The Globe and Mail reports in its Thursday, July 18, edition that Canaccord Genuity analysts, led by Rahul Paul, have slashed their 12-month forecast for gold to $1,350 (U.S.) an ounce from $1,750 (U.S.), and for silver to $23 (U.S.) an ounce from $32.50 (U.S.) (all prices Canadian unless otherwise stated). The Globe's Darcy Keith writes in the Eye On Equities column that longer-term, however, the analysts are optimistic for gold and silver. They see a recovery in the commodity markets taking longer than they had first surmised. Corp. The analysts downgraded Golden Queen Mining ($1.09) to "hold" from "speculative buy" with the target price cut to $1 from $1.65. The average target is $1, according to Bloomberg. In a research note the analysts said, "The (gold price) revisions had significant negative impacts on our underlying valuations for the company's Soledad Mountain open pit, heap leach project (California), and hence our target price." Golden Queen shares have a 52-week range of 75 cents to $3.10.