Market Recap 2/26/10

The Commerce Department reported on Wednesday, that sales of new single-family homes in the U.S. sank 11% in January to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 309,000. It was an unexpected tumble that sent sales to their lowest level since these records began in 1963 and this loss wiped out much of the progress made in the last year, according to The Wall Street Journal. Existing-home sales fell 7.2% in January to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $5.05 million, the lowest in seven months, said the National Association of Realtors.

The Fed is keeping interest rates near zero to encourage lending to businesses and consumers in order to stimulate growth, reported Reuters, which also means there is little money to be made by investors holding cash or bonds. “This is a little different from when you have a robust economy where you can buy the market and everything goes up because you believe in the economy,” said Keith Springer, President of Capital Financial Advisory Services in Sacramento, California.

“American International Group (AIG) warned that it may need more assistance from the U.S. Government, but the insurer said it will have adequate liquidity to ‘finance and operate AIG’s businesses and continue as a going concern for at least the next twelve months,” reported MSN Money. This plethora of weak economic news may bode well for investments in precious metals, which historically are considered a hedge against inflation.

APMEX was able to secure a limited allotment of Scruffy Random-Year Gold Canadian Maple Leaf bullion coins this week, and we are excited to be able to offer them at the very low premium of only $24.95 over spot in any quantity. If you are looking to add gold to your position or portfolio, you will be hard pressed to find a lower premium than this on gold bullion.

Gold:
Spot gold prices opened this week at $1,121.20. The high during the week was on Monday, February 22nd, at $1,130.40, while the low for the week occurred on Thursday, February 25th, at $1,088.50. Gold ended the week down $1.80 at $1,119.40. This week, investors concentrated their interest in Gold American Eagles, Canadian Gold Maple Leafs and 1 gram .9999 Sunshine Minting Gold Bars.

Silver:
Spot silver prices opened this week at $16.37. Silver reached a high of $16.56 on Monday and Friday this week, while the low for silver occurred on Wednesday, February 24th, at $15.62. Silver ended the week up $0.17 at $16.54. Silver American Eagles, 1 oz. APMEX .999 Fine Silver Rounds and Canadian Silver Maple Leafs remained popular with silver investors this week.

Platinum:
Spot platinum prices opened this week at $1,543.90 and ended the week up $4.10 at $1,548.00. This week, Canadian Platinum Maple Leafs, 1 oz. Pamp Suisse Platinum Bars and Platinum American Eagles continued to be popular with investors.

Palladium:
Spot palladium prices opened this week at $443.50 and ended the week down $6.70 at $436.80. This week, the most popular palladium items included Random Year 1 oz. Palladium Canadian Maple Leafs and 1 oz. .999 Fine Pamp Suisse Palladium Bars.

Featured Bullion Product:
Each week, APMEX will feature a different bullion product for the benefit of our readers. This week’s featured product is the United States silver dollar.

The U.S. Mint produced these coins from 1794 until 1935. APMEX carries a wide selection of Early, Trade, Morgan and Peace Dollars in many different die and mint varieties. Each silver dollar contains .77344 ounces of pure silver, making these silver dollars the most popular silver coins ever produced by the U.S. Mint. The Morgan Dollar, which was minted between 1878 and 1921, is considered by many to be the most widely collected silver coin in U.S. history.

Silver dollars are a favorite among collectors because of their size, beauty and availability, and APMEX is proud to offer a vast selection of silver dollars in all conditions, in both certified and uncertified states.