Daily Market Update 12/15/11

GOLD

I am seeing extraordinarily high volume of trading in the global gold market. Overnight spot gold dropped to a low of $1,559 and has been as high as $1,594 per ounce. Christine Lagarde, managing director of the IMF, said today that the debt crisis in Europe could cause a situation similar to the depression of the 1930’s. The U.S. Dollar remains strong versus the Euro, and many of the world’s banks are focusing on building up their liquidity. At 11am PDT, gold is trading at $1,572 per ounce.

SILVER

After bottoming out at $28 an ounce last night, Silver has been on a rally. At 11am PDT, Silver is trading higher at $29.18 per ounce on heavy demand and volume. Chinese buying remains strong as concerns of poor November economic reports are leading to expectations that China’s central bank will loosen up its monetary policy to avoid a recession.