Tag: the gold report

Miners' Cost Cutting Set to Deliver in Late 2014

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The Gold Report: The gold price can't seem to climb back above $1,300/ounce ($1,300/oz) despite several geopolitical hotspots making headlines. What's underpinning the price weakness?

Raj Ray: The issue is that despite the geopolitical backdrop, the fundamentals still appear weak. The big drivers demand from India and China and gold exchange-traded fund shave been more or less flat year-over-year. China is still digesting the gold it purchased last year. And, although price premiums have declined in India following the recent Bank of India's move to permit trading houses to import gold again, further relaxation of the import tariffs is not forthcoming. If not for geopolitical conflicts providing support, gold could have moved much lower than $1,300/oz. I don't see a big driver to push gold higher over the next six to eight months.

TGR: India has imposed high tariffs on gold imports and those have resulted in a marked increase in gold smuggling. How is that influencing the gold prices?

"The first time two royalty companies came together to bid for a single project was with True Gold Mining Inc.'s Karma."

RR: I don't think there has been a marked impact on gold prices in India due to smuggling. The World Gold Council says about 250 tons of gold are smuggled into India each year. If you add that to the official gold imports of roughly 800850 tons, you still have a shortfall of around 200300 tons based on average annual imports. What might be something to look out for heading into the wedding season is the rainfall and its impact on food production. Rural India accounts for 6070% of India's gold demand. The rainfall outlook has improved slightly, but a rainfall shortage could make the government reluctant to reduce the import duties anytime soon. It would also mean that people have less money to spend on gold.

TGR: You said China is still digesting its 2013 gold hoard. How long before China is consuming gold as it did in 2013? Continue reading "Miners' Cost Cutting Set to Deliver in Late 2014" →

Position Yourself for Fall Fireworks

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The Gold Report: On June 11, on GoldStockTrades.com you wrote, "Some of my charts are showing a potential reversal in the precious metals." What are those charts telling you in late July?

Jeb Handwerger: In early June it appeared that the junior miners tracked by the Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF (GDXJ), which I use as a proxy for the junior gold miners was making an inverse head-and-shoulders pattern between $34 and $35. Then the junior miners had a very strong rally in June, with an intra-day high of $46. Now we're forming what I believe is a potential crossing of the 50-day and the 200-day moving averages a golden cross. This could signal the final turn from a secular bear market to the beginning of an uptrend.

TGR: Is gold close to a golden cross? Continue reading "Position Yourself for Fall Fireworks" →

John Hathaway and Doug Groh: Buy Gold Like It's 1999

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The Gold Report: In a 4th of July investor letter, you wrote that the precious metals complex, both mining shares and bullion, appear to be in the process of completing a major bottom, and you're more comfortable with the proposition that the downside potential has been fully exhausted. What are the signs that it's really turning this time?

John Hathaway: The gold futures chart is showing that we are in the process of a reverse head-and-shoulders pattern, which is a sign that a bottom has been completed. It means that downward momentum has been exhausted. This bottom will be confirmed when gold trades above $1,400/ounce ($1,400/oz), which is a stretch from where we are. At least we can say fairly credibly that it's shaping up to be a bottom, but we may test it over the summer.

Source: International Strategy Investment Group LLC

TGR: Are statistics on money flows telling you that investors are starting to get interested again? Continue reading "John Hathaway and Doug Groh: Buy Gold Like It's 1999" →

Three Reasons Why Gold and Gold Stocks Will Rise

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The Gold Report: Over two days, July 14 and 15, the price of gold fell over $40 per ounce ($40/oz), more than 3% of its value. To what do you attribute this drop?

Jeffrey Mosseri: I don't think it was a very extraordinary event. Gold has been trading around $1,300/oz. We see sharp upward and downward movements triggered by, for instance, something Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said or a negative report by Goldman Sachs. It looks as if gold will stay in the $1,300/oz range for a little while. We'll see which way it breaks out. We believe it's going to break out on the upside.

Douglass Loud: Gold had been running up for a while, and every so often investors want to take some money off the table.

TGR: How high do you believe gold will go?

"We like North American Nickel Inc.'s Maniitsoq nickel sulfide project in Greenland."

JM: The average sustaining cost of production for gold is about $1,500/oz. If gold continues to trade below that level, at some point no new mines will be brought on. Supply and demand indicates higher prices for gold. At the same time, we're dealing with a seasonal trading pattern. Usually the position for those commodities tightens up around September/October. We think this will happen again this year. Higher prices? Yes. How much higher? We don't know.

TGR: Given that the financing for junior gold companies collapsed years ago, shouldn't the concomitant shortage of new supply have led already to higher prices? Continue reading "Three Reasons Why Gold and Gold Stocks Will Rise" →

Miners Must Control Costs to Improve Share Prices: Byron King

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The Gold Report: Byron, gold is above $1,300/ounce ($1,300/oz)although not by much and silver topped $20/oz. What was holding their prices down, and what are the fundamentals that will move the prices going forward?

Byron King: The short answer is that, for all its faults, the dollar has strengthened, which holds down gold and silver prices. The longer answer is that gold and silver are manipulated metals. That is, the world's central banks have an aversion to things they can't control, and one of the things that they can't control is elemental metals like gold and silver.

Let's ask why the dollar has strengthened. The U.S. is probably in its weakest geopolitical situation in decades. The Wall Street Journal on July 17 had a front-page story about the confluence of crises across the world Ukraine, Middle East, Southeast Asiaall of which are profound challenges to American power militarily, diplomatically and economically. But the dollar is still holding up. Why?

I believe the dramatic recent increase in U.S. energy production is what's behind the stronger dollar. With more oil and natural gas from fracking, the U.S. is the world's largest energy producer. In addition, we're importing far less oil and exporting a lot more refined product. It helps the dollar.

Still, when I look at the big picture for gold, I see a resource whose production is challenged on the best of days. Output is declining in the major traditional sources: South Africa is in decline; Australia is challenged; some of the big plays in Nevada are getting long in the tooth. Continue reading "Miners Must Control Costs to Improve Share Prices: Byron King" →