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Possible shift from paper gold to real sneaks into bottom of FT story
Gold ETF Outflows and Shifts in Investor Sentiment
By Chris Flood
Financial Times, London
Friday, February 11, 2011
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/03694836-35e9-11e0-b67c-00144feabdc0.html#axzz...
Large outflows from precious metals exchange traded funds since the start of the year have left some analysts questioning if investor sentiment towards gold and silver could be shifting.
"Heavy redemptions from the gold and silver ETFs in early 2011 may be a sign of things to come," said Daniel Major, precious metals analyst at the Royal Bank of Scotland.
A decline in safe-haven buying interest for gold and the prospects for interest rates returning to more normal levels in the US and Europe could mean that "positive sentiment toward" gold and silver ETFs "may be fading," according to Mr Major.
He added that if ETF inflows were to dry up or reverse, it would be difficult for gold and silver prices to make further gains and the silver market would be "particularly vulnerable to a price correction."
... Dispatch continues below ...
Prophecy Resource Spins Off Platinum/Palladium Venture:
World-Class PGM Deposit in Yukon
Company Press Release, January 18, 2011
VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- Prophecy Resource Corp. (TSX-V:PCY)and Pacific Coast Nickel Corp. announce that they have agreed that PCNC will acquire Prophecy's Nickel PGM projects by issuing common shares to Prophecy.
PCNC will acquire the Wellgreen PGM Ni-Cu and Lynn Lake nickel projects in the Yukon Territory and Manitoba respectively by issuing up to 550 million common shares of PCNC to Prophecy. PCNC has 55.7 million shares outstanding.
Following the transaction:
-- Prophecy will own approximately 90 percent of PCNC.
-- PCNC will consolidate its share capital on a 10 old for one new basis.
-- Prophecy will change its name to Prophecy Coal Corp. and PCNC will be renamed Prophecy Platinum Corp.
-- Prophecy intends to distribute half of its PCNC shares to shareholders pro-rata in accordance with their holdings.
Based on the closing price of the common shares of PCNC on January 17, $0.195 per share, the gross value of the transaction is $107,250,000.
For the complete announcement, please visit:
http://prophecyresource.com/news_2011_jan18.php
Mr Major said he did not expect "large-scale selling" but he estimated that the value of holdings in all precious metals ETFs has dropped almost $10 billion so far this year with withdrawals mainly coming from the gold and silver products.
Other analysts acknowledge that ETF outflows have weighed on sentiment but say that the fundamentals supporting the gold price remain intact.
Suki Cooper, precious metals analyst at Barclays Capital, said that the gold market was facing "short-term headwinds."
However, Ms Cooper also said that longer-term investment demand remains intact, given low interest rates, concerns about currency debasement, inflationary risks, and rising geopolitical tensions as demonstrated by the situation in Egypt.
According to Barclays, holdings in gold ETFs ended 2010 at $98 billion, a record, even though last year's inflows at 330 tonnes were down by almost half compared with 614 tonnes in 2009.
Total gold ETF holdings were 2,142 tonnes at the end of 2010, slightly below the all-time high of 2,155 tonnes reached in the middle of December.
The latest available data suggests total gold ETF holdings have fallen to around 2,166 tonnes after a record monthly outflow in January.
With the gold price down around 4 per cent so far this year, the value of gold ETF holdings has retreated to around $90.4bn.
Michael Lewis, commodity strategist at Deutsche Bank, said that the rally in gold prices has gradually run out of steam over the past five months due to concerns about a turn in the global interest rate cycle.
But Mr Lewis also said these concerns were overdone and that ongoing weakness in the US dollar and further diversification by central banks should sustain a positive outlook for the gold market.
Edel Tully, precious metals analyst at UBS, noted that outflows from gold ETFs were "relatively modest" so far in February, in contrast to the heavy selling seen in January. "This suggests to us that the bulk of the ETF holders who wanted to exit gold have already done so," said Dr Tully.
She also warned against assuming that outflows from gold ETFs represented "absolute selling" as there was evidence to suggest that some institutional investors had been switching their exposure from ETFs into "allocated" gold -- numbered bars held in bank vaults in a separate allocated account.
"The picture painted by recent persistent ETF outflows is not wholly accurate," cautioned Dr Tully.
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Sona Drills 85.4g Gold/Ton Over 4 Metres at Elizabeth Gold Deposit, Extending the Mineralization of the Southwest Vein on the Property
Company Press Release, October 27, 2010
VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- Sona Resources Corp. reports on five drillling holes in the third round of assay results from the recently completed drill program at its 100 percent-owned Elizabeth Gold Deposit Property in the Lillooet Mining District of southern British Columbia. Highlights from the diamond drilling include:
-- Hole E10-66 intersected 17.4g gold/ton over 1.54 metres.
-- Hole E10-67 intersected 96.4g gold/ton over 2.5 metres, including one assay interval of 383g of gold/ton over 0.5 metres.
-- Hole E10-69 intersected 85.4g gold/ton over 4.03 metres, including one assay interval of 230g gold/ton over 1 metre.
Four drill holes, E10-66 to E10-69, targeted the southwestern end of the Southwest Vein, and three of the holes have expanded the mineralized zone in that direction. The Southwest Vein gold mineralization has now been intersected over a strike length of 325 metres, with the deepest hole drilled less than 200 metres from surface.
"The assay results from the Southwest Zone quartz vein continue to be extremely positive," says John P. Thompson, Sona's president and CEO. "We are expanding the Southwest Vein, and this high-grade gold mineralization remains wide open down dip and along strike to the southwest."
For the company's full press release, please visit:
http://sonaresources.com/_resources/news/SONA_NR19_2010.pdf
