Gold, Silver Up as Investors Soak in Obama, Bernanke Speeches

Gold was trading higher in New York early Friday as investors and traders
pondered the $447 billion American Jobs Act outlined by President Barack Obama
on Thursday evening, as well as comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke
to the Economic Club of Minnesota. Spot gold was trading at $1,852.10 Bid,
$1,853.10 Ask around 10 a.m., hitting a high of $1,860.90 and a low of $1,829.70
in early-morning trading. The London p.m. fix price was set at $1,851 per ounce.
Set at $41.40 in the London a.m., spot silver was up more than 40 cents on the
day thus far. Spot silver was trading at $41.81 Bid, $41.91 Ask, according to
Kitco market data . Addressing a joint session of Congress on Thursday evening,
Obama proposed a plan to jump-start job creation in the U.S. The plan proposes
extending payroll tax cuts, a tax credit for businesses hiring the long-term
unemployed, federal money to keep laid-off teachers and emergency response
workers on the job, spending to renovate schools and infrastructure, and a tax
credit for hiring unemployed veterans. The additional federal spending
reportedly would be paid for in its entirety by closing corporate tax loopholes
and raising taxes on the very wealthy. In his speech in Minneapolis, Bernanke
said consumers and households were bearing the worst of the frustratingly slow
economic recovery and cautioned that state and local government spending cuts
and layoffs could slow the economy as federal stimulus runs out. Bernanke made
no mention of any new Fed actions to support the economy. Turning to exchange
trading, gold and silver trusts were moving lower. The SPDR Gold Trust (NYSE:
GLD ) was down around 1.3%. The iShares Gold Trust (NYSE: IAU ) was about 1.4%
lower. The iShares Silver Trust (NYSE: SLV ) was off 1.5%. Gold and silver
mining ETFs were moving lower, too. The Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (NYSE:
GDX ) was down about 0.2%. The Market Vector Junior Gold Miners ETF (NYSE: GDXJ
) was around 1% lower. The Global X Silver Miners ETF (NYSE: SIL ) was almost
0.6% lower. Shares of gold miners were mixed, with most showing relatively small
gains and losses. Agnico Eagle Mines (USA) (NYSE: AEM ) was down between 0.4%
and 0.5%. Barrick Gold Corp. (NYSE: ABX ) was between 0.2% and 0.3% lower.
Goldcorp (NYSE: GG ) was trading about 0.1% to 0.2% higher. Newmont Mining Corp.
(NYSE: NEM ) was up between 0.4% and 0.5%. NovaGold Resources (USA) (AMEX: NG )
was flat on the day thus far. Silver mining shares were broadly lower early
Friday. Coeur DAlene Mines Corp. (NYSE: CDE ) was down around 0.5%. Hecla Mining
(NYSE: HL ) was about 0.6% lower. Pan American Silver Corp. (USA) (NASDAQ: PAAS
) was down 0.4%. Silver Wheaton Corp. (USA) (NYSE: SLW ) was around 1.3% lower.
Silver Standard Resources Inc. (USA) (NASDAQ: SSRI ) was trading flat on the
day. The author does not hold positions in any of the above-mentioned
investments.