I Ran into the Governor Yesterday...

Morning Miners!

It is 5:53 AM and the sun is shining in Eureka! I ran into the Governor yesterday while I was walking my dog, Loquita. He had just arrived at the Opera House for a town hall meeting. The ole Colonel sensed the Governor might be asking me for more money so Loquita and I walked down to Raine's to buy some salted peanuts.


I did look forward to the Natural Resources Advisory Commission monthly meeting last night. Jake Tibbitts and the boys had a lively discussion and Kathy kept everyone in the corral. The topics included a passel of new legislation; the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act, Clean Water Restoration Act, Hard Rock Mining and Reclamation Act of 2009 and the Blair Holt's Firearm Licensing and Record of Sale Act. Pardner, if you think the government is in your back forty just wait, they'll be sitting at your table for dinner before you can spell R-E-G-U-L-A-T-I-O-N!

By the by, Jake is looking for someone to fill a vacancy to represent mining in Eureka County. Member Carl Wagner has apparently left to work at Kennecott in Arizona. If you're interested, give Jake a holler (natresmgr@eurekanv.org).

During the Public Comment & Discussion, I introduced myself to the members I didn't know already know and asked for their input on this report. The Colonel has been kicking around the idea of adding a "Rancher's Corner" together with some related daily market data and links. I look forward to their input and yours.

International news is really a bruiser this morning and markets are going in the tank around the world. For starters:

"Steep declines in the economies of three of the U.S.'s biggest trading partners -- Mexico, Japan and Germany -- underscored the severity of the global recession and put pressure on major industrialized nations to revive moribund global trade talks" (WSJ, 5/21/09)

Recent data shows that Mexico's GDP sank 21.5% for the first quarter of this year and Japan dropped 15.2%, the worst since 1955. If that isn't bad enough it looks as though the U.K. might be ready to sell the Queen's crown jewels:

"Ratings agency Standard & Poor's shocked investors Thursday with a formal warning that the U.K. must get its finances in order or lose its coveted triple-A credit rating, underscoring the monumental challenges the country faces as it seeks to dig its economy out from under the wreckage of the financial crisis." (WSJ, 5/21/09)

Tomorrow, the ole Colonel will reveal his gold price predictions given all the global events coming at us. To that end checkout this last bit of news from India:

"MUMBAI -- India, the world's largest importer of gold, turned net exporter for the first time, exporting 20 metric tons during the quarter ended Mar. 31, the World Gold Council said Wednesday...India usually imports 700 to 800 tons of gold annually." (WSJ, 5/21/09)

What's it all mean? Stay tuned buckaroos!

Enough talk, let's walk the walk:

Oil is down $1.68 at $60.36 (July contract). Gold is up $3.0 to $940.4 (June contract); Silver keeps above $14 at $14.210; Copper is down 0.0735 to $2.033 (July contract); Molybdenum holds at $10.25.

The DOW is down 122 points to 8300.26; the S&P 500, down 12.23 points to 891.24. The miners wish they stayed in the bunk today:

Barrick (ABX) $35.51 down 1.96%
Newmont (NEM) $44.52 down 2.26%
General Moly (Eureka Moly, LLC) (GMO) $1.69 down 5.59%
Freeport McMoran (FCX) $48.38 down 3.24% (a bellwether mining stock spanning gold, copper & molybdenum)

Steel stocks are in the scrap heap (a "tell" for General Moly):

Nucor (NUE) $39.38 down 3.03% - domestic steel manufacturing
ArcelorMittal (MT) $28.92 down 3.98% - global steel producer
POSCO (PKX) $81.05 down 4.16%- South Korean integrated steel producer

The Eureka Miner's Grubstake Portfolio is down 2.78%

Cheers,

Colonel Possum