BullMarketRun.ca

Gold is getting another boost today, thanks to remarks by incoming Fed Chairman Janet Yellen who some consider to be more “dovish” than Ben Bernanke…as of 7:35 am Pacific, bullion is up $8 an ounce at $1,290…Silver is 16 cents higher at $20.78…Crude Oil is off 76 cents at $93.12…Copper is down slightly at $3.15 while the U.S. Dollar Index is up one-quarter of a point to 81.07 as it still fights with that 81 level…

Global Gold demand fell by 21% year-on-year in the 3rd quarter to 868.5 metric tons, mainly due to a further exodus out of ETF’s by investors in Western nations, according to the World Gold Council in its latest quarterly report on supply and demand trends released today…however, consumer demand – including jewelry, bars and coins – rose 6% to 790.9 tons from 749.2 in the same period a year ago…in fact, year-to-date consumer sales are at a record pace, the WGC said…the Council also underlined the theme of the continuing flow of the precious metal from Western to Eastern markets…“The damage (to overall demand) has been done by the ETF’s,” said Marcus Grubb, managing director of investment for the World Gold Council. “But the response has been a big jump in jewelry and bar and coin demand all over the world, even with the restrictions (on Gold imports) in India”…the WGC pointed out that consumer demand for Gold via jewelry, bars and coins for the first 9 months of the year hit a record of 2,896.5 tons…this was helped along, of course, by lower prices that made Gold more affordable for consumers…“The vast bulk of the year-to-date growth in consumer demand for Gold came from Eastern markets; 90% of the 605-ton increase was accounted for by Middle Eastern and Asian consumers, as Gold continued to flow from West to East,” the report said.

Yellen Testifies Before The Senate

Fed Vice Chair Janet Yellen will likely stick to a tight script today as she appears on Capitol Hill, but her comments could still make waves in markets…Yellen began testifying at her confirmation hearing before the Senate Banking Committee at 7:00 am Pacific, and already stated there are “dangers to ending QE too early”…ahead of the testimony, she released a statement yesterday that had a dovish tone to it which gave Gold a boost and put the greenback under pressure…she noted that the economy has made progress with the Fed’s support, but that there is farther to go…she also spoke to the Fed’s dual mandate, saying unemployment at 7.3% was too high and inflation is below the Fed’s 2% target…Yellen’s testimony today marks the first time since June that she will make extended public remarks…she has made no public comments since her brief statement last month after President Barack Obama announced her nomination…Senators from both parties expect that she will win confirmation…a number of Republicans are likely to oppose her, but Democrats are expected to remain united behind Yellen…

Today’s Markets

A weaker yen helped drive Japan’s Nikkei average up more than 300 points or 2% overnight to close at a 6-month high, 14876…China’s Shanghai Composite gained 13 points to finish at 2101…

European shares were stronger today, thanks to the statement released yesterday by Yellen…Eurostat said today that growth in the euro zone faltered in the 3rd quarter, taking some of the shine off a rebound earlier in the year that saw the currency bloc emerge from an 18-month recession…the euro area economy expanded by 0.1% –  in line with economists’ expectations – in the 3 months to September, following growth of 0.3% in the 2nd quarter…the currency bloc’s two largest largest economies both performed worse in the latest 3-month period…Germany, the main euro zone engine, saw growth slip to 0.3% from 0.7%, while France’s stuttering economy shrank 0.1% after hitting 0.5% growth in the April-May-June quarter…

The Dow is up 11 points as of 7:35 am Pacific…the TSX has gained 71 points while the Venture is 4 points higher at 930…

Venture support continues to hold, despite the fact the Index has lost ground in 12 out of the last 13 sessions since October 28…below is a 3-month daily chart from John…yesterday’s candle was a hammer as the Index dipped to 921 intra-day and then closed at 926…in addition, RSI(14) has flattened out at 35% while the SS indicator suggests that a near-term reversal is in the works…the week could close on a positive note, setting the stage for a recovery next week…we’ll see…

CDNX Updated 3-Month Daily Chart

Fission, Alpha Release More Results From PLS

Fission Uranium Inc. (FCU, TSX-V) and JV partner Alpha Minerals (AMW, TSX-V) reported assay results this morning from 5 more holes in the R390E zone at their Patterson Lake South discovery in Saskatchewan…holes PLS13-078, PLS13-081, PLS13-085, PLS13-086, and PLS13-087A all returned wide intersections of mineralization at shallow depth – nothing unusual in the context of R390E – and provided further evidence of continued growth of the zone…of particular note is hole PLS13-086 which returned 43 metres of 1.93% U3O8, including 5 m of 9.91% U3O8…FCU is unchanged at $1.05 as of 7:35 am Pacific…

Alix Resources (AIX, TSX-V) Update

Alix Resources (AIX, TSX-V) is the most active Venture stock in early trading today as it has definitely caught the imagination of some investors with the announcement of its “bitcoin exchange launch”…AIX is unchanged at 4.5 cents on total volume (all exchanges) of nearly 5 million shares as of 7:35 am Pacific…

Barisan Gold Corp. (BG, TSX-V) Update

It was a wild day yesterday for Barisan Gold Corp. (BG, TSX-V) which surged out of the gate and traded as high as 33 cents (1 penny above a Fib. target) and retraced to close up a nickel at 23 cents…Barisan recently delivered a whopper of a porphyry hole (904 m of 0.50% CuEq) at its property in Indonesia – not exactly everyone’s favorite jurisdiction, which is an issue, but this was a world-class result, and drilling continues (as an aside, the first 114 m or so of that hole returned 0.23 g/t Au and 0.17% – almost exactly what Garibaldi Resources‘ (GGI, TSX-V) latest hole produced in Mexico – before it got into richer grades at depth, which shows what can happen with aggressive drilling…Garibaldi, too, is going deeper at Locust)…

Below is an updated BG chart…expect continued volatility…RSI(14) is currently very overbought, so “traders” have to be careful, but BG has very interesting potential just based on the geological facts known so far…it’s up 4.5 cents at 27.5 cents as of 7:35 am Pacific…

Kootenay Silver Inc. (KTN, TSX-V)

If you believe we’ll see higher Silver prices in 2014, take a look at Kootenay Silver Inc. (KTN, TSX-V) which is aggressively developing its flagship Promontorio Project in Sonora State, Mexico, adjacent to the southern border of GGI’s Tonichi Project…drilling continues to encounter high-grade Silver mineralization in a newly recognized breccia corridor as reported by KTN yesterday, with results pending for 14 additional holes…the holes sit adjacent to and outside the current inferred resource blocks…yesterday, KTN broke out of a horizontal trading channel between 60 and 75 cents, closing at 78 cents…volume is still low and needs to pick up, but additional results from this ongoing drill program have the potential to draw a wider audience to this story…

Below is a 2.5-year weekly chart from John…RSI(14) has strong up momentum and the ADX indicator shows a bullish crossover…Fib. resistance at 89 cents…

Brigus Gold Corp. (BRD, TSX)

Brigus Gold Corp. (BRD, TSX) has pulled back this week, even after reporting some very encouraging 3rd quarter results, but we view this pullback as a very normal and healthy retracement after the powerful 50% move in this stock late last month…BRD’s Black Fox mine achieved record Gold production in Q3 while costs on a per-ounce basis were at an all-time low and below guidance (the company reported all-in-sustaining costs of $992 per ounce)…underground drilling continues at Black Fox where thick, high-grade intercepts were recently reported directly below current mining operations…

BRD is unwinding a temporary overbought condition…there is strong Fib. support in the 60’s, as John’s chart shows, which also coincides with rising 50 and 100-day moving averages…a classic accumulation opportunity on weakness given the healthy overall technical posture…BRD is unchanged at 67 cents as of 7:35 am Pacific…

Note: John, Jon and Terry do not hold share positions in BG, KTN or BRD.  John and Jon both hold share positions in GGI.