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Gold has traded in a range between $1,719 and $1,732 so far today…as of 8:15 am Pacific, bullion is up $1 an ounce at $1,726…Silver is 16 cents higher at $32.66…Copper is off a penny at $3.44…Crude Oil is up 36 cents at $85.74 while the U.S. Dollar Index is up slightly at 81.11…

U.S. Retail Sales Down

U.S. retail sales fell in October for the first time in three months as Superstorm Sandy slammed the brakes on automobile purchases, suggesting a loss of momentum in spending early in the fourth quarter…sales dipped 0.3% (economists polled by Reuters were expecting a 0.2% drop), the Commerce Department said this morning, after an upwardly revised 1.3% increase in September that was previously reported as a 1.1% rise…

Fed Leans Toward Clearer Guidance

The Wall Street Journal reports this morning that the Federal Reserve is inching closer to revamping its communication strategy by stating more explicitly than before what would get officials to start raising short-term interest rates…under a new approach being considered by senior officials, the Fed would state how high inflation would have to rise or how low unemployment would have to fall before it would begin moving rates, which have been near zero since late 2008…

Business Roundtable Lobbies For Congressional Deal

With a heated election season in the rear-view mirror, executives are calling on the White House and congressional leaders to head off a self-imposed deadline that could bring $600 billion in spending cuts and higher taxes early in 2013 if they are unable to reach a deal on cutting the federal deficit…the Business Roundtable yesterday kicked off a print, radio and online ad campaign on which it plans to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars featuring the chiefs of Honeywell International, Xerox and United Parcel Service calling on lawmakers to resolve the “fiscal cliff”…in an opinion piece published last night on the Wall Street Journal’s website, Goldman Sachs Chief Executive Officer Lloyd Blankfein urged the business community and the Obama administration to compromise and reconcile so as not to derail the fragile recovery…one of the more dramatic warnings of the consequences of allowing the U.S. economy to go over the fiscal cliff came from Honeywell CEO David Cote…”If the last debt ceiling discussion was playing with fire, this time they’re playing with nitroglycerin,” Cote said in an interview…”If they go off the cliff, I think it would spark a recession that’s a lot bigger than economists think. Some think it would just be a small fire. I think it could turn into a conflagration”…

One of the biggest problems with the “fiscal cliff” is the mainstream media and its handling of it…as one writer stated the other day, the mainstream media is “a bunch of egomanical ringmasters in search of a circus”…indeed, they always tend to inflate an issue and engage in outright fear-mongering…ironically, the way the media is playing this story actually enhances the chances of a resolution…

U.S. Deficit Rises In October

Despite higher tax revenues, the U.S. deficit increased significantly in October which further underscores the point that Washington primarily has a spending problem, not a taxation problem (though the tax code does need to be completely overhauled)…the deficit rose to $120 billion in October, bigger than forecasts for a $114 billion gap and up from $98 billion in the same period last year…growth in expenditures outpaced rising receipts, deepening the deficit…outlays grew to $304 billion from around $262 billion in the same month last year while receipts rose to $184 billion from $163 billion…meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal reports that President Obama will begin budget negotiations with congressional leaders Friday by calling for $1.6 trillion in additional tax revenue over the next decade, far more than Republicans are likely to accept and double the $800 billion discussed in talks with GOP leaders during the summer of 2011….

Today’s Markets

Asian markets edged up overnight with Japan’s Nikkei Index ending a 7-session losing skid…European shares are marginally lower today while North American markets continue to be under pressure…the Dow, which has hit a 3-and-a-half month low, has retreated 57 points to 12699 while the TSX, down in six out of the last eight sessions, is off another 115 points to 12020…the Venture Exchange suffered its worst session – a loss of 19 points – since October 23 yesterday, albeit on fairly light volume…as of 8:15 am Pacific, the Index is down 17 more points to 1270…the range since the beginning of September has been 1236 to 1349 and the rising 100-day moving average (SMA) is currently sitting at 1260…since October 15, the Index has traded in a narrow 44-point range between 1278 and 1322…as John shows in the 3-month daily chart below, the Index could not sustain a break above the SMA-20 yesterday which means a test of the 100-day SMA at 1260 is highly likely…

SilverCrest Mines (SVL, TSX-V)

SilverCrest Mines (SVL, TSX-V), a strong performer this year and certainly worthy of our readers’ due diligence, reported third quarter results this morning that included 152,000 ounces of Silver sold (558,000 Silver equivalent ounces) and earnings of $2.2 million or 3 cents per share on total revenues of nearly $17 million…record Silver production in the third quarter has enabled SilverCrest to increase annual Silver production guidance from 435,000 ounces to 535,000 ounces…the company is on track to meet its annual production guidance of 33,500 Gold ounces…as of 8:15 am Pacific, SVL is off 9 cents to $2.81…below is an updated 2.5-year weekly chart that shows resistance at $3.17 and very strong support at $2.37…

SantaCruz Silver Mining (SCZ, TSX-V)

We continue to keep an eye on SantaCruz Silver Mining (SCZ, TSX-V) which is focused on advanced-staged projects and near-term production possibilities in Mexico…the stock has a good run since the early summer when it was trading slightly below $1 per share…from a technical perspective, what’s interesting to note is that SCZ may have formed a “cup with handle” pattern though this interpretation would be invalid if the share price were to fall below $2.17 on a closing basis…it’s currently just above $2.20…in any event, this is an interesting situation to keep on one’s radar screen over the coming weeks and months – especially, of course, is Silver takes off…as of 8:15 am Pacific, SCZ is up 3 pennies at $2.27…

Parlane Resources (PPP, TSX-V)

Parlane Resources (PPP, TSX-V) has commenced a 1,500-metre drill program at its Bear Big Property in the Blackwater district, strategically situated between New Gold Inc.’s (NGD, TSX) Blackwater and Capoose deposits…five target areas are being tested…

GoldQuest Mining (GQC, TSX-V) Chart Update

GoldQuest Mining (GQC, TSX-V) found resistance at $1.05 recently, as expected, and that is certainly a critical level from a technical standpoint that it must overcome in order to resume its upward trend…as of 8:15 am Pacific, GQC is down a penny at 82 cents…the rising 200-day SMA (75 cents) continues to provide support…

CB Gold Inc. (CBJ, TSX-V)

An interesting out-performer recently has been CB Gold Inc. (CBJ, TSX-V) which has been generating some positive drill results from its Vetas Gold Project in Colombia with success at targeting and expanding numerous vein systems…resistance is strong at $1.10, just above the rising 300-day SMA (it moved briefly above the 300-day earlier this year and then retreated to 80 cents)…a good Gold play to keep on one’s radar screen over the coming weeks in the event of a breakout or a pullback…as of 8:15 am Pacific, CBJ has gained 4 cents to $1.07…

Note:  Jon holds share positions in GQC and PPP.