Market Recap 2/5/10

The U. S. economy has continued to shed jobs, which has cast doubts over the labor market's strength, according to the Wall Street Journal. United States employers cut 20,000 jobs in January, while December's number of job losses was revised from 85,000 to a drop of 150,000! The jobless rate, calculated using a household survey, fell to 9.7% last month from an unrevised 10% in December.

MSN Money stated Thursday that stocks plunged following the report that showed an unexpected rise in initial jobless claims. This caused the Dow Jones Industrial Index to drop below the 10,000 point mark for a short time. The precious metals market dipped as well, causing APMEX customers to take advantage of low spot prices as they scrambled to add to their gold, silver, platinum and palladium positions. Many customers may have viewed this retrenchment in prices as a short-term buying opportunity as they aggressively purchased all types of precious metal products.

The “I Heart APMEX” Video Contest kicked off this week and brought in dozens of video entries from the U.S. and Canada. APMEX fans rushed to get their entries in, some coming in within hours of the contest’s launch. Entrants are eligible for a chance to win a 1 oz. APMEX Gold Bar, an APMEX Silver Kilo (32.15 ounces) Bar, a 10 oz. APMEX Silver Round or one of several 1 oz. APMEX Silver Rounds. Check out the contest rules and submit your video today! You have until 11:59PM (CST) on Valentine’s Day (February 14th) to submit your entry.

Gold:
Spot gold prices opened this week at $1,081.10. The high during the week was on Wednesday, February 3rd, at $1,125.80, while the low for the week was $1,042.50 and it occurred on Friday, February 5th. Gold ended the week down $13.30 at $1,067.80. This week, the most popular gold items included Gold American Eagles, 1 oz. .9999 APMEX Gold Bars and Gold Canadian Maple Leafs.

Silver:
Spot silver prices opened this week at $16.17. Silver reached a high of $16.95 on Wednesday, February 3rd, while the low for silver occurred on Friday, February 5th, at $14.62. Silver ended the week down $0.97 at $15.20. 2010 Silver American Eagles, 1 oz. Silver Buffalo Rounds and 2010 Silver Canadian Maple Leafs were some of the most popular silver items sold by http://www.apmex.com/.

Platinum:
Spot platinum prices opened this week at $1,507.50 and ended the week down $27.50 at $1,480.00. Some of the most highly sought platinum products this week included 1 oz. Pamp Suisse .999 Fine Platinum Bars, Platinum American Eagles and 1 oz. Scotia Bank .999 Fine Platinum Bars.

Palladium:
Spot palladium prices opened this week at $418.00 and ended the week down $16.70 at $401.30. This week, 10 oz. .999 Fine Pamp Suisse Palladium Bars, 2009 Palladium Canadian Maple Leafs MS-69 NGC and Random Year 1 oz. Palladium Canadian Maple Leafs were popular with palladium investors.

Featured Bullion Product:
Each week, APMEX will review a different bullion product for the benefit of our readers. This week, we look at the Silver Austrian Philharmonic coins.

First minted by the 800-year-old Austrian Mint in 2008, the silver Austrian Philharmonic coin is the first silver bullion coin denominated in Euros, the legal tender of the European Union.

Elegant is the perfect word to describe this lovely and unusual silver bullion coin. These exquisite coins were created as a tribute to the world-renowned Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, one of the finest musical ensembles in the world.

Almost identical to the popular gold Austrian Philharmonic coins, a harmonious design of musical instruments represents the world famous orchestra on the reverse of this silver coin. The obverse depicts the Great Organ of the Golden Hall in Vienna's concert hall.

APMEX offers silver Austrian Philharmonic coins dated during the current year and in prior years in Brilliant Uncirculated condition. Coins purchased in quantities of 10 or more will be delivered in mint tubes, and orders of 500 or more come in sealed mint boxes when available.