Weekly Market Recap - 11/28/08

Precious metals prices continued to fluctuate this week as crude-oil prices tumbled and U.S. equity markets erased gains. With Thanksgiving now over and the Christmas holiday on the horizon, the stock market remains unstable but active.

Here is a brief synopsis of the highs and lows in the market and an overview of our very popular bullion products and numismatics here at www.APMEX.com.

Gold:
Following the Thanksgiving holiday, gold was on the rise for its fourth straight week, ending the month with its biggest monthly gain in nine years. Spot Gold prices opened this week at $ 802.00. The high during the week was on Tuesday November 25th at $835.50, while the lowest point occurred on Monday, November 24th at $786.20. Overall, gold ended the week up at 820.40. Gold Kruggerands were in great demand and short supply.

Silver:
Spot Silver prices opened last week at $ 9.63. Active trading pushed spot silver to a high of $10.68 on Monday, November 24th. The low for silver also occurred on Monday at $9.46. Overall, silver ended the week up, at $10.40. Silver American Eagles were in great demand and our stock of 2008 Silver American Eagles is dwindling fast. With the arrival of the 2009 SAE’s fast approaching, now’s a great time to purchase the 2008 Silver Eagles and take advantage of the low prices.

Platinum:
Spot Platinum prices opened last week at $826.10. Overall, platinum ended the week up at $885.00. Products such as 1 oz Platinum Bars were highly desired. Availability is limited, but we currently have eagles and bars in stock and ready to ship.

Palladium:
Spot Palladium prices opened this week at $185.10. Overall, palladium ended the week up at $195.00. Canadian Palladium Maple Leafs were in great demand and short supply.

Numismatics:
The much-heralded Baltimore coin show lived up to most expectations last week as many dealers reported brisk activity. Numerous astute buyers were using the weakness in the general economy as a rationale for asking dealers to accept lower offers for their coins. That argument fell on deaf ears of many dealers who had quality coins to sell. Early Lincoln cents are in great demand as are pre-1933 US gold coins. All better date Morgan Silver Dollars are in great demand, as are all of the different issues of type coins, especially Bust, Seated and Barber material. But classic commemorative coins (1892 to 1954), both silver and gold types, are fairly quiet with a few scarcer issues being actively sought and the more generic issues remaining relatively quiet.