Freeport (NYSE:FCX), Rio Tinto (NYSE:RIO), BHP (NYSE:BHP), Vale (NYSE:VALE) Finish Down

Diversified miners Freeport McMoRan (NYSE:FCX), Rio Tinto (NYSE:RIO), BHP Billiton (NYSE:BHP), Vale (NYSE:VALE) all closed down yesterday, as speculators close positions, take profits, and await market direction, which has been volatile because of the sovereign debt crisis, stronger U.S. dollar, and China interest rate concerns.

All of those elements mentioned above are strongly affected by the outcomes of the issues mentioned above, and await more clarity.

Commodities will move one way or the other based on how the circumstances play out and when the U.S. dollar will resume its downward journey.

When China does intervene by raising its interest rates, that will push miners and commodities prices down immediately, and probably significantly, and we'll see how other support mechanisms like the quantitative easing implemented by the Federal Reserve will interact with other events.

Rio Tinto closed at $65.79, falling $0.54, or 0.81 percent. Freeport ended at $96.84, dropping $0.77, or 0.79 percent. BHP was at $85.03, losing $0.01, or 0.01 percent. Vale came in at $31.47, decreasing y $0.04, or 0.13 percent.

Gold Prices Reaching for New High Today

Gold prices today have soared on the news the so-called stress tests of the European banks probably didn't accurately portray the level of government debt they held.

In mid-day, gold for December delivery increased to $1,261.60. If it were to close at those levels, it would surpass the record high of $1,258.30 an ounce, set on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange in June, which was also the result of the ongoing sovereign debt crisis in Europe.

Gold prices have leveled as the trading session advanced, with spot gold standing at $1,256.80 an ounce as of 1:00 PM EDT, gaining $10.20.

Even if it gold prices don't reach record levels today, one more bit of news like this, or more accurate data as to the real level of the sovereign debt crisis, should push it up and beyond the former record.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX), Goldcorp (NYSE:GG), Barrick (NYSE:ABX) Down on Otherwise Good Gold Day

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX), Goldcorp (NYSE:GG) and Barrick Gold (NYSE:ABX) all finished down on Friday, as the news on lack of job creation in the private sector of the U.S. didn't give investors time to bid the shares up, although gold prices ended up nicely.

For Friday, gold prices ended the day up $12.20, and closed the week at $1,220, much of that on the day after the negative economic news came out.

The lack of job creation caused pause and concern in the midst of a lot of worry during the week in relationship to the growing and expanding sovereign debt crisis in Europe, as well as the tightening of monetary policy in China to battle inflation arising from their property market.

I think we'll see a quick jump to start the week in gold in general, as investors digest the information and consider the potential consequences of a returning recession, or more likely, realization the recession has never really left us.

The one company above that wasn't a surprise was Freeport-McMoRan, as they deal with more than just gold, and copper is under tremendous pressure again based on the Chinese property market and how much China will cut imports.

Freeport ended the week at $62.81, down by $3.36 on Friday, a 5.08 percent decline.

Goldcorp had a mixed week based on mixed news, which the market is having a difficult time interpreting at this time, and so the share price moved up and down in unison with the news.

They finished the week at $42.23, down for the day on Friday by $0.89, a 2.06 percent drop.

Goldcorp remains a solid company though, as their continued low-cost strategy positions them strongly for whatever economic conditions emerge in the years ahead.

Barrick moved on the chart for the week, almost in the same motion as Goldcorp, as they increased and decreased in share price based on the mixed news as well.

They finished the week at $41.42, falling on Friday by $0.88 a share, a 2.08 percent fall.

Gold Prices Soar Today on EU Bank Loan Loss Fears

Gold prices took off early in the day as reports from the European Central Bank said the banks in the region could experience another round of loan losses, this time up to $237 billion over the next year and a half.

The uncertainty of the economic fallout from Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece and Spain have investors concerned over how deeply it will impact the economy, and how far it'll spread to other nations, making gold the choice for those looking for safety.

News that China manufacturing dropped in May also reminded investors of some of the vulnerabilities there which could dramatically reduce economic activity there and abroad.

Gold futures were trading at a two-week high Tuesday in response to the news.

Today's Gold Prices Flirt with $1,200

Almost everything happening in the world today lends itself to gold continuing to rise, and even when traders and speculators enter the market (or leave it) like they did last week, the strength of gold is such that even now it's poised to resume its upward run, as gold prices today close just beloew $1,200, and have surpassed it in after-hours trading.

With the end of the recession nowhere in sight, sovereign debt crisis in Europe, China dealing with inflation, and now the psychotic North Korean leaders rattling their sabers again, this time beyond what they've done in a long time, gold is becoming the place to be, and those companies connected to the gold market, like gold miners and ETFs, etc, will continue to rise, as the only surety we have now is that there will continue to be volatility across all of life, which makes gold the only reliable source of safety left for people to put their money in.

Once gold breaks $1,200 an ounce again, there shouldn't be much resistance to it approaching its previous high, and test the $1,250 mark again.

The only thing that kept it from soaring past that already was the covering of positions speculators did last week, which made them sell off their gold assets in order to do that, as well as some taking profits as well from the prior runup in prices. Absolutely nothing has changed since then, and economic and geo-political situations are even more concerning in the last few days, with Spain taking over their first bank in the country over the weekend, reinforcing the legitimacy of concerns over the region.

Gold Plunges Most for Week in Five Months

Gold prices today dropped another $6, bringing the ending total $1,177 an ounce, after falling as low as $1,176.10 on the Comex in New York. For the week, gold prices fell by 4.2 percent, the worst decline since early December.

There were a variety of reasons for the fall, with some of it being traders had large losses in equities, and had to cover the losses by selling gold.

A correction in gold prices was expected, and the metal had been surging for some time, and after reaching an all-time high of $1,249.70 on May 14, it was inevitable it would have to correct, and the correction has been steep because of other factors like the EU debt debacle and rising inflation in China.

But for the most part, this probably not much more than the speculators taking profits after the big run-up in gold prices, and once that settles, we'll see gold prices resume their upward climb, as nothing in the fundamentals has changed.

It's also a good time to take a larger position in gold with the prices down so much.

Teck Resources (TSE:TCK-B) Gains Back Much of Yesterday's Losses

Teck Resources (NYSE:TCK) (TSE:TCK-B) has gained back about two thirds of yesterday's 6 percent loss, as growing concerns over how China's battle with inflation will affect commodity demand.

The EU debt crisis has also generated a lot of questions as to how commodity demand will be impacted by the austerity measures many of the countries in the euro zone will have to take, as well as the enormous debt to again be incurred by those countries.

Strong exposure to copper and coal by Teck has shareholders and investors closely watching the large mining companies with exposure to those commodities which could struggle the most in a low-import environment.

China raising interest rates to combat its rising inflation will probably cause a decline in raw material demand, as the loose monetary policy getting tightened should cause construction to slow down some in the country.

Even relatively small decline in growth in China could cause major ripples, because of the enormous volume of imports the country uses to expand their economy.

Teck Resources will respond to the demand of raw materials, no matter which way it goes, and the EU debt Crisis and China inflation battle could continue to put downward pressure on the share price going forward.

NovaGold Resources (AMEX:NG), Apollo Gold, (AMEX:AGT) Iamgold, (NYSE:IAG) Down On Gold Swings

While I believe gold will continue on its upward trajectory for many years to come, there are going to be seasons of volatility and corrections on that journey, and gold mining companies such as NovaGold Resources (AMEX:NG), Apollo Gold (AMEX:AGT) and Iamgold (NYSE:IAG) can be expected to move up and down with those gold prices.

For the day, all three companies ended slightly down, as gold prices exploded upward in the early part of the day, pulled back right before noon, and then regained some throughout the rest of the session.

Traders were obviously part of those seesaw results, but that doesn't account for all of it.

Part of this is the consequence of media reports which are conflicting with one another. The usual mainstream media story is that we're in some type of economic recovery and they don't seem to understand anything about Europe especially, which they just view as a positive if trillions more are thrown at it, as their steeped in Keynesian theory, even though most don't even know it.

But when you hear the extraordinary and almost unprecedented situation in Europe (at least for most of us reading our lifetimes), the fallout from it could be catastrophic, and most of that is if they decide to bailout the banks, er, I mean countries.

If the socialist, welfare countries weren't bailed out, it would mean they would be forced to change their ways and quit redistributing money from the productive to the unproductive. It is so bad now many countries from around the world are going to have to bail them out for the extravagant lives they've lived, but which they couldn't afford.

The point is all of this news is being mingled together, and because it's extremely one-sided as usual from the mainstream media, it gives the appearance of chaos and unsurety, when in fact it's an economic mess, and there's no conflict there at all, no matter what data they want to massage to make it look to the contrary.

For gold mining companies like NovaGold Resources, Apollo Gold and Iamgold, I think they are going to start moving closely with the price of gold, and so while they should continue to move upwards in price, there will be some major swings and corrections along the way, and as long as they have good fundamentals and good management in place, should do as well as gold prices in general should do.

Barrick Gold (NYSE:ABX), Newmont Mining (NYSE:NEM) End Week Strong

Barrick Gold (NYSE:ABX) (TSE:ABX) and Newmont Mining (NYSE:NEM) ended the week up strongly, as Newmont rose by 8 percent on the week and Barrick wasn't too far behind at a gain of 6.5 percent.

Newmont also reached a 52-week high of $59.57 a share this week, although it pulled back a little since then. In electronic trading on Friday it was $58 a share at about 5:00 P.M. EST.

Barrick went as high as $46.05 on Friday, not too far from its 52-week high of $48.02. It shouldn't be long before they break through that and then they'll be shooting for $50 a share.

We are probably going to see some big swings in the days, and possibly weeks ahead for gold and gold mining prices, as we're facing extraordinary times in Europe, and increasing inflation risks in China.

Investors are starting to understand the propping up of the positive financial news by mainstream media outlets is only telling a small part of the economic story, and we are at as grave as economic risks as we've ever been in most of out lifetimes, and it has yet to be seen and played out as to how deep and far the consequences will go concerning Europe and their failed socialist, welfare practices.

The threat is real, and the Federal Reserve and central banks are already talking in a way that says the $1 trillion offered to the failing socialist nations in Europe aren't going to be near enough to stem the tide sweeping across the continent.

Gold will respond accordingly, and the European bailout will probably end up in the multi-trillions, making the bailout of the banks seem like a drop in the bucket. Oops. I forgot, The European bailout is just another bailout of the banks.

Amazingly, that's what the Federal Reserve is using as an argument that Americans won't have to bail out the socialist countries of Europe. Rather they say, we're bailing out the banks. At least they're being honest this time around.

Either way, these are going to be extraordinary times, and gold should be in a bull market for years, possibly extending far beyond what was originally thought.

Today's Gold Prices Bouncing Around

Gold prices have been swinging wildly today, as traders seem to be having some influence there, and the seemingly endless news concerning the EU sovereign debt crisis continues to move the metal up and down, along with other precious metals as well.

Gold prices today had reached almost $1,250, before pulling back to below yesterday's record. Now they've moved back up in the positive again, as the gold price swings continue.

Gold mining companies like Barrick Gold (NYSE:ABX) (TSE:ABX) and Newmont Mining (NYSE:NEM) have moved in tandem with gold futures prices, something that has started to happen more often after gold broke its all-time record on Wednesday.

For some time, gold mining companies in general had been lagging behind the price of gold, and now for some, that time seems to have ended after gold broke through, and the news concerning European debt and China inflation continues to be a huge impetus behind the price of gold.

Gold Prices Today Level So Far

Gold prices today as of about 12:00 P.M. EST, are pretty much level, standing at $1,238.00 after two days of soaring to record highs, as the mulling over of the consequences of Europe's almost $1 trillion bailout offer to irresponsible countries has investors concerned.

Most people are starting to understand that you can't spend more money to take care of a situation where people are already spending too much money. It makes no sense, and over the last couple of years as governments and central banks around the world have been printing money non-stop, and the value of paper currencies continue to plunge.

And it's also understood that this is far from only a Greece sovereign debt crisis, it's a crisis which could, and probably will, spread across all of Europe, and possibly worse.

Either way, gold will be a strong performer for some time because of the misguided responses by politicians and central bankers to the economic crises we've been experiencing, and they're only pushing the inevitable pain down the road, but we'll ultimately have to face it, and gold will continue to move up as investors have very little safe havens to put their money in.

Newmont (NYSE:NEM), Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX), Harmony Gold (NYSE:HMY) and Gold Fields (NYSE:GFI) Rise with Gold Futures Prices

Gold futures continue to rise into uncharted territory, and gold mining companies are finally starting to rise with them as Newmont (NYSE:NEM), Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX), Harmony Gold (NYSE:HMY) and Gold Fields (NYSE:GFI) all ended the session with gains.

Newmont was up 51 cent, an increase of .88 percent; Gold Fields moved up 13 cents, or .95 percent; Harmony Gold rose .19 cents, or 1.86 percent; and Freeport-McMoRan enjoyed gains of 2.76, or 3.93 percent.

Gold mining stocks hadn't been moving up with gold futures prices, and it was only a matter of time before they responded and increased along with gold prices.

Now that there are few, if any, barriers to the rise of gold prices, it's impossible to estimate or predict where things are going from here, as the path has never been traveled before, and the sovereign debt crisis in Europe, along with the inflationary pressures in China guarantee we're not going to see a correction in gold any time soon, and even when it does eventually come, gold will continue to march up for a long time to come.

Kinross Gold (TSE:K) ELDORADO GOLD (TSE:ELD) PC Gold (TSE:PKL) Up as Investors Target Gold Miners

Kinross Gold (TSE:K) (NYSE: KGC), ELDORADO GOLD (TSE:ELD)(NYSE: EGO), PC Gold (TSE:PKL) are all up today as pent up demand for gold miners and other mining companies has been sitting around for quite some time, and the recent outbreak of gold to new record highs has brought the gold miners into the picture in a big way, as they've overall lagged the price movement of gold futures for a long time, and it seems that period of time has ended as money flows into the miners.

Gold futures prices today continued to surge, up to $1,237.7 as I write, generating more interest in the companies pulling the gold out of the ground.

This is largely based on the promise of almost $1 trillion offered to countries struggling with sovereign debt in Europe, as investors seek safety in the midst of the eventual consequences of the endless printing of money from central banks around the world, which is debasing paper currencies everywhere.

Now that gold has broken through barriers, we are now at a place we've never been before, and so there is no road map as to where it all will end, and many expect gold to continue on in its upward climb, as there's no foreseeable barriers that can be erected at this time.

Out into the future is the evenutal interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve, but the changing global conditions, including the inflation challenges of China, make that an increasingly irrelevant factor in the overall economic picture.

In the face of all this, gold has no known resistance, and when the nations of southern Europe are discovered to be worse off than we all know, it's hard to know how far gold will increase.

Even so, we still live in a real world, and while the largest gold mining company in the world, Barrick Gold (TSE:ABX) was up earlier in the day, they have come back down into negative territory, showing we still have to watch and wait for our best opportunities, especially as gold grows in favor and those who don't understand why it's happening enter the market and push it up beyond levels that even these conditions may not be able to justify.

That's a long way off though, but we do need to watch the gold miners carefully and take into account their business models, cost management, and long-term futures.

In other words, fundamentals still matter, especially in times of fear and chaos, which we're facing now.

SPDR Gold Trust (NYSE:GLD) Performing Great for Investors

The SPDR Gold Trust (NYSE:GLD) was created to move in step with the price of gold bullion, and it continues to do that, moving in step with the increasing price of gold, starting the year at about $88 a share, and now over $121 a share as I write.

Now that sPDR has broke through the $120 mark, and with the sovereign debt crisis in Europe and China inflation, gold is sure to continue up its upwards trajectory, and SPDR Gold Trust will respond accordingly.

Gold ETFs continue to be an important part of investors' portfolios, and SPDR is extremely simple, inexpensive and in the right place at the right time for those wanting to protect their assets from the enormous risks in the market.

Gold Prices Today Reach Record Levels

Gold prices today have risen to another record level, as investors flee to the safe haven to protect their assets in the midst of economic turmoil.

Another high was reached with euros, British pounds and Swiss francs, as gold denominated in those currencies exploded to record highs.

As of 12:15 P.M. today, gold rose to $1,241.40, a $10 gain. Gold surged even more in electronic trading yesterday when the markets closed, continuing its impetus today.

Concerns over the fall in value of the euro and economic slowdown in the region is a major factor in the rise in gold prices, along with the news that China will be even stronger in its fight against inflation, which could slow down demand for raw materials in that region as well.

Gold should be as strong as ever for some time as these scenarios play themselves out, which in the case of Europe, could be many years.

Yamana Gold (TSE:YRI), Goldcorp (TSE:G), Kinross Gold (TSE:K) All Surge on Safe Haven Investors

Gold futures and gold mining stocks exploded upward today, as gold companies like Yamana Gold (TSE:YRI) (NYSE:AUY), Goldcorp (TSE:G) (NYSE:GG) and Kinross Gold (TSE:K) (NYSE:KGC)made strong moves, possibly signaling a major upward surge by gold mining companies, who have largely lagged behind gold future prices, which have been increasing non-stop, and probably will into the future.

Increasing concerns over China inflation, the European sovereign debt crisis, and reports today from the commerce department that wholesale prices rose by 2.4 percent, and wholesale inventories increased as well, telling us spending declined in March.

Sovereign debt is the short-term catalyst of ongoing gold prices going up, and that's could end up being a long-term problem, when using Germany as a bellwhether from its past experiences when they took austerity measures and applied them to themselves, while also moving toward a more market economy. It took them 15 years to do that, and they were committed. What will happen with these entitlement thinking, socialist countries of southern Europe when they don't get to have the money keep flowing in, as it's run out, and there no one else to take it from. Well, other than the foolish EU and IMF, which many countries will be helping these countries through.

China is also a major story, although temorarily eclipsed by the sovereign debt crisis. Many countries are basing their domestic growth on their exports to China. If China takes major steps, which it is already doing, to cool off their economy, that will result in less imports, and even a small decrease could have an enormous impact.

The secondary part of the EU sovereign debt crisis is the inevitable cut back in spending, which is part of the requirements for countries in the euro-zone receiving aid. It's unclear how that could affect exports from other countries and companies, but add it together with China and it will probably be dramatic.

Add to this inflation increasing in the United States and the news just keeps getting worse, although that is good for gold prices and gold mining companies, who should be the beneficiaries of all this for many years.

Newmont (NYSE:NEM), Hecla (NYSE:HL), Barrick (NYSE:ABX) All Up as Gold Prices Soar

Newmont Mining (NYSE:NEM), Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) and Barrick Gold (NYSE:ABX) were all up at about the 5 percent mark today, as gold mining shares soared along with gold futures, which ended the day at a record $1,220.30, and after hours has surged to over $1,231.

This is good news for gold mining stocks, if they can find support, as they've widely lagged the price of gold futures, and if they start to respond as they did today, will make gold investors a lot of money going forward.

These weren't the only good gold mining performers today, as others like Eldorado Gold (NYSE:EGO), Allied Nevada Gold (AMEX:ANV), Jaguar Mining (NYSE:JAG) and Iamgold (NYSE:IAG) were almost twice as high, with all of them over 9 percent, and some up over 10 percent on the day.

Most of this is based on the implications of the bailout of countries in the European Union, which after the euphoria of yesterday was over, investors digested and realized the potential long-term consequences, especially inflation, but also tremendous unrest which will inevitably rear its ugly head as forced austerity measures are put in place for a people who feel they are entitled to their outrageous and above-market wages and perks they've been used to for so long, but the country can't afford.

As Margaret Thatcher has famously and rightly noted, the trouble with socialism is you eventually run out of other people's money. Many countries in Europe are doing just that, and now they're going to have to pay the price for their misguided practices for many years into the future.

Gold and gold mining companies should be the beneficiaries of this debacle for a long time.

Eldorado Gold (NYSE:EGO), Allied Nevada Gold (AMEX:ANV), Jaguar Mining (NYSE:JAG), Iamgold (NYSE:IAG) All Up over 9 Percent

Gold mining stocks soared today as gold futures broke a new record for closing, reaching $1.220.30 as the session ended. Eldorado Gold (NYSE:EGO), Allied Nevada Gold (AMEX:ANV), Jaguar Mining (NYSE:JAG) and Iamgold (NYSE:IAG) were all up over 9 percent in after hours trading, as growing concerns over the consequences of the approximate $1 trillion being offered to bail out euro-zone countries begins to sink into investors, along with the growing threat in China over increasing inflation, which could end up lowering demand for raw materials, as the company increases interest rates and takes other measures to combat it.

Many other gold mining companies were up today as well, but these were among the top. The gold mining sector has been waiting for a reason to rise, as they have been largely underpriced for some time, as they weren't moving up with the increase in value of gold.

With there seeming to be no end to the foolishness of politicians and their central bank paper money printing press buddies, gold is looking better and better as the fallout from the trillions in funny money being thrown around will come back to haunt the politicians, and hopefully people will have learned from the current recession that you can't just throw money at a problem to solve it, as it ultimately brings a larger problem into being, and we're about to reap that larger problem, and it could continue for many years, depending on the outcomes in Europe, which don't look very promising, when considering the time it took for Germany to put austerity measures in place to combat their culture of entitlement. That time period was 15 years, and that was among a people that were willing to take the steps.

The bottom line is gold will probably perform even better than anticipated because of the misguided efforts of politicians with no other agenda than getting back into office. Gold investors should rejoice over this, but others that are clueless will go through a lot of pain as a result of all this foolishness.

Barrick Gold (NYSE:ABX) Newmont Mining (NYSE:NEM) Agnico-Eagle Mines (NYSE:AEM), Gold Fields (NYSE:GFI) Jump on China, Sovereign Debt Fears

Concerns over the sovereign debt crisis and China austerity measures have gold mining companies like Barrick Gold (NYSE:ABX) Newmont Mining (NYSE:NEM) Agnico-Eagle Mines (NYSE:AEM) and Gold Fields (NYSE:GFI) jumping today, as they have been up from 4 to 5 percent today, while gold prices today are closing in on all-time records.

After the euphoria over the almost $1 trillion being provided to bail out European countries passed, investors have taken in the potential consequences and possible irrelevance of the $1 trillion, which many are saying will just postpone the inevitable, and after spending that much will still have to deal with the underlying causes and consequences of the economies of these countries and the response of their people to having their outrageous wages and perks being taken away.

That has investors nervous, and rightly so, and gold should be the beneficiary of that in the years ahead.

As for China, they're having to face their own potential bubble bursting, and they're putting measures into place which could cut back on demand for raw materials, which will also be a good thing for gold prices, and ultimately gold mining companies.

Newcrest Mining (ASE:NCM), Lihir Gold (Nasdaq:LIHR), Eldorado Gold (TSE:ELD) Flat

Newcrest Mining (ASE:NCM), Lihir Gold (Nasdaq:LIHR), Eldorado Gold (TSE:ELD) (NYSE:EGO) were largely flat today as investors lost a bit of their appetite for safety and took some money out after five-month highs last week.

Some of the risk appetite returned after the announcement the EU and IMF were going to provide a little under $1 trillion in loans to the struggling countries in the euro-zone.

Even so, after digesting the impact of that kind of money on the markets, gold prices for the day held their own, as the inevitability of inflation becoming a major problem after the trillions being poured into the economies around the world continues to weigh on investors, and there is nothing better than gold to combat that.

Consequently, gold prices today ended the session over $1,200 an ounce, showing the continuing support it has, and gold companies in general were somewhat level, although some made some major upward moves.