Daily Gold & Silver Market Report – 12/14/2016

Cassie Bastien

12/14/2016 10:33:00 AM

A BLIND SPOT FOR MILLENNIALS

The kids of baby boomers and generation X, known as the millennial generation, seem to understand the importance of saving but have a “blind spot when it comes to investing,” according to Forbes contributor Richard Eisenberg, who stresses the importance of providing your children with the knowledge of long-term investments. However, Fidelity Executive Vice President of Retirement and Investing Strategies John Sweeney said millennials are in fact “taking the right steps to build a solid future.” A Fidelity survey of 305 millennials (ages 25-35) show 60 percent have retirement savings and 59 percent have emergency funds to cover 6 1/2 months of living expenses. At the same time, the survey also showed just 62 percent have investment accounts, which did not surprise Sweeney.

RISING U.S. CRUDE STOCKS

Oil prices fell Wednesday following a reported rise in U.S. crude inventories and an estimate the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) may have produced more crude in November than they thought, both of which could undermine the planned output cut. Reuters reported Brent crude futures down 1.4 percent to $54.93 per barrel by 9:48 a.m. (ET) Wednesday. Data from the American Petroleum Institute released late Tuesday showed U.S. crude inventories rose by 4.7 million barrels in the week ending December 9, while analysts were expecting a 1.6-million-barrel decline. OPEC pumped about 33.9 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude in November, a 150,000 bpd increase from October. The IEA said following OPEC’s production, global oil supply rose to a record 98.2 million bpd in November, which Reuters said, “stands against expectations of 96.95 million bpd of global oil demand for the fourth quarter of 2016.” With this increased demand, the IEA said “oil markets could show a shortfall of 600,000 bpd early next year if producers stick to their reduction plans.”

SILVER PRICES STRONGER

Sam Bourgi with EconomicCalendar.com said “Silver prices rebounded Wednesday after a week of choppy trading.” Since the end of November, Silver has recovered more than 4 percent. According to the CME Group, “Federal Fund futures prices imply a 91 percent likelihood of liftoff [today]”. In addition, the Federal Open Market Committee concludes its December policy meeting Wednesday with an official rate statement, plus a revised summary of economic projections including gross domestic product, unemployment and inflation, set for 2 p.m. (ET). Bourgi says, “The U.S. dollar held lower in the early hours, falling 0.2 percent against a basket of other major currencies” ahead of the Fed statement.

At 11:33 A.M. (ET), the APMEX Precious Metals spot prices were:

• Gold, $1,166.00 Up $6.20
• Silver, $17.24 Up $0.25
• Platinum, $946.40 Up $8.70
• Palladium, $729.60 Down $2.00

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