Gold Reserve Wins $740 Million

A World Bank arbitration court ruled that Venezuela must pay $740 million to Spokane, Washington-based Gold Reserve Inc. (GDRZF) for the 2008 expropriation of its Brisas gold project.

Payment of the award is due immediately and the company has commenced steps to ensure recognition and collection, Gold Reserve said yesterday in a statement.

“We feel vindicated by the tribunal’s clear conclusion that the Venezuelan government acted unlawfully,” Gold Reserve president Doug Belanger said in the statement. “There are well documented procedures in place for identifying and attaching sovereign commercial assets.”

Venezuela’s Former President Hugo Chavez nationalized assets in the country’s energy and mining industries to increase state control over the economy before he died from cancer in 2013. The nation is now involved in 28 unresolved cases filed at the World Bank’s International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes, or ICSID, by oil, mining and other industrial companies that operated in the country including Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) and ConocoPhillips.

The Gold Reserve judgment comes as Venezuela faces concern that a shortage of foreign currency could push it closer to defaulting on its international debt. Gold Reserve said on July 23 that it was seeking $2.1 billion for the nationalization of the gold and copper project.

Default Concerns

The South American country must honor ICSID rulings to avoid default of sovereign bonds, Joe Kogan, an analyst at the Bank of Nova Scotia, wrote in an Aug. 8 note to clients.

Venezuelan dollar debt suffered a selloff this month as Standard & Poor’s cut the country’s rating to CCC+ and predicted at least a 50 percent chance of non-payment in two years. Government notes now yield 15.7 percent on average, the most in developing nations.

The proposed sale of Citgo Petroleum Corp., a U.S. subsidiary of state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela SA, would be negative for both bondholders and international arbitration claimants, as it would reduce the government’s external vulnerabilities, Eurasia Group analyst Risa Grais-Targow said in a note on Sept. 10.

Venezuela’s Information Ministry did not immediately respond to an e-mail sent after business hours yesterday seeking comment on the Gold Reserve judgment.

Source: bloomberg.com

Gold Trades Dropped

Gold Trades Below $1,300 as US. Economy Weighed With Tensions

Gold held below $1,300 an ounce as investors weighed a strengthening U.S. economy and dollar against signs of easing tensions around the world.

Bullion for immediate delivery traded at $1,282.61 an ounce at 9:32 a.m. in Singapore from $1,281.20 yesterday, when prices rose as much as 1.1 percent before ending 0.3 percent higher, according to Bloomberg generic pricing. The metal on Aug. 21 dropped to $1,273.14, the lowest level since June 18, on speculation the U.S. Federal Reserve will raise borrowing costs sooner than forecast.

The dollar climbed to its highest level in almost a year against the euro on speculation the Fed will increase rates next year, while the European Central Bank will add to stimulus. Data today may show German inflation stalled after a report yesterday showed U.S. consumer confidence rose to a seven-year high, sending the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index to a record.

“Gold is helped by some safe-haven demand but U.S. economic data continues to show good growth, and we expect the strong dollar and momentum in stocks to put pressure on prices,” said Huang Wei, a Shanghai-based analyst at Huatai Great Wall Futures Co. “Outflows from the SPDR also shows a slight negative trend.”

Gold for December delivery lost 0.1 percent to $1,283.50 an ounce on the Comex in New York. Holdings in the SPDR Gold Trust fell yesterday for a second day.

Source: bloomberg.com

Gold slips ahead of Fed minutes

Gold prices slipped just below the $1,300 level on Wednesday as traders prepared for the release of minutes from the last Federal Reserve policy meeting while keeping one eye on the end of the week, when Janet Yellen steps up in Jackson Hole.

Gold for December delivery GCZ4, -0.21%  shed 30 cents to $1,297 an ounce. But September silver SIU4, +0.02% turned higher, gaining 5 cents to $19.47 an ounce.

A day earlier, gold prices pulled back slightly as investors ran the Nasdaq COMP, +0.43%  up to levels not seen since March of 2000. It wasn’t just technology stocks, either. The broad market was in rally mode, sapping demand from the perceived safe haven of precious metals.

Traders will be poring over the Federal Open Market Committee minutes later in the day, looking for clues as to when the Fed will start hiking interest rates. Friday’s Yellen show in Wyoming is expected to be much more revealing.

Still, Credit Suisse analyst Tom Kendall says not to expect to much from her speech.

“We would like to be able to highlight this week’s Jackson Hole symposium as a potential source of volatility,” he said. “Unfortunately, however, recent history, Janet Yellen’s record of dovishness and current market positioning makes that less likely.”

Elsewhere in metals trading, October platinum PLV4, -0.30%  fell 90 cents, or 0.1%, to $1,438.30 an ounce while September palladium PAU4, -0.90%  fell $4.30, or 0.5%, to $876.20 an ounce. High-grade copper for September delivery HGU4, +0.70%  picked up 2 cents, or 0.7%, to $3.11 a pound.

Source: marketwatch.com

Gold Declines for Second Days

As Silver drops to two month low, Gold decreased or a second day as the outlook for an improving U.S. economy outweighed tension in Ukraine. Silver fell to a two-month low, while palladium retreated from the highest level in more than 13 years.

Gold for immediate delivery lost as much as 0.6 percent to $1,297.46 an ounce, and traded at $1,299.91 at 11:11 a.m. in Singapore, Bloomberg generic pricing showed. The metal on Aug. 15 dropped to $1,292.63, the lowest level since Aug. 6. Spot palladium climbed to $895.55 an ounce, the highest price since February 2001, before declining.

Bullion rallied 8.2 percent this year, even as the Federal Reserve reduced stimulus, in part on tensions in Ukraine and the Middle East. The Fed, which has kept its benchmark lending rate near zero percent since December 2008, will this week release minutes of its meeting in July, when it cut asset purchases for a sixth time. A report last week showed U.S. industrial output advanced, adding to signs that the recovery is gaining traction.

“Gold prices fell as improving U.S. data dented investor demand despite rising tensions in the Ukraine,” Mark Pervan, the head of commodity research at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. in Melbourne, said in a note today. “Support from geopolitical tensions remains sporadic.”


Data this week may show a rebound in U.S. housing starts, while sales of previously owned homes probably held near an eight-month high in July. Fed Chair Janet Yellen is scheduled to speak Aug. 22 at a central bankers’ conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

Source: yahoo.com

Gold Holds Below Three Week High

Because of easing tension damp demand, the Gold holds below three week High. Gold held declines from the highest level in three weeks as ebbing tensions in the Middle East and Ukraine boosted global equities, damping demand for the metal as an alternative investment.

Gold for immediate delivery traded at $1,307.18 an ounce at 9:13 a.m. in Singapore from $1,308.48 yesterday, according to Bloomberg generic pricing. Approval of U.S. air strikes in Iraq sent the metal on Aug. 8 to $1,322.76, the highest since July 18. Prices have since retreated as haven demand decreased.

Geopolitical risks in Ukraine, Iraq and Gaza helped gold rebound this year after prices lost 28 percent in 2013 on speculation the Federal Reserve will cut stimulus. A gauge of global equities rallied the most since April yesterday on optimism the conflict in Ukraine will ease and that U.S. air strikes in Iraq will push back militants. A truce in Gaza between Israeli forces and Hamas fighters held as parties returned to talks in Cairo.

Gold for December delivery traded at $1,309 an ounce on the Comex in New York from $1,310.50 yesterday. Holdings in the SPDR Gold Trust were unchanged yesterday after dropping last week below the level at which they ended 2013.

Source: bloomberg.com