Closing Gold & Silver Report – 3/21/2011

At 4 PM (CT) the APMEX precious metals prices were:

• Gold - $1428.00
• Silver - $36.17
• Platinum - $1749.00
• Palladium - $749.00

COMMENTARY:  Precious metals have stayed steadily higher today on continued uncertainty in the Middle East and in Japan. “Gold could be poised for further gains as investors seek to diversity towards safe haven asset types with a mix of fresh buying and short covering potentially leading gold [and] silver to retest recent highs,” says James Moore, research analyst of FastMarkets.

Greg Hawkins, chief executive officer of African Barrick Gold says that there is a reasonable assumption of gold not going below the $1,400 and may even drive up the $1,500 mark if things continue the way they have in the Middle East and North Africa.

Also, Willem Buiter, chief economist at Citi says that we need to keep an eye on the EU Summit later this week as the leaders meet to readdress the sovereign debt situation. “If a deal can be struck with Ireland, the pot can be taken off the fire; but if it doesn’t…things could get nasty, because Ireland could unilaterally decide to restructure its bank debt and sovereign debt, which would cause a panic in European financial markets.”

With all of the global and economic uncertainty that is surrounding our news, people are readily seeking the comfort of owning precious metals. As we saw in Japan, during times of crisis is when you are forced to rely on your own established “insurance policies.” This is one reason Japanese investors flooded their metals back into the market, to gain the capital needed to survive in such dire conditions.

Gold spot price is up $10.90 – Silver price is up $1.05 – Platinum spot price is up $24.60 – Palladium price is up $16.80