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Gold has traded between $1,374 and $1,386 so far today…as of 8:15 am Pacific, bullion is down $2 an ounce at $1,380…Silver is off 7 cents at $21.39…Copper, after a hard sell-off last week, is flat at $2.94…Crude Oil is 76 cents lower at $98.13 while the U.S. Dollar Index is off one-tenth of a point at 79.34…

Gold is clearly being underpinned by developments in the Crimean peninsula…Russia gave its clearest signal yet today that it plans to move fast to annex Crimea, defying U.S. and European threats of sanctions a day after a referendum in the breakaway Ukrainian region to secede passed overwhelmingly…Russian President Vladimir Putin will address a joint session of parliament tomorrow on the issue…the Kremlin didn’t immediately specify what Putin’s message would be, but the official ITAR-Tass news agency said the address would cover “accepting Crimea into the Russian Federation”.

President Barack Obama this morning has imposed sanctions against seven Russian officials in retaliation for Ukraine’s Crimea region voting to join Russia, including several members of Putin’s inner circle, with the European Union also announcing similar penalties…the White House’s sanctions would target the assets of the listed Russian officials and bar them from entering the United States…Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher knew how to deal with the Russians, Obama seemingly does not…

Mineweb’s Lawrence Williams reports this morning (www.mineweb.com): “Royal Bank of Canada Capital Markets analysts Dan Rollins in Toronto and Jonathan Guy in London have come up with a detailed analysis of the Gold market over the next few years comparing it with the big ETF driven Gold price rally of 2005-2008.  Over this period, Gold doubled in price from $450 to $900, and while the analysts are not putting exact price predictions into their prognostications, nor coming up with a precise timescale, the implication is there in their research that this could lead to a big Gold price increase in the medium to long term.”

New money continues to flowing into Gold-backed ETF’s…holdings in SPDR Gold Trust, the world’s largest Gold-backed ETF, rose 3.29 tonnes to 816.59 tonnes on Friday…hedge funds and money managers raised their bullish bets in Gold futures and options for a fifth consecutive week to the most “bullish” levels since mid-December 2012, according to Friday data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission…

Updated Gold Chart

Below is a 2-year weekly Gold chart from John…RSI(14) at 63% is showing increased up momentum, but note that the metal on Friday closed at long-term trendline resistance…there is also significant chart resistance at $1,400 followed by Fib. resistance at $1,429…buy pressure has increased from late last year, and a bullish +DI/-DI crossover occurred last month…it seems likely that the resistance band between $1,400 into the $1,420’s will be tested in the near future…

Gold Producers

This is interesting and certainly bodes well in terms of the overall outlook for Gold prices as the year progresses…John has examined the charts of several Gold producers, and not only have they completed their “cup-with-handle” patterns but they have broken out to the upside…they are ahead of the metal…one example is Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd. (AEM, TSX)…

Today’s Markets

Asia

China’s Shanghai Composite gained 19 points overnight to close at 2024…news over the weekend that Beijing is planning an expansion of its transport networks and urban infrastructure lifted cement producers… meanwhile, Bloomberg is reporting this morning that a closely held Chinese real estate developer with 3.5 billion yuan ($566.6 million) of debt has collapsed and its largest shareholder has been detained…Zhejiang Xingrun Real Estate Co. doesn’t have enough cash to repay creditors that include more than 15 banks, with China Construction Bank Corp. (939) holding more than 1 billion yuan of its debt, according to government officials…the collapse of the company, in the eastern town of Fenghua, adds to concern of strains in China’s real estate sector…the property market in smaller Chinese cities faces “true risks of a sharp correction” due to oversupply and investors may have underestimated the risk, Nomura Holdings Inc. economists said in a March 14 report…

Europe

European markets are up significantly today… the euro zone’s annual rate of inflation was lower in February (up 0.7% on an annual basis) than first estimated, and fell back to the level reached in October 2013 that prompted the European Central Bank’s last effort to stimulate growth…

North America

The Dow is 155 points higher as of 8:15 am Pacific…U.S. manufacturing output rebounded more than expected in February and recorded its largest increase in six months, in the latest sign that economic activity is gaining momentum after being dampened by severe weather…factory production increased 0.8% last month, its largest increase since August, the Federal Reserve stated today…

The Fed meets tomorrow and Wednesday…the tricky part is that while most expect the Fed to taper quantitative easing by another $10 billion, the outlook for guidance on the federal funds rate is significantly cloudier…Janet Yellen will give her first news conference as Fed Chair following Wednesday’s policy statement at 11:00 am Pacific…

The TSX is up 20 points as of 8:15 am Pacific…

Venture Update

The Venture continues to look strong and is up 5 points at 1039 after nearly two hours of trading to begin the new week…below is John’s updated 3-year weekly Venture chart showing Gold as well…it’s reasonable to expect that RSI(14) may move well into overbought territory above 70% before a consolidation sets in…next major Venture chart resistance is 1150…a very strong support band exists between the 970’s and 1000…

Fission Uranium Corp. (FCU, TSX-V) has released results from eight new holes at its PLS property in Saskatchewan’s Athabasca basin…five of the holes returned considerable off-scale mineralization…significantly, hole PLS14-177 has closed the gap between the R390E and R585E high-grade zones to create one much larger zone, now referred to as the R390E zone…FCU is up 3 pennies at $1.62 as of 8:15 am Pacific…

Goldeye Explorations Ltd. (GGY, TSX-V), which we pointed out to our readers in late February when it was trading around 11 cents, released more encouraging high-grade drill results this morning from 7 more holes at its Weebigee Project in northwestern Ontario…drilling continues for at least one more week…results from the Knoll zone included 8.59 g/t Au over 6.83 m…interestingly, at the RvG4 zone, 500 m to the northwest of Knoll, GGY intersected 23.15 g/t Au over 3.97 m in hole BK14-18…the relationship between these two zones is not yet known, however alteration, quartz veining, and host lithologies are similar…not surprisingly, GGY is responding well to the news and is up 2 pennies at 16 cents as of 8:15 am Pacific…we’ll have an updated chart tomorrow…

Garibaldi Resources Corp. (GGI, TSX-V) Updated Chart

John will update the charts on all the Sheslay Valley plays this week…below is a 3.5-year weekly for Garibaldi Resources (GGI, TSX-V) which is showing renewed strength after recently testing support at the rising 50-day moving average (SMA) which also coincided with Fib. support (17.5 cents) and (interestingly) the 1,000-day moving average (SMA)…this chart speaks volumes about the “Big Picture” outlook for GGI and how the Sheslay Valley play could literally explode over the spring and summer…

Colorado Resources Ltd. (CXO, TSX-V) Update

It’s no coincidence that the turnaround in Colorado Resources‘ (CXO, TSX-V) came in late December when the company announced that it had assembled a 300 sq. km land package – the “KSP Property” – 15 km along strike to the southeast of the past-producing Snip mine which, from 1991 to 1999, produced over 1 million ounces of Gold at a recovered head grade of 24.5 g/t Au…this is in the prolific Eskay Creek area north of Stewart…we expect CXO to be very active in this district over the summer…it’s an under-explored area offering excellent opportunities for new high-grade discoveries…CXO is unchanged at 29.5 cents as of 8:15 am Pacific…

North Country Gold Corp. (NCG, TSX-V)

One of our readers asked us for a chart on North Country Gold (NCG, TSX-V) which is certainly a company worthy of investors’ due diligence as it controls some key exploration areas (high-grade Gold targets) along an under-explored greenstone belt in Nunavut…NCG’s Three Bluffs Project also has a NI-43-101 resource (4.3 Mt at 4.9 g/t Au for 678,000 oz (indicated) and 4.5 Mt at 5.7 g/t Au for 829,000 oz (inferred)…the company has 122 million shares outstanding after recently raising $500,000 at a nickel…NCG is off a penny at 10 cents as of 8:15 am Pacific…

Short-Term Silver Chart

What’s significant about this short-term Silver chart is the unconfirmed breakout Friday above a downsloping flag…if Silver reverses today with a confirmation of that breakout, this could be a strong week for the metal…

Silver Long-Term Chart

The long-term Silver chart confirms that the metal has exceptional support just below $20…sell pressure has been dominant since early last year but is weak…if and when Silver breaks above the main downtrend line, watch out…RSI(2) at 81% remains in overbought territory – given historical patterns, it could remain there for a while longer before a short-term correction sets in to unwind that condition…

Note: John and Jon both hold share positions in GGI.

TSX Venture Exchange and Gold

Despite a breakout by Gold above $1,350, the Venture’s 5-week winning streak came to an end as the Index gave up a very modest 9 points to close at 1034.  Broader equity markets were under pressure last week with the Dow down each trading day, losing nearly 400 points or 2.4% (RSI-2 on the daily chart for the Dow is at an extreme low not seen since the end of January).  The Nasdaq was off 2%.  The TSX fared better, shedding only one-half of a percent to close at 14228.

Where to from here for the Venture?  The next major resistance (1150) is still more than 100 points to the upside.  Based on chart patterns and some exploration excitement in various areas, the question in our view is not if the Index will test 1150 but when.  On the 5-year weekly chart below from John, you can see that buy pressure (CMF) and the bullish trend (ADX) both remain strong, while RSI(14) at 65% certainly has room to move higher.  The 10 and 20-day moving averages (SMA’s), not shown on this particular chart, provide immediate support between 1025 (20-day) and 1035 (10-day).  Below that the Index has built superb support between the 970’s and 1000.  It’s important to understand the key near/short-term resistance and support levels.

The 5-year weekly chart gives us great confidence that this new Venture bull market will power the Index significantly higher as the year progresses, so that by the third quarter the Venture conceivably could be trading anywhere between 1350 and 1650 (check the Fib. and chart resistance levels).  The third quarter is also when the Venture’s 300-day SMA can be expected to reverse to the upside (we’ve already seen the 200-day reverse higher).  Get excited NOW – don’t wait until the masses get excited and start jumping on the bandwagon in a few months.  The reversal in this market really occurred last October when it broke above a long-term downtrend line.  Smart money has been accumulating since then.  Most investors are “followers” and they’re late in recognizing the start of a new bear market or the beginning of a new bull market.  The Venture chart tells us unequivocally that a new bull cycle, albeit selective at the moment, has started.  The trend is your friend.  The overall trend is clearly pointing higher and any pullbacks along the way should be viewed as accumulation opportunities (the opposite was the case during the bear market – rallies were selling opportunities).

Venture 5-Year Weekly Chart

The Seeds Have Been Planted (And Continue To Be Planted) For The Next Big Run In Gold Stocks

There’s no better cure for low prices than low prices.  The great benefit of the collapse in Gold prices in 2013 is that it forced producers (at least most of them) to start to become much more lean in terms of their cost structures. Producers, big and small, have started to make hard decisions in terms of costs, projects, and rationalizing their their overall operations.  Exploration budgets among both producers and juniors have also been cut sharply.  In addition, government policies across much of the globe are making it more difficult (sometimes impossible) for mining companies to put Gold (or other) deposits into production, thanks to the ignorance of many politicians and the impact of radical and vocal environmentalists (technology has made it easier for groups opposing mining projects to organize and disseminate information, even in remote areas around the globe).   Ultimately, all of  these factors are going to create a supply problem – think about it, where are the next major Gold deposits going to come from? On top of that, grades have fallen significantly just over the past decade.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that the next huge bull market in Gold stocks is just around the corner due to demand-supply dynamics, much leaner producers who will suddenly become earnings machines, and a junior market that will be healthier simply because a lot of the “lifestyle” companies sucking money out of investors will simply disappear or get taken over by individuals or groups who are actually competent and serious about building shareholder value.   A healthy “cleansing” in the market has been taking place.  As this continues, more and more seeds are being planted for an incredible future move in well-managed Gold producers and explorers that could make the dotcom bubble look like a tea party.  As for the juniors, focus on the small universe of companies that have the ability to execute both on the ground and in the market.  Companies that are strong financially, have superior exploration prospects, competent management and clean share structures.

Gold

Impressive move by Gold last week even though Asian demand recently has been somewhat subdued.  Bullion rocketed through resistance around $1,350 and closed up $43 for the week at $1,384.  Several factors are helping Gold, ranging from geopolitical to a drying up of ETF selling that was so instrumental in the metal’s collapse last year.

This 1-year weekly chart from John is interesting in that it shows that Gold appears to be constructing a cup-with-handle pattern.  Strong resistance exists between $1,400 and $1,425.  If this interpretation is correct, and John’s Gold charts have consistently been very accurate, then expect the top of the right side of the cup to form around $1,425 (perhaps a little lower).  At that point, an unwinding of temporarily overbought conditions can be expected which would result in the formation of a handle which should not close lower than $1,270 for the pattern to remain valid.  This would then be followed by another move higher.

RSI(14) has formed a bullish “W” which suggests the near-term bias is indeed to the upside, adding credence to the view that Gold before month-end could indeed be trading in the $1,400 to $1,425 range.  This would also probably coincide with a test of critical support at 79 on the U.S. Dollar Index.

Silver climbed 57 cents last week to close at $21.46 (we’ll have updated Silver charts Monday morning as usual).  Copper got hammered, losing another 15 cents (China-related factors) to finish at $2.94 (very oversold conditions have emerged).  Crude Oil fell $3.69 a barrel to $$98.59 while the struggling U.S. Dollar Index finished down one-quarter of a point to 79.41 – a test of the important 79 level definitely appears to be in the cards as we’ve been suggesting for months since a breakdown of the Dollar Index last September.

The “Big Picture” View Of Gold

As Frank Holmes so effectively illustrates at www.usfunds.com, the long-term bull market in Gold has been driven by both the Fear Trade and the Love Trade.  The transfer of wealth from west to east, and the accumulation of wealth particularly in China and India, has had a huge impact on bullion.  Despite Gold’s largest annual drop in three decades in 2013, the fundamental long-term case for the metal remains solidly intact – currency instability and an overall lack of confidence in fiat currencies, governments and world leaders in general, an environment of historically low interest rates, a Fed balance sheet now at $4 trillion and still expanding, money supply growth around the globe, massive government debt from the United States to Europe, central bank buying, flat mine supply, physical demand (especially from China), emerging market growth, geopolitical unrest and conflicts…the list goes on.  However, deflationary concerns around the globe and the prospect of Fed tapering had a lot to do with Gold’s plunge during the spring below the technically and psychologically important $1,500 level, along with the strong performance of equities which drew “momentum traders” away from bullion.  June’s low of $1,179 was likely the bottom for Gold.  Extreme levels of bearishness emerged in the metal last year.  With the long-term bull market remaining intact, we expect new all-time highs in Gold as the decade progresses.  Inflationary pressures should eventually kick in around the globe after years of ultra-loose monetary policy.

We are in the process of updating our eAlert list, especially in light of recent exploration discoveries and the much improved Venture outlook for 2014.  If you wish to be included in the BMR eAlert system, which sends out occasional important and timely market information that’s not always posted on our site (or before it’s posted on our site), simply click on the “Contact Us” button you see in the top right hand corner of this page, type in “Alert” in the subject line, give us your first name, and hit the send button.  Your email address is not given out to any other party.

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Welcome to our site, or at least the initial version of it!  BMR has been online for more than four years and strictly through word-of-mouth we have built a loyal following.  We encourage reader feedback and the exchange of helpful opinions and ideas among investors in our forum. 

We’re continuing with our plans to ultimately construct a very unique investment and money-management resource site that goes considerably beyond what we have now.  We focus a great deal on the Gold, Silver and Copper markets as well as trends in the global economy, in addition of course to the technical health of the TSX Venture Exchange (CDNX).  An important component of this site, as well, will always be original research on high quality junior exploration companies or small producers that offer very real and significant upside potential. We are extremely selective in the companies we feature and put forward to investors – we prefer quality over quantity, and we are being more selective than ever in the current market environment.  We look for companies with the ability to execute both on the ground and in the market, who are determined to build shareholder value, which actually excludes most Venture stocks.  However, investors must understand that the companies we do put forward for our readers’ due diligence are still highly speculative situations and entail considerable risk, volatility and unpredictability.

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At BullMarketRun (BMR) we approach the handling of money from a biblical perspective and this is an important topic we will be sharing with our readers (and listeners) as the site continues to develop. The Bible teaches so much about money and how to handle it and invest it –  there are literally thousands of verses on how we should handle the money and possessions that God entrusts us with.  By examining the life of Jesus and reading the Word of God, we can all become fully equipped to be successful investors and handle money wisely.  We have a God who thinks big – He created the universe – and He wants us to think big  in every area of our lives.  When we handle money from a Biblical perspective (His money that we have been given stewardship of), He will bless you.  This all begins, of course, with a personal relationship with Jesus Christ by accepting Him as your Lord and Savior and putting Him at the throne of your life.  It is the most important decision you’ll ever make.

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Gold is surging higher to end the week after a confirmed breakout above critical resistance at $1,350…as of 7:15 am Pacific, bullion is up $13 an ounce at $1,384…escalating tensions in Ukraine, before a vote this weekend in Crimea on breaking away to join Russia, has propelled Gold to a new 6-month high…Silver has added 45 cents to $21.63…Copper is up 3 cents at $2.95…Crude Oil has climbed 43 cents to $98.63 while the U.S. Dollar Index is off one-quarter of a point at 79.34…

What’s surprising is that Gold has performed so well in recent weeks despite slackening physical demand out of Asia as seen by the small premium or occasional discount Shanghai Gold Exchange prices trade versus spot…ETF selling, of course, has dried up (SPDR Gold Trust has registered inflows this week), geopolitical tensions, concerns over China (first corporate bond default, weaker than expected economic data), technical buying and a struggling U.S. Dollar are all factors that are currently in Gold’s favor…ironically, after getting bashed by so many analysts right up until the end of last year, bullion has been the best asset class to be invested in so far in 2014…next major chart resistance is $1,400…

“Gold is clearly still in demand as a safe haven,” analysts at Commerzbank said in a note to investors this morning…

Oil Supplies Increasing:  IEA

A relentless increase in oil supply from the U.S. and Canada and a surprise surge in Iraqi crude production last month is offsetting demand pressures bought about by the cold winter in the U.S. and geopolitical concerns over the rising tensions between Russia and Ukraine, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA) in a report today…the IEA expects supply from outside OPEC to rise by 2 million barrels a day in the first quarter of the year, while a surprise surge in Iraq’s output last month boosted OPEC’s output to more than 30 million barrels a day for the first time in four months…

Today’s Markets

Asia

Japan’s Nikkei Index posted one of its largest single-day percentage declines of the year overnight, falling 488 points or 3.3% to close the week at 14328…a stronger yen, concerns over the sustainability of China’s economic growth and ongoing instability in Ukraine spurred a flight-to-safety in Tokyo…China’s Shanghai Composite, meanwhile, fell 15 points to close at 2004…

Europe

European markets are mixed in late trading overseas…

North America

The Dow is up 47 points as of 7:15 am Pacific…RSI(14) has fallen below its EMA(25) which raises the prospect of some additional weakness in the Dow in the near future, as you can see in John’s chart below, though a bounce higher could come first after 4 straight declining sessions totaling nearly 350 points…

U.S. consumer sentiment dipped modestly in early March…the preliminary Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan overall index of consumer sentiment fell to 79.9 in March, down from the 81.6 final reading in February…that was below expectations for a reading of 82 and the lowest level for that index since November…

Meanwhile, U.S. producer prices fell in February, dragged down by falling costs for services and offering little sign of a pickup in inflation pressures…the Labor Department reported this morning that its seasonally adjusted producer price index for final demand dropped 0.1% last month…U.S. inflation has held at a very low level in recent years, largely due to a persistently high unemployment rate…this is expected to encourage the Federal Reserve to keep its benchmark interest rate near zero for many more months even as the central bank gradually trims its monetary stimulus…

The TSX is 20 points higher as of 7:15 am Pacific while the Venture is up 3 points at 1035…yesterday’s 14-point fall was the Venture’s worst session since January 27…

TSX Gold Index Updated Chart

The TSX Gold Index is breaking out above important resistance at 210…below is an 18-month weekly chart from John…the Index is 3 points higher at 214 through the first 45 minutes of trading…

Game On At The Grizzly & Throughout The Sheslay Valley

Garibaldi Resources Corp. (GGI, TSX-V) is going after the Grizzly, launching a major exploration program – parts of which are commencing shortly – including detailed mapping, geochemistry, IP surveys and first-ever diamond drilling…GGI also reported late yesterday, following the market close, that it has broadened the corridor of mineralization in the Sheslay Valley through sampling in the West Kaketsa area, a few km south of the Grizzly West porphyry target and 3 km west-southwest of Prosper Gold Corp.’s (PGX, TSX-V) Pyrrhotite Creek prospect…West Kaketsa has never been drilled, and one of the last of just nine holes ever drilled at Pyrrhotite Creek 42 years ago returned 0.32% Cu from surface to 490 feet (never assayed for Gold)…mineralization at West Kaketsa appears to be related to a fault that extends from that target right through to Pyrrhotite Creek…this is a part of the Sheslay Valley that investors need to watch very closely as it exhibits all the classic signatures of a potential major new discovery, separate from Prosper’s Star targets clustered several km to the north-northeast…

Remarkable Ratio:  Drill Holes & Discoveries In The Sheslay Valley

What’s remarkable about the Sheslay Valley is the high “hit” ratio on drill holes (80%) and the limited number of total drill holes (59 altogether, 48 historically on the Sheslay, six at the Sheslay last year by Prosper and 11 by Doubleview at the Hat last year), and the number of significant drilling discoveries (3 – Star, Hat, Pyrrhotite Creek) over wide distances…from the Star to the Hat is almost 10 km…from the Star to Pyrrhotite Creek is 4.5 km…Garibaldi’s Grizzly, the biggest property of all, has never been drilled, yet exhibits geological and geophysical signatures that are similar to those at the Sheslay and the Hat…as some people have said, the region is “pregnant”…

Fluid Throughput

Any major Cu-Au porphyry system requires fluid, a dynamic hydrothermal environment and this is what appears to have made the Sheslay Valley very special…in layman’s terms, there’s a major “heat engine” at work here, or perhaps a series of them, driving the entire process of catapulting Copper and Gold toward the surface…while it’s not completely understood just yet, the Kaketsa pluton has played some sort of a role in driving mineralization throughout the district…

New Map

Below is a BMR modified map (the view is from the northwest toward the southeast, down the trend), expanding on the 3D Google Earth version released yesterday by GGI…we’ve touched on a few key points this morning which we’ll expand on next week…the intent of this map is to paint the “big picture” of what is clearly a very long mineralized corridor in the Sheslay Valley (22 km from GGI’s Grizzly West porphyry target to Doubleview’s Hat discovery) and a potentially very wide one as well…keep in mind, this map doesn’t even show the full district…parallel NW/SE trends are cutting through the entire area, a classic northwest B.C. scenario…

GGI is up 1.5 cents at 20.5 cents as of 7:15 am Pacific…DBV, which is expected to commence drilling shortly, also gapped up this morning and is 2 cents higher at 31 cents, while PGX has gained a penny to 49 cents…

This view of a large part of the Sheslay Valley is from the southeast - mineralization is trending NW/SE over long distances, and the corridor could easily broaden to the south and the north.

Dynasty Gold Corp. (DYG, TSX-V) Updated Chart

With exploration excitement in northwest British Columbia expected to intensify in the coming months, a company investors should not forget about is Dynasty Gold (DYG, TSX-V) which had $1.1 million in cash at the end of September and a very interesting property near Stewart (“Strike”, Gold-Silver-Copper-Lead-Zinc)…John has detected a significant increase in buy pressure (accumulation) in DYG over the last several weeks as shown in this 2.5-year weekly chart…

True Gold Mining Inc. (TGM, TSX-V) Updated Chart

True Gold Mining (TGM, TSX-V) has enjoyed a solid week…the stock has traded briskly while the company also reported an initial inferred resource for its North Kao deposit, the contiguous northern extension of the largest of five deposits (Kao) within the Karma Project in Burkina Faso, West Africa…

“In our view, Karma is one of the premium development-stage, shovel-ready projects globally due to its low-cost production attributes, strong growth profile, metallurgy and jurisdiction,” stated Mark O’Dea, executive chairman of True Gold in a news release yesterday…“We have already built the foundation to become a leading mid-tier Gold producer, including the receipt of key mining permits and a strong treasury to fund development, with North Kao clearly demonstrating the potential to boost our production profile.”

Below is a 2.5-year weekly TGM chart from John…strong support around the 40-cent level has held, and TGM is up a penny at 45 cents as of 7:15 am Pacific…

Note: John and Jon both hold share positions in GGI, DBV, and AIX. Jon also holds share positions in PGX and ABR.

Gold has traded between $1,364 and $1,377 so for today after breaking above critical resistance at $1,350 yesterday…as of 8:00 am Pacific, bullion is up $1 an ounce at $1,368…Silver is off 9 cents at $21.23…Copper is relatively unchanged at $2.95 (see chart below)…Crude Oil is up slightly at $98.15 while the U.S. Dollar Index has fallen one-quarter of a point to 79.39, closing in on critical support at 79…

UBS on Gold:  “Concerns that current issues in China could morph into something more sinister for the economy and continued tensions between the West and Russia are helping Gold make the most of its role as an insurance against tail risks.  Gold prices continue to head north in the slow and orderly fashion that has been evident so far this year.”

According to HSBC, Silver is likely to trade in a range between $17.75 and $22.75  for the rest of 2014 as the global Silver surplus widens to around 156 million oz this year…the group’s latest Silver outlook publication cites three main trends that are likely to drive the market this year:  a) Supply remaining strong; b) Investment demand making a modest recovery; and c) Pick-up in demand from industry and jewellery…

Updated Gold Chart

Below is a 2-year weekly Gold chart update from John after yesterday’s important move…next major chart resistance is $1,400 while the next Fib. resistance level (38.2%) is $1,430…bullion recently broke above a short-term downtrend line which was bullish…take note of the long-term downtrend line on this chart going back to late 2012 – it appears Gold is ready to stage a confirmed breakout above this area which is significant…buy pressure is modest and there is strong support around $1,300 where the 50 and 200-day moving averages (SMA’s) coincide…

TSX Gold Index Chart Update

This 10-year monthly TSX Gold Index chart points to a probable reversal in the TSX Gold Index, not surprising given the fact that there is already a confirmed reversal in the Venture which historically makes critical moves prior to the Gold Index…the important level to watch with regard to the latter is 210…the Index is up a point at 208 as of 8:00 am Pacific…

Updated Copper Chart

The extent of the drop in Copper since last Friday has been somewhat perplexing, but very oversold conditions have clearly emerged…weakness in Copper started around mid-February and has coincided with a nearly 7% drop in China’s Shanghai Composite which has bounced off very strong support…Copper could be putting in an important bottom, and the Venture has shrugged off the plunge in this important metal which is encouraging…

Today’s Markets

Asia

China’s Shanghai Composite gained 21 points overnight to close at 2019 despite some weaker-than-expected economic data…the country’s combined industrial output for January and February rose 8.6% from the year ago period, below a Reuters’ forecast for a climb of 9.5%…meanwhile, combined retail sales for the period were up 11.8% on year, missing Reuters’ expectations for an increase of 13.5%…

Japan’s Nikkei was just down slightly overnight, closing at 14816…

Europe

European markets are mixed in late trading overseas…

North America

The Dow is down 44 points as of 8:00 am Pacific… first-time weekly jobless claims in the U.S. fell by 9,000 to a seasonally adjusted 315,000 during the week to Saturday, the Labor Department said this morning…the total was a three-month low and below consensus expectations that were for around 329,000 to 335,000…despite more cold weather, U.S. consumers managed to hit the malls in February, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau…the bureau reported this morning that advanced February retail sales increased 0.3% on a seasonally adjusted basis, from January’s revised decrease of 0.6%…economists were generally forecasting an increase around 0.2%…February core retail sales – excluding autos – rose 0.3%, up from January’s flat reading of 0.0%…

The TSX has shed 23 points through the first 90 minutes of trading while the Venture is off 6 points at 1041, 6 points above its rising 10-day SMA which has been providing strong support…

“Hang On To Your Hat”:  Doubleview Capital Corp. (DBV, TSX-V) Gears Up For More Drilling To Follow Up On Cu-Au Porphyry Discovery

With the clear potential for several major deposits over a very broad area, the Sheslay Valley in northwest British Columbia is an incredible geological story that the world is about to discover in the coming months as the most aggressive drilling ever is about to place there…this is Canada’s first significant area play following a horrendous 3-year bear market in the junior resource sector, and bolting out of the starting gate first on the drilling front in the immediate future is Doubleview Capital (DBV, TSX)…

Since any company is only as strong as the people behind it, it’s also critical to understand that the key reason the Sheslay Valley is emerging as B.C.’s next major mining camp is because of all the special individuals who are involved in this play and the unique skill sets they bring to the table…a prime example, without question, is Doubleview President and CEO Farshad Shirvani whose boldness, conviction, determination and courage have energized the entire camp to kick off 2014…his actions, and the results he has delivered, have understandably made believers out of many investors…this is an individual who overcame immense challenges last year to drill 11 holes at the Hat Property, several of which have “boxed” in a discovery area one km wide that holds tremendous potential for expansion laterally and at depth…

DBV President & CEO Farshad Shirvani at the recent PDAC Show in Toronto (cover of Resource World Magazine has been inserted into this picture with the DBV headline).

A “Hat Trick” Coming At The Hat? – A Minimum Of 3 Large Target Areas So Far

In the upcoming second part of our special report on Doubleview, we’ll examine in some detail the many targets at the Hat, and the opportunities and challenges for DBV, based on our discussions with several geologists and others…below is a map taken from DBV’s PowerPoint presentation on its web site, and you can see that there is no shortage of targets over a section of the property that covers approximately 12 sq. km…DBV’s immediate priority is to try to get a better understanding of the shape of this potential significant deposit, and initially they’ll be going after the area around discovery holes HAT-11 and Hat-08 at Anomaly “B” (hole #11, the last one drilled before extreme weather conditions forced crews off the site, intersected mineralization from the top of the hole to the bottom, 313 m grading 0.32% CuEq with higher grades at depth)…

Keep in mind that drill results at the Hat have shown steady improvement, always a positive sign, and one has to consider the prospects of immediate success in this upcoming third round of drilling to be very favorable given a greater understanding of this system that does exist after a careful review of all the data to date…Shirvani’s specialty is in modeling deposits, and he has the help of several very capable advisers including highly regarded veteran geologist Eric Ostensoe…DBV is showing both aggressiveness and astuteness on the ground – factors that are sure to keep interest in this play very high going forward with strong exploration upside potential in an emerging world class district…DBV is off a penny at 28 cents on light volume as of 8:30 am Pacific…

Ryan Gold Corp. (RYG, TSX-V) Updated Chart

Heavy accumulation continues in Ryan Gold (RYG, TSX-V) which finished 2013 with $21 million in cash and is looking for new opportunities after essentially pulling out of the Yukon…this is a solid-looking chart with strong support at 14 cents, half a penny above the rising 100-day SMA…big volume day yesterday as it closed up a penny-and-a-half at 16 cents…

Note: John and Jon both hold share positions in DBV.

Gold has surged to a 6-month high as it threatens to stage a critical breakout above $1,350 resistance…a “confirmed” breakout from a technical standpoint is what we’re looking for, so how bullion behaves tomorrow and Friday will be also be key…as of 8:30 am Pacific, Gold is up $15 an ounce at $1,364…Silver is 24 cents higher at $21.13…Copper hit a 3+ year low of $2.90 this morning but has since recovered…it’s currently up 2 pennies at $2.97…a hard sell-off since Friday has occurred due to China-related factors and likely some forced selling from Chinese companies who have been importing Copper not for industrial production but for loan collateral…BMO views Copper’s decline below $3 a pound as “overdone” based on forecasts for a still-tight market this year…BMO says it expects that any inventory that comes to market would be eventually absorbed by real demand, supporting Copper prices on average through the year.  “China’s demand from the power, transport, and consumer goods sectors are expected to remain strong, particularly given the state grid’s commitment to increase spending by 13% in 2014,” BMO stated…Crude Oil is down $1.72 a barrel to $98.31 while the U.S. Dollar Index is off one-tenth of a point at 79.67…

Russian forces, who’ve already seized control of the Crimean peninsula, continue to be deployed along Ukraine’s eastern border and are “constantly increasing their presence,” according to Ukraine’s First Deputy Prime Minister Vitaliy Yarema…Gold is obviously attracting safe-haven demand from heightened concerns in this area, and money may also be flowing into bullion from base metals…

The leaders of the G-7 nations said this morning they will not recognize the results of a coming referendum on Crimea’s status…“Any such referendum would have no legal effect. Given the lack of adequate preparation and the intimidating presence of Russian troops, it would also be a deeply flawed process which would have no moral force,” they said in a statement…

Gold is now up 13% this year after a 28% drop in 2013…a breakout through $1,350 increases the likelihood of a near-term push to the next major resistance level which is $1,400…

Gold-backed ETP’s saw inflows of $500 million in February, a reversal from 17 consecutive months of outflows according to Blackrock…

Today’s Markets

Asia

China’s Shanghai Composite dipped 3 points overnight to close at 1998 while Japan’s Nikkei tumbled nearly 400 points (2.6%) to finish at 14830…

Europe

European markets were generally down about 1% today…

North America

The Dow is up 11 points as of 8:30 am Pacific…the TSX has added 23 points while the Venture is 1 point higher at 1044…Doubleview Capital Corp. (DBV, TSX-V) is quieter so far today after yesterday’s news, but consider this the lull before the storm as the company gears up to recommence drilling at its Hat Property Cu-Au porphyry discovery in the Sheslay Valley…a confirmed technical breakout has occurred in DBV…it’s unchanged at 31 cents as of 8:30 am Pacific…

Kalt Industries Becomes Third Largest Player In Sheslay Valley District

As the saying goes, follow the money…Ryan Kalt, Chairman of privately-held Kalt Industries, is a very successful Canadian entrepreneur who has educated himself about the Sheslay Valley region of northwest British Columbia…he is a smart operator and plays to win…his track record when it comes to getting involved early in important Canadian discoveries is highly impressive, one prime example being the Athabasca Basin…his call on that was bang-on…we suspect his call on the Sheslay Valley will also be bang-on…Kalt has so far staked 230 sq. km in the Sheslay Valley, putting him behind only Teck Resources Ltd. (TCK.B, TSX-V) and Garibaldi Resources Corp. (GGI, TSX-V) with 600 sq. km and 262 sq. km, respectively…upstart Alix Resources Corp. (AIX, TSX-V) is getting very aggressive and announced the acquisition of more claims this morning, contiguous to Doubleview’s Hat Property, giving them a total of 89.5 sq. km – the second-largest position among junior exploration companies…

Below is Kalt Industries‘ updated Sheslay Valley map that BMR has been given the permission to publish…

Largest landholders in the Sheslay Valley currently are: Teck Resources (600 sq. km); Garibaldi Resources (262 sq. km); Kalt Industriess (230 sq. km), and Alix Resources (89 sq. km). Prosper Gold and Doubleview Resources have made important discoveries on the Sheslay and Hat properties, respectively, with Doubleview ready to become the first company to drill in 2014.

Alix Resources Corp. (AIX, TSX-V) Updated Chart

Alix Resources (AIX, TSX-V) is pushing hard in the Sheslay Valley and the market is rewarding it…after acquiring an 8-km wide stretch of claims across the entire northern border of Prosper’s Sheslay, and another 8 km wide land package capping the northwestern border of Garibaldi’s Grizzly – two key strategic areas – Alix announced this morning that it has acquired 460 hectares of claims contiguous to the eastern border of Doubleview’s Hat Property…rest assured, the Sheslay Valley is not a “closeology” play for AIX – our due diligence gives us great confidence that AIX is rapidly moving toward the goal of defining high-priority drill targets, and that there will be plenty of action on their extensive landholdings in the coming months…President Mike England, whose Geo Minerals was taken out by New Gold Inc. (NGD, TSX) in the Blackwater play in 2011, is turning AIX around with this early and significant foray into the Sheslay Valley…

The surge in volume in AIX in recent days is a key indicator of positive things in the works…note on this 4-year weekly chart from John how RSI(14) is climbing an uptrend, sell pressure is diminishing rapidly, and the 100-day moving average (SMA) has reversed to the upside…technically, AIX appears to be in the early stages of a major move…as always, perform your own due diligence…AIX is up half a penny at a nickel as of 8:30 am Pacific…

Midland Minerals Corp. (MEX, TSX-V)

Speaking of volume, Midland Minerals Corp. (MEX, TSX) has been extremely active over the last week, trading in excess of 25 million shares…on January 9, Midland announced that it had signed an LOI with Reservoir Minerals Inc. (RMC, TSX-V) granting it an option to earn up to a 75% interest in RMC’s Parlozi Lead-Zinc-Silver project in Serbia…MEX has nearly 200 million shares outstanding but reported $3.5 million in cash in its most recent financials (ending September 30), so this one is certainly worthy of our readers’ due diligence…

Below is a 4-year weekly chart from John…what the chart tells us is that intense sell pressure witnessed most of last year has dissipated…strong support now exists at 2.5 cents where MEX is trading (on light volume) as of 8:30 am Pacific…

Probe Mines Ltd. (PRB, TSX-V)

Legitimate discoveries bring incredible opportunities, no matter what overall market conditions might be, and one of our favorite situations over the past year that amazingly has been overlooked (at least until recently) by most investors is Probe Mines (PRB, TSX-V) with its multi-million ounce Borden Lake Gold discovery in northeastern Ontario…this started out as a high tonnage, lower grade open-pit scenario, but then Probe discovered a high-grade zone trending to the southeast…drilling continues…

John’s 2.5-year weekly PRB chart shows steady progress toward the next Fib. measured resistance…it’s incredible that PRB was trading at just above a dollar last spring, even AFTER Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd. (AEM, TSX) took a 9.9% position in the company on a financing that was well above market…PRB is up 7 cents at $3.77 as of 8:30 am Pacific…

Updated Platinum Chart

Below is an updated long-term Platinum chart…note the strong RSI(14) support at 40%…if Platinum breaks above the downtrend line, watch out…Platinum is up about $10 an ounce this morning to $1,469…

Note: John and Jon hold share positions in GGI, DBV and AIX.

Gold is showing strength today, though once again it has met resistance around $1,350…as of 8:30 am Pacific, bullion is up $6 an ounce at $1,346…Silver is 16 cents higher at $21.00…Copper is off another 2 pennies at $3.02 following a 5% decline Friday and Monday after China’s first-ever corporate bond default and some weaker than expected economic data out of that country…in addition, according to the Shanghai Futures Exchange, Copper stockpiles increased for an eighth straight week last week, their longest rising streak in two years…as our chart showed yesterday, Copper has strong technical support at $3…Crude Oil is off 22 cents at $100.90 while the U.S. Dollar Index is relatively unchanged at 79.74…

Gold is benefiting from heightened tensions between Ukraine and Russia…Ukraine’s armed forces are testing the combat readiness of troops, the Defence Ministry said yesterday on its web site, as Russian forces tightened their hold on the Crimean peninsula where residents will have the choice of joining Russia in a March 16 referendum…WSJ is reporting this morning that Russian President Vladimir Putin has apparently rejected a U.S. proposal to resolve the dispute over Ukraine that had been put forward by Secretary of State John Kerry over the past week, according to senior Russian and U.S. officials…meanwhile, European officials are preparing sanctions against Russia and additional aid for Ukraine as diplomats acknowledged their efforts had not only failed in persuading Russia to calm the conflict but had seen the Kremlin tighten its grip on Crimea…

Holdings in Gold-backed ETP’s rose 8.4 metric tons yesterday, the most in a single day since October 2012, according to data compiled by Bloomberg…assets are at 1,762.5 tons after dropping to the lowest since October 2009 last month…

Not surprisingly, the biggest growth in trading activity of Gold future contracts in the last five years has come from China, according to the latest information from the Futures Industry Association…the FIA released its annual report on global trends in the trading of futures and options…Gold futures on the Shanghai Futures Exchange saw the biggest volume increase in the last five years as 20.09 million contracts were traded in 2013, an increase of 416% from the 3.9 million contracts traded in 2008…

Updated WTIC Chart

It’s likely “decision time” for Crude Oil at some point this year – will it break above or below the ascending triangle it has been in since 2010?…resistance is at $110 while support is just below $92…buy pressure will have to increase significantly in order for Crude Oil to push through the $110 barrier…watch for a potential major catalyst – geopolitical or economic – that would trigger either a breakout or a breakdown…below is a 10-year monthly chart showing the “big picture” for WTIC…

OCED:  Global Growth Trend Positive

Global growth is likely to remain somewhat sluggish through the rest of the first half of 2014 as a slowdown in the developing world undercuts gains in Europe and the U.S.,  the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) stated today…one-off factors like the harsh winter weather in North America and the U.S. government shutdown mean “growth for the major advanced economies in the first half of 2014 will be somewhat slower than in the second half of 2013.” The underlying trend for those economies, however, continues to be of strengthening growth, the OECD emphasized, in an update to forecasts made in November…

Today’s Markets

Asia

China’s Shanghai Composite steadied overnight, closing 2 points higher at 2001…in an important move, coming sooner than expected, the Chinese government revealed that it’s preparing to launch a pilot test for privately owned banks in several different regions of the country…this would be the first tentative step by the country to open its closely-guarded banking sector…

Japan’s Nikkei jumped 104 points overnight to close at 15224…

Europe

European markets finished in positive territory today…on the data front, both German exports and imports surged in January, according to figures from the Federal Statistics Office…in Italy, fourth-quarter GDP matched expectations with a climb of 0.1%…Portugal’s growth figures exceeded estimates, rising 0.6% in the last quarter…

North America

The Dow is up 11 points as of 8:30 am Pacific…

Below is a chart that explains why many economic forecasters see an improving trend in the U.S. economy – quite simply, households have made progress paying off debt (if only the government could do the same)…household debt has dropped from 1.4 times annual disposable income in the fourth quarter of 2007 to 1.1 times in the fourth quarter of 2013…debt service also has dropped, from 13% of disposable income in the fourth quarter of 2007 to 10% in the third quarter of 2013…

U.S. Household Debt On The Decline

The TSX is 26 points higher through the first two hours of trading while the Venture keeps moving forward, up 6 points at 1049…

Doubleview Capital Corp. (DBV, TSX-V) Update

Things are heating up in the Sheslay Valley in more ways than one…today’s temperature is forecast to reach 7 degrees as a warming trend has settled in which is good news for all companies in the area, especially Doubleview Capital (DBV, TSX-V) which announced this morning that it’s now preparing its camp and drill sites in anticipation of the resumption of diamond drilling as soon as arrangements are completed with various contractors and weather conditions permit…DBV also reported that it has raised another $213,000 from the exercise of warrants, bringing to nearly $900,000 the total so far that the company has raised in the last several weeks since announcing a significant drilling discovery in late January…

As we continue to work on the second part of our feature on DBV, followed by a “big picture” view of what’s unfolding in the district, below is an updated DBV chart from John showing a confirmed technical breakout…sell pressure bought on by the exercise of warrants is clearly abating, and increased accumulation could certainly occur with the prospect of near-term drilling…note how the RSI(14) has broken above a downtrend line…this is looking very good…DBV is up 1.5 cents at 28.5 cents as of 8:30 am Pacific…

Fission Uranium Corp. (FCU, TSX-V) Update

Fission Uranium Corp. (FCU, TSX-V) keeps churning out spectacular results from its Patterson Lake South discovery in the Athabasca Basin, and this morning the company was rewarded with a $25 million bought deal financing through the issuance of special warrants at $1.60 per warrant…the stock fell slightly on the news this morning but is now up a penny at $1.68 as of 8:30 am Pacific…FCU has enjoyed a strong run from last week’s low of $1.36 to yesterday’s all-time high of $1.71…

Below is an updated 9-month weekly FCU chart from John…confirmed breakouts are always important to watch for…

Purepoint Uranium Group Inc. (PTU, TSX-V)

Interesting news out of Purepoint Uranium (PTU, TSX-V) yesterday regarding its Hook Lake Project in the Athabasca Basin, 5 km northeast of Fission’s PLS discovery (PTU is the operator of the Hook Lake Project though it has only a 21% interest with Cameco Corp. and AREVA Resources Canada Inc. holding the rest)…hole HK14-09 returned 0.32% U3O8 over 6.2 m including an interval of 1.1% U3O8 over 0.5 m…a second rig is being mobilized to the Spitfire zone…the D2 conductor, now known to be associated with uranium mineralization, is 2.9 km in length and has only been tested by four drill holes along a single section line with two of those holes (including HK14-09) intersecting uranium mineralization as reported yesterday, so this has potential to get better…PTU is off half a penny at 15.5 cents as of 8:30 am Pacific after yesterday’s 3.5-cent jump on volume of more than 5 million shares…a rising 10-day moving average (SMA), currently at 13 cents, has been providing strong support since the beginning of the year…

Discovery Ventures Ltd. (DVN, TSX-V) Update

We continue to keep a close eye on Discovery Ventures (DVN, TSX-V) which has impressed us with how efficiently it’s pulling things together for development of its WillaMax project in southeastern British Columbia…one of the final pieces of the puzzle is a recently announced $3 million financing at 15 cents…combined with the debt facility the company has arranged, DVN believes it has all the financial strength it needs to rapidly advance this project through the planned acquisitions, permitting and development…the company also recently announced that over the next quarter it anticipates strategic restructuring of both its management team and board of directors…the changes are expected to add significant leadership, technical expertise and experience to the senior management team…

DVN’s $3 million financing, announced March 3, created some immediate but likely temporary weakness in the share price, and the stock has now stabilized just above strong support at 17.5 cents as you can see in the 2.5-year weekly chart from John…the overall trend remains bullish…DVN’s success in advancing this project is yet another positive development in mining and exploration in British Columbia…we’ll have more on this situation in the coming weeks…DVN is off a penny at 18 cents as of 8:30 am Pacific…

Note: John and Jon both hold share positions in DBV.