MARKET COMMENT: European Stocks End Week On Positive Note

MARKET COMMENT: European Stocks End Week On Positive Note Wall Street Journal -
Mar 2, 2012 By Sara Sjolin LONDON (Dow Jones)--European stock markets ended the
week higher Friday in a session that saw choppy trade following Spains decision
to lift its deficit target, while major banks provided support after a broker
upgrade.

MU Chart is Lighting Up

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) flashed four buy signals and just completed a
breakaway gap.

Weekly Outlook for 5-9 March

Following the sharp changes in commodities prices, mainly gold and silver
prices, during last week due, in part, to the speculation around the next steps
of the FOMC on QE3 and the recent release of the second LTRO rescue plan by ECB,
this week there are many important news, events, decisions and reports that
could stir up the forex and commodities markets. Among these news items and
publications are: ECB rate decision, U.S. non-farm payroll report, Canadas
employment report, U.S. factory orders, Chinas CPI, Australias GDP U.S.s
non-manufacturing PMI and U.S. unemployment claims. Here is an economic news
calendar forecast for the week of March 5th to March 9th that highlights the
main news items related to the U.S., Canada, EU, Australia and China.

Silver and Gold Ended the Week Falling –Recap March 2nd

Gold and silver prices continue to zigzag as they have declined on the last
trading day of the week; crude oil prices also sharply fell on Friday after they
had risen for two consecutive days; natural gas future price moderately
increased. The Euro sharply depreciated again against the US Dollar. Here is a
summary of the developments of precious metals and energy commodities for March
2nd, 2012: Precious Metals: Gold price decreased on Friday by 0.72% to $1,709.8;
Silver price sharply fell by 3.19% and reached $34.53. During the week, gold
decreased by 3.7% and silver by 2.5%.

Gold & Silver Prices | Weekly Recap 27 February – 2 March

Gold and silver changed direction throughout the week and their volatility has
risen compared with their low volatility levels during most of February. The
main shift started on Tuesday when silver price rose by 4.5%. This gain didnt
seem related to development of gold price as gold only added 0.76% to its value
that day. I refereed to the unexpected rally of silver in a recent post;
basically I thought it was mostly a speculative move. The following day,
Bernanke testified in the House of Representatives: he was encouraged from the
positive results the U.S. economy had presents in recent weeks; he also didnt
commit to another stimulus plan even though he didnt completely close the door
on it. This news however along with the positive U.S. GDP growth rate for Q4
2011 report, signaled to many bullion traders the FOMC wont announce QE3 in the
upcoming March meeting. As a result, gold and silver tumbled on Wednesday. Gold
and silver bounced back on Thursday, perhaps due to the slight fall in the U.S
Manufacturing PMI growth rate.

Gold posts weekly loss as Bernanke comments hit demand

Gold posts weekly loss as Bernanke comments hit demand Proactive Investors UK -
9 minutes ago Gold prices fell sharply this week, shedding more than US$60 per
ounce. Demand for the yellow metal was hit by Federal Reserve chairman Ben
Bernankes testimony to the Financial Services Committee of the House of
Representatives.

Gold, Silver Lower as Volatile Week Nears End

Gold and silver were heading south Friday morning as EU leaders agreed to new
fiscal discipline and to speed up funding for a banking firewall.