Gold has traded between $1,219 and $1,233 so far today…as of 7:30 am Pacific, bullion is down $9 an ounce at $1,223 after a stronger-than-expected U.S. private employment report…Silver is off 41 cents at $19.44…Copper is flat at $3.34…Crude Oil is relatively unchanged at $93.54 while the U.S. Dollar Index is flat at 80.89…
Chinese Gold buying has noticeably picked up at the start of 2014, helped by softer prices and the approach of Chinese New Year holidays, according to traders and analysts (source: Kitco)…the premium in China rose to more than $20 an ounce earlier this week, about $10 higher than a week ago, though it eased slightly today…
Joni Teves, analyst with UBS, said volume on the Shanghai Gold Exchange has picked up significantly lately, with combined turnover for the two Gold contracts around 6-month highs…they reached 34 metric tons Monday and averaged 24 tons over the first few business days of 2014, compared to an 18-ton average in December, she said…
Meanwhile, analysts with HSBC, in a late-Monday research note to clients, said Indian authorities are reportedly in discussions on reducing the import duties on Gold and relaxing regulations limiting imports…while the rules have curbed official Gold imports, there also has been a substantial increase in smuggling…
Strong U.S. ADP Employment Report
U.S. private sector employment picked up in December as employers added 238,000 jobs, the most since November 2012, according to this morning’s much-anticipated ADP report…analysts were expecting a number between 200,000 and 215,000…job gains were broad-based across industries, most notably in construction and manufacturing…in addition, ADP revised November’s gain to 229,000 from 215,000…economists use ADP’s data to get a feeling for the U.S. Labor Department’s employment report which will be released Friday and covers government jobs in addition to the private sector…economists expect the government’s report to reflect that unusually bad weather conditions held back hiring last month, with non-farm employment rising by 190,000 jobs, compared with an increase of 203,000 in November…
Today’s Markets
Asia
Japan’s Nikkei average surged 307 points overnight or nearly 2% to close above 16,000…China’s Shanghai Composite closed relatively unchanged at 2044…
Europe
European shares are mixed in late trading overseas…euro zone unemployment data for November continued to show little sign of improvement…however, retail sales across the euro rose at the fastest pace in 12 years during November, boosting hopes that a revival in domestic demand may aid the currency area’s fragile economic recovery, and help minimize the threat of a damaging period of deflation…
North America
The Dow is off 51 points through the first hour of trading…the FOMC minutes will be released at 11:00 am Pacific and will be of particular interest given last month’s long-awaited announcement on tapering…investors will want to know whether policymakers were unanimous in their decision to scale back asset purchases by $10 billion to $75 billion per month, and whether further tapering looms in February…
In Toronto, the TSX is up 8 points as of 7:30 am Pacific while the Venture has added another 6 points to 956 as it inches closer to a key resistance area…the Venture has posted 10 consecutive daily gains…
Venture Multi-Year Monthly Chart
Below is a Venture monthly chart going back to 2001…one of the strongest clues that a turnaround is underway, that last June’s low of 859 was indeed an important bottom, is that the MACD line has reversed upward after being in decline for more than two years…previous recent critical turning points with this indicator were in late 2007 and early 2009…the SS indicator bottomed, it appears, in the spring of last year and what investors need to watch for now is a decisive cross of the %K above the 20% line…quite simply, this chart tells us that there’s a high probability that 2014 will be a turnaround year for the Venture…key resistance, of course, is in the 970’s, and a confirmed break above that will usher in a wave of fresh buying and renewed investor interest…exact timing of a potential breakout cannot be predicted but sometime during this first quarter is likely a safe bet…
Probe Mines Ltd. (PRB, TSX-V)
Probe Mines (PRB, TSX-V) continues to look strong…the company released assay results yesterday from the remainder of its 2013 drill program at Borden Lake…infill holes continue to show significant intersections of robust mineralization in the high-grade zone which has been expanded to more than 1 km in length and remains open to the southeast…meanwhile, grades continue to improve in the potential open-pit area to the northwest…PRB drilled a total of 218 holes last year (84,000 metres) which should build significantly on the last resource estimate (3.7 million ounces indicated, 600,000 ounces inferred)…the company is currently mobilizing four rigs to the property for a winter drill program that will focus on high-grade zone expansion and infill drilling…
Below is an updated PRB 2.5-year weekly chart from John…notice how PRB has significantly outperformed Gold since the spring of last year…there has also been a confirmed breakout above resistance at $2.20…PRB is unchanged at $2.43 as of 7:30 am Pacific…
Focus Graphite Inc. (FMS, TSX-V)
Focus Graphite (FMS, TSX-V) reversed in a major way after announcing December 19 that it had signed a off-take agreement for future production from its Lac Knife graphite resource in Quebec…the strategic agreement, for up to 40,000 tonnes per year of graphite concentrate and value-added products, is with an industrial conglomerate comprising heavy industry, manufacturing and technology companies located in Dalian City, Liaoning province, China…
Below is a 6-month daily FMS chart from John…importantly, the stock broke above a downtrend line Dec. 20 and climbed as high as 69 cents Dec. 30…since then, it has been unwinding a temporarily overbought condition…strong new support in the low 50’s…as of 7:30 am Pacific, FMS is up 3 pennies at 61 cents…a much better year appears to be shaping up for Focus Graphite.
Critical Elements Corp. (CRE, TSX-V)
John’s most recent Critical Elements Corp. (CRE, TSX-V) chart in October showed a normal Fib. retracement had started that could take the stock as low as about 16 cents…indeed, CRE found a low on a closing basis at 15 cents and has recently been showing strength, finishing yesterday at 20 cents…technically, the key for Critical Elements is to push above a stiff resistance band between 24 and 25 cents…the RSI(14) and other indicators on this 2.5-year weekly chart suggest an attempt will be made to overcome that resistance…CRE continues to develop its Rose Tantalum-Lithium Project in Quebec, and recently reported improved recoveries of tantalum in metallurgical testing are highly encouraging…as always, perform your own due diligence…
Note: John, Terry and Jon do not hold share positions in PRB, FMS or CRE.
SAM investor presentation shows they have a number of drill targets outlined, plus they claim to have a much greater understanding of their deposit. Looks like they have targets close to the mine as well as new exploration opportunities at different parts of their land package.
Comment by Justin — January 8, 2014 @ 10:54 am
Hey guys. Stockhouse.com has a survey asking if people think the venture has put in a bottom. So far, 59% of participants seem to think it has.
stockhouse.com/
Comment by Tony T — January 8, 2014 @ 12:41 pm
When will we see the results of this hole from GGI? Drilling started early November. Couldn’t have hit what they hoped? Are they still drilling at the Locust Property?
Based on these results, MAR-13-03 is being drilled below MAR-13-02 from the valley floor to test geological continuity of the hypogene zone. This next hole from a lower elevation will test the potential to penetrate sulphide mineralization and a second supergene zone at increased depth.
Comment by Dan — January 8, 2014 @ 2:47 pm
My hunch, Dan, is that we’ll be hearing from GGI at some point next week; my hunch last time was correct – my gut feeling and instincts keep telling me that GGI is going to connect on a couple of important fronts very soon, and we’ll finally get that breakout above .15 IMHO. Too many good things happening for this not to play out in a very positive way. I’ve been battling a bug the last couple of days, but managed to get into downtown Vancouver today and stopped in briefly at the GGI office. This is a very professional group and, as always, they’re tight-lipped as they should be with no leaks. But I’m experienced at reading body language and I liked what I saw from Steve today. I can guarantee, we wouldn’t be putting out a special updated alert on GGI tomorrow (or Friday am) to look foolish. My confidence in this play, the properties and the people, is extremely high. There aren’t a lot of companies in the market right now that are as active as GGI——even fewer that have the advantage GGI has in the sense that shareholders don’t have to battle through any cheap financing stock.
Comment by Jon - BMR — January 8, 2014 @ 3:32 pm
Thanks for the update Jon. hope to hear from GGI soon. They definitely have excellent properties and the professional management every investor should look for.
Comment by Dan — January 8, 2014 @ 3:40 pm
You recently stated that you & Jon were 3000 miles apart, which
would place you in Montreal. Not that it matters, but would it be
a good guess on my part, to state that our friend Jon, lives in
Montreal. Avoir une bonne journee. R !
Comment by Bert — January 8, 2014 @ 3:58 pm
Hi Bert, John (our chart wizard) lives in Peterborough, I have a place in Vancouver and also Montreal. At the moment I’m in Vancouver where it’s wet but warmer.
Comment by Jon - BMR — January 8, 2014 @ 4:01 pm
I always seem to make an error, that takes away from the point
i try to make. My previous post should have been addressed to
you & should have read in part ,”that you and John were 3000
kms apart””. No doubt, you are use to my Nfld lingo… Back
to GGi, your optimism is rubbing off on me, but hopefully,
they the GGI group, are market savvy & good spin doctors. R !
Comment by Bert — January 8, 2014 @ 4:18 pm
No problem, Bert, I have gotten used to your lingo and that’s good, because it’s my intention to visit your beautiful province later this year for the first time ever.
Comment by BMR — January 8, 2014 @ 4:23 pm
No doubt, it is beautiful, but we are being challenged now & that is
taking away from the beauty… R !
Comment by Bert — January 8, 2014 @ 4:43 pm
JON: For ‘Cheapies with a chance’: consider researching some of these: TYE, CYP, DYG, AMS (POST ROLLBACK), MPS, VGD, MPS, ABR, AIX, GNM, TRM, TRC, TJ……please consider some of these to research!
Comment by STEVEN1 — January 8, 2014 @ 5:38 pm
For those of us, who have been looking for
a positive change in the Venture for 2014,
i say sorry ! nothing has changed. A great
exchange to lose one’s cash. Wouldn’t it
be better if we donated to the poor, at
least it would give us a better feeling. R !
Comment by Bert — January 9, 2014 @ 7:15 am
Thanks for the FMS update!
Comment by Paul — January 10, 2014 @ 2:18 am