Gold, Silver, Miners Tank a Day Removed from ‘Operation Twist’ Announcement

Gold prices fell Thursday morning in the wake of the Federal Reserves
announcement that it will implement Operation Twist to help hold down long-term
interest rates and stimulate lending and borrowing. August U.S. leading economic
indicators rose 0.3%, pointing to faster growth going into year-end. Weekly
jobless claims dropped but remained above 400,000. Spot gold was bid at
$1,726.40 with an ask price of $1,727.40, more than 3% lower, having hit a
morning high of $1,731.60 and a low of $1,725.30, according to Kitco market data
. The price of an ounce of gold for spot delivery was fixed in the London
afternoon at $1,722 by the LBMA . Spot silver was trading at $36.74 Bid, $36.84
Ask, down more than 7.25%, with a morning high of $37 and a low of $36.58. The
spot silver reference price was fixed at $37.85 per ounce in the London a.m.
Gold and silver trusts were sharply lower in exchange trading Thursday morning.
The SPDR Gold Trust (NYSE: GLD ) was off around 2.9%. The iShares Gold Trust
(NYSE: IAU ) was down about the same. The iShares Silver Trust (NYSE: SLV ) was
showing losses of about 6.4%. Gold and silver mining ETFs were falling sharply
as well. The Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (NYSE: GDX ) was around 5.7% lower.
The Market Vector Junior Gold Miners ETF (NYSE: GDXJ ) was down about 7.7%. The
Global X Silver Miners ETF (NYSE: SIL ) was off 7.8%. Shares of gold miners were
plunging. Agnico Eagle Mines (USA) (NYSE: AEM ) was down 4.9%. Barrick Gold
Corp. (NYSE: ABX ) was showing losses of more than 7.3%. Goldcorp (NYSE: GG )
was more than 6% lower. Newmont Mining Corp. (NYSE: NEM ) was down nearly 3.5%.
NovaGold Resources (USA) (AMEX: NG ) was off more than 8.5%. Silver miners
shares were plummeting as well. Coeur DAlene Mines Corp. (NYSE: CDE ) was more
than 7.4% lower. Hecla Mining (NYSE: HL ) was down more than 5.5%. Pan American
Silver Corp. (USA) (NASDAQ: PAAS ) was off nearly 8.9%. Silver Wheaton Corp.
(USA) (NYSE: SLW ) was showing losses of around 8.5%. Silver Standard Resources
Inc. (USA) (NASDAQ: SSRI ) was down around 8%. The author does not hold
positions in any of the above-mentioned investments.