Gold and Silver
Kitco
From high to Low Silver has dropped over 24%. From high to low Gold has so far shed only roughly 12%.  Silver also did not take out its 2008 highs when Gold went on to put in a series of new all time highs. This is another massive intra market negative divergence signal and yet another reason to suggest that Gold could correct/consolidate for several months. On a positive note gold has held up remarkably well in the face of a very strong rally from the dollar. If it continues to hold up like this, then when the dollar rally finally fizzles out, one can expect gold to literally explode upwards.
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India Raises Duties on Gold and Silver
Business Week
India, the world’s biggest consumer of bullion, raised import duties on gold, silver and platinum to reflect higher global prices for the precious metals. Gold and platinum will each attract a tax of 300 rupees per 10 grams, from 200 rupees, and silver will be charged at 1,500 rupees per kilogram from 1,000 rupees, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said in his budget speech. The levy on rhodium, used in polishing jewelry, has been cut to 2 percent from 10 percent.
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Metals ETFs: Store of Value or Non-Productive Asset?
Nasdaq
Gold and other precious metals are at the center of a major macroeconomic debate. On the one hand, a ballooning federal deficit and a dollar in terminal decline may mean that inflation is coming, and higher metal prices. On the other hand, recent dollar strength and the promise of higher interest rates suggest that a non-productive asset class like precious metal will lag.ETFs offer easy access to precious metals like gold, silver, platinum, and palladium. These ETFs, like the metals themselves, trade on the dollar, interest rates, and inflation.When the dollar is strong, god tends to be weak, and vice versa.
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What Does Silver’s Recent Weak Performance Mean to PM Investors?
SilverSeek
Points made in the previous Premium Update regarding the long-term situation on the silver market are up-to-date also today. (…) the RSI and Stochastic indicators suggest that the price of silver is likely to reverse soon, but these indicators are based on price alone – they don’t take the volume factor into account.” This is relevant also today, as the volume during the upswing that we’ve seen in the past few days, is not really impressive.
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Subtle Signs Gold’s Correction is Over
Gold Seek
The technical evidence was subtle, but gold appeared to have its best day in months on Thursday. The night before, we had told subscribers to brace for a new wave of selling that would bring the April Comex contract down to at least $1073, exactly $23 below the previous day’s settlement price. When the dust had settled, however, the futures had fallen no lower than $1088 – off a mere $8 from the previous day’s close. Moreover, the reversal from the day’s lows was swift and decisive, leaving April Gold at $1108 by day’s end, $20 off the lows. Most encouraging of all, however, was that the bounce came precisely from a “Hidden Pivot midpoint,” and that it ultimately blew past two resistance peaks on the hourly chart without pausing for breath.
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Do We Really Want $5000 Gold?
Mineweb
General talk of gold as a potentially spectacular investment as opposed to an inflation hedge glosses over the true picture.  Over the ages, gold has kept up with inflation pretty well, and it will probably continue to do so in the future, but it may not make you wealthy, just protect whatever wealth you have.  True there have been periods when gold has outpaced the decline in currency values due to inflation, but that is usually when it is playing catch-up from a period of underperformance. Now some ultra gold bulls out there are predicting $5,000 gold – or even higher.  While we think this unlikely in the foreseeable future, think what this means if it should come about.  It can only really happen if there is an equivalent decline in the US dollar – or the onset of hyper dollar inflation. 
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