A couple of overnight happenings have helped the precious metals

A couple of overnight happenings have helped the precious metals complex rebound from a few days of downward momentum brought on by worries of a slowing global economy.  The euro has pushed back above the $1.21 mark as an ECB member, Edwald Nowotny, made headlines after his discussion of a potential move by the ECB to grant the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) a banking license. This would essentially allow the ESM to borrow unlimited funds from the ECB in order to inject the likes of Spain with much needed cash to avoid worsening economic turmoil. Apparently there’s been no specific, detailed discussion of such a move and many remain unconvinced that it would ever materialized - central bank deficit financing is not allowed under EU treaties. And if that wasn’t enough to quell the optimism, perhaps the fact that Spanish 10-year bond yields hit yet another record high of 7.75% will bring people back to reality. Here in the states, rumblings of potential Fed action on the stimulus front has also helped the precious metals complex. Gold and silver are up over 1% while platinum and palladium are up roughly 1%. More economic data, with regard to new home sales, will be released at 10:00 am. Tim Geithner is about 20 min into his testimony before the House Financial Services Committee. Have a great day!