Daily Market Update 6/21/11

GOLD
Both Gold and Silver continue their bullish rally for the fourth day in a row, approaching the high end of the trading range. We could easily be off and running when Gold breaks above $1,577 (the May high). At 11pm PDT gold was up $4.20, trading at $1,545.30 per ounce on excellent volume.

A couple important events that will affect the gold and silver markets are coming up soon. This afternoon at 3pm PDT or Midnight Greek time we have the confidence vote in Athens for the Greek austerity program and tomorrow we have Fed Chairman Bernanke at 2:15pm will give a press conference on the U.S. economy and will release the Federal Reserve’s economic projections. Many economists expect Fed Chairman Bernanke to delay the central bank’s exit from the record stimulus.

SILVER
Renewed heavy demand from Asian investors, banks and traders are giving the Silver price excellent support. Silver, at 11am PDT is trading at $36.40, up 35 cents an ounce. I believe a move above $37 would give us a strong signal that the uptrend is in place and Silver would make another attempt at $40 again very soon.

Gold and silver imports by India have risen by a whopping 222% between April and May 2011, as compared to a year ago. In the month of May alone, imports were a staggering $9 billion, with gold demand growing 25%. Even as inflation and a widening trade deficit to $15 billion in May continues to weigh on the minds of Indian investors, the demand for fresh gold has continued to grow.

As a follow-up to my 6-13-2011 article on moving from gold/silver mining stocks into the physical coins because of growing risks, to Brazil could create a new tax on large mining projects as part of the government’s overhaul of the mining code. The proposal would levy the tax on 25% of the existing mining concessions.

Today’s Other Important News:

Sales of existing single-family homes and condos fell 3.8% in May to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.81 million, the National Association of Realtors reported Tuesday. This is the lowest level since November.

Tomorrow, there will be a release of the FOMC statement, the Federal Funds Rate, and U.S. crude oil inventories.