Next week’s economic highlights include Retail Sales, PPI, the NY Empire State Index, and Business Inventories on Tuesday, CPI, Net Foreign Purchases, Capacity Utilization, Industrial Production, and FOMC minutes on Wednesday, and Building Permits, Housing Starts, Initial Jobless Claims, and the Philadelphia Fed survey on Thursday.

“The growing sense of concern over the stability of the financial system is starting to teeter on the edge of a panic. There remain many, even those within the gold industry, ignorant to the severity of the unfolding financial turmoil. As the education process continues and the significance of situation deepens in severity, the destruction of confidence will translate into greater flow of capital into both gold and silver. Confidence in gold and silver’s monetary integrity is backed up by many attributes including history itself.

Mining stocks have particularly been depressed and further short-term downside risks do remain. The valuations of these mining investments continue to diverge from the current metal prices and future prospects. There will be, sometime in the coming months, the start of a tremendous influx of capital flow into these mining equities. The risk to reward opportunities here are quite incredible. I believe that once these metal prices establish new record highs that will be the likely trigger for many institutional and retail funds to pour into these equities.

Next week gold has the opportunity to build on gains and once again challenge the $1,000 level and potentially higher. Once we break past the prior record levels, I expect the next leg higher to ensue. Is this another false start? Next few weeks will be telling!”- Peter Spina, www.goldforecaster.com