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On top of the record 140 bank failures in 2009, there have been 9 bank failures thus far in 2010. They are:

Columbia River Bank The Dalles OR January 22, 2010
Evergreen Bank Seattle WA January 22, 2010
Charter Bank Santa Fe NM January 22, 2010
Bank of Leeton Leeton MO January 22, 2010
Premier American Bank Miami FL January 22, 2010
Barnes Banking Company Kaysville UT January 15, 2010
St. Stephen State Bank St. Stephen MN January 15, 2010
Town Community Bank & Trust Antioch IL January 15, 2010
Horizon Bank Bellingham WA January 8, 2010

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By Edmond Lococo and Erik Schatzker

Jan. 12 (Bloomberg) -- US Gold Corp. Chief Executive Officer Rob McEwen said global gold prices may increase to $5,000 an ounce between 2012 and 2014 as rising U.S. government debt weakens the dollar.

“Money supply has expanded so rapidly that there are a lot more dollars looking for a steady home,” McEwen, also founder of Goldcorp Inc., said today in a Bloomberg Television interview. “Governments cannot help themselves. They want to help the economy. They are printing money. They are going into debt on a horrific scale, and that will depreciate the value of the dollar.”

His forecast for gold, which is more than quadruple the current price, represents a “once-in-every-300-years” phenomenon, McEwen said. He maintained his previous forecast that gold will rise to $2,000 an ounce by the end of this year.

Gold futures for February delivery fell $3.60 to $1,147.80 an ounce at 8:27 a.m. on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The price of most-active contracts has risen for nine straight years.

Watch the video by clicking here or cut and past this link into a new browser window:
http://www.bloomberg.com/avp/avp.htm?N=video&T=Robert%20McEwen%20Interview%20on%20Outlook%20for%20Gold%20Prices%20&clipSRC=mms://media2.bloomberg.com/cache/v6ALeGNsOrcc.asf

Robert McEwen Interview on Outlook for Gold Prices
Jan. 12 (Bloomberg) -- Robert McEwen, chairman and chief executive officer of U.S. Gold Corp., talks with Bloomberg's Erik Schatzker and Deirdre Bolton about the outlook for gold prices. McEwen expects gold prices to increase to $5,000 an ounce between 2012 and 2014 as rising U.S. government debt depreciates the value of the dollar.

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Jan 8, 2010: Gold prices rose towards $1 140 (R8 345) an ounce on Friday after December's US non-farm payrolls data missed expectations, dampening expectations a US interest hike may be imminent and pressuring the dollar versus the euro.

Spot gold hit a high of $1 139.40 an ounce in the wake of the data and was bid at $1 135.60 an ounce at 16:13 SA time, against $1 131.40 late in New York on Thursday. Earlier it slipped as low as $1 119.45.

"People were largely going short into the market, and as the non-farm payrolls for December were slightly worse than expected, those shorts were covered," said Michael Widmer, an analyst at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

"The dollar came off quite a lot on the back of it, and that contributed to pushing gold higher," he added.

US gold futures for February delivery on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange rose $3.30 to $1 373.00 an ounce.

The dollar plunged against the euro after data showed US job losses were 85 000 last month, while markets were expecting no cuts.

The numbers dampened burgeoning hopes an economic recovery may be on the way, which might have led to a hike in US interest rates sooner rather than later.

Gold prices have benefited from low interest rates in the last year, which contributed to dollar weakness and cut the opportunity cost of holding non-interest bearing assets.

"The play for gold (this year) is speculating on the move in US interest rates," said Jeremy East, Standard Chartered's global head of commodity derivatives trading. "(The payrolls data) will obviously have an impact on expectations for that."
On the wider markets, oil prices eased after the data, while US stock futures pointed to a lower opening on Wall Street after the report. European shares briefly turned negative after the numbers.

INVESTMENT SOFT

Investment demand for gold-backed exchange-traded funds remained soft after a lacklustre start to the new year. The largest gold ETF, New York's SPDR Gold Trust, reported a further 0.4 tonne dip in its holdings on Thursday.

Its holdings have fallen 10 tonnes in 2010 so far, while those of London-based ETF Securities' gold-backed exchange traded products are down 19 000 ounces in the same period.

Spot silver tracked gold lower to $18.38 an ounce against $18.22. Platinum was at $1 563 an ounce versus $1 554.50, while palladium was at $428 an ounce against $424.

The United States' first platinum and palladium-backed ETPs are due to start trading in New York later on Friday, which will allow US investors to invest in the metals used in autocatalysts via an ETP.

"Both (platinum and palladium) could gain serious traction should ETF investment demand prove strong," James Moore, an analyst at TheBullionDesk.com, said in a note.

Investment appetite for the metals is expected to be firm this year as a turnaround in the global economy lifts car demand. Over half the world's platinum and palladium is consumed by carmakers.

China sold more than 13.5 million vehicles in 2009, the official Xinhua news agency said on Friday, overtaking the United States to become the world's largest auto market as government policy initiatives spurred demand. - Reuters

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By Luca Di Leo and Meena Thiruvengadam
JANUARY 8, 2010, 12:20 P.M. ET

WASHINGTON -- U.S. job losses were higher than expected in December of last year and the unemployment rate remained at a lofty 10%, a sign the labor market has still some way to recover.
Although the November 2009 data was revised to show the U.S. economy added jobs for the first time since the recession began two years earlier, the December payroll number was worse than forecast.

Nonfarm payrolls fell by 85,000 last month, compared with a revised 4,000 gain in November, the Labor Department said Friday.

Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires had expected a payroll decrease of just 10,000. The November figure originally showed an 11,000 drop in payrolls. . .
. . . The central bank's rate-setting committee left interest rates close to zero mid-December in the face of low inflation and still-high unemployment. Since the financial crisis began in 2007, the Fed has slashed its benchmark lending rate from a peak of 5.25%.

Minutes of last month's meeting, released earlier this week, showed that Fed officials remained worried about the labor market's weakness. "Several participants observed that more than one good report would be needed to provide convincing evidence of recovery in the labor market," the December minutes showed.

Fed officials have predicted the unemployment rate will average between 9.3% and 9.7% in the fourth quarter of 2010 due to a slow recovery.

The U.S. economy is expected to have expanded at a healthy pace in the second half of 2009, but the jobs market's weakness, tight bank lending and a fading government stimulus is seen keeping the recovery contained.

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By Moming Zhou, MarketWatch

Jan. 6, 2010, 9:45 a.m. EST

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Gold futures rose Wednesday for a fourth straight session, climbing above $1,130 an ounce on concerns that the ongoing economic recovery could bring higher inflation, increasing gold's investment appeal.

The four-day winning streak, the longest in one month, came after the metal declined more than 7% in December, the biggest monthly loss in 14 months.

Gold for February delivery gained $11.40, or 1%, to $1,130.20 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, after rising to $1,133 an ounce earlier in the session.

"The global economy is improving at a faster pace than expected, and the net result is increased demand for products, which causing a [price] rise in commodities," said Brian Kelly, chief executive of Kanundrum Research, a commodities and macroeconomic research firm.

"Investors are interpreting these price increases as inflationary and are buying gold as a hedge."

Economic data coming out Wednesday reinforced hopes for an economic recovery. Private-sector firms in the U.S. eliminated 84,000 jobs in December, according to the ADP employment report. It was the fewest jobs lost since March 2008.

Wednesday's gains in gold came despite a stronger dollar, which tends to add downward pressure on dollar-denominated commodities. In currencies trading, the dollar index was last up 0.1% at 77.705.

"Strength in gold in the face of a stronger dollar is quite bullish for the yellow metal," Kelly said.

Holdings in the SPDR Gold Trust, the biggest gold exchange-traded fund, stood at 1,128.75 metric tons Tuesday, unchanged from a day ago.

In other metals, March silver gained 1.2% to $18.01 an ounce, March palladium added 0.3% to $423 an ounce and April platinum rose 1.3% to $1,558 an ounce.
March copper gained 1.9% to $3.479 a pound.

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by Alix Steel, 1/6/10

NEW YORK (TheStreet) --

Gold delivery for February was rising $9.60 to $1,128.30 an ounce at the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices have traded as high as $1,133 and as low as $1,116.80 despite a stronger U.S. dollar. The U.S. dollar index was rising 0.14% to $77.75.

Silver prices were rising 20 cents to $18 an ounce while copper was up 6 cents to $3.47.

Investors were turning to riskier assets like commodities ahead of the Federal Reserve's FOMC minutes and Friday's U.S. unemployment number.

In the short term, investors will monitor the Fed's language looking for any hints of an interest rate hike; a better than expected jobs number might also raise the expectation of higher interest rates. Higher rates would quash inflation fears, support a strong U.S. dollar and put pressure on gold prices.

Today's ADP unemployment report showed that nonfarm private jobs decreased 84,000 from November to December. Although this was the smallest decline since March 2008, job losses are still mounting.

"If the numbers come out better than expected [on Friday] it's probably going to reinforce the positive risk trade," argues Nicholas Brooks, head of research and investment strategy for ETF Securities. "Investors are, at the moment, still looking for confirmation that the recovery is durable. I think they will start worrying about the interest rate element further down the line."

Gold prices started off strong Tuesday, touching $1,128 an ounce, but fell throughout the day settling to $1,118.70 as the dollar gained strength. Although worries over an interest rate hike are capping gold's bull run, prices are finding strong support from bargain hunters. "The risk trade seems to be back on again. The VIX is now sitting at its lowest level since 2007," says Brooks. "The dollar is coming off a bit and gold prices are starting to pick up a bit."

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by Alix Steel
1/4/10

NEW YORK -- Gold prices pop in the New Year.

Gold prices continue their inverse correlation to the U.S. dollar as trading resumed in full force Monday. Gold ended 2009 just under $1,100 settling at $1,095 an ounce as the precious metal locked in a 24% gain for the year. "We're starting off very strong [in 2010]....We've got all the technicals back that we were looking for", says George Gero, vice president of global futures at RBC Capital Markets. "We've higher open interest and higher volume....We're back to $1,100 on the low side and probably $1,200 on the upside for this year."

The U.S. dollar index was slipping .61% to $77.39 pushing gold prices higher by $26.60 to $1,122.80 an ounce at the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold delivery for February, the most actively traded contract, has traded as high as $1,124.60 and as low as $1,093.80. A stronger than expected nonfarm payroll report on Friday will boost investor confidence in an economic recovery which could strengthen the U.S. dollar and put pressure on gold prices. Gero says gold could see some short term pressure but he thinks any negativity is already priced in.

Silver prices were rising 55 cents to $17.39 while copper prices were up 6 cents to $3.41.

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By John Glover

Dec. 22 (Bloomberg) -- Investors who bought gold or commodities at the beginning of the decade should have tripled their money by the time the ball drops in New York’s Times Square on Dec. 31. Stock holders will be poorer.

The CHART OF THE DAY shows returns on six asset classes, including reinvested interest or dividends where applicable. A $100 investment in gold would now be more than $380 while the same sum in commodities would have grown to about $357, according to the Standard & Poor’s GSCI Enhanced Total Return Index. Stock investors lost $10 in the decade.

Gold’s nine-year bull market was recently given extra impetus by concern that $12 trillion of government spending to rein in the worst global recession since the 1930s will trigger inflation. China’s thirst for the raw materials needed to fuel its export machine helped push up the price of commodities from copper and lead to plastics and coal.

“That’s fear and greed at the same time,” said Toby Nangle, director of asset allocation at Baring Investment Services Ltd. in London. “The fear of inflation is in the gold price. Commodities and oil show emerging markets emerging, and the rest is the developed markets submerging.”

Holders of U.S. high-grade corporate bonds made a profit of about $90 on their investment, as did Treasury investors, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch index data. Buyers of crude oil saw their $100 turn into $268 after it rose to more than $500 in 2008, based on the futures contract for West Texas Intermediate.

Stocks lost about 10 percent, including reinvested dividends, according to the S&P 500 Total Return Index.

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By The Associated Press 12/21/09 - 10:13 AM EST

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia's Finance Ministry has sold 30 metric tons of gold to the country's Central Bank for $1 billion, an official said Monday, saying the cash will be use to help ease the crisis in the country's budget.

The cash slightly reduces Russia's deficit — reportedly around 7.3 percent of gross domestic product this year. The Central Bank is the only government body mandated to engage in foreign commodity and currency trade.

The deal marks the first large sale of gold from Russian coffers since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Russia is weathering its worst financial crisis in a decade.

Russia's finance minister said in October that Moscow was considering a gold sale on world markets to cash in on high prices as the government faces its first budget deficit in a decade.

A Finance Ministry spokesman said the deal was struck last week. The spokesman, who declined to be identified because he was unauthorized to comment on the deal, would not say what the Central Bank planned to do with the gold, but Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said in October that Moscow was considering selling gold on world markets to cash in on high prices and further replenish the budget.

Bank representatives said they were unaware of the deal.

Russia's gold and foreign currency reserves — the world's third-largest —stood at $443.7 billion as of Dec. 11, according to the Central Bank. The gold reserves stood at some 613 metric tons as of Dec. 1 worth $23 billion.

The Russian government — also a major holder of U.S. dollars — has spoken strongly in favor of diversifying its reserves, but has so far done little to follow through.

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Conditions for gold rally could crush other assets

By V. Phani Kumar & Myra P. Saefong, MarketWatch
Dec. 18, 2009, 10:06 a.m. EST

HONG KONG (MarketWatch) -- Several analysts predict a rise in gold prices to dizzying heights in the next two years, but if those forecasts prove true, even gold bugs will need to stay alert to ensure that gains in the metal aren't overwhelmed by losses on other parts of their portfolio.

That's because the economic conditions under which one would expect gold to thrive resemble an investor's nightmare -- possible hyperinflation, collapse of the U.S. dollar or a surge in yields on Treasuries -- may be conditions under which other asset classes such as fixed income and equities could take a major hit.

"For gold to rise further, people have to continue to be fearful of economic recessionary conditions worsening instead of improving, political developments both at home and globally, and financial markets deteriorating instead of continuing to improve," said Jeffrey Christian, a managing director at CPM Group.

Mark O'Byrne, a director at bullion dealer GoldCore said gold could "rally much higher in the event of another systemic crisis where large banks, corporates and or even countries go bankrupt."

It could also go much higher in the event of serious inflation or stagflation, in the event of a dollar crisis or an international monetary crisis, or a serious geopolitical incident, he said. And "at least one of these scenarios is quite possible in 2010 or 2011."

Those scenarios aren't at all friendly to the rest of an investor's portfolio.

Gold futures rose as high as $1,218 an ounce in early December before sliding back to the low $1,100 area, where it traded on Friday.
The right stuff

A number of analysts say gold could see new highs over the next few years, thanks to the flood of liquidity in the global financial system in the wake of quantitative easing measures by central banks around the world in the wake of last year's financial crisis.

"The right fundamentals for gold ... remain in place and look set to remain in place for the foreseeable future," said O'Byrne. "This makes $3,000 per ounce gold an increasingly likely long-term price target."

Kevin Kerr, president of Kerr Trading International said the precious metal's "more likely to hit $3,000 than $800 in the next two years."

"I am bullish longer term on the U.S. and global economies, but ... I feel the die has been cast for lower fiat currency prices in years to come and a global shift out of the dollar and into commodities as the new reserve currency," he added.

Kerr listed hyperinflation, more job losses in the U.S., negative interest rates for an extended period of time, efforts to price crude oil in currencies other than the U.S. dollar and attempts by China to move a larger part of its foreign currency holdings into gold as conditions that would support a further increase in the yellow metal's prices.

A number of other commentators have also been known for their bullish views on gold.

CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets, for instance, has for a while maintained that gold could hit $3,360 by the end of this decade. Economic analyst Marc Faber, Gluskin Sheff chief economist David Rosenberg, investor Jim Rogers, investment manager David Tice have all been reported in the media as saying that gold prices could reach a range between $2,000 and $3,000.

And Amerifutures managing director Patrick Kerr lists gold purchases by central banks, "the deepest pockets of them all," as one of his 10 reasons why gold could shoot up to between $5,000 and $10,000 an ounce.

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