Matterhorn Asset Management sees Dow losing 97 percent against gold

Citing the removal of the gold stand by Nixon, Matterhorn Asset Management sees Dow losing 97 percent against gold.

It sees the final step of the removing the gold standard in the U.S. as the key reasoning behind the assertion. It allowed the U.S. government to create unlimited credit and money.

The resultant credit expansion around the world has been unprecedented.

In the U.S. alone it has jumped from $1.5 trillion to approximately $70 trillion.

For that reason gold will continue to be a store of wealth in the years ahead, protecting the purchasing power of those holding it, as it has for thousands of years.

Matterhorn sees it vastly outperforming most asset classes going forward, including stocks, bonds and real estate.

It sees the Dow being overbought by the most it has in about 60 years, with gold and silver being artificially depressed at this time.

From 1999 to 2011 the Dow/Gold ratio plummeted by 87 percent. Even with a weak correction the ratio is still down 60 percent since 1999.

The current correction could allow for the ratio to climb a little higher, but the downside risk is increasingly massive.

Gold Surprises for the Week - Silver Also Up

Gold once again pushed past the $1,300 per ounce mark this week, surprising most of the market. Silver followed suit, closing in on the $17.50 level.

Short and Long-term Outlook for Gold and Silver

Jack Chan's weekly precious metals update.

 

Gold price hit its highest level in over a year on Friday

The Gold price hit its highest level in over a year on Friday

Report put dollar under pressure while raising questions about future interest rate hikes.

Fed will meet on September 19 to decide whether or not to raise interest rates again this year. It would surprise the market if the decision was to go ahead with another rate boost.

Overall, higher interest rates increase the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding bullion.

Another issue is how President Trump will remake the board.

Demand for safe-haven assets have been climbing in response to tensions between North Korea and the U.S. That has also been a factor in the price of gold jumping.

A number of investors see gold continuing to rise over the next several months.

Similarly, Phil Streible, senior market strategist at Chicago-based RJO Futures, told CNBC that gold will likely rise to $1,400 per ounce.

Looking over to silver, the white metal touched a four-and-a-half-month high this week, trading above $18 per ounce.

Palladium was up 0.6 percent on Friday, trading at $961 per ounce, while platinum was up 0.3 percent, at $1,018 per ounce. Market participants are now wondering if prices will break $7,000 per ton.

Lastly, spot oil edged lower on Friday as domestic refineries saw a slow recovery from flooding after Hurricane Harvey.

Van Eck: Gold and Miners About to Soar

Joseph M. Foster, who is the lead investment team member for its flagship fund, Van Eck International Investors Gold Fund, said in an interview with The Gold Report that he sees gold prices and gold mining companies, especially midtiers and junior stocks, as ready to soar.

Citing the implementation of QE3 as a catalyst for gold, whereby the price of gold has jumped about 6 percent since August 2012, and the fund he is lead investor on up close to 20 percent since August, he sees that as continuing to be the performance of the asset class and mining companies serving it.

When asked if he sees this performance continuing, Foster said this:

Yes, for a couple of reasons. First, the boards of the large gold companies that have been missing expectations have woken up to the fact that management changes are needed. Some very high profile CEOs and COOs have departed. There has been a shift in focus toward more profitability and less growth. That shift toward profitability, shareholder returns and returns on capital should bode well for the industry.

Second, costs could be coming more under control in the months to come. The slowdown in the global economy caused a slowdown in mining activity across base metals, coal companies and iron ore companies. More labor is now available. Lead times for equipment and materials are shorter. That should translate into less cost pressure as we move through 2013. That could be another catalyst for the industry.

Catalysts that have driven gold and silver up remain in place, according to Foster, and there is nothing to suggest the United States will stop running budget deficits in the trillion dollar range any time soon. Central banks around the world are addicted to stimulus, and interest rates aren't going to come down in the next several years.

Expectations are gold and silver prices will continue to be supported and rise, and that could go on for possibly another decade or so.

As for larger miners, they won't be as desirable a place to invest in until they get a better hold on costs and predictability. Until that happens and profitability becomes the focus, they won't be the best place to invest in within the parameters of gold.

Fed Appears Ready to Stimulate

Although it could go either way, it's increasingly likely the Federal Reserve and Ben Bernanke are could act sooner rather than later in attempts to stimulate the economy with another round of quantitative easing.

The market responded to the news by jumping in the morning, pulling back as the day went on. The DJIA closed the day at 12,657.05, jumping 58.73, or 0.47 percent.

The NASDAQ didn't get much help, as Apple (AAPL) and Radio Shack (RSH) took big hits on disappointing earnings. It closed at 2,854.24, losing 8.57, or 0.31 percent.

For the S&P 500, it closed slightly down at $1,337.89, falling 0.42, or 0.03 percent.

Not unexpectedly, commodities jumped on the rising expectations of a sooner than expected stimulus, with gold, silver, copper and oil all settling up on the day.

Gold closed at $1,603, up $27.30, or 1.73 percent. Silver climbed to finish at $27.285, jumping $0.47, or 1.77 percent. Copper ended the session at $3.385, inching up $0.03, or 0.95 percent. Oil closed at $90.669998, up $0.61, or 0.68 percent.

The growing weakness of the U.S., European and Chinese economies has put pressure on the Fed to attempt to get the U.S. economy growing again, as the pace it's currently at isn't considered enough to strengthen it enough to grow on its own.

There is no longer a question of if the Fed will move, if some still believed that was the case (many oddly enough still do), but rather of how quickly to move and with what mechanism.

It's most likely it'll acquire mortgage-backed securities, but that's not a surety. Now that the economy is continuing to sputter, the Fed will probably attempt to make a statement by whatever means is uses to try to support the economy in a way that will inspire confidence. Anything too small would possibly be ignored or more detrimental than not doing anything at all.

For some time it was believed the Fed would wait until September before announcing any stimulus, but that is increasingly unlikely as each day goes by and pressure mounts for something to be done in light of its next meeting starting on July 31.

Now that the assumption the Fed will moved shored up the markets after three straight days of triple-digit losses, it's even more likely we'll see some action taken very quickly.

What is challenging for the Fed, and increasing the pressure on the institution is, do they wait until September and risk being perceived as weak and behind the times if the economy continues to tank, or do they wait for a couple of months to see which direction the economy goes.

I think the failure risk is too great for the Fed to wait. But we'll find out in a few days either way. My guess is they'll announce another round of stimulation next week.

China Growth Down for Sixth Straight Quarter

Growth in China fell for the sixth quarter in a row, dropping to 7.6 percent for the period. That's the lowest level since the first quarter of 2009.

While it was a little better than the market had concerns over, it was still down enough to keep the inevitable stimulus for that country alive, even as Europe and the United States will soon implement another round of quantitative easing.

That's good news for gold, silver, and some other commodities, as it certainly will push up the price of the metals in a big way, rewarding patient investors.

Gold and silver are positioned well with the economic decline, as they'll go up in price without a doubt because of the resulting fall in the value of the U.S. dollar, and the assumption the buying up of more bonds will help the economy.

It won't. But many traders will use it for an opportunity to push up the value of silver and gold, which will pull up the prices of base metals as well.

Some are spinning this as a triumph, which has taken the pressure off of China's need to aggressively stimulate its economy.

Assuming the numbers are fairly accurate, China, as do a number of nations, faces the problem of overestimating the health of their economy, which would result in its taking too long to respond to a weakening economy.

If that's what happens, the stimulus measures taken by a number of governments would be even more robust than before.

China has lowered interest rates and significantly cut back on imports in response to the slowing economy (some of that is related to stockpiling commodities in the prior months), suggesting their real assessment of their economy is it'll continue to slow down, as recent comments by Chinese official confirm when talking about declining exports, which are reflective of the weak global economy.

Gold, Silver Nowhere Near Being Finished

All the hoopla by the mainstream financial media about the possibility of gold and silver having entered into a bubble is just that: hoopla. Both aren't anywhere near to historic highs, as measured against the CPI-U, and have plenty of upside left in them both.

Even if you wanted to measure gold by the governments unreliable CPI numbers, when adjusted for inflation, gold would still have to reach $2,330 to attain the record it reached in 1980, giving it 30 percent more room to run.

For silver it's even better, as when measured against the government CPI data, it would need to reach $136, an upside of about 246 percent, depending on when you read this article.

But by most measurements, gold and silver should perform even better than those represented by the data above. For example, when measured by percentage gains from 1971 to the former record high, gold climbed 249 percent and silver 307 percent during that time.

If that was to translate into today's prices, gold would jump to $6,227 an ounce, and silver to $160 an ounce.

As we all know though, past performance doesn't guarantee what will happen in the future, but it is a type of general road map one can follow.

The point is, when measured by historical performance, whichever metrics you use, gold and silver are far from reaching their highs, and even further from entering into bubble status.

That's not to say the correction is over or there won't be volatility on the ongoing upward climb of silver and gold prices. Volatility will always be part of silver and gold because of their connection to movements based on headlines, especially with silver.

But overall, we'll continue to see these two precious metals move up in price, as there's nothing in the macroeconomic situation that has changed which would alter that outlook.

Silver ETFs (DBS) (SIVR) (AGQ) (SLV) Trade Down as Silver Takes Beating

Even though silver miners closed mixed on Wednesday as silver prices again got pummeled, that wasn't the case for silver ETFs PowerShares DB Silver (NYSE:DBS), Physical Silver (NYSE:SIVR), ProShares Ultra Silver (NYSE:AGQ) and iShares Silver Trust (NYSE:SLV), which all closed down big on the day.

ProShares UltraShort Silver (NYSE:ZSL) continued to soar in line with the movement of silver prices, jumping to close at $19.45, up $1.94, or 11.07 percent.

The ongoing plunge in silver prices also pressured other commodities Wednesday as investors sold holdings to take money off the table after weeks of prices rising in the sector.

Silver dropped $3.197, or 7.5 percent, to settle at $39.388 an ounce. That's the third straight day of losses after silver approached the elusive $50 an ounce mark last week.

Silver for July delivery dropped $2.820, at $39.765 per troy ounce.

Despite silver's three-day fall, the price is still 27.3 percent higher on the year.

Gold for June delivery, the most actively traded contract, fell $25.10 to $1,515.30 an ounce.

The U.S. dollar index lost 0.15 percent to $73.01.

ProShares Ultra Silver (AGQ) closed Wednesday at $234.20, falling $30.77, or 11.61 percent.

Minefinders (MFN) (ISVLF) (HL) (AXU) Close Down as Silver, Gold Routed

Silver took a beating Tuesday. After setting records for seven out of the last eight trading sessions. Silver closed Tuesday almost 10 percent below Monday's intraday record $49.820, as Minefinders Corp. Ltd. (AMEX:MFN), Impact Silver (OTC:ISVLF.PK), Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) and Alexco Resource (AMEX: AXU) closed down.

Gold prices closed down Tuesday from records set the previous trading session, temporarily falling below the important $1,500 level at one point, but the losses in the yellow metal were subdued.

On the other hand, silver futures plunged Tuesday as investors took profits from record prices as uncertainty over the Federal Reserve policy decision coming up could have an adverse effect on the metals' unprecedented rally.

There is some wariness by some on how the Federal Reserve might respond in light of recent signs of higher food and energy prices.

Silver took a beating Tuesday. After setting records for seven out of the last eight trading sessions. Silver closed Tuesday almost 10 percent below Monday's intraday record $49.820.

The most actively traded silver contract, for May delivery, fell $2.099, or 4.5%, to settle at $45.050 a troy ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Front-month April silver lost $2.093, or 4.4 percent, to finish at $45.058.

Most-active Comex June gold was down $5.60, or 0.4 percent, to settle at $1,503.50 a troy ounce while the nearby April contract fell $5.60, or 0.4 percent, to end at $1,503.00.

Gold trading near $1,500 an ounce has increased buying in silver as a less expensive alternative.

Hecla (HL) (GPL) (PAAS) (AG) (AXU) Close Mixed Thursday as Silver Prices Reach 31-Year High

Silver miners Great Panther (AMEX:GPL), First Majestic (NYSE:AG), Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) and Alexco Resource (AMEX: AXU) closed mixed Thursday as most have been running up with soaring silver prices, which ended the week with silver settling at a 31-year high of just over $46 an ounce. The most active Thursday silver contract, for May delivery, settled at a record $46.059 a troy ounce, up $1.598 or $3.6 percent.

The front-month contract, for April delivery, settled up $1.597, or 3.4 percent, at $46.062 a troy ounce, a 31-year high. Silver is quickly approaching its record high of $50.36 an ounce, set in 1980.

Gold futures hit another record high on Thursday, as gold gold for June delivery settled up $4.90 at $1,503.80 an ounce on the Comex. That was a new settlement high. The contract also reached an intraday high at $1,509.60 an ounce earlier in the day.

A collapsing U.S. dollar continues to be a major part of the gold and silver price story, as the U.S. government refuses to cut spending and limit its size, while the Federal Reserve endlessly has its digital printing presses running, pushing down the value of the greenback.

The dollar index .DXY fell 0.4 percent to 74.092 after falling to 73.735, its lowest level since August 2008.

Other key influences include deepening inflation, tightening in China, sovereign debt crisis in Europe, sovereign debt crisis in America, unrest in the Middle East and impact of the Japanese earthquake.

The weak U.S. dollar and inflation concerns has boosted the attraction of gold. Spot gold XAU= hit a record high at $1,508.75 before cutting gains. Spot silver XAG= jumped to a 31-year high at $46.68 an ounce.

Spot gold prices rose during the first quarter from $1,380 an ounce on January 3 to $1,430 on March 31.

Alexco Resource closed Thursday at $10.17, gaining $0.21, or 2.11 percent. Hecla ended the day at $9.46, rising $0.24, or 2.60 percent. First Majestic closed at $23.31, dropping $0.39, or 1.65 percent. Great Panther ended the session at $3.92, losing $0.08, or 2.00 percent.

Silver Wheaton (SLW) (HL) (AEM) (AGI) Upgraded by Cannacord

Canaccord Genuity analyst Steven Butler raised his ratings on Silver Wheaton (NYSE:SLW), Alamos Gold Inc. (TSE:AGI), Agnico-Eagle Mines Limited (NYSE:AEM) and Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL), while also boosting his price outlook for silver and gold for 2011.

“We continue to believe that macroeconomic conditions favor higher gold and silver prices, including record global liquidity, inflation prospects and low real interest rates, currency debasement on sovereign debt woes and political unrest in the Middle East and North Africa,” Butler wrote in a note.

Butler raised his gold price for 2011 to $1,525 an ounce and for silver to $42. For his peak price scenario, he sees gold jumping to $1,600 and silver to $47.50.

With the exception of Alamos Gold Inc., which was upgraded to "Speculative Buy" from "Hold," the rest of the companies were raised to "Buy."

Alamos was trading in Toronto at $15.93, gaining $0.73, or 4.80 percent. Agnico-Eagle Mines was trading in New York at $67.86, rising $0.42, or 0.62 percent, as of 1:22 PM EDT. Silver Wheaton was at $42.03, up $0.33, or 0.79 percent. Hecla was trading at $9.29, jumping $0.07, or 0.76 percent.

Ultra Silver (AGQ) (ZSL) (GLD) (GDX) Close Mixed as Gold, Silver Soar Again

ProShares UltraShort Silver (NYSE:ZSL), ProShares Ultra Silver (NYSE:AGQ), iShares Gold Trust (NYSE:GLD) and Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (NYSEArca:GDX) closed mixed Wednesday as silver continues its upward climb and gold to break records on almost a daily basis.

After surpassing the $45 level Wednesday, silver prices ended the day up 54 cents to close at $44.46 an ounce. That was also another 31-year high as it pushes to break $50 and move on to an all-time record. Silver traded between $43.835 and $45.400.

Gold prices roared to another intraday record, reaching as high as $1,506.20 an ounce before pulling back to settle for June delivery at $1,498.90 an ounce, an increase of $3.80 at the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Wednesday was the fourth session in a row gold prices broke an intraday record, as well as settling at a new record as well.

Gold and silver prices continue to surge on safe-haven buying with the major impetus at this time probably being a collapsing U.S. dollar. The U.S. dollar index fell 0.84% to $74.43 as it continues to struggle after Monday's S&P downgrade of the U.S. economy and warning of a credit downgrade if the U.S. doesn't quit its outrageous spending and reduce its debt.

The downgrade of the outlook of U.S. debt, sovereign debt crisis in Europe, Chinese inflation, soaring oil prices, and the ongoing fallout from the earthquake in Japan are just some of the other factors offer support to gold.

The gold-silver ratio, which measures how many silver ounces are needed to acquire an ounce of gold, fell under 34 — its lowest level since 1983.

Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF closed Wednesday at $62.10, up $0.46, or 0.75 percent. iShares Gold Trust closed at $146.50, gaining $0.57, or 0.39 percent. ProShares Ultra Silver ended the trading day at $37.63, jumping $15.44, or 5.06 percent. ProShares UltraShort Silver closed at $15.78, falling $0.89, or 5.34 percent.

Alexco Resource (AXU) (PAAS) (CDE) (AG) Close Up as Silver Jumps Again

Alexco Resource (AMEX:AXU), Pan American Silver (NASDAQ:PAAS), Coeur d'Alene Mines (NYSE:CDE) and First Majestic (NYSE:AG) closed up Wednesday as silver continues its upward climb gold to break records on almost a daily basis.

After surpassing the $45 level Wednesday, silver prices ended the day up 54 cents to close at $44.46 an ounce. That was also another 31-year high as it pushes to break $50 and move on to an all-time record. Silver traded between $43.835 and $45.400.

Gold prices roared to another intraday record, reaching as high as $1,506.20 an ounce before pulling back to settle for June delivery at $1,498.90 an ounce, an increase of $3.80 at the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Wednesday was the fourth session in a row gold prices broke an intraday record, as well as settling at a new record as well.

Gold and silver prices continue to surge on safe-haven buying with the major impetus at this time probably being a collapsing U.S. dollar. The U.S. dollar index fell 0.84% to $74.43 as it continues to struggle after Monday's S&P downgrade of the U.S. economy and warning of a credit downgrade if the U.S. doesn't quit its outrageous spending and reduce its debt.

The downgrade of the outlook of U.S. debt, sovereign debt crisis in Europe, Chinese inflation, soaring oil prices, and the ongoing fallout from the earthquake in Japan are just some of the other factors offer support to gold.

The gold-silver ratio, which measures how many silver ounces are needed to acquire an ounce of gold, fell under 34 — its lowest level since 1983.

First Majestic closed Wednesday at $23.70, up $0.94, or 4.13 percent. Coeur d'Alene Mines closed at $31.61, gaining $0.50, or 1.61 percent. Pan American Silver ended the trading day at $37.63, jumping $1.10, or 3.01 percent. Alexco Resource closed at $9.96, up $0.39, or 4.08 percent.

Endeavour (EXK) (FVITF) (MGN) (SSRI) Close Mixed as Silver Jumps Again

Fortuna (OTC:FVITF.PK), Mines Management (AMEX:MGN), Silver Standard Resources (NASDAQ:SSRI) and Endeavour Silver (AMEX:EXK) closed mixed Wednesday as silver continues its upward climb gold to break records on almost a daily basis.

After surpassing the $45 level Wednesday, silver prices ended the day up 54 cents to close at $44.46 an ounce. That was also another 31-year high as it pushes to break $50 and move on to an all-time record. Silver traded between $43.835 and $45.400.

Gold prices roared to another intraday record, reaching as high as $1,506.20 an ounce before pulling back to settle for June delivery at $1,498.90 an ounce, an increase of $3.80 at the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Wednesday was the fourth session in a row gold prices broke an intraday record, as well as settling at a new record as well.

Gold and silver prices continue to surge on safe-haven buying with the major impetus at this time probably being a collapsing U.S. dollar. The U.S. dollar index fell 0.84% to $74.43 as it continues to struggle after Monday's S&P downgrade of the U.S. economy and warning of a credit downgrade if the U.S. doesn't quit its outrageous spending and reduce its debt.

The downgrade of the outlook of U.S. debt, sovereign debt crisis in Europe, Chinese inflation, soaring oil prices, and the ongoing fallout from the earthquake in Japan are just some of the other factors offer support to gold.

The gold-silver ratio, which measures how many silver ounces are needed to acquire an ounce of gold, fell under 34 — its lowest level since 1983.

Silver Standard Resources closed Wednesday at $34.72, up $0.75, or 2.21 percent. Mines Management closed at $2.73, gaining $0.18, or 7.06 percent. Fortuna ended the trading day at $6.26, falling $0.02, or 0.32 percent. Endeavour Silver closed at $11.79, up $0.10, or 0.86 percent.

Ivanhoe (IVN) (NEM) (SA) (MFN) Close Mixed as Gold Breaks Record Again

Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. (NYSE:IVN), Newmont Mining (NYSE:NEM), Seabridge Gold (AMEX:SA) and Minefinders (AMEX:MFN) closed mixed on Wednesday as gold continues to break records on a daily basis recently.

Gold prices soared to another intraday record, reaching as high as $1,506.20 an ounce before pulling back to settle for June delivery in at $1,498.90 an ounce, an increase of $3.80 at the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Wednesday was the fourth session in a row gold prices broke an intraday record, as well as settling at a new record as well.

After breaking the $45 level, silver prices ended the day up 54 cents to close at $44.46 an ounce. That was also another 31-year high as it pushes to break $50 and move on to an all-time record.

Gold and silver prices continue to soar on safe-haven buying with the major impetus at this time probably being a collapsing U.S. dollar. The U.S. dollar index was plunging 0.84% to $74.43 as it continues to struggle after Monday's S&P downgrade of the U.S. economy, and warning of a credit downgrade if the U.S. doesn't quit its outrageous spending and reduce its debt.

The downgrade of U.S. debt, sovereign debt crisis in Europe, Chinese inflation, soaring oil prices, and the ongoing fallout from the earthquake in Japan are just some of the other factors offer support to gold.

The gold-silver ratio, which measures how many silver ounces are needed to acquire an ounce of gold, fell under 34 — its lowest level since 1983.

Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. closed Wednesday at $26.24, gaining $0.48, or 1.86 percent. Newmont Mining closed at $58.85, up $0.22, or 0.38 percent. Seabridge Gold ended the trading session at $33.79, falling $0.68, or 1.97 percent. Minefinders closed at $16.52, jumping $0.71, or 4.49 percent.

Kinross (KGC) (GFI) (AUY) (ANV) Close Mixed as Gold Breaks Record Again

Kinross Gold (NYSE:KGC), Gold Fields (NYSE:GFI), Yamana Gold (NYSE:AUY) and Allied Nevada Gold (AMEX:ANV) closed mixed on Wednesday as gold continues to break records on a daily basis recently.

Gold prices soared to another intraday record, reaching as high as $1,506.20 an ounce before pulling back to settle for June delivery in at $1,498.90 an ounce, an increase of $3.80 at the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Wednesday was the fourth session in a row gold prices broke an intraday record, as well as settling at a new record as well.

After breaking the $45 level, silver prices ended the day up 54 cents to close at $44.46 an ounce. That was also another 31-year high as it pushes to break $50 and move on to an all-time record.

Gold and silver prices continue to soar on safe-haven buying with the major impetus at this time probably being a collapsing U.S. dollar. The U.S. dollar index was plunging 0.84% to $74.43 as it continues to struggle after Monday's S&P downgrade of the U.S. economy, and warning of a credit downgrade if the U.S. doesn't quit its outrageous spending and reduce its debt.

The downgrade of U.S. debt, sovereign debt crisis in Europe, Chinese inflation, soaring oil prices, and the ongoing fallout from the earthquake in Japan are just some of the other factors offer support to gold.

The gold-silver ratio, which measures how many silver ounces are needed to acquire an ounce of gold, fell under 34 — its lowest level since 1983.

Allied Nevada Gold closed Wednesday at $39.78, gaining $0.78, or 2.00 percent. Yamana Gold closed at $12.80, falling $0.13, or 1.01 percent. Gold Fields ended the trading session at $17.88, rising $0.20, or 1.13 percent. Kinross Gold closed at $15.37, jumping $0.13, or 0.85 percent.

Silver Pushing $44 as Hecla (HL) (FVITF) (PAAS) (SSRI) Close Mixed

Silver prices moved up with gold, reaching another 31-year high as gold blew past the $1,500 an ounce mark on Tuesday. Pan American Silver (NASDAQ:PAAS), Silver Standard Resources (NASDAQ:SSRI), Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) and Fortuna (OTC:FVITF.PK) closed mixed on the day.

Silver prices for May delivery climbed almost a dollar to settle at $43.91, adding 96 cents, another 31-year high.

The gold contract for June delivery rose $2.20 to settle at $1,495.10 an ounce, shy of its all-time and daily high of $1,500.50 an ounce. Spot gold prices dropped 50 cents, to close at $1,495.90 an ounce.

Most of this is based upon the collapsing U.S. dollar, which pulled back again today, the tightening in China, sovereign debt crisis in Europe, unrest in the Middle East, inflation concerns and consequences of the Japanese earthquake. Silver is used by some investors as a gold alternative when gold price rise to high levels as they now are.

The warning from rating agency S&P that the U.S. may have its debt downgraded if it doesn't deal with the risky debt crisis and you have a weak macroeconomic outlook favoring silver, gold and other commodities.

Pan American Silver closed Tuesday at $36.53, falling $0.93, or 2.48 percent. Silver Standard Resources ended the session at $33.97, gaining $0.48, or 1.43 percent. Hecla Mining closed at $9.01, up $0.15, or 1.69 percent. Fortuna Silver closed the day at $6.28, gaining $0.09, or 1.45 percent.

Gold, Silver Up as ETFs (GLD) (GDX) (SLV) SIL) Close Up or Level

Silver prices moved up with gold, reaching another 31-year high as gold blew past the $1,500 an ounce mark on Tuesday for the first time. SPDR Gold Trust ETF (GLD), Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (GDX), iShares Silver Trust ETF (SLV) and Global X Silver Miners ETF (SIL) closed up or level on the day.

The gold contract for June delivery rose $2.20 to settle at $1,495.10 an ounce, shy of its all-time and daily high of $1,500.50 an ounce. Spot gold prices dropped 50 cents, to close at $1,495.90 an ounce.

Silver prices for May delivery climbed almost a dollar to settle at $43.91, adding 96 cents, another 31-year high.

Most of this is based upon the collapsing U.S. dollar, which pulled back again today, the tightening in China, sovereign debt crisis in Europe, unrest in the Middle East, inflation concerns and consequences of the Japanese earthquake. Silver is used by some investors as a gold alternative when gold price rise to high levels as they now are.

The warning from rating agency S&P that the U.S. may have its debt downgraded if it doesn't deal with the risky debt crisis and you have a weak macroeconomic outlook favoring silver, gold and other commodities.

Global X Silver Miners ETF closed Tuesday at $28.73, gaining $0.50, or 1.77 percent. iShares Silver Trust ETF ended the session at $43.00, gaining $0.58, or 1.37 percent. Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF closed at $61.64, up $0.81, or 1.33 percent. SPDR Gold Trust ETF closed the day level at $145.93.

Gold Breaks $1,500 as NovaGold (NG) (EGO) (AZK) (TRE) Close Mixed

After blowing past the $1,500 an ounce mark on Tuesday, gold prices settled just under the important psychological barrier at $1,495.10, as gold miners NovaGold Resources Inc. (AMEX:NG), Eldorado Gold Corporation (NYSE:EGO), Aurizon Mines (AMEX:AZK) and Tanzanian Royalty Exploration (AMEX:TRE) closed mixed on the day.

Gold prices settled just below $1,500 an ounce after hitting that level earlier Tuesday's session, helped by a weaker dollar.

The gold contract for June delivery rose $2.20 to settle at $1,495.10 an ounce, shy of its all-time and daily high of $1,500.50 an ounce. Spot gold prices dropped 50 cents, to close at $1,495.90 an ounce.

Silver prices for May delivery climbed almost a dollar to settle at $43.91.

Most of this is based upon the collapsing U.S. dollar, which pulled back again today, the tightening in China, sovereign debt crisis in Europe, unrest in the Middle East, inflation concerns and consequences of the Japanese earthquake.

Add to that the warning from rating agency S&P that the U.S. could have its debt downgraded if it doesn't deal with the growing debt crisis and you have a weak macroeconomic outlook favoring gold and other commodities.

NovaGold Resources Inc. closed Tuesday at $13.18, gaining $0.07, or 0.53 percent. Eldorado Gold Corporation ended the session at $17.97, up $0.21, or 1.18 percent. Aurizon Mines closed at $6.63, falling $0.07, or 1.04 percent. Tanzanian Royalty Exploration closed the day at $6.30, down $0.04, or 0.63 percent.