BullMarketRun.com

Gold has traded in a narrow range between $1,238 and $1,245 so far today…as of 7:15 am Pacific, bullion is flat at $1,241…Silver is up 2 cents at $19.88…Copper is off slightly at $3.33…Crude Oil has jumped nearly $1 a barrel to $95.89 on an improved demand outlook, while the U.S. Dollar Index is unchanged at 81.09…

Analysts taking part in the annual London Bullion Market Association survey look for Gold and Silver prices to be “broadly flat” in 2014 but look for “modest” increases in platinum group metals, the organization said yesterday…

“Analysts cite the possible strengthening in the U.S. dollar, the extension of U.S. tapering of QE (quantitative easing) into 2014, weak global inflationary pressures, oversupply of Gold and further possible ETF (exchange-traded-fund) liquidation as factors which could restrain Gold prices,” the LBMA said. “But the price could be supported by continued strong demand from China, a relaxation in India’s import duties as well as the prospect that low prices could constrain mine output and supply of scrap.”

Chinese Copper Consumption Remains Resilient

Copper consumption by the world’s biggest user remains resilient even as China’s economy cools and Beijing attempts to tighten access to credit…stockpiles of the metal in LME warehouses have fallen 50% since late June, and much of that Copper has been moving to China according to industry experts…Deutsche Bank says China’s Copper appetite increased 11% last year as companies ranging from power-cable makers to home builders continued to use Copper products at a brisk clip…these companies ramped up despite slower growth in the broader economy and the Chinese government’s efforts to keep a lid on credit…many of China’s biggest copper users are state-controlled companies, which are less reliant on the loans types that are the focus of the government crackdown…a great example is State Grid Corp. of China, responsible for the maintenance and expansion of high-voltage transmission lines across most of China…the company plans to increase spending by 13% this year…

American Oil Demand Increasing

America’s need and thirst for Oil are on the increase again – fantastic – much to the chagrin, we’re sure, of the U.S. environmental and social engineering movement…in fact, U.S. demand for oil grew by more than China’s last year for the first time since 1999, according to the International Energy Agency, giving the strongest indication of how abundant energy supplies (thanks to policies introduced during the previous Bush administration) are driving an economic resurgence in the United States…the IEA, the developed world’s energy body whose forecasts are the Gold standard for the energy market, said U.S. oil demand rose by 390,000 barrels a day last year, or 2%, reversing years of steady decline…Chinese demand rose by 295,000 b/d, the weakest in at least six years…

“Almost No Poor Countries By 2035” – Implications For Commodities?

Interesting prediction by Bill Gates…in a 25-page report, he argues that there will be almost no poor countries left in the world within two decades, using today’s World Bank classification of low-income countries – even after adjusting for inflation…“Poor countries are not doomed to stay poor. Some of the so-called developing nations have already developed.  I am optimistic enough about this that I am willing to make a prediction. By 2035, there will be almost no poor countries left in the world,” Gates wrote. That’s great to hear, because that means the demand for commodities will be greater than ever…that’s a theme Frank Holmes (U.S. Global Investors) touched on at the recently completed Vancouver Resource and Investment Conference…

Today’s Markets

Asia

China’s Shanghai Composite soared 43 points or 2.2% overnight as investors breathed a sigh of relief over easing cash rates…yesterday, the People’s Bank of China moved to ease fears of a credit squeeze by pumping in $42 billion in the interbank market, the first injection since late December and the biggest one-day amount in nearly a year…

The Bank of Japan has left monetary policy steady at the conclusion of its two-day meting, as widely expected…the Nikkei was up slightly overnight…

Europe

European markets are mostly slightly higher in late trading overseas after yesterday’s boost from an IMF forecast that the world economy would grow more than previously expected in 2014…in an update to its “World Economic Outlook”, the IMF predicted global economic growth of 3.7% in 2014, up from the 3.6% growth forecast issued in October…it cited improving conditions in advanced economies for its upgrade…

North America

The Dow is down 43 points through the first 45 minutes of trading…in Toronto, the TSX is up 14 points as of 7:15 am Pacific…the Bank of Canada is warning that deflationary pressures will persist well into 2016 – a new forecast that could further delay future interest rate hikes and send the Canadian dollar even lower…the Central Bank kept its key overnight interest rate unchanged at 1% in its announcement this morning, or where it’s been since September 2010…

The Venture – seemingly gearing up for a “confirmed” breakout this week – is up 1 point to 981 as of 7:15 am Pacific…

TSX Gold Index Chart

Interesting developments from a technical perspective in the TSX Gold Index as we showed yesterday in John’s 18-month weekly chart…the Index has broken above a downtrend line going back to 2012, and now its challenge is to overcome resistance at the 200-day moving average (SMA), currently at 181, which hopefully may then become new support…we’ll see…yesterday’s action was very encouraging – despite weakness in Gold, the Index recovered from a 5-point decline early in the session to finish up slightly on the day at 180.99…RSI(14) is in overbought territory on this 6-month chart but that doesn’t necessarily rule out further gains in the immediate future (momentum is strong) before a healthy correction sets in to unwind the overbought conditions…as of 7:15 am Pacific, the Gold Index is down 2 points at 179…

Pilot Gold Inc. (PLG, TSX)

Pilot Gold (PLG, TSX) has been looking very strong recently, having broken above a downtrend line at the end of December…it then pushed through chart resistance at $1.16 yesterday, thanks to positive news from its highly prospective TV Tower Project in Turkey…drill results from the four-km long K2 trend reveal the presence of an extensive blanket of supergene copper mineralization underlying the oxide gold zones…in addition, drilling and surface work suggest that two or more Copper-Gold porphyry systems are present at K2, which includes the Kayali and Karaayi targets in the southern portion of TV Tower…

Yesterday’s breakout was significant as PLG has been trading in a horizontal channel between 80 cents and $1.16 since last April…below is a 1.5-year weekly chart from John…PLG is active in both Turkey and Nevada…PLG is up 3 pennies at $1.22 as of 7:15 am Pacific…

Corvus Gold Inc. (KOR, TSX) Update

Solid drill results this morning out of Corvus Gold (KOR, TSX) from its Bullfrog Project in Nevada where it has extended the system at depth and along strike…hole NB-13-370 has returned the deepest intersection to date on the Yellowjacket deposit (170 m downdip), importantly showing a marked increase in grade…the vein/stockwork intercept in this hole was 41.7 metres at 4.9 g/t gold and 29.7 g/t silver, including 4.9 metres of 21.2 g/t Gold and 117 g/t Silver, surrounded by over 60 metres of disseminated low-grade Gold-Silver mineralization…the hole terminated in mineralization…Corvus will be focusing on the immediate growth potential of the Yellowjacket to the north, south and at depth in a drill program scheduled to begin in the next couple of weeks…KOR is up 9 cents at $1.54 as of 7:15 am Pacific…

True Gold Mining Inc. (TGM, TSX-V) Update

Another company we like a lot has also just reported very good drill results…True Gold Mining (TGM, TSX-V) has expanded the mineralized system north of its Kao deposit at its Karma Gold Project in West Africa with results including 1.5 g/t Au over 90 m…TGM expects to be able to provide an initial NI-43-101 resource estimate for this area by the end of the first quarter…

“We anticipate that additional oxide ounces defined within the envelope of the proposed mining operation will feed into our current mine plan and be accretive to the overall Karma project in the near term,” stated Mark O’Dea, True Gold Executive Chairman…

Dwayne Melrose, President and CEO, added, “The discovery of an expansive zone of gold mineralization north of the Kao deposit highlights the potential for Karma project growth and scalability and builds confidence in our geological and exploration models.  “The area north of Kao is one of more than a dozen high-priority targets at the Karma project that contain Gold-mineralized material that is higher than cut-off grade in the feasibility study and are slated for further exploration work and drilling.”

Below is a 2.5-year updated weekly TGM chart from John…as mentioned previously, a confirmed breakout above resistance at 40 cents has occurred, and that area now becomes solid new support…TGM is up half a penny at 48.5 cents as of 7:15 am Pacific…

Fission Uranium Corp. (FCU, TSX-V) Updated Chart

Fission Uranium (FCU, TSX-V) continues to pick up steam after its 50-day moving average (SMA) reversed to the upside after being in decline since October…next important chart resistance is at $1.25 as shown in this update from John…FCU is unchanged at $1.23 as of 7:15 am Pacific…

Madalena Energy Inc. (MVN, TSX-V) Update

Madalena Energy Inc. (MVN, TSX-V), which recently hit John’s Fib. resistance level at 81 cents, is under some mild pressure this morning after announcing a $20 million bought deal financing at 70 cents (in early December, the company raised $9.2 million at 47 cents)…the proceeds from this financing, expected to close by mid-February, will be used for further development of MVN’s capital expenditure program in Argentina and Alberta…John’s updated 2.5-year weekly chart shows solid support in the immediate vicinity of the financing price announced this morning…MVN is down 6 cents at 72 cents through the first 45 minutes of trading…

Note: John, Jon and Terry do not hold share positions in PLG, KOR, TGM, FCU or MVN.