From Ed Steer:

Gold did virtually nothing in Far East trading yesterday...but the moment that the Hong Kong market closed, a smallish rally began in London, that promptly got crushed on the Comex open...and that was it for the day. Estimated volume was a very light 59,914 contracts, with a switch effect of 7,968.

Silver's path was similar. The low in the Far East was at the close of trading in Hong Kong, but silver's subsequent rally got stepped on about 11:30 a.m. in London...about a half an hour before the London silver fix. The silver price never recovered after that.

Both metals have been trading in a range so far this week. There hasn't been a lot of volume in either metal, so I'm not overly concerned about the bulls and bears slugging it out. If it was on huge volume, it would be really bearish news. It's certainly true that every breakout has never been allowed to get far, but the set-up in both metals [particularly silver] is excellent. The only potential fly-in-the-ointment I can see, is that pesky 200-day moving average in gold. Will they or won't they? Can they or can't they?

Open interest for Tuesday showed gold o.i. up a smallish 692 contracts to 336,930 contracts. In silver, o.i. was up another largish 1,064 contracts to 94,568. Silver's o.i. is up a bit over 3,000 contracts in just the last two days. I hope the COT will shine a light of explanation on this when it's updated tomorrow afternoon at 3:30 p.m. Eastern.

The Comex Delivery Report for Wednesday showed that 178 contracts were delivered in gold...and eight contracts delivered in silver. Comex warehouse silver stocks were up a breathtaking 993 ounces yesterday...one whole good delivery bar. No changes in GLD, SLV or U.S. Mint stocks.

In other gold news, the usual New York commentator had the following to report on Wednesday..."The European Central Bank's weekly statement of condition indicated a drop in 'gold and gold receivables' of a derisory €3.0 million....4,374 ounces...or 0.14 tonnes. This was said to be caused by a sale by one of the captive central banks. Last week's sale was reported at 0.63 tonnes. As expected, the 35.5 tonne sale by the ECB itself...announced at [March] month-end...has not hit up. On past form, it will not do so for several more weeks. This morning The Gartman Letter went short gold at $891...and Harry Schultz's Gold Charts R Us, suggested shorting gold to protect gold share holdings. Both of these observers emphasized the short-term nature of these moves." [Short term it would be! One wonders if gold's 200-day moving average will play any part in this? Time will tell - Ed]

I've got four stories today. The first two are from India and both have to do with the disastrous situation that some Indian farmers find themselves in today. The first story is from Nation Public Radio and is entitled "Green Revolution Trapping India's Farmers in Debt". Back in the 60s and 70s, Indian farmers abandoned traditional farming methods and started growing crops the American way--with chemicals and high-yield seeds and irrigation. But studies show the "Green Revolution" is heading for collapse. I thank Craig McCarty for the story and the link is here.

The next [and related] story is from The Independent in the U.K. It bears the grim title of "1,500 farmers commit mass suicide in India"...after being driven into debt by crop failure. I once again thank Craig McCarty for the story, and the link is here.

In a Reuters story poster over at Kitco, comes this gold-related item. I ran a similar one on California last week. This one's from South America. The article is entitled "Global crisis sparks gold rush in Brazil's Amazon" and the link is here.

The last piece is also from Kitco and is commentary by goldmoney.com's James Turk. It's entitled "Don't 'Invest' in Gold - Save it". It's certainly worth the read...and the link is here.

I believe that our federal government has become oppressive in its size, its intrusion into the lives of our citizens, and its interference with the affairs of our state. That is why I am here today to express my unwavering support for efforts all across our country to reaffirm the states’ rights affirmed by the Tenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. I believe that returning to the letter and spirit of the U.S. Constitution...and its essential 10th Amendment...will free our state from undue regulations, and ultimately strengthen our Union. - Texas Governor Rick Perry...Austin, Texas...09 April 2009

As my regular readers are aware, Saturday morning's rant includes a 'blast from the past.' Well, there will certainly be one this weekend...but yesterday I received so many e-mails about the following youtube.com video, that I decided that this one couldn't wait, and I'm running it now. The first week of England's smash TV series Britain's Got Talent for 2009 got started last Saturday night. I won't say a word of introduction...but turn up your speakers and then click here!

I note that the Fed's Beige Book report shows that the U.S. economy is still contracting everywhere. From the King Report this morning..."US industrial production for March declined 1.5% m/m and 12.8% y/y. This is the biggest y/y decline since the end of WWII. Q1 industrial production collapsed 20% annualized. Since the recession ‘officially’ commenced in December 2007, industrial production is down 13.3% and factory production has declined 15.7%, which is also the largest decline since the end of WWII. Capacity Utilization fell to 69.3% in March. This is the lowest reading in the history of the series, which began in 1967." And there are reports from eurointelligence.com that German GDP could have fallen by 11.5% annualized during Q1.

The good news is that the recession is over! The bad news is that the "greater depression" has begun.

See you tomorrow.

Casey Research correspondent-at-large Ed Steer is a keen observer of the financial scene and a board member of GATA.org.