Dear Subscriber,
With the hot money on the move into risk assets, the precious metals found themselves outshined in today's trading.
After all, spot gold prices fell to a new two-and-a-half week low today, while stock markets set new all-time highs and the U.S. Dollar Index continued its rise.
Gold's sibling silver also followed suit, with prices dropping more than 2% to their lowest levels in over
seven months. The decline in gold and silver also brought down other precious metals, as platinum slipped 1.2% and palladium declined by 1.7%.
This move means that gold has now given up all of its gains since news of the crisis in Cyprus broke in mid-March.
Additionally, with gold finishing the first quarter in negative territory, the precious metal has now had consecutive quarterly losses for the first time since the beginning of 2001.
If gold drops another 3.5% to $1,520.18 per ounce, it would represent a 20% drop from its Sept. 5, 2011, high and signal the beginning of a bear market for the yellow metal.
Which leaves many investors wondering … has gold's time to shine already come and gone?
***
Not according to Resource Expert Sean Brodrick, who believes that gold's decade-long rally may just be the beginning ...
"I believe precious metals are nearing strong support levels ... perhaps even a technical 'bottom' in the market price for gold ...
"This is not a popular view," Sean explains. "Gold was recently down, and gold miners — as measured by the Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (GDX) — are down a whopping 20% year-to-date. But I think we're coming to value levels in both the metals and the miners. And I say that for six key reasons:
1. Many great mining projects can't get funding now. The amount of money that mining companies were able to raise in capital markets dropped by 25% last year to $249 billion. The market for Initial Public Offerings came to a virtual standstill. This puts a squeeze on supply.
2. The flood of selling in the SPDR Gold Trust (GLD) and other ETFs that hold physical gold seems to have ended. That tells me some hedge funds that were getting wiped out are done for now, potentially taking some downward pressure off gold prices.
3. The Chinese economy is improving. This improvement is putting more money into the pockets of billions of consumers who have a cultural affinity for gold. In fact, sales of gold bars for investment purposes jumped twofold in China during its recent Spring Festival.
4. Mom-and-pop investors are buying Gold Eagle coins. According to U.S. Mint data, the Mint sold 80,500 ounces of American Eagle gold bullion coins during February. Compare that to 21,000 ounces a year earlier — that's a 283% increase!
5. Central banks continue to buy gold with both hands. In fact, the World Gold Council said central banks bought 534.6 tons of gold in 2012, the most gold since 1964. That's up 17% year-over-year. The buying continues —South Korea's central bank said Wednesday it was among those that increased gold holdings in February.
6. Central bankers around the world continue to pump paper money as fast as they can print it. Usually, that's bullish for gold. Jens Weidmann, European Central Bank council member and head of Germany's Bundesbank, said the ECB will maintain its accommodative monetary-policy stance "for as long as necessary." Plus, Japan seems ready to print from here to eternity.
"Fed money-printing isn't likely to end anytime soon. The sequestration budget cuts that recently went into effect — cuts that will cost U.S. jobs and drag on economic growth — mean that it is now more-likely the Fed will continue its QE stimulus even longer.
"Other central banks, especially Japan, are also trying to print their way out of their problems. It could take a while for this money to work into the system, but once it does, the effect on gold prices could be dramatic."
***
So dramatic, in fact, that
we could very well be coming upon the biggest gold opportunity in 30 years.
Every once in a while, you run across a unique moment in time ... where dozens of forces converge to create once-in-a-lifetime profit opportunities for any investor who is quick enough to get in on the ground floor.
Here at Uncommon Wisdom, we believe
the gold market is approaching one of those historic moments.
And we're gearing up to tell you all about it this Thursday, April 4 at noon Eastern.
That's when Sean will host a private teleconference with one of the premier experts in the natural-resources sector — Rick Rule — a man with 35-plus years actively investing in the gold markets, and who chairs a firm with more than $10 billion in assets under management.
Whether you're a serious, casual or even aspiring investor in the precious metals, you won't want to miss Rick's insights on the next phase of his gold investing strategy.
Click here to reserve your spot now ... and you'll have a front-row seat when Sean calls upon him to reveal the top five gold companies he's buying right now!
***
In Other Market News:
- Stocks rebounded from yesterday's sell-off with the Dow Industrials hitting a new intraday all-time high of 14,684.49. The S&P 500 moved within 1% of its all-time intraday high of 1,576.09.
- As the markets moved up, so did a key piece of economic data. Propelled by the aircraft industry, U.S. factory orders in February rose 3.0%, topping consensus estimates of a 2.9% gain. Just how important is transportation equipment like aircraft in this figure? Orders without these items only rose 0.3%.
- Also on the move were healthcare companies Humana (HUM) and UnitedHealth Group (UNH); both rose more than 5%. This was thanks to a decision by the U.S. government to increase a key Medicare payment rate that was slated to be slashed.
- The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said last night that it will cancel its planned rate reduction. Instead, insurers will receive a 3.3% increase in payments for following the government's Medicare Advantage plans. The decision was likely made as insurers previously said they would reduce benefits in Medicare Advantage plans if the cuts were approved.
- Following weeks of talks with international lenders to secure a bailout, Cypriot Finance Minister Michael Sarris quit Tuesday. He vacated his position after Cyprus announced a partial relaxation of capital controls, which raises the ceiling for financial transactions that do not require approval by the Cypriot central bank.
Good Luck and Happy Investing,
Brad Hoppman
Publisher
Uncommon Wisdom Daily 
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