Closing Gold & Silver Market Report – 5/20/2011

GOLD STRONG, STOCKS WEAK ON VOLATILE DAY IN CURRENCIES MARKET – Gold finished the week strong on news of a downgrade of Greek debt by the ratings agency Fitch.  This news hit the euro hard, as it fell more than 1% today against the dollar.  Citigroup announced a belief that this breakout will start a downtrend for the euro, in which it may continue to see losses.  This raises the value of the dollar and cheapens raw materials overall, possibly lowering the price of goods to consumers.  At first glance this may be appear to be a good thing.  However, remember that what consumers see as a price, producers see as revenue.  Lower revenue can lead to lower employment, which is already one of the nation’s leading economic problems.

India, which has long held the title as the number one buyer of physical gold, has been surpassed by China.  The total demand by the Chinese market was 90.9 metric tons, more than double the demand during the same period last year.  The Chinese government actively encourages investment in gold, and the demand has greatly increased since the program began.  Despite the small selloff from recent highs, demand for physical gold remains very strong at home and abroad.

At 4:00 PM (CT) the APMEX precious metals spot prices were:

• Gold - $1,513.50 (up $19.60 on the day)
• Silver - $35.13 (up $0.11)
• Platinum - $1,775.50 (UP $5.50)
• Palladium - $739.60 (up $7.50)