Market Recap 01/08/10

The stock market opened this week with a rally due to manufacturing gains in China and the United States. The market finished the day at its highest level since October 1, 2008, according to MSN Money. While precious metal prices and energy stocks led the way the rally was very broad.

But the market rally was short-lived, as the Labor Department issued a report showing the economy lost 85,000 jobs in December. The number of job losses was higher than expected and rekindled worries about the reality of an economic recovery. The overall unemployment rate was unchanged at 10% and according to David Katz, chief investment officer at Matrix Asset Advisors, “the economy continues to take three steps forward and two steps back.”

In a speech to the American Economic Association in Atlanta, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke defended Fed moves during the recession and continued by saying, “the central bank has to be open to increasing interest rates to prevent future bubbles.” Due to this uncertainty, gold ended higher as it snapped a string of five weeks of losses. Nervousness about the possible economic recovery and the possible timing of interest rate increases “boosted the appeal of the metal as an alternative asset,” according to DailyWealth.com.

APMEX is very excited to start the New Year off with the release of its FREE iPhone Application. This new application not only provides live precious metal spot prices, it displays up-to-the-minute BUY and SELL pricing on 40+ of the most popular bullion products at APMEX.com. You can hold all of this information in the palm of your hand, and it comes from one of the most trusted online precious metal dealers in the nation.

Gold:
Spot gold prices opened this week at $1,099.00. The high during the week was on Wednesday, January 6th, at $1,141.00, while the low for the week occurred on Monday, January 4th, at $1,093.80. Gold ended the week up $40.00 at $1,139.00. This week, 1 oz. Gold American Eagles, 2009 1 oz. Gold Buffalo Coins and Random Year 1 oz. Gold Maple Leafs saw significant sales volume.

Silver:
Spot silver prices opened this week at $16.96. Silver reached a high of $18.53 on Friday, January 8th, while the low for silver occurred on Monday, January 4th, at $16.90. Silver ended the week up $1.54 at $18.50. This week, the most popular silver items included 1 oz. Silver American Eagles, 1 oz. APMEX Silver Rounds and 2010 1 oz. Silver Maple Leafs.

Platinum:
Spot platinum prices opened this week at $1,477.20 and ended the week up $105.80 at $1,583.00. 1 oz. Pamp Suisse Platinum Bars, 1 oz. Scotiabank Platinum Bars and ½ oz. Platinum American Eagles were popular with platinum investors this week.

Palladium:
Spot palladium prices opened this week at $409.85 and ended the week up $22.55 at $432.40. Popular palladium products this week included 1 oz. .999 Fine Pamp Suisse Palladium Bars, 1 oz. Palladium Canadian Maple Leafs and 10 oz. Pamp Suisse Palladium Bars.

Featured Bullion Product:
Each week, APMEX will review a different bullion product for the benefit of our readers. This week, we will examine the South African Gold Krugerrand. It was the first gold bullion coin ever struck by any nation. These coins were originally minted in 1967 to help South Africa sell some of its vast gold reserves to investors around the world. The Krugerrand was also the world’s first gold coin that weighed exactly 1 Troy ounce and many worldwide investors purchased them to add a precious metal investment to their portfolios. These beautiful coins are struck in 22-karat gold and weigh just over one ounce. The additional metal is a copper alloy that was used to make the coins harder and more resistant to scratches. They have been minted continuously since 1967.

On the obverse, or front, of these coins is a portrait of Paul Kruger, the last President of the Republic of South Africa. The reverse, or back, of this coin depicts a Springbok Antelope, a beautiful creature that is one of South Africa’s national symbols. The name "Krugerrand" is a combination of Paul Kruger’s name and the word "rand" which is one of the monetary units of South Africa. These attractive coins are backed by the government of South Africa for their purity, content and fineness.

APMEX offers a great selection of South African Krugerrands dated the current year and in several prior years in Brilliant Uncirculated condition. Coins purchased in quantities of 20 or more will be delivered in special tubes.