Thanks to Cyprus and a few other factors, gold and silver have both experienced yet another week of heavy losses. Most investors thought that last week’s decline was something awful, but this week was flat-out much worse. Despite US economic data that should be beneficial for the yellow metal, gold and silver have hit the ground running yet again. Now many are wondering when this landslide is going to stop.

Cyprus…Again

Unless you have an incredibly short memory, you likely remember the Cyprus financial situation that happened only  few weeks ago. The small, European nation was in dire need of a bailout and thanks to the EU, IMF, and well-off bank depositors they got it. Everyone was happy and we moved on with our lives, but it seems as though Cyprus is not done just yet.

It turns out that the bailout the nation received was not nearly large enough, and in order to increase their funds without begging the EU again was to sell off their gold holdings. To most this makes a lot of sense, but no one had anticipated that they would sell well over three fourths of their gold. This absolutely massive sell-off was enough to kill the value of gold on the market.

Bargain Hunting Season

Due to the huge hit gold and silver suffered on the last day of the week, it is undoubtedly bargain season for prospective investors everywhere. It has been quite some time since gold was nearing the $1,400s and unless something stops this fall, we will see some of the lowest values in years.

This is making investors very angry but is making the average person who was looking for a reason to invest the impetus they need. As we endure this weekend, it will be incredibly interesting to see how gold reacts at the start of next week. Last week, decent gains on Friday had many thinking that this week was going to be extremely positive for precious metals, but this turned out to be a false assumption. While gold did remain relatively still during the early parts of this week, this Cyprus news was enough for a collapse like we saw at the end of the day on Friday of this week.

Moving Ahead

As we move into the next week, it is important that we keep our attention fixated on a number of different developing stories around the world. For one, we will need to pay attention to North Korea as they continue to make threats to a variety of different countries around the world.

Additionally, it will be interesting to see whether gold or silver can pick up from these losses and move forward. Bargain hunters are going to get their fill this weekend and Monday and the early parts of next week may see gold and silver benefit from that.

Weekly Move

Gold started the week at $1,582 and on Friday finished at $1,479. This was a loss of $103. Silver started at $27.32 and ended at $26.13. A loss of $1.26.