 billion in 2015, according to CAPP, which represents the Oil and gas industry…the oilsands may see investments drop to around $17 billion this year, half of the figure spent in 2014…

An Over-Regulated United States

In a great example of why the U.S. economy can’t push beyond 2.5% growth, the Wall Street Journal reported this morning how the Obama administration is racing to make final a flurry of regulations affecting broad swaths of the economy, further hamstringing U.S. businesses with moves across labor, health, finance and the environment…the expected burst of new regulations follows an intense few weeks in which the administration has targeted corporate tax inversions, imposed new rules on brokers and advanced restrictions on company relations with union organizers…

In today’s Morning Musings…

1.  What yesterday’s news of a “merger” with Adventure Gold (AGE, TSX-V) means for Probe Metals (PRB, TSX-V)…

2.  Integra Gold (ICG, TSX-V) makes a “strategic investment” in Eastmain Resources (ER, TSX) following a Columbus Gold (CGT, TSX) attempt to unseat the Eastmain board…

3.  Venture surpasses another key Fib. level…

4.  Copper erases its 2016 gains – updated chart on what to expect next…

Plus more… to view the rest of today’s Morning Musings, login with your username and password, or click here to register and gain full access to this and other exclusive BMR content and features…