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Gold has traded between $1,338 and $1,359 so far today…as of 8:30 am Pacific, bullion is down $15 an ounce at $1,339 on Fed “decision” day…a policy statement from the Fed comes at 11:00 am Pacific and this will be followed by Janet Yellen’s first news conference as Fed Chair…Gold has strong technical support around $1,350 and also at the March low of $1,327, so this pullback is not negating a bullish overall posture…Silver is off 16 cents at $20.65…Copper has slid 6 cents to $2.90…Crude Oil is down 2 pennies at $99.68 while the U.S. Dollar Index is up one-tenth of a point at 79.50…

The ease to which Vladimir Putin has annexed Crimea in Europe’s biggest land grab in decades will no doubt embolden the Russian President, but for now the market is naively taking him at his word that Crimea is all that he’s interested in…the west has shown weakness in dealing with the Russians, who are in an expansionist mode, and that will have repercussions down the road, ultimately a bullish factor for Gold…President Obama in recent years has treated the Kremlin as a top U.S. diplomatic partner in addressing national security challenges despite strong evidence Putin was working at cross purposes to American ambitions in many parts of the world…Rep. Eric Cantor, the #2 Republican in the House, got it right when he stated yesterday, “It is past time we reassess our entire strategy towards a nation that poses an increasing threat to international peace and security.”

Today’s Markets

Asia

China’s Shanghai Composite slipped 3 points overnight to close at 2022 while Japan’s Nikkei average gained 51 points to finish at a one-week high despite weak trade data…

Europe

European shares are mixed in late trading overseas…

North America

The Dow is up 6 points as of 8:30 am Pacific…the conclusion of today’s FOMC meeting and Fed Chair Janet Yellen’s debut news conference as Fed Chair will take center stage in a few hours…economists expect the central bank to taper by another $10 billion and alter its forward guidance stance…the Fed will release updated forecasts for growth, inflation, unemployment and interest rates…

The TSX is down 10 points through the first two hours of trading in the wake of yesterday’s resignation, for personal reasons, by Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty…the loonie remains under pressure, trading slightly below 90 cents U.S., its lowest level since mid-2009…

Goldcorp Inc. (G, TSX) Updated Chart

Though near-term moves are difficult to predict, the overall chart patterns of many Gold producers are looking very favorable in this early part of 2014 – pointing, in fact, to a potentially very strong year for bullion…Goldcorp Inc. (G, TSX) is yet another example as you can see in this 15-month weekly chart that shows a classic cup-with-handle pattern…Goldcorp’s 200-day moving average (SMA) has also just reversed to the upside after being in decline since late 2011…despite Gold’s pullback this morning, Goldcorp is off just 30 cents at $30.54 as of 8:30 am Pacific…

St. Andrew’s Goldfields Ltd. (SAS, TSX)

A really encouraging sign for the Gold sector is when you see a chart like this for a company with 2014 production slated to decrease from 100,000 ounces to between 75,000 and 85,000 ounces…St. Andrew’s Goldfields (SAS, TSX), however, expects to maintain positive cash flow from its mine operations east of Timmins including its flagship asset, the Holt mine, which continues to expand…the company also reported encouraging underground drilling results from its Taylor Project earlier this month…

There is plenty of Fib. support in the 30’s which also coincides with a rising 100-day SMA at 31 cents and a rising 50-day SMA at 36 cents…the chart tells us there’s “opportunity” in any weakness here…SAS is unchanged at 39 cents through the first two hours of trading today…

The Venture is holding up well, unchanged at 1039 as of 8:30 am Pacific, in the face of weakness in Gold and base metals this morning…

Highbank Resources Ltd. (HBK, TSX-V)

Keep an eye on Highbank Resources (HBK, TSX-V) which is garnering attention this morning after announcing that it has received final permitting for its Swamp Point North aggregate project from the B.C. Ministry of Energy and Mines…HBK, with a NI-43-101 aggregate resource of 70+ million tonnes near the Port of Prince Rupert, is an interesting “infrastructure” play in an excellent position to take advantage of the boom in LNG projects in British Columbia…that’s certainly a major investment theme at the moment in the province…HBK’s advantage is proximity – its resource is so close to the Port of Prince Report, it can deliver aggregate at a lower cost by barge, as opposed to having to truck the material…with the permit now in hand to proceed to production, HBK is in a position to be able to raise the money it requires…

We’re encouraged by the fact that HBK is looking quite strong technically with the stock clearly on the rebound after hitting a multi-year low in late 2012…John’s 10-year monthly HBK chart shows important resistance at 15 cents…that’s the key area to watch – very bullish if HBK can close above that level…HBK opened at 16.5 cents this morning after yesterday’s halt, climbed as high as 18.5 cents and is up 2 cents at 16 cents as of 8:30 am Pacific on total volume (all exchanges) of just over 600,000 shares…as always, perform your own due diligence…

North American Nickel Inc. (NAN, TSX-V) Update

North American Nickel (NAN, TSX-V) announced this morning that it will be carrying out electromagnetic and gravity surveys through Crone Geophysics beginning next month at its 100%-owned Maniitsoq Nickel-Copper-Cobalt-PGE project in southwest Greenland…the Crone PEM system has played an important role in the exploration efforts at nickel areas around the world, such as the Raglan camp, Voisey’s Bay, Sudbury, Alaska, Tanzania, Western Australia, and now Greenland….gravity surveys should also be effective – they measure extremely small variations in the Earth’s gravitational field, which can be used to locate high density material such as nickel sulphide-bearing rock…NAN is off a penny at 31 cents as of 8:30 am Pacific…

Eskay Mining Corp. (ESK, TSX-V) Update

Northwest B.C., all the way up to the Sheslay Valley, is going to be “hot” this year which is why we introduced Eskay Mining Corp. (ESK, TSX-V) to our readers in mid-February when it trading at just 6 cents…since then, it has climbed by more than 50%…

ESK controls 40 sq. km surrounding the prolific past producing Eskay Creek mine, and they have some giant neighbors – Pretium Resources Inc. (PVG, TSX) and Seabridge Gold Inc. (SEA, TSX)…while it was in operation, Eskay Creek was the second richest deposit in North America and the fifth largest Silver producer in the world…a technical adviser for ESK is the highly respected James Rogers, P.Geo., who was Chief Geologist at the Eskay Creek mine between 1994 and 2003…Rogers prepared an ESK corporate presentation which is available on their web site – we suggest our readers check it out…

Technically, ESK broke out above a long-term downtrend line last month after finding rock-solid support at 3 cents in December…a surge in volume, always a valuable clue,  started in early January which is what caught our attention…below is an updated 5-year weekly chart from John…we’ll keep watching this one closely…very strong chart support exists at 7.5 cents which is also just above the rising 50-day SMA…ESK closed at 10 cents yesterday…

Prosper Gold Corp. (PGX, TSX-V)

Prosper Gold (PGX, TSX-V) has been quietly going about its business in recent months in advance of drilling at its Sheslay Cu-Au Porphyry Project scheduled to begin by early to mid-May…the level of detail that has gone into preparations for PGX’s Phase 1 drill program is extraordinary and typical of how Pete Bernier and geologist Dirk Tempelman-Kluit operate…do not mistake the relatively low volume in the stock compared to some of its peers in the Sheslay Valley as a sign that PGX is not the exceptional opportunity that it is at current levels…the Prosper crew has a template to work from that was established at Blackwater, and they will carry out their game plan with precision at the Sheslay…they also won’t waste any time in getting aggressive with step-out holes in an attempt to “connect” the Star targets, and they’ll also be taking aim at Pyrrhotite Creek to the southwest which bears all the classic signatures of a potential major new discovery…

Below is a 2.5-year weekly PGX chart from John…the “accumulation” zone is between 45 and 50 cents…

Note: Jon holds a share position in PGX.