Continue reading Physical Precious Metals Basket (GLTR): All in One Metals ETF

Physical Precious Metals Basket (GLTR): All in One Metals ETF originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 18 Mar 2011 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Gold has been lingering around the $1,335 per ounce for the past several weeks. This prompted many hedge funds to sell their holdings.

Then came the turmoil in the Mideast. First Tunisia and Egypt, now Libya, Bahrain, Yemen and others. That was the catalyst that gold needed. It shot to a new record high of $1,432.10 in the spot market. April gold futures settled at $1,431.20 per ounce, as reported in Reuters.

Continue reading Gold Soars to a Record High on Mideast Turmoil

Gold Soars to a Record High on Mideast Turmoil originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 02 Mar 2011 12:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Gold prices have marched to a new high of $1,422.45 per troy ounce in London. This marks the fourth day of the gold rally.

The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) cited that the prime mover was continued worry over European sovereign debt defaults.Traders and investors are riding the bull higher and higher. To help the gold along, the U.S. dollar is weaker, sparking a rally in key commodities like oil and grains. Cotton is also up again.

Continue reading Gold Climbs to Yet Another Record High

Gold Climbs to Yet Another Record High originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 09 Nov 2010 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The gold market exploded Thursday with the December contract up $45.50 to $1,383.10 per ounce, as reported in the Wall Street Journal.

As usual, there are lots of reasons for the spectacular rise. The two main ones are currency worries and inflation.

Let's take the currency issue first. The December U.S. dollar contract is hovering just above the 75 level. That level held and the dollar then rose to 89.11. Now it has come back down to the 75 level. A breach of 75 would signal a further move down.

Continue reading Gold Powers to a Record $1,383 per Ounce

Gold Powers to a Record $1,383 per Ounce originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 05 Nov 2010 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Chasing Value: Anglo American, Gold or Something Else

Chasing Value: Anglo American, Gold or Something Else originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 28 Oct 2010 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Gold is back in the news. December gold futures were up $17.20 to $1,215.10 per ounce. Gold buying is spurred by safe-haven demand. Investors simply want to buy gold. The SPDR Gold Trust (GLD) the world's largest gold-traded fund, added 3.04 metric tons to 1,285.79 metric tons.

Demand also rose after the Federal Reserve announced another bout of quantitative easing. The Fed is using the proceeds from its previous purchases to buy additional Treasuries. This in an effort to keep interest rates low.

Continue reading Gold Jumps to a Four-Week High

Gold Jumps to a Four-Week High originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 13 Aug 2010 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

It's Monday morning and it's the same old, same old: gold surges to a new high; commodities rally; stocks rally; and the dollar is weaker. Traders see this as a no brainer.

Spot gold is strong today, reaching a new high of $1165.45 per ounce, up from Friday's close of $1148.20. On the COMEX, gold traded at $1,165.90, up $19.10 per ounce (each $1.00 equals $100.00). Gold has been spurred higher by central bank and fund buying.

Options traders are betting on gold rising to $1,200 per ounce. That's only $35 away. We could see that in another day of two if current trend continues.

Continue reading Gold surges to another new high of $1167 per ounce

Gold surges to another new high of $1167 per ounce originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 23 Nov 2009 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Gold futures are on a tear. According to the Wall Street Journal (subscription required), December gold futures rose $10.90 to close at $967.50 per ounce. Yesterday's high was $972.70, its highest mark since June 5.

The market moved up when buy stops were hit at $960 and $961.965 in the spot market and $963 on the Comex. A "buy stop" is an order to buy above the current price. Traders often place "buy stops" to test the upward momentum of the market or they use specific chart points that signal a turning point in the market. If the stops are hit it usually means that a trend is in place, in this case an uptrend.

Continue reading Gold is roaring higher

Gold is roaring higher originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 05 Aug 2009 14:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Serious Money: Anglo American - Xstrata merger?

Serious Money: Anglo American - Xstrata merger? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 22 Jun 2009 09:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Why would you sell platinum and buy palladium? There are two main reasons. The first is that the spread (the price difference) between platinum and palladium has widened to over $1,000, making platinum extremely expensive.

Let's see if there is a reason for the widening of this spread. According to the Johnson Mathey's survey for 2009, there was deficit of platinum supplies amounting to 375,000 ounces, while there was a surplus of palladium supplies of 460,000 ounces. For 2009, Johnson Mathey is predicting the price of platinum in the $950 to $1,350 per ounce range and palladium to trade between $180 and $280 per ounce. We should mention that Johnson Mathey, the London-based metals firm, is one of the largest and most respected metals dealers in the world.

Continue reading Why would you sell platinum and buy palladium?

Why would you sell platinum and buy palladium? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 07 Jun 2009 15:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Chasing Value: Inflation protection with gold & platinum (AAUK)

Chasing Value: Inflation protection with gold & platinum (AAUK) originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 10 Dec 2008 13:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

• The UK-based company owns significant stakes in global producers of platinum (75%, Anglo Platinum) and diamonds (45%, De Beers S.A.). In addition, Anglo American has interests in ferrous and base metals, and industrial minerals; it also is one of the world's largest independent coal miners. Though it used to have a majority stake in AngloGold Ashanti, Anglo American has reduced its share to 17%. The company controls assets around the world.

Sheldon Liber is the CEO of a small private investment company and the principal for design and research at an architecture & planning firm. He writes the columns Chasing Value and Serious Money. Disclosure: I own shares of AAUK.

Chasing Value: Anglo American on sale originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 07 Nov 2008 12:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Among the many investment pontificators you will find in the media, I pride myself on laying everything out on the table, good calls, bad calls and even my unfortunate periodic stupidity. All of my 2008 picks are down to a varying degree, making me look none too smart in the opening weeks of the year.

Among the stocks I like, Anglo Amercican PLC (NASDAQ: AAUK) has gone down from the $30 level where I recommended it to around $25 a share today. Its 52-week low is $23.38, and its high was $38.75. It pays a dividend currently yielding about 2%.

Early this morning, this was reported: Anglo American Enters Into Exclusive Discussions To Acquire Control Of The MMX Minas-Rio And MMX Amapa Iron Ore Projects. AAUK is a partial owner now and seeks full control of these Brazilian copper mines. Under the leadership of Cynthia Carroll, who became chief executive of Anglo American, it has been refocusing its business structure, planning sales of its building material division Tarmac for $6 billion, while it has also been reducing its stake in gold miner AngloGold Ashanti.

There has been a push to get big in copper, and all of the news out of South America supports this theme. Meanwhile MarketWatch reported China now world's largest gold producer; foreign miners at door. China is now producing more gold than South Africa, which has been the top producer since 1905.

Continue reading Chasing Value: Anglo American (AAUK) is down...but!

Chasing Value: Anglo American (AAUK) is down...but! originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 18 Jan 2008 16:37:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

What are the best speculations and investments among metals, miners, and other resource plays? To find out, I turned to 20 of the nation's leading newsletter editors, as well as speakers from the recent New Orleans Conference, a leading forum for resource advisors.

Their current top ideas cover a wide diversity of ideas, from gold and silver, from alumina and copper, to platinum and palladium. These picks cover markets from Chile to China and from Canada to Russia. These ideas also range from large cap, well-established, and diversified companies to small cap, development-stage junior speculations.

Readers should only consider these ideas as a starting place for their own research and should keep in mind the caveat that any stock you buy should only be considered within the framework of your own time horizon and risk parameters. Meanwhile, here are 20 different advisors assessing various aspects of the metals, mining, and resources sectors:

Continue reading Top resource ideas: 20 advisors on metals, mining, and money

Top resource ideas: 20 advisors on metals, mining, and money originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 09 Nov 2007 15:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.