Mark O'Byrne's Contributions

European policy makers have failed to build a shield robust enough to prevent a bank run in one country sending others in the bloc deeper into crisis. The risk of a Greek exit is leading policymakers to attempt to create such a shield or buffer according to Reuters.

Investors remain cautious as the world leaders had no specific plan declared for Greece, who will face new elections next month. Leftist leader, Alexis Tsipras said he would meet with other EU leaders and negotiate new terms to keep Greece in the eurozone if he was elected.

Gold fell $22.70 to close at $1,558.60/oz in New York yesterday. Gold edged up in early Asian trading to $1,560/oz prior to renewed selling saw the price fall and gold briefly pierced below support at $1,550/oz prior to a slight bounce higher in early European trading.

Gold fell after shares in Asia were hit by JPMorgan's massive $2 billion loss, political turmoil in the euro zone and also by weak economic data from China. The JP Morgan loss may be higher than $2 billion and could lead to sharper sell offs in markets which could lead to further gold weakness.

Iranians and Arab Spring countries are buying “massive quantities of gold” in order to protect their wealth from political instability and depreciating currencies. Iran boosted imports of gold, jewelry and precious metals from Turkey by 3,692% from $13 million in March a year ago to $480 million in March.

There are increasing calls in Switzerland for transparency regarding the location of the remaining Swiss gold reserves. The Swiss National Bank said overnight that it keeps its gold in “decentralized” locations, according to Walter Meier, a spokesman for the Swiss central bank as reported by Bloomberg.

Gold’s London AM fix this morning was USD 1,662.50, EUR 1,256.61, and GBP 1,021.44 per ounce. Friday's AM fix was USD 1,654.00, EUR 1,250.28 and GBP 1,019.60 per ounce. Gold rose $4.70 or 0.28% in New York on Friday and closed at $1,662.30/oz leading to a 1.24% gain for the week.

Gold fell $1.50 or 0.09% in New York and closed relatively unchanged at $1,650.20/oz yesterday. Gold traded sideways prior to gradually creeping up in late Asian trading. It then gave up those gains in European trading and is nearly unchanged from yesterday’s close in New York.

Each Friday the CFTC publishes aggregate numbers for long and short positions for speculators such as hedge funds and institutional investors, as well as commercial companies that buy or sell futures to protect against price moves. Analysts and investors follow changes in speculators' positions because such transactions can reflect an expectation of a change in prices.

Investors are also still concerned about other peripheral Eurozone economies like Italy and how they might affect the core Eurozone nations. Italy saw its 1 year borrowing costs rise for the first time since November during its sale of short term bills yesterday, ahead of a 3 year bond auction later today.

Gold’s London AM fix this morning was USD 1,643.75, EUR 1,255.92, and GBP 1,037.72 per ounce. Thursday's AM fix was USD 1,622.50, EUR 1,239.21 and GBP 1,022.82 per ounce.

Gold’s London AM fix this morning was USD 1,631.75, EUR 1,239.65, and GBP 1,027.75 per ounce. Yesterday's AM fix was USD 1,674.75, EUR 1,254.03 and GBP 1,044.17 per ounce.

So far in 2012, gold has performed well and is set to end the first quarter in 2012 with gains in all major currencies. Gold is 6.3% higher in US dollars, 3.2% higher in euros, 3.1% higher in pounds, 2.25% higher in Swiss francs and 12% higher in Japanese yen which fell sharply in the quarter.