Volatility in the gold, silver, and crude oil markets has eased in recent weeks. This in large part may be attributed to the summer doldrums, typical of markets in the Northern Hemisphere. Investor activity is reduced as many of the market participants in this region go on vacation. Concerns over Europe’s financial troubles have eased over the past week and second quarter corporate earnings results are coming in better than expected. This may be weighing on gold prices along with the reduced investor activity. Low trading volumes, however, will provide potential for increased volatility should market participants decide to enter or exit positions en masse. Structural problems in developed economies remain and should keep longer term investors interested in gold and silver. Prices for these metals may head lower in August, but perhaps not much lower given the longer term concerns. These next several weeks could provide buying opportunities for both gold and silver. Demand for gasoline has been rising over the past few weeks, which has been supportive of crude oil prices. A move above $80 remains plausible, but support for such an increase may not be as strong in the weeks ahead, given that the current period of seasonally strong demand is about half over.

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