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''Midas'' commentary for April 1 posted in the clear at FreemarketNews.com
10:56p ET Thursday, April 1, 2004
Dear Friend of GATA and Gold:
Doug Hornig of Casey Research has written a good
interview of silver market analyst and GATA
consultant Ted Butler, which has been posted at
Kitco here:
http://www.kitco.com/ind/Hornig/apr012004.html
As the silver price has broken above $8, a Bloomberg
story about the metal and its prospects is appended.
CHRIS POWELL, Secretary/Treasurer
Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee Inc.
* * *
Silver Rises Above $8 in London, Highest in 16 Years
By Laura Humble
Bloomberg News Service
Thursday, April 1, 2004
http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?
pid=10001013&sid=adZVV1hk3FnM&refer=commodity_futures
Silver rose above $8 an ounce in London, the highest in more
than 16 years, as investors sought an alternative to gold and
base metals amid threats of terrorism and increasing
industrial demand.
Silver had lagged gains in other metals before this year,
gaining 29 percent from the end of 2001. Gold climbed 49
percent, copper 55 percent, and platinum 70 percent in the
period.
Since the Madrid train bombings killed 190 people on
March 11, silver has risen 13 percent, twice as fast as gold.
Demand for the metal is also rising in the electronics
industry, where it's favored as a conductor, and among
jewelry buyers in Asia, who are switching from more-costly
platinum.
"Consumers are getting concerned about the rate at which
commodity prices have been rising so they are buying
ahead," Kamal Naqvi, an analyst at Barclays Capital in
London, said in a telephone interview. "Demand in Asia has
been resilient."
Silver for immediate delivery jumped as much as 31 cents,
or 3.9 percent, to $8.19 an ounce in London, the highest
since Oct. 19, 1987. It stood at $8.09 at 3:03 p.m.
"For people looking to get into commodities, silver has
looked dirt cheap compared to other precious and base
metals," Moore said by phone.
Gold for immediate delivery in London was at $427.80
an ounce, platinum sold for $912.50 and copper traded
for $3,012 a metric ton. The metals have risen to
15-year, 24-year and eight- year highs respectively this
year.
The silver price was set at $7.94 by Bank of Nova Scotia,
Deutsche Bank AG, and HSBC Holdings Ltd. in the London
"fixing." The so-called fixing, which takes place over
the telephone at noon every trading day, has provided a
benchmark price since 1897.
Silver for May delivery on the Comex division of the New
York Mercantile Exchange was trading at $8.13 an ounce,
after reaching $8.21.
A report from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading
Commission on Friday showed silver's "net-long" position
on the Comex last week was near the highest since at
least 1986, when Bloomberg began collecting the data.
Speculators had bought 56,347 more silver futures
contracts than they had sold as of March 23, only 98
fewer than the peak reached on Jan. 27.
"The fact that Comex net-long positions are near all-time
highs will not prevent silver climbing further,"John Reade,
an analyst at UBS Ltd. in London, said in an e-mailed
report. "The size of the long position does make the
chances of a sharp selloff increasingly likely."
Silver demand from the photography industry hasn't
fallen as much as expected, Naqvi said. The rising
popularity of digital cameras, which made up half of
U.S. camera sales last year, cut the industry's use
of silver by 5 percent, according to estimates by
GFMS Ltd., a London-based researcher.
"People used to think that digital meant the death of
silver," Naqvi said. "Things like the retail printing of
digital photos are tempering the drop."
Photography uses about one-quarter of the world's
silver supplies, with about a third coming from
recycling, GFMS said. Research into new uses for
the metal -- in car fuel cells, for example -- may offset
any decline, Moore said.
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RECOMMENDED INTERNET SITES
FOR DAILY MONITORING OF GOLD
AND PRECIOUS METALS
NEWS AND ANALYSIS
Free sites:
http://www.cbs.marketwatch.com
http://www.capitalupdates.com/
http://www.silver-investor.com
http://www.thebulliondesk.com/
http://www.goldismoney.info/index.html
http://www.minersmanual.com/minernews.html
http://www.a1-guide-to-gold-investments.com/euro-vs-dollar.html
http://www.investmentrarities.com
http://www.kuik.com/KH/KH.html
(Korelin Business Report -- audio)
http://www.plata.com.mx/plata/home.htm
(In Spanish)
http://www.plata.com.mx/plata/plata/english.htm
(In English)
Subscription site:
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Eagle Ranch discussion site:
http://os2eagle.net/checksum.htm
Ted Butler silver commentary archive:
http://www.investmentrarities.com/
----------------------------------------------------
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