Gold is Money - The Premier Gold and Silver Forum -- Goldismoney - Precious Metals Gold Silver Stocks

Newcrest Facing Scrutiny Over June 7 Disclosure of Writedown. Australia

Ag lining — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 02:37:27 GMT

Sounds like the price of gold is squeezing mining companies significantly. Writing down a loss on gold that cost you more to mine than it is worth. This sounds like it devalued the company.

Can someone with more know how- translate the important points of this article, please?

http://www.businessweek.com/news/201...e-of-writedown

Price Benchmarks Said to Be Rigged in the Foreign Exchange Market

FCX
FREEPORT-MCMORAN COPPER & GOLD INC
$29.57 USD -0.14 -0.47%
NEM
NEWMONT MINING CORP

Newcrest Mining Ltd. (NCM), Australia�s largest gold producer, is facing scrutiny from regulators about its disclosure of a possible A$6 billion ($5.7 billion) writedown after bullion slid into a bear market.

Newcrest, which flagged the charge on June 7 as it halted some of its higher-cost gold mines, received a letter the same day from ASX Ltd., operator of Australia�s main stock exchange, asking why it didn�t halt trading before disclosing the cost, according to a June 12 response from the company. Newcrest�s market value has fallen more than A$2 billion this month to A$8.9 billion at June 14. It lost a further 2.1 percent today.

The Australian Financial Review reported June 15 that Prasad Patkar, who helps manage about A$1.2 billion at Platypus Asset Management Ltd., got an e-mail from an unidentified equity analyst predicting how much gold Newcrest would produce before the company�s official announcement. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission is in discussions with ASX, Andre Khoury, a spokesman for ASIC said today.

Kerrina Watson, a Melbourne-based spokeswoman for Newcrest, had no comment when contacted by phone on June 15. and referred to the company�s June 12 statement.

�Newcrest treats its disclosure obligations seriously and engages with the investment community in a manner consistent with these obligations,� the Melbourne-based company said.

Shares Tumble
Newcrest tumbled 15 percent in the week ended June 7, when it announced the likely A$5 billion to A$6 billion charge and said production would be relatively flat next year as it stopped certain high-cost operations. The company had already flagged the possibility of production cuts and announced a review of all activities in April. It traded 24 cents lower at A$11.33 at 11:21 a.m. in Sydney, as the Australian benchmark index slipped 0.7 percent.

�We are aware of the trading and are in discussions with the ASX,� Khoury said by telephone.

Credit Suisse Group AG, Citigroup Inc. and UBS AG cited likely lower output among the reasons for cutting their ratings on Newcrest in the three days before it announced the result of the review.

Jo Battershill, an analyst at UBS, didn�t respond to an e-mail or message left yesterday on mobile phone. Nor did Michael Slifirski, an analyst at Credit Suisse. Daniel Seeney, an analyst at Citigroup., didn�t respond to an e-mail send yesterday.

�Some sections of the market were clearly aware of something happening, though they may not have had the exact same details,� Patkar said in a June 7 interview with Bloomberg News. He declined to comment yesterday on the AFR story.

Writedown Scale
The scale of Newcrest�s writedown compares with Rio Tinto Group�s $14 billion charge last year against the value of some of its aluminum and coal operations. In 2009, Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (FCX) wrote down the value of its mine assets by $13.1 billion.

Gold has retreated 17 percent this year, making it the third-worst performer on the Standard & Poor�s GSCI gauge of 24 raw materials, curbing revenue for gold miners. While Newcrest plunged 48 percent this year, Barrick Gold Corp. (ABX) has lost 44 percent and Newmont Mining Corp. (NEM) dropped 29 percent.

UBS cut Newcrest to sell from neutral on June 4, citing expected production cuts. Credit Suisse downgraded the stock to underperform from outperform on June 6 amid concern it will lower output and halt expansions. Citigroup cited a shift to focusing on returns and cash generation at the expense of production when it cut Newcrest to sell from neutral on June 5.

Bear Market
Cathy Moises, senior analyst at Evans & Partners Pty Ltd. and the most-accurate Newcrest analyst tracked by Bloomberg, raised the company�s rating to neutral from negative on June 12 even as some banks cut their ratings. Of the five most-accurate analysts tracked by Bloomberg, only one rates Newcrest negatively. Moises declined to comment yesterday.

Gold, which tumbled into a bear market in April, is on track for the first annual drop since 2000. Some investors are losing faith in it as a store of value as the U.S. economy improves and speculation builds that the Federal Reserve may back off quantitative easing. Newcrest said April 23 that it was reviewing its operations because of rising costs and falling prices.

Junior mining stocks see record insider buying

Goldhedge — Tue, 28 May 2013 01:20:49 GMT

Junior mining stocks see record insider buying
DARCY KEITH
The Globe and Mail
Published Tuesday, Apr. 30 2013

Those looking for even more evidence that corporate executives are smelling bargains in the junior mining sector should consider this: Insider buying on the TMX Venture exchange is near a record high.

INK Research’s Venture indicator is at 715 per cent today, just 20 percentage points below its record peak of 735 per cent set on Oct. 27, 2008. That means there are more than seven stocks listed on the exchange with insider buying for every one seeing selling. It also marks a steep increase since early March, when the indicator was near 400 per cent.

Such a high level of buying interest among officers and directors within their own businesses in the resource sector has correctly foreshadowed a recovery in share prices in the past: That high point of nearly five years ago came about six weeks before the Venture market bottomed on Dec. 5, 2008, points out Ted Dixon, INK Research CEO.

The Venture indicator is based on insider transactions over the past 60 days. But INK also has a Venture indicator that covers just the past 30 days of transactions. It’s more volatile, but gives a better sense of the more recent insider activity.

And right now, that shorter-term indicator is painting a picture of corporate insiders scooping up beaten-down shares with little hesitation. The 30-day Venture indicator is at 1,229 per cent today, after reaching a record high on Monday of 1,305 per cent.

The gold sector is clearly driving a lot of the buying enthusiasm. The INK Gold Stock Indicator – which tracks insider buying on all Canadian-listed gold stocks and is heavily influenced by junior miners – has now surpassed its March high and is over 1,000 per cent, according to Mr. Dixon. That’s more than 10 stocks with key insider buying for everyone with selling.

The indicator hit an all-time peak of 1,046 per cent last Thursday.

We’ve attached this PDF of INK Research's latest gold industry report that details the buying and selling activity in the sector by company name over the past 30 and 60 days.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe...ticle11638717/

Do not forget China.

917601 — Sat, 25 May 2013 14:15:48 GMT

China's population is 1,350,000,000...and growing

CONSIDER:

China's Government promotes the purchasing of gold by its citizens.

CONSIDER:

Investment in the Shanghai Stock Exchange has been a sad disappointment; having lost more than -56 percent since 2008, while GOLD SOARED +64 percent.

http://www.gold-eagle.com/cgi-bin/gn/get/forum.html

ABX buying out SLW?

FoundingFathers — Fri, 24 May 2013 16:27:30 GMT

Both stocks are halted pending news.

- Barrick Gold Corp :

* Silver Wheaton shares halted, news pending