Gold Softens, Miners Up as Merkel, Sarkozy Meet in Paris

Stock markets popped higher at the open Monday morning, but gold was flat to
slightly down as traders and investors took some profits after last weeks strong
rally. Optimism grew that the 27-nation European Union, or at least the
17-member euro zone, would follow the lead of Germany and France and agree to a
new treaty that would include sanctions against members that violate fiscal and
monetary constraints being discussed by German Chancellor Angela Merkel and
French President Nicolas Sarkozy in Paris. Spot gold was slightly down early
Monday, with a bid price of $1,743.70 per ounce and an ask price of 1,744.70 at
10:15 a.m., having traded as high as $1,748.50 and as low as $1,729.10. The
London morning reference price fixing came in at $1,744, $7 per ounce lower than
Fridays reference fix, according to Kitco market data . Spot silver was up
0.67%, bid at $32.86 per ounce with an ask price of $32.96. The morning high as
of time of writing was $33.10 and the low was $32.46. Mondays reference price
was set at $32.48 in the London a.m. Turning to stock exchange trading, gold
trusts were lower, but the iShares Silver Trust (NYSE: SLV ) was moving up. The
SPDR Gold Trust (NYSE: GLD ) was showing losses of some 0.15%. The iShares Gold
Trust (NYSE: IAU ) was down some 0.1%. The iShares Silver Trust was moving
higher, showing gains of about 1.3%. Gold and silver mining ETFs were sharply
higher. The Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (NYSE: GDX ) was up around 2.1%. The
Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF (NYSE: GDXJ ) was up about 2.2%. The
Global X Silver Miners ETF (NYSE: SIL ) had gained nearly 2%. Gold mining shares
were moving higher. Agnico-Eagle Mines (NYSE: AEM ) was showing gains of around
1.9%. Barrick Gold Corp. (NYSE: ABX ) was more than 0.8% higher. Goldcorp (NYSE:
GG ) was showing gains of about 1.75%. Newmont Mining Corp. (NYSE: NEM ) was
around 1.1% higher. NovaGold Resources (AMEX: NG ) was up some 2.4%. Silver
mining shares were up sharply. Coeur dAlene Mines Corp. (NYSE: CDE ) was moving
about 2.7% higher. Hecla Mining (NYSE: HL ) was up around 3%. Pan American
Silver Corp. (NASDAQ: PAAS ) was nearly 2.8% higher. Silver Wheaton Corp. (NYSE:
SLW ) was up about 2.2%. Silver Standard Resources Inc. (NASDAQ: SSRI ) was up
nearly 3%. As of this writing, Andrew Burger did not hold a position in any of
the aforementioned stocks.