Morning Gold & Silver Market Report – 3/25/2011

At 8AM (CT) the APMEX precious metal prices were:

• Gold price – $1,435.40
• Silver price - $37.52
• Platinum price - $1,753.00
• Palladium price - $750.80

COMMENTARY: Gold snapped a six-session winning streak yesterday after touching on record highs. Dennis Gartman, CNBC guest analyst, would not be surprised to see a drop of another $25-$30, but he views this as a net positive. He says, “that decline would make markets healthy again.” He further elaborates that central banks around the world are diversifying away from US dollars and Euros and moving into the 3rd most important currency in the world – which is gold.

Just when you thought it was safe to drink the water in Tokyo, the threat of more radioactive contamination once again surfaces.There is a suspected breach in the core of one of the nuclear reactors. A somber Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan delivered the news on Friday. With a pessismistic note he said,”we are not in a position to be optimistic.”

Portugal’s sovereign debt rating has been cut two notches and now Spain begins to get the attention. It is now apparent that Portugal will need a bailout from fellow Euro zone members, but Spain is a horse of a different color. If Spain were to need a bail out it would be substantially larger than all of the others and it would severely test the financial strength of Europe.

Gold spot price is down 50 cents – Silver price is up 8 cents – Platinum spot price is down $8.00 – Palladium price is off $2.25