Gold & Silver Slip as Obama's $825bn Stimulus Approved, Bad Bank & New Fed Policies Proposed

From Chris Mullen at GoldSeek.com...

Gold Prices rose $2.57 an ounce to $901.42 in Asia on Wednesday before dropping to $882.80 by early trade in London.

Spot Gold then climbed back near $900 by midmorning in New York, but it
next fell back off in late morning trade and made a new low of $882.75.

Bouncing in afternoon trade, Gold Prices ended with a loss of 1.1%, while silver fell to end with the same loss for the day.

The Obama administration announced a Bad Bank plan aimed at absorbing
the toxic assets still weighing on financial balance-sheets, helping
bank stocks rise. The World Economic Forum (WEF) now meeting in the
Swiss resort-town of Davos also provided a platform for world leaders
to debate about what they should do about the financial crisis.

The Federal Reserve meantime kept its target rate in a range of 0% to
0.25% –adding that rates will remain low "for some time" – and said it
may be prepared to buy longer-term Treasury bonds.

Jeffrey Lacker dissented from the other 8 voting members, stressing his
preference for buying Treasuries now instead of other, non-government
assets.

The House then voted to approve Obama's $825bn stimulus plan with a large majority.

Crude oil meantime rose slightly despite more inventory builds amongst
US stock-piles. The US Dollar index rose and Treasuries fell while the
Dow, Nasdaq, and S&P rose.

The Gold Price in Euros fell to about €674, platinum closed at $950,
and copper rose slightly to $1.48. Gold Mining and silver equities
traded mostly slightly lower and ended with about 2% losses.

Thursday at 13:30 GMT brings US Durable Goods Orders for December,
expected at -2.0%, plus Initial Jobless Claims for last week expected
at 575,000. Then comes the New Home Sales report for December, expected
at 400,000 annualized.