Reuters Africa


CORRECTED-Comex silver stocks hit highest in at least 28 mths
Mon Apr 16, 2012 8:07pm GMT

af.reuters.com/article/metalsNews/idAFL6...irtualBrandChannel=0

LONDON, April 16 (Reuters) - Silver stockpiles in Comex-monitored warehouses a re at their highest level since at least December 2009, s howing near-term supply of the metal is plentiful as mine output holds at record levels and the global economic recovery struggles for traction.

The rise is not reflected in silver prices, however, suggesting a fluid relationship between stocks and spot prices. Silver prices have risen 13 percent so far in 2012, while inventories have increased by more than 20 percent.

The U.S.-based silver stockpiles stood at 141.59 million ounces on Friday, up from 140.6 million ounces the previous day and 102.65 million ounces a year ago.

That figure reflects both registered stocks - material covered by an ownership title - and eligible stocks at warehouses monitored by Comex.

"When you are seeing people delivering into Comex, it is typically because they have nothing better to do with the metal," Mitsui Precious Metals analyst David Jollie said.

"Generally if you are seeing Comex stocks building, you would say that means that premiums are not particularly high anywhere, and that means that (global) demand is low."

Stocks fell to their lowest in nearly a decade at 97.86 million ounces last June, shortly after prices crashed spectacularly from record highs near $50 an ounce, shedding a third of their value in just six sessions.

They have since ground steadily higher. Stocks are currently 28 percent above their levels last April when silver prices hit record highs.

HSBC analyst James Steel said the rise is partly symptomatic of increased mine output, which metals consultancy GFMS estimates will have reached another record high last year near 770 million ounces.

"Industrial demand is not poor by any means, particularly for electronics, but it has been matched by an increase in production," Steel said. "It is more natural for that to go into Comex, because most (silver) is produced in the Americas." (Reporting by Jan Harvey; Editing by Veronica Brown, Jane Baird and Alden Bentley)

To the forum,
Just posting articles "news" from both sides of the ocean.
"It's truly a daily grind"
Thank You, Jeff and the forum for all the input.
Earl


Reuters
www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/16/marke...dUSL3E8FG3OX20120416

PRECIOUS-Gold falls on euro jitters, silver stocks soar

Mon Apr 16, 2012 3:33pm EDT

* Rising concerns over euro zone add to pressure on gold
* Monday's volume set to be one of the lowest of year
* COMEX silver warehouse stocks rise sharply as demand lags
* Coming up: U.S. housing starts on Tuesday

By Frank Tang and Jan Harvey
NEW YORK/LONDON, April 16 (Reuters) - Gold prices fell in
quiet trade on Monday, following crude oil's losses, as worries
about Spain's ability to repay its debt and a resurgent euro
zone debt crisis extended bullion's loss to a second day.
Silver traded flat, with data showing stocks in U.S.
exchange warehouses rose sharply due to lackluster industrial
demand and rising mine output.
Bullion came under pressure as Spanish 10-year government
bond yields broke through the 6 percent mark for the first time
since December, overshadowing optimism generated by encouraging
U.S. retails sales data.
The metal has dropped about 8 percent from near $1,800 an
ounce at the end of February as a strong run of positive U.S.
economic data reduced market hopes about a third round of asset
buy back by the Federal Reserve known as quantitative easing to
boost growth.
"As long as the general impression of economic stability is
positive, money managers will tend to move away from the yellow
metal and towards the paper investments with promise of higher
returns," said Carlos Perez-Santalla, precious metals trader at
PVM Futures.
Spot gold was down 0.5 percent at $1,649.71 an ounce
by 2:32 p.m. EST (1832 GMT).
U.S. gold futures for June delivery settled down
$10.50 an ounce at $1,649.70.
Trading volume in U.S. gold futures was about 40 percent
below its 30-day average, on track to be one of the lowest for
the year, preliminary Reuters data showed.



Bullion fell on Monday as safe-haven U.S. Treasury debt
prices rose due to renewed jitters about Spanish debt. Tumbling
Brent crude oil prices due to easing supply worries also
pressured gold.
Concerns over the euro zone were a key factor behind the
rise in gold prices last year, but have since been outweighed by
the impact of a stronger dollar.
Earlier in the session, the metal tracked losses in U.S.
equities, but gold remained lowered even though the Dow turned
higher with a triple-digit gain.
Silver was up 10 cents at $31.47 an ounce. The
gold/silver ratio, or the number of silver ounces needed to buy
an ounce of gold, held near its highest since late January,
suggesting silver's underperformance relative to gold.
U.S. silver stocks in exchange-approved warehouses rose
141.59 million ounces as of Friday, up from 140.61 million
ounces in the previous day and 102.65 million ounces a year ago.
SI-STX-COMEX, according to Reuters data.
Among other precious metals, spot platinum was down
1.5 percent at $1,570.49 an ounce. Spot palladium was up
1.5 percent at $648.62 an ounce.

2:32 PM EDT LAST/ NET PCT LOW HIGH CURRENT
SETTLE CHNG CHNG VOL
US Gold JUN 1649.70 -10.50 -0.6 1642.00 1659.60 104,356
US Silver MAY 31.373 -0.017 -0.1 31.175 31.700 35,531
US Plat JUL 1575.80 -12.10 -0.8 1563.00 1589.90 5,807
US Pall JUN 650.70 3.50 0.5 635.50 653.75 2,298

Gold 1649.71 -8.87 -0.5 1641.85 1657.30
Silver 31.470 0.010 0.0 31.210 31.690
Platinum 1570.49 -24.51 -1.5 1565.00 1581.49
Palladium 648.62 9.52 1.5 639.27 651.25

TOTAL MARKET VOLUME 30-D ATM VOLATILITY
CURRENT 30D AVG 250D AVG CURRENT CHG
US Gold 111,942 199,141 197,175 19.64 -0.63
US Silver 44,215 51,755 59,826 30.89 0.93
US Platinum 5,859 10,412 8,459 19.92 0.05
US Palladium 2,301 3,525 4,697



(Editing by Bob Burgdorfer and Sofina Mirza-Reid)

Earl I don't believe a word of this.

When it talks about "registered stocks" and "eligible stocks" I'm pretty sure that at least one of those categories INCLUDES metal from the bullion-ETF's - which is ALREADY double-counted silver in the inventory numbers.

However, we'll see what happens. I don't think the banksters can push silver prices much below present levels without some "fundamental" reason to support them, and I don't BELIEVE this reason.

So file this anecdote away and we'll decide (in hindsight) what the truth is here...