Gold has traded in a range between $1,607 and $1,625 so far today to begin a new week…as of 6:10 am Pacific, the yellow metal is up $4 an ounce at $1,621…Silver is up 36 cents at $29.11…Copper is 2 cents lower at $3.41…Crude Oil is flat at $101.52 while the surging U.S. Dollar Index has pulled back nearly half a point to 81.01…
Dow futures as of 6:10 am Pacific are pointing to a slightly higher open…
Markets will be focused on U.S. corporate earnings, the euro zone and Iran this week…German Chancelor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy are meeting in Berlin today to discuss closer fiscal co-ordination and ways to boost growth in the single currency area…there was fresh evidence of continued strain in the euro zone financial markets this morning as the yield on German short-term debt turned negative…the news came after the European Central Bank also revealed a new record in the amount of cash lodged with it by banks overnight (463.565 billion euros), a further sign that financial institutions would rather pay for safety than take the risk of lending to each other…it’s simply a question of when, not if, there’s another flare-up in the euro zone crisis…
Positive News Out Of China
China’s banks ratcheted up lending in the last month of 2011 on the back of stronger money supply, reinforcing perceptions that the central bank is gently easing policy to cushion the impact of the European problem and the global economic slowdown…Chinese banks extended 640.5 billion yuan ($101.51 billion U.S.) in new loans in December, up from 562.2 billion yuan in November, according to data from the People’s Bank of China yesterday as reported by Reuters…annual growth in China’s broad M2 money supply accelerated to 13.6% in December from November’s 12.7%…this is important as Chinese stocks have historically moved with money supply…Beijing appears to be on track to unveil more pro-growth steps as inflation eases which reduces the risk of a hard landing in the world’s second-largest economy…Chinese annual GDP growth in the fourth quarter may have slowed to 8.7% from 9.1%, according to the latest Reuters poll…annual inflation is expected to ease to 4% in December from 4.2% in November…
CDNX Faces Test This Week
The Venture Exchange enjoyed a strong first week of January, climbing 41 points or 2.8% to close Friday at 1526…however, the Index faces several technical hurdles…it is now right up against a declining 50-day moving average (SMA) as well as a down trend line that has been in place since last spring…we’ll see how the Index handles this considerable overhead resistance in the coming days…it’s not encouraging that the daily Slow Stochastics(14) indicator is at its April, July and November peaks which all preceded sell-offs…
Canada Rare Earths (CJC, TSX-V), which was racing like a thoroughbred in November and December, stumbled out of the gate to begin the New Year last week and as a result there has been some chart damage…assay results are expected soon from the company’s promising Goeland Project in Quebec and expectations grew considerably after CJC reported encouraging visuals…whether the assays will confirm the visuals or meet or exceed market expectations is really anyone’s guess, and that’s why these stocks are so speculative…CJC closed Friday at 50 cents, its rising 50-day SMA, and at 46 cents is the rising 300-day SMA…so the stock has support but last week’s pennant breakdown on the chart has John concerned…
Note: John still holds a position in CJC (Jon and Terry do not hold positions)…
A company that readers should put on their “watch list” and perform some due diligence on is Volta Resources Inc. (VTR, TSX) which is developing projects of merit in West Africa…while the stock has declining 100, 200 and 300-day moving averages, it’s a strong candidate for a rebound as John points out in the chart below…VTR closed Friday at 92 cents for a market cap of $143 million…strong technical support exists around the Fibonacci 50% retracement level (85 cents)…any weakness in the overall markets in the near future could open up a particularly interesting trading opportunity in VTR…
Note: John, Jon and Terry do not hold positions in VTR…
@ Dave.
What’s your thoughts now regarding cjc?
This year hasn’t started so good. Are you still postive about this stock as you were before or have you perhaps changed your mind?
Comment by Kalkan — January 9, 2012 @ 7:22 am
I feel there is something wrong with cjc, first results were supose to be out in oct its now jan
Comment by Dan — January 9, 2012 @ 7:28 am
Then again look at VGD – far less complex testing and 5 months later nothing!
Comment by Andrew — January 9, 2012 @ 7:32 am
As I stated last week, I have pulled out my principal money (for profit) and I am letting my free shares ride. I feel the 300sma at .45 can be breeched and it could drop lower. I seroiusly doubt there will be any assays this week or next week for that matter. I will wait to see the assays whenever they do eventually arrive.
Comment by dave — January 9, 2012 @ 7:37 am
Seafield Intersects 110.4 Metres of 1.31 g/t Gold Including 26 Metres of 2.11 g/t Gold at Miraflores Prospect, Quinchia District, Colombia
Comment by Martin — January 9, 2012 @ 11:14 am
Hello Kalkan, CJC removed the slide of the hydrothermal system some while ago and just recently the wording from the Exploration update that advised that they were testing for 54 elements. I don’t know why they would do this. They still are testing for elements in addition to REEs from some holes. I guess this adds to lab time and delays the results which triggers panic selling. I’m guessing holes 1 – 3 didn’t encounter anything of significance – it seems that its holes 4,5,6 and 8 – 12 that are the interesting ones. Probably a while before the latter assays are available.
Comment by Andrew — January 9, 2012 @ 1:12 pm
Hello Andrew.
Ah okey, I see. Thanks for the input. Yeah I think there are some panic selling going on, no doubt. I actually steped out from cjc today. Made just a small profit. I will just wait and see what happens.
Comment by Kalkan - Sweden — January 9, 2012 @ 2:41 pm
It looks like VIX is formaing a double bottom (W).
John @ BMR, when you have a chance, can we see the VIX chart?
Thanks!
Comment by Bruce — January 9, 2012 @ 8:08 pm
Kalkan, I am still confident in CJC, but I do want to see the first assays. Holes 4 thru 12 are months off at this point and I want to be able to gauge from holes 1 thru 3 what the possibilities are with their project going forward and having a significant major discovery. Without getting into too much detail, there is a possibility I was mis-led and I want to ensure the price will make a significant move north in the coming months. I am riding my free shares and keeping my eye on her. Right now she is looking weak.
Comment by dave — January 9, 2012 @ 8:56 pm
Dave, okey, nice to hear that you still are confident in cjc. I might jump on that train again soon. I did earn some money :)I just got some cold feets yesterday.
Comment by Kalkan — January 10, 2012 @ 12:04 am
Visible Gold. No one is betting that Visible Gold will do well in 2012 – 54% down so far. No further comment required.
Comment by Alexandre — January 10, 2012 @ 12:13 am
Nice to see GBB pay themselves whopper bonuses for what has been an incredibly crappy year for the company’s shareholders not to mention a barrage of management failures. As soon as this dog gets a pop on the 43-101 (if it ever arrives) I am out!
Comment by Hugh — January 10, 2012 @ 2:00 am