SP 500 and NDX Futures Daily Charts

VIX had a bit of a pop today, but nothing significant yet.

There is a two day Fed meeting this week.

Gold and Silver Option Expiration Calendar for 2013

I put together a calendar for the gold and silver option expirations based on the Comex contract information.  I looked for one with the usual suspects and could not find it.

The Comes does not have any silver options listed yet for October and November.

I will try and update any changes which they make as they year goes on.

Much Ado About Lease Rates - FOMC and Option Expiration

Here is the update from the LBMA on the Gold Forwards.

It shows little change, and even a slight increase today Monday.

The LBMA do not update LIBOR in real time, but do so with a lag. 

I did not see anything untoward in the LIBOR rates on another site, so I suspect that Kitco will be revising their charts sometime.

The only negative I see for gold is that this is an FOMC week.  And of course today is the February Option Expiration on the Comex.

The expiration date for the February 2013 options contract for Copper Option (HX), Gold Option (OG), and Silver Option (SO) is Monday, January 28, 2013.

I would not mind hearing an explanation for those Kitco gold lease prices chart from either Kitco or Sharefin.

Kitco Shows Recent Plunge to Negative In Gold Lease Rates

Here is what they are showing.

I am wondering if Kitco did not use a bad LIBOR quote in calculating this.

As you may recall the lease rate calculation is LIBOR - GOFO (Gold Forward Offered Rates) = Lease Rate.

A drop in lease rates like this might presage a sell off attempt in gold, or an influx of leased gold to meet some short term delivery pressures or demands for allocation from unallocated sources.

Here is something I wrote about this in the past, when lease rates had dropped.

I suspect Kitco may have miscalculated the data by using a bad LIBOR number, but lets see what happens tomorrow, and I'll do the math myself if they do not correct this.

PS. Later, a reader informs me that he thinks they did miscalculate.  I will give it a day.