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- Precious Metals And Miners Bottoming As Facebook Debut Flops
- The Pound Continues To Break Down
- Bottoming Process Or Bearish Acceleration?
- Corvus Reports More High-Grade Results from North Bullfrog
- Greg Weldon 5-22
- So What's Up with the Gold Price?
- Euro Index Breaks Support
- MAP6-Euro-BRICS special! Euro-BRICS Partnership : The path to the world after the crisis, by Franck Biancheri
- Gold Prices Could Tumble if Dollar Soars
- Europe’s ‘New Austerity’ – The Cheesecake Diet
- Summer Stackin: Seasonal Gold Charts
- Rare Earth Juniors Should Applaud China: Michael Silver
- ECB: decrease of oz815,88 in gold and gold receivables
- James K. Galbraith: We Told You So
- John Embry - Banks Are Loaning Out “Allocated” Gold
- Gold Bubble? Demand Data Continues To Show No Bubble
- Calculating the Odds that Greece Sails Away
- Bullion Follows Weaker Euro as Greece Concerns Mount
- The Real Price of Gold Holds the Cards
- Gold Cheaper in Real Terms Now Than it Was at $400, Wits Gold's Adam Fleming Says
- Three King World News Blog/Interviews
- Swiss Parliament Examines ‘Gold Franc’ Currency on Tuesday
- Gold lives! — An interview with Bill Murphy
- Hedge funds re-evaluate gold’s potential
- Debt The First 5000 years. Great Interview
- Suitcase full of gold plated babies found
| Precious Metals And Miners Bottoming As Facebook Debut Flops Posted: 23 May 2012 05:58 AM PDT By Jeb Handwerger: We are witnessing a few cautionary signs that indicate a radically overbought U.S. equity (SPY) and U.S. bond market (TLT). Stealthily, the gold (GLD), silver (SLV) and mining equities (GDX) are bottoming. The strong uptrend in the equity markets since October of 2011 has caused many investors to join the herd in the latest investment fad entitled "social media." Take a look at Groupon (GRPN), Zynga (ZNGA), LinkedIn (LNKD), etc. Their vogue will not last forever. Sentiment for the social media sector may be reaching an euphoric extreme, while the mining stocks have fallen into public disfavor. The gold and silver miners (SIL) are bottoming at historic low valuations while the initial public offering of Facebook (FB) is valued at 100 times trailing earnings. This is an abiding concern of ours. This eerily reminds us of the dot-com bubble in 2000. Recall a company such as "theglobe.com" which made the Complete Story » | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The Pound Continues To Break Down Posted: 23 May 2012 05:23 AM PDT By Dr. Duru: The pound continues to flunk the test of a safe haven currency. Both the yen and the U.S. dollar have been soundly beating out the currency for the entire month of May - for example, CurrencyShares British Pound Sterling Trust (FXB). Those beatings have accelerated along with the worsening crisis in the eurozone. The chart below shows multiple breakdowns against the U.S. dollar (GBP/USD). The former uptrend broke just as the currency pair broke below the 50-day moving average (DMA). This week, GBP/USD broke decisively below the 200DMA. (click to enlarge) The pound continues to break down. Source: FreeStockCharts.com. The weakening of the Complete Story » | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bottoming Process Or Bearish Acceleration? Posted: 23 May 2012 05:02 AM PDT By Chris Ciovacco: On May 6 with the S&P 500 trading at 1,369, we presented evidence of slowing bullish momentum. Thus far, we have seen little in the way of hard evidence to suggest a bottom was reached last Friday. However, we have seen enough to suggest remaining open to a bottoming process unfolding over the next one to three weeks. The global markets continue to monitor the battle between inflationary forces (money printing, deficit spending) and deflationary forces (writedowns and defaults). You need to look no further than the $16 drop in gold Wednesday morning to understand the markets continue to bet on deflationary outcomes in the short-to-intermediate term. Said another way, the market is not expecting bold moves from the ECB this week or a sudden change of heart in Germany. Not surprisingly, Germany has tempered the market's expectations for significant policy initiatives coming from Europe this week. From the Wall Complete Story » | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Corvus Reports More High-Grade Results from North Bullfrog Posted: 23 May 2012 04:52 AM PDT Vancouver, B.C. – Corvus Gold Inc. ("Corvus" or the "Company") – (TSX: KOR, OTCQX: CORVF) is pleased to announce the latest results from diamond drilling in the Yellow Jacket Zone at the Company's 100%, North Bullfrog Project near Beatty, Nevada. Hole NB-12-138, which is outside the current in-pit resource as reported in the Preliminary Economic Assessment (NR 12-07, Feb.28, 2012) is the fifth core hole to be drilled in the Yellow Jacket Zone that encountered high-grade gold mineralization (Table 1). This latest intersection returned three separate high-grade intervals with the best being 16.2g/t (0.47 ozs/t) gold and 1,218 g/t (35.5 ozs/t) silver over 5.4 metres including 2.1 metres of 33.0 g/t (0.96 ozs/t) gold and 2,870 g/t (83.7 ozs/t) silver within quartz veined hydrothermal breccia. These high-grade intervals have elevated selenium and tellurium values similar to those reported in the silver-rich gold mineralization found at the historic Bullfrog Mine approximately 10 km's to the south of North Bullfrog. High selenium values are an important characteristic at the Ken Snyder deposit in northern Nevada. The results continue to confirm the continuity of the structurally controlled, high-grade gold mineralization previously reported from this area (NR12-10, Mar. 22, 2012) and open up an attractive new high-grade gold and silver target at depth. Jeff Pontius, Corvus Gold CEO states: "The high-grade gold and silver mineralization encountered in NB-12-138 continues to confirm our covered, feeder zone target concept, opening up significant potential for expanding this very attractive zone of mineralization. This style of high-grade mineralization has produced exceptional deposits throughout Nevada and we are excited about further defining its potential on the North Bullfrog project." Table 1 Significant intercepts* from diamond drill hole NB-12-138
*Intercepts calculated with 1 g/t cutoff and up to 0.35 m of internal waste. Yellow Jacket High-Grade System Analysis The Yellow Jacket target is in the northern part of the district currently outside existing pit perimeters (Figure 1). Five diamond drill holes along the Yellow Jacket structural corridor have intersected an extensive structural zone with multiple styles of gold mineralization including both quartz veining and pyrite replacement of iron-rich lithologies. The style of quartz veining found in NB-12-138, which includes colloform and crustiform quartz, is different from that found in the other holes and represents a more dynamic and productive part of the Yellow Jacket feeder zone system. These new veins are associated with multistage hydrothermal breccias with the highest grades associated with visible gold and acanthite, a high-grade silver mineral. Prior to this intersection, most of the observed quartz veining hosting high-grade gold has been relatively uniform textured milky grey quartz with pyrite which may have been distal to the more dynamic hydrothermal zone intercepted in hole NB-12-138. This current high-grade zone displays evidence of very active boiling at depth and bodes well for discovery of more elevation controlled high-grade mineralization at depth along this broad, +2 kilometre long structural target. 
The current North Bullfrog program drilling is focussing on infill drilling, advanced metallurgical work and environmental baseline characterization studies in conjunction with a completion of a feasibility study by early 2013 on the Mayflower deposit. The recently completed financing has now provided the Company with the financial resources needed to rapidly advance the mine development assessment of the North Bullfrog area as well as continued exploration of this major new high-grade Nevada gold discovery. About the North Bullfrog Project, Nevada Corvus controls 100% of its North Bullfrog Project, which covers approximately 43 km² in southern Nevada just north of the historic Bullfrog gold mine formerly operated by Barrick Gold. The property package is made up of a number of leased patented federal mining claims and 461 federal unpatented mining claims. The project has excellent infrastructure, being adjacent to a major highway and power corridor. The Company and its independent consultants completed a robust positive Preliminary Economic Assessment on the existing resource in February 2012. The project currently includes numerous prospective gold targets with four (Mayflower, Sierra Blanca, Jolly Jane and Connection) containing an NI 43-101 compliant estimated Indicated Resource of 15 Mt at an average grade of 0.37 g/t gold for 182,577 ounces of gold and an Inferred Resource of 156 Mt at 0.28 g/t gold for 1,410,096 ounces of gold (both at a 0.2 g/t cutoff), with appreciable silver credits. Mineralization occurs in two primary forms: (1) broad stratabound bulk-tonnage gold zones such as the Sierra Blanca and Jolly Jane systems; and (2) moderately thick zones of high-grade gold and silver mineralization hosted in structural feeder zones with breccias and quartz-sulphide vein stockworks such as the Mayflower and Yellowjacket targets. The Company is actively pursuing both types of mineralization. A video of the North Bullfrog project showing location, infrastructure access and 2010 winter drilling is available on the Company's website at http://www.corvusgold.com/investors/video/. Qualified Person and Quality Control/Quality Assurance Jeffrey A. Pontius (CPG 11044), a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101, has supervised the preparation of the scientific and technical information (other than the resource estimate) that form the basis for this news release and has approved the disclosure herein. Mr. Pontius is not independent of Corvus, as he is the CEO and holds common shares and incentive stock options. Mr. Gary Giroux, M.Sc., P. Eng (B.C.), a consulting geological engineer employed by Giroux Consultants Ltd., has acted as the Qualified Person, as defined in NI 43-101, for the Giroux Consultants Ltd. mineral resource estimate. He has over 30 years of experience in all stages of mineral exploration, development and production. Mr. Giroux specializes in computer applications in ore reserve estimation, and has consulted both nationally and internationally in this field. He has authored many papers on geostatistics and ore reserve estimation and has practiced as a Geological Engineer since 1970 and provided geostatistical services to the industry since 1976. Both Mr. Giroux and Giroux Consultants Ltd. are independent of the Company under NI 43-101. The work program at North Bullfrog was designed and supervised by Russell Myers (CPG 11433), President of Corvus, and Mark Reischman, Corvus Nevada Exploration Manager, who are responsible for all aspects of the work, including the quality control/quality assurance program. On-site personnel at the project log and track all samples prior to sealing and shipping. Quality control is monitored by the insertion of blind certified standard reference materials and blanks into each sample shipment. All resource sample shipments are sealed and shipped to ALS Chemex in Reno, Nevada, for preparation and then on to ALS Chemex in Reno, Nevada, or Vancouver, B.C., for assaying. ALS Chemex's quality system complies with the requirements for the International Standards ISO 9001:2000 and ISO 17025:1999. Analytical accuracy and precision are monitored by the analysis of reagent blanks, reference material and replicate samples. Finally, representative blind duplicate samples are forwarded to ALS Chemex and an ISO compliant third party laboratory for additional quality control. McClelland Laboratories Inc. prepared composites from duplicated RC sample splits collected during drilling. Bulk samples were sealed on site and delivered to McClelland Laboratories Inc. by ALS Chemex or Corvus personnel. All metallurgical testing reported here was conducted or managed by McClelland Laboratories Inc. About Corvus Gold Inc. Corvus Gold Inc. is a resource exploration company, focused in Nevada, Alaska and Quebec, which controls a number of exploration projects representing a spectrum of early-stage to advanced gold projects. Corvus is focused on advancing its 100% owned Nevada, North Bullfrog project towards a potential development decision and continuing to explore for new major gold discoveries. Corvus is committed to building shareholder value through new discoveries and leveraging noncore assets via partner funded exploration work into carried and or royalty interests that provide shareholders with exposure to gold production. On behalf of (signed) Jeffrey A. Pontius Contact Information: Ryan Ko Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (collectively, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian and US securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein including, without limitation, statements regarding the anticipated content, commencement and cost of exploration programs, anticipated exploration program results, the discovery and delineation of mineral deposits/resources/reserves, the potential for any mining or production at North Bullfrog, the potential for the identification of multiple deposits at North Bullfrog, the potential for a low-cost run-of-mine heap leach operation at North Bullfrog, the potential for there to be a low strip ratio in connection with any mine at North Bullfrog, the potential for the existence or location of additional high-grade veins, the proposed completion of a PEA for the North Bullfrog project, the potential for additional resources to be located between certain of the existing deposits, the potential for the Company to secure or receive any royalties in the future, business and financing plans and business trends, are forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes that such statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words such as: believe, expect, anticipate, intend, estimate, postulate and similar expressions, or are those, which, by their nature, refer to future events. The Company cautions investors that any forward-looking statements by the Company are not guarantees of future results or performance, and that actual results may differ materially from those in forward looking statements as a result of various factors, including, but not limited to, variations in the nature, quality and quantity of any mineral deposits that may be located, variations in the market price of any mineral products the Company may produce or plan to produce, the Company's inability to obtain any necessary permits, consents or authorizations required for its activities, the Company's inability to produce minerals from its properties successfully or profitably, to continue its projected growth, to raise the necessary capital or to be fully able to implement its business strategies, and other risks and uncertainties disclosed in the Company's latest interim Management Discussion and Analysis and filed with certain securities commissions in Canada. All of the Company's Canadian public disclosure filings may be accessed via www.sedar.com and readers are urged to review these materials, including the technical reports filed with respect to the Company's mineral properties. Cautionary Note Regarding References to Resources and Reserves National Instrument 43 101 – Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101") is a rule developed by the Canadian Securities Administrators which establishes standards for all public disclosure an issuer makes of scientific and technical information concerning mineral projects. Unless otherwise indicated, all resource estimates contained in or incorporated by reference in this press release have been prepared in accordance with NI 43-101 and the guidelines set out in the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (the "CIM") Standards on Mineral Resource and Mineral Reserves, adopted by the CIM Council on November 14, 2004 (the "CIM Standards") as they may be amended from time to time by the CIM. United States shareholders are cautioned that the requirements and terminology of NI 43-101 and the CIM Standards differ significantly from the requirements and terminology of the SEC set forth in the SEC's Industry Guide 7 ("SEC Industry Guide 7"). Accordingly, the Company's disclosures regarding mineralization may not be comparable to similar information disclosed by companies subject to SEC Industry Guide 7. Without limiting the foregoing, while the terms "mineral resources", "inferred mineral resources", "indicated mineral resources" and "measured mineral resources" are recognized and required by NI 43-101 and the CIM Standards, they are not recognized by the SEC and are not permitted to be used in documents filed with the SEC by companies subject to SEC Industry Guide 7. Mineral resources which are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability, and US investors are cautioned not to assume that all or any part of a mineral resource will ever be converted into reserves. Further, inferred resources have a great amount of uncertainty as to their existence and as to whether they can be mined legally or economically. It cannot be assumed that all or any part of the inferred resources will ever be upgraded to a higher resource category. Under Canadian rules, estimates of inferred mineral resources may not form the basis of a feasibility study or prefeasibility study, except in rare cases. The SEC normally only permits issuers to report mineralization that does not constitute SEC Industry Guide 7 compliant "reserves" as in-place tonnage and grade without reference to unit amounts. The term "contained ounces" is not permitted under the rules of SEC Industry Guide 7. In addition, the NI 43-101 and CIM Standards definition of a "reserve" differs from the definition in SEC Industry Guide 7. In SEC Industry Guide 7, a mineral reserve is defined as a part of a mineral deposit which could be economically and legally extracted or produced at the time the mineral reserve determination is made, and a "final" or "bankable" feasibility study is required to report reserves, the three-year historical price is used in any reserve or cash flow analysis of designated reserves and the primary environmental analysis or report must be filed with the appropriate governmental authority. Caution Regarding Adjacent or Similar Mineral Properties This news release contains information with respect to adjacent or similar mineral properties in respect of which the Company has no interest or rights to explore or mine. The Company advises US investors that the mining guidelines of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") set forth in the SEC's Industry Guide 7 ("SEC Industry Guide 7") strictly prohibit information of this type in documents filed with the SEC. Readers are cautioned that the Company has no interest in or right to acquire any interest in any such properties, and that mineral deposits on adjacent or similar properties are not indicative of mineral deposits on the Company's properties. This press release is not, and is not to be construed in any way as, an offer to buy or sell securities in the United States.
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| Posted: 23 May 2012 04:46 AM PDT Greg Weldon analyzes Gold and how it could be affected both positively and negatively by macroeconomic events and policy. Learn more about Greg's work and research here.  Greg Weldon started his Wall Street career working in the Comex Gold and Silver Pits after graduating Colgate University. He progressed as an institutional sales broker at Lehman and Prudential before joining Moore Capital as a proprietary trader. At Moore, Greg honed his systematic trading methodology and risk management discipline before joining Commodity Corporation where he became one of their top risk-adjusted money managers. Today, he publishes Weldon's Money Monitor, The Metal Monitor and The ETF Playbook in addition to operating his Managed Futures Account Program as a CTA. He has a unique ability to define and forecast the market's direction through his proprietary dissection of fundamental and technical market data. Few publications offer the wide scope offered within the macro-perspective presented by Greg, and few newsletters so fluidly combine fundamentals, technical analysis, inter-market examinations, psychology, and intuitive insights as does Weldon's Money Monitor… stacking macro-trends against the micro-evolution taking place. Weldon Financial is now a highly regarded and profitable publishing company, having garnered some of the world's most respected fund managers as loyal and daily readers. Greg has been featured on CNBC Power Lunch and Fast Money, Moneytalks on the Corus Radio Network, Bloomberg radio and has been featured, as a global macro speaker, at several international financial conferences and mentioned in several articles and investment websites. Greg published, Gold Trading Boot Camp, How to Master the Basics and Become a Successful Commodities Investor, in late 2006 in which he predicted the current global credit crisis and discussed the impact on GOLD from intensified central bank debt monetization.
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| So What's Up with the Gold Price? Posted: 23 May 2012 04:41 AM PDT The Euro has become a very odd, very toxic asset... | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Posted: 23 May 2012 04:25 AM PDT SOUTHEAST TEXAS – From the Chart Book. The Euro Index reflects the wages of uncertainty. Now below 126, instead of confidence the chart shows contempt for all things Europe – for good reason. Wealth wants out of the Euro without delay – the only reason for USD strength. Continued… Euro Index, 3 years, weekly. Witness the slow motion train wreck underway across The Pond. The Euro Index has broken obvious support and has reached the area of the chart which suggests an air pocket or trap door (to as low as 120 or so), unless the breakdown is immediately corrected. Traders should be exceptionally careful, however. Short Euro is a very crowded, one-way trade that could reverse explosively on even marginally "good" news for the Euro. While confusion rules gold and silver are merely easy sources for the rush to liquidity on right now, but ultimately the trouble indicated by the chart above just about has to be very supportive for gold and silver. Wealth will seek safe harbor and soon, we believe. We may be on hiatus at the moment, but we are keeping tabs on the markets and checking in from time to time. Hold down the fort; help is on the way, as evidenced by the relatively strong performance of the AMEX Gold Bugs Index as of mid-day today (GLD -1.4%, SLV -2.9% but the HUI is near flat at 405 and catching a bid). | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Posted: 23 May 2012 04:22 AM PDT Edito MAP6-Euro-BRICS Special - May 2012  A Euro-BRICS special issue of MAP in partnership with Moscow's MGIMO University Download MAP6-Euro-BRICS special (free) With this special MAP issue devoted to future Euro-BRICS co-operation, LEAP/E2020 continues its exploration of the path which leads to the world after the crisis. In this case, with the Euro-BRICS partnership it's a question of anticipating the processes which will make it possible to build twenty first century governance and allow a peaceful rebalancing of relations between the planet's key powers. If we have chosen to publish this number right after the French presidential election, it's not by chance. Indeed, Nicolas Sarkozy's defeat marks the end of France's Americanist interlude which led the country to completely align itself with the geopolitical positions of the Washington/London/Tel Aviv axis for the last 5 years. François Hollande's victory, on the contrary, marks not only the return to a Gaullist-Mitterand geopolitical vision (a vision of an independent Europe, but also the assertion of the necessity, even the urgency, for exploring new relations with the BRICS. As one can see in this MAP number, Euro-BRICS co-operation is already well advanced in many fields (science, technology, economy…) but it is still missing a clear politico-diplomatic frame of reference which alone will enable this relationship to have a constructive impact on the world's progress. Germany already opened up the way in 2011 at the UN Security Council in connection with Libyan military intervention, with China, Russia and Brazil abstaining. But, because of the Americanist positions taken by France, nothing structural could emerge on the issue of furthering Euroland and the BRICS' common interests. However, from the world economic and financial crisis to the Euroland sovereign debt crisis via Western military adventures' obvious dead end, the areas of convergence between Europeans on the one hand, and Russians, Chinese, Indians, Brazilians and South Africans on the other, are numerous. And the change of power in France will justly allow Euroland, or at least a core of pioneer countries around the Franco-German pair, to lay down the bases of a true Euro-BRICS strategic partnership by 2013. Of course, as in any partnership, there are also many areas of friction and disagreements exist. But it's precisely for this reason that such a dialogue is necessary. If a Euro-BRICS politico-diplomatic frame of reference existed, tensions over the European carbon tax on non-European airline companies would not have poisoned relations for months between Brussels on the one hand, and Beijing, Moscow, New Delhi on the other. Indeed, a "facilitator" would have been nominated at European level a long time ago to find common ground between the various partners, in particular at International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) level, instead of letting the European Commission force the EU into an intolerable position in the long term. The facilitator would thus be able to circumvent the ideological attitude of the Commissioner in charge of the case, Connie Hedegaard (1), and avoid the rising strength of a confrontation which can only do a disservice to co-operation between Europe and the BRICS. Beyond this example, and those of numerous Euro-BRICS bilateral cooperation, it's certainly within the G20 that the role of such a partnership will make itself felt from 2013. On the questions of the reform of the international monetary system and in particular the world's reserve currency, just as over the problems of control of the major private financial players, Euroland and the BRICS have strongly convergent strategic interests. And together, they constitute the bulk of the G20. Therefore, it's from them and them alone that a vision of the world after the crisis can come to the fore; and the force to carry it out. Because as LEAP/E2020 has emphasized from 2009 and the London G20 summit, without a questioning of the US Dollar's role and strict control of the major private financial institutions, there will be no possible exit from the crisis. However, in this month of May 2012, for the first time since the beginning of the world crisis, conditions appear to us to have now come together to be able to move quickly forward as regards Euro-BRICS strategic co-operation and thus to improve the chances of overcoming the current crisis. Along with all the MAP team we hope, therefore, that this special MAP issue will help to give you an idea of the path to take in the coming years; and offer you a clearer vision of the major geopolitical changes that the next few years will bring compared to the world we have known since 1945. One last point, this special MAP Euro-BRICS issue will be available not only in French, English, German and Spanish as usual; but also in Portuguese, Russian and Chinese. --------- Notes: (1) About this topic, I would like to stress that the same Connie Hedegaard, Danish Minister for Environment at this time, had to leave the Presidency of the Copenhagen Environment Summit in December 2009, because of a general revolt against the way she dealt with the negociations. A "detail" that shouldn't be forgotten by the Europeans now that they are discussing with the BRICS about this carbon tax. Source : Guardian, 16.12.09 Download MAP6-Euro-BRICS special (free) ------------- CONTENTS EDITO - Euro-BRICS Partnership : The path to the world after the crisis, by Franck Biancheri (p.3) INSTITUTIONS - Results of the fourth BRICS summit and the outlook for cooperation between the BRICS and the European Union, by Prof. Valery Vorobiev (p.5) FRAME OF REFERENCE - Extract from the conclusions of the Euro-BRICS Process founding seminar, by LEAP (p.7) STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP - Prospects of a EuroBRICS strategic cooperation: a view from Brazil, by Alexander Zhebit (p.9) GEOPOLITICS - Russia and Brazil in the BRICS group - future ambitions, by Ludmila Okouneva (p.12) ECONOMY - The Role of Euro-BRICS cooperation, by Chandrasekharan Jayanthi (p.14) TRADE - BRICS cooperation serving trade policy formation and the priorities of BRICS and Euro-BRICS cooperation, by Dr. Tatiana M. Isachenko (p.20) MONETARY SYSTEM - China's Policymakers One Inch Closer to Opening Capital Account, by Zhu Changzheng (p.22) EDUCATION - Prospects for collaboration in the knowledge economy field, by Anna Makarenko (p.25) REPORT : AEROPACE . The European path to space is via China and Russia, by Stefan Hilgermann (p.27) . Aerospace Euro-BRICS and sovereign technologies: Space, by Jean-Paul Baquiast (p.29) . Aerospace Europe, BRICS and Space: A contribution to the debate on Euro-BRICS cooperation in space activities, by Tanja Masson-Zwaan (p.31) Download MAP6-Euro-BRICS special (free) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gold Prices Could Tumble if Dollar Soars Posted: 23 May 2012 03:41 AM PDT Gold Prices Could Tumble if Dollar Soars
Based on the May 18th, 2012 Premium Update. Visit our archives for more gold & silver analysis. Gold, traditionally a safe-haven asset, has been moving in tandem with riskier assets such as equities, industrial metals and oil this year, as investors for some reason which is difficult to fathom, have turned to the supposed "safety" of the dollar. Writing last week in the Financial Times, Bill Gross, manager of Pimco, the world`s largest bond fund, was ripe with metaphors. He compared the world's larger economies to the mighty whale which depends upon plankton (the smaller economies) for its survival. He called the troubles in the Eurozone a localized tumor which threatens to spread. The time where investors are no longer willing to accept negative yields on US Treasuries is near, warned Gross. "With the US suffering a credit downgrade to AA and offering negative 200 basis point policy rates for the privilege of investing in Treasury bills, the willingness of creditors – as opposed to debtors – to support the existing system may soon fade," Gross wrote in a Financial Times editorial published last Tuesday. "With dollar reserves widely dispersed in China, Japan, Brazil, and other surplus nations, it is fair to assume that there will come a point where 2% negative real interest rates fail to compensate for the advantages heretofore gained in buying sovereign bonds," he added. Gross recently cut his exposure to Treasuries, reflecting his negative outlook for US government debt. His USD 252 billion Total Return Fund held 32% in US Treasuries and Treasury-related securities as of the end of March 31, down from 37% as the end of February, according to Pimco's website. In his investment outlook for May, Gross warned that inflation in the US, which currently stands at 2.7%, is set to climb and further erode returns on government debt. (Needless to say, inflation is a boom for gold.) Gross wrote in the Financial Times: "Now the tides may be turning as once minuscule global economies find themselves in possession of a plethora of reserves. The hunted may be turning into the hunter and the global monetary system, which has evolved and morphed over the past century – but always in the direction of easier, cheaper and more abundant credit – may have reached a point at which it can no longer operate in the same way. Major changes to our global monetary system may lie on a visible horizon." Gross is not alone in his warnings regarding US Treasuries. Investors such as Peter Schiff and Jim Rogers have also voiced concern. Peter Schiff, CEO of Euro Pacific Capital, said earlier this month that the US bond market and dollar were headed for a collapse due to the inability of the Federal Reserve to service the nation`s debt with "artificially low" interest rates. Then again, it was said also years ago. Let's take a look at the charts (courtesy by http://stockcharts.com.) The index continued to rally this week and the move is visible even from this perspective since the index level is considerably higher than it was last week. The 1.3 point, 1.6% increase seen in the USD Index since last Thursday has seemingly ended the narrow trading range anomaly which we have commented on in previous weeks. The move to the upside brings the index close to its 2012 high but, more importantly, above the lower long-term declining resistance line. It seems quite possible that the rally will continue although a short pause is possible first. If the index moves above 82.5, the next resistance to be encountered will be in the 87 to 90 range, which is considerably higher than where we are today. Such a 5% to 9% move to the upside in the USD Index could be devastating for precious metals prices. In the medium-term USD Index chart, it does seem that a period of consolidation or sideways trading could be in the cards. This would further confirm the recent breakout which has, of course, already been confirmed by three consecutive closes above the 80.5 level. If a period of sideways trading is seen now, this will increase the bullish potential for the index in the days and weeks to follow. Now, let's see how Euro performed last week. In the long-term Euro Index chart, we see quite the opposite picture. In fact, if the Euro Index moves lower from here, it could complete the bearish head-and-shoulders pattern. This would likely lead to further significant weakness for the Euro Index and additional USD Index rally. Summing up, the recent moves to the upside and the bullish outlook for the USD Index have bearish implications for gold investors. Even though gold has declined recently, it could be the case that it will decline much more in the following weeks if USD continues its rally. Gold doesn't always mirror dollar's moves, but it appears to be the case this time. To make sure that you are notified once the new features are implemented, and get immediate access to my free thoughts on the market, including information not available publicly, we urge you to sign up for our free e-mail list. Gold & Silver Investors should definitely join us today and additionally get free, 7-day access to the Premium Sections on our website, including valuable tools and unique charts. It's free and you may unsubscribe at any time. Thank you for reading. Have a great and profitable week! P. Radomski * * * * *
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All essays, research and information found above represent analyses and opinions of Mr. Radomski and Sunshine Profits' associates only. As such, it may prove wrong and be a subject to change without notice. Opinions and analyses were based on data available to authors of respective essays at the time of writing. Although the information provided above is based on careful research and sources that are believed to be accurate, Mr. Radomski and his associates do not guarantee the accuracy or thoroughness of the data or information reported. The opinions published above belong to Mr. Radomski or respective associates and are neither an offer nor a recommendation to purchase or sell securities. Mr. Radomski is not a Registered Securities Advisor. Mr. Radomski does not recommend services, products, business or investment in any company mentioned in any of his essays or reports. Materials published above have been prepared for your private use and their sole purpose is to educate readers about various investments. By reading Mr. Radomski's essays or reports you fully agree that he will not be held responsible or liable for any decisions you make regarding any information provided in these essays or reports. Investing, trading and speculation in any financial markets may involve high risk of loss. We strongly advise that you consult a certified investment advisor and we encourage you to do your own research before making any investment decision. Mr. Radomski, Sunshine Profits' employees and affiliates as well as members of their families may have a short or long position in any securities, including those mentioned in any of the reports or essays, and may make additional purchases and/or sales of those securities without notice.
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| Europe’s ‘New Austerity’ – The Cheesecake Diet Posted: 23 May 2012 03:30 AM PDT Austerity has failed. You won't see that in any of the headlines from the media propaganda machine, and for a very good reason: our intellectually bankrupt governments have no "Plan B". The evidence of the colossal failure of Friedman Austerity is both abundant and unequivocal. Greece was an insolvent economy in steady decline when its own "austerity" was commenced. After two years of austerity it was totally bankrupt, and the economy had been so completely destroyed that even after defaulting on 75% of its debt further default already seems inevitable. Austerity transformed an economic decline into one of the most rapid economic collapses in modern history. Then there is the UK. It began its austerity campaign shortly after Greece, but its own economic collapse is proceeding on schedule. Its monthly budget deficits continue to widen, with the UK government recently reporting its largest one-month deficit ever for the month of February. Given that the entire raison d'etre of austerity is to shrink deficits, that statistic alone is proof of the complete and utter failure of UK austerity. However, as an added "bonus" the UK's people also get to watch their economy being destroyed through this economic masochism. Today the UK government announced the collapse in UK retail sales. Sales plummeted 2.3% in April from March. But keep in mind that number excludes inflation. Factor in double-digit inflation (thanks to "competitive devaluation" and endless "QE"), and the actual rate-of-collapse approaches 40% when expressed as an annualized number. What was the explanation given by the mainstream media for this austerity-induced collapse in the UK retail sector? It rained in April. Yes, that must have been it. UK residents were unprepared for April showers. Perhaps they all lost their 'brollys'? Meanwhile, the newest member of Europe's Austerity Club, Spain, has already announced that it will miss its 2012 deficit target, and that it will exceed its 2013 target by at least double. More austerity. More total failure. It should be noted that I predicted from Day 1 that all of this austerity would be a total failure, one of the easiest "predictions" in history, since there were two reasons why there was a 0% probability of success. First of all these economies are already insolvent past the point of no return. Secondly, the primary structural economic problem faced by these Deadbeat Debtors was not excessive spending but rather insufficient revenues – nothing less than a "revenue crisis". This was recently explained and demonstrated in a three-part series, where I showed the total collapse of U.S. tax revenues (in real dollars). Meanwhile, government spending in the U.S. has actually been declining (not increasing) for the past quarter century (also in real dollars). The collapse of Greece's economy, the imminent collapse of the UK economy, and the obvious failure of Spanish austerity prove that I was right. If a doctor prescribes a diet for an obese person, at worst the doctor would do no harm. The obese person might not be able to lose weight, but a diet certainly wouldn't worsen his health. Conversely, if a doctor prescribes a diet for someone already suffering from severe anemia it would cause their health to immediately worsen and might even kill them (if they were already frail). The economic parallel is no different. If these governments had been over-spending (i.e. there was "fat" to be trimmed) then at worst austerity would have done no harm. But because all of the "fat" had already been trimmed (long ago), austerity immediately "cut to the bone". You can't solve a revenue crisis by cutting spending. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Summer Stackin: Seasonal Gold Charts Posted: 23 May 2012 03:06 AM PDT VNote: Another from the archives.. Buy time? You decide. (2001-2010) Other than 2008, gold has displayed a strong seasonal tendency to move higher after the June-July time frame. It seems insignificant that gold didn't rally in 2008 since there's "always" some event that can alter the norm of things. It doesn't look like there is anything abnormal going on right now that should impact the "norm". The markets already know about the US hitting its debt ceiling, sovereign debt issues in Europe, war in Libya, Yemen being out of control, Iran, Venezuela and Saudi Arabia splitting on oil output issues and so on. In other words while there can always be an unknown force coming into play, the above plays are known (Epstein, 2011). Charts courtesy of usagold.com:
~TVR | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rare Earth Juniors Should Applaud China: Michael Silver Posted: 23 May 2012 02:58 AM PDT In a sector where the playing field is not always level, the chairman and CEO of rare earth supplier American Elements, makes a case for more cooperation. Silver insists that junior miners finally have an opportunity to develop the US resource and manufacturing sectors. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ECB: decrease of oz815,88 in gold and gold receivables Posted: 23 May 2012 02:10 AM PDT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| James K. Galbraith: We Told You So Posted: 23 May 2012 02:00 AM PDT James K. Galbraith is an economics professor at the University of Texas at Austin, where he holds the Lloyd M. Bentsen Jr. Chair in Government/Business Relations. He writes about economics for numerous publications. His latest book, "Inequality and Instability: A Study of the World Economy Just Before the Great Crisis" (Oxford University Press, 2012), is available here. Like many Americans, I was doing everything I could to help elect Barack Obama. It wasn't all that much—but as an economist in Texas, I had some authority on the thinking of former Senator Phil Gramm, John McCain's chief economic adviser. I'd made the front page of the Washington Post describing Gramm as a "sorcerer's apprentice of financial instability and disaster." (Gramm, with a certain sense of humor, denied it.) For that, and for my experience drafting policy papers, I was in contact every few days with Obama's economists. To economists in my own circle, it had long been clear that the financial crisis then unfolding was an epic event. We had watched the subprime mortgage disaster build up. In August 2007 we knew the meltdown had begun. Bear Stearns had failed. But for reasons that have to do with the pace and rhythm of politics, these issues remained on the back burner, the campaign being dominated by health care and the Iraq war. For those of us on the outside, it was hard to know whether the insiders understood what was coming.
And so it seemed a good idea to raise an alarm. But here you confront the Cassandra paradox: if you predict disaster, no one believes you. Economics is rife with alarmists; if the wolf really is at the door, it's better to have a whole chorus saying so. For this I had the help of the Charles Leopold Mayer Foundation for Human Progress, which convened a meeting in Paris. When you invite twenty friends to spend a few days in Paris in June, it's rarely hard to persuade them to come. Among the Americans in the group were the editors of two important journals, a former United Nations financial expert, and the former federal regulator who had blown the whistle on the savings and loan fraud. There were also senior specialists from France, Britain, India, China, and Brazil. The meeting had no political connection, but one result was a long memorandum, which I sent in early July to the Obama team. I do not know whether, or by whom, my memo was read. Not the slightest word came back. Yet the memo disproves the notion that nobody knew. To the group in Paris, three months before Lehman, what I wrote was obvious. It was our consensus view. What follows is an excerpt. Bubbles are endemic to capitalism, but in most of history they are not the major story. In the nineteenth century, agricultural price deflation was a larger problem. In the twentieth, industrialization and technology set the direction. It was only in the information technology bubble of the late nineties that financial considerations including the rise of venture capital and the influx of capital to the United States following the Asian and Russian crises—came to dominate the direction of the economy as a whole. The result was capricious and unstable—vast investments in (for instance) dark broadband, followed by a financial collapse—but it was not without redeeming social merits. The economy prospered, achieving full employment without inflation. And much of the broadband survived for later use. The same will not be said for the sequential bubbles of the Bush years, in housing and now commodities. The housing bubble—deliberately fostered by the authorities that should have been regulating it, including Alan Greenspan and Ben Bernanke—pushed the long-standing American model of support for homeownership beyond its breaking point. It involved a vast victimization of a vulnerable population. The unraveling will have social effects extending far beyond that population, to the large class of Americans with good credit and standard mortgages, whose home values are nevertheless being wiped out. Meanwhile, abandoned houses quickly become uninhabitable, so that, unlike broadband, the capital created in the bubble is actually destroyed, to a considerable degree, in the slump. Securitization is a long-standing practice but the question is, at what point does it go too far? It should be clear by now that nonconforming home loans cannot be safely securitized, because the credit quality and therefore the value of the asset cannot be reliably assessed. Further, in the regulatory climate of recent years (where as William K. Black pointed out, political appointees brought chainsaws to press conferences), ordinary prudential lending practices broke down completely. The housing crisis was infected by appraisal fraud, a fact overlooked and therefore abetted by the ratings agencies. "No one looked at the loan package." Now the integrity of every part of the system, from loan origination to underwriting to ratings, is under a cloud. Fraud is deceit, a betrayal of trust. And it is trust that underlies valuation in a market full of specialized debt instruments, off-books financial entities and over-the-counter transactions. That trust has, as of now, collapsed. The result, as John Eatwell phrased it, is that financial crisis takes the form of market gridlock—a systematic unwillingness of institutions to accept the creditworthiness of their counterparties. This is, of course, especially grave where a counterparty has no direct resort to a lender of last resort—and so the crisis naturally erupts in parts of the system that are outside the direct purview of central banks. Deregulation is, in other words, a vector of financial crisis. The message of all this for the Obama presidency is fairly clear. No one in the group expects the financial crisis to have disappeared, or even to be under stable control, by January of 2009. At that time there will no doubt be immediate priorities: more fiscal expansion, fast action against the wave of home losses to foreclosures, plus fast action against financial speculation in commodities would seem as of now to head the "to-do" list. But the financial problems will not go away. And that means that a seemingly benign credit expansion, such as got underway for Clinton in 1994 and carried him through his presidency, is not in the cards for Barack Obama. Given the fact that vacated and unsold houses (unless destroyed outright) stay in inventory for a long time, there is little prospect of a housing recovery, or that a new expansion of loans to the broad population will be collateralized by home values any time soon. Recovery from this source should indeed not be expected within the policy horizon of the next presidential term. Something could happen, for reasons largely unforeseen, as it eventually did in the 1990s. But to bank on such a happy development would be an act of faith. More likely, there won't be good news on the growth front in 2009, 2010, or 2011. Achieving economic growth in some other way will therefore be an overriding policy preoccupation. The only other known way is fiscal policy, and this raises two questions: how much fiscal expansion will be needed, and over what time horizon? Calls are now being heard for a "second stimulus package"; these reflect the fact that the first stimulus package [the Bush package of Spring 2008], while effective, was necessarily short-lived. But the same will be true of the second stimulus package. And once the election is over, will the coalition presently supporting short-term stimulus stay in place? If not, what then? If the above analysis is correct, the political capital of the new presidency risks being exhausted, quite quickly, in a series of short-term stimulus efforts that will do little more than buoy the economy for a few months each. Since they will not lead to a revival of private credit, every one of those efforts will ultimately be seen as "too little, too late" and therefore as ending in failure. Meanwhile a policy of repetitive tax rebates can only undermine the larger reputation of the country; it is unlikely that the rest of the world will happily continue to finance a country whose economic policy consists solely of writing checks to consumers. What is the alternative? It is to embark, from the beginning, on a directed, long-term strategy, based initially on public investment, aimed at the reconstruction of the physical infrastructure of the United States, at reform in our patterns of energy use, and at developing new technologies to deal with climate change and other pressing issues. It is to support those displaced by the unavoidable shrinkage of Bush-era bubbles but to do so efficiently—with unemployment insurance, revenue sharing to support state and local government public services, job training, adjustment assistance, and jobs programs. It is to foster, over a time frame stretching from five years out through the next generation, a shift of private investment toward activities complementary to the major public purposes just stated. It is to persuade the rest of the world that this is an activity worthy of financial support. As noted, this strategy will have to be developed in a hostile environment of unstable oil and food prices. However, it would be a grave mistake to interpret that unstable price environment as "inflationary," as leading toward a sustained or inertial inflation. In particular, money wages have not changed or caught up; real wages are therefore falling—and quite sharply—in view of the commodity price jumps. As Ben Bernanke acknowledged in a recent speech, nothing in the present movement of price indices can be attributed to wages. In Bernanke's choice phrase, "the empirical evidence for this linkage is less definitive than we would like." It is Democratic Party mantra that Presidents do not comment on the actions of the Federal Reserve. But in this situation, comment is needed. An appropriate comment on the larger role of monetary policy does not amount to interference in routine decision-making, e.g., of the Federal Open Market Committee. Rather, it should reflect the core reality: the Federal Reserve and other financial regulatory agencies failed in their responsibilities in the past decade and now they must take up those responsibilities again. The entire point of a regulatory system is to regulate. It is to subordinate the activities of an intrinsically unstable and predatory sector to larger social purposes, and thus to prevent a situation in which financial interests dictate policy to governments. That is, however, exactly the situation we have allowed to develop. The job of the Federal Reserve and of the other competent agencies in the next administration must be, in part, to reestablish who is boss. Specifically, there needs to be a very thoroughgoing revamping of the financial rules of the road, to dampen financial instability, deflate the commodity bubble, reduce the enormous monopoly rents in the financial sector, set new terms for credit management, and generate productive capital investment where it is most required. This is in large part the Federal Reserve's job, though it has strong inter-agency and international dimensions. These measures cannot be viewed, or undertaken, in isolation from the international financial position of the United States. Obviously, a successful speculative attack on the dollar would severely disrupt the orderly implementation of this or any other strategy. Equally obviously, a unilateral defense of the dollar via a campaign of high interest rates would severely aggravate the problems of the real economy. The way out of this dilemma—the only way out—lies in multilateral coordination and collaboration: a joint effort by the United States and its creditors. And this means that the next administration must return, rapidly and with a credible commitment, to the world of collective security and shared decision-making that the Bush administration has been at pains to abandon. An orderly disengagement from Iraq would send a major signal of the intent of the U.S. government to play, in the future, by a different set of rules. Collective security, in short, is not merely a slogan. It is the lynchpin of our future financial and economic security—security that cannot be assured by any unilateral means. Only a collective effort will keep America's creditors committed to the stability of the dollar-reserve system for long enough to effect the next round of economic transformation in the United States. Conversely, continued failure to appreciate the financial and economic dimensions of unilateral militarism is one certain route toward the failure of the next administration's economic and financial strategies. The two largest issues we face—how to maintain American economic leadership in much of the world and how to manage American military power—cannot be separated from each other. Collective security is, however, also more than simply a way of reducing risks and instabilities. It is the foundation stone for many physical transformations of the economy to come. It is obvious, in particular, that the military basis of international power on which the United States continues to rely is completely out of date, and has been for decades. As Iraq has demonstrated to everyone including the professional military, military power alone cannot deliver stability and security at all—let alone at an acceptable human and social cost. Yet parts of the military establishment continue to develop, and to harbor, the technological talent and capacity for problem solving which every aspect of our energy problem now needs. Shifting the basis of our security system away from one based on military equipment is a key step toward making those resources available. And the same is true for other countries. China, for example, has long made energy choices favoring coal partly because the resulting power plants are diffuse and militarily expendable. In a secure world, that country would be far more willing to develop its vast hydroelectric potential, as the then-invulnerable United States did in the 1930s. Hydropower is carbon-clean, but militarily exposed. A stable reduction of military fears is a key step toward opening up markets that can potentially permit resolution of collective problems on the grand scale. In short conclusion: from the beginning, the Obama presidency will face acute situations requiring immediate action, especially in oil and housing. It should aim for early victories in these areas as the foundation stone for intermediate- and long-term programs. For the medium term, institution building and the restoration of competent and effective regulatory power over the financial system—both national and international—will be key. For the long term, the goal should be nothing less than the transformation of our energy base and the solution of our environmental challenges—the rebuilding of America. And that can be done only in an international financial climate made possible by a return to multilateral decision-making and a commitment to collective security. The American people are ready for this. President Obama should be prepared to explain that leadership in a world community—leadership of collective action on the grand scale—is America's true destiny. It is not in futile warfare, but in great endeavors, that a great nation finds its future, its purpose, its place in history, and prosperity, as well as security, for its people.
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| John Embry - Banks Are Loaning Out “Allocated” Gold Posted: 23 May 2012 01:56 AM PDT Posting at Kay Dubya eN. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gold Bubble? Demand Data Continues To Show No Bubble Posted: 23 May 2012 01:36 AM PDT gold.ie | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Calculating the Odds that Greece Sails Away Posted: 23 May 2012 01:06 AM PDT Another day of substantial selling in the precious metals complex brought gold prices right back to the $1,550 value zone, raising legitimate questions about whether the numerous calls of a bottom occurring last week were perhaps premature. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bullion Follows Weaker Euro as Greece Concerns Mount Posted: 22 May 2012 10:57 PM PDT Speculations on Greece have increased before the EU summit which will take place on Wednesday night. Fear of the contagion in other European countries resulting from Greece's Euro exit has prompted investors to sell risky assets and the euro. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The Real Price of Gold Holds the Cards Posted: 22 May 2012 10:15 PM PDT RPG is simply a measurement of gold in terms of various markets. If the RPG is outperforming then it could be signaling credit stress and economic contraction. Equities and commodities outperforming gold signal an improving economic environment. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gold Cheaper in Real Terms Now Than it Was at $400, Wits Gold's Adam Fleming Says Posted: 22 May 2012 09:07 PM PDT ¤ Yesterday in Gold and SilverThe gold price didn't do much until about 3:30 p.m. Hong Kong time...thirty minutes before the 8:00 a.m. London open. From that point gold began to sell off...and by shortly after 10:00 a.m. BST, gold was down about eighteen dollars from Monday's close. Then gold began to rally slowly from there...and by 10:45 a.m. Eastern time, gold was back to within a couple of dollars of Monday's closing price. Then the dollar began to rally with renewed strength...and the gold price headed south. Judging by the chart pattern, it appears more than likely that the gold price had some 'help' getting there. By the time the trading day was done at 5:15 p.m. in New York, the gold price was down $24.10 from Monday, closing at $1,568.30 spot. Not surprisingly, net volume was more than decent...around 150,000 contracts.
Silver's price action was very similar...and only the timing of the price changes were different. The silver price held up pretty well until an hour before the London open...and it was as they say, all down hill from there until 11:30 a.m. BST...which may have been an early silver fix. From that point, silver began to rally nicely...and really took off at 10:00 a.m. in New York, only to run into a brick wall at around 10:45 a.m...the same time as gold. The sell-off from there looked pretty engineered to me as well, as every time the selling stopped, the price began to rally. From its New York high of $28.93...to its low of $27.88...silver had another big intraday price move. This time it was 3.6%. Silver closed at $28.20 spot...down 27 cents from Monday. Net volume was very decent at 38,000 contracts...more or less.
The dollar index hung around the 81.00 mark until about 9:20 a.m. in London before rallying a bit and then holding steady around the 81.20/81.30 mark until 10:45 a.m. in New York. Despite that tiny rally, it was obvious that gold was being bid higher...and silver was about to blast through $29 spot. Then at that magic 10:45 a.m. Eastern time mark, someone hit the buy dollar index/sell gold-silver button...and the rest is history. The dollar index finished up about 65 basis points on the day...with about half of the gain coming before the 10:45 a.m. Eastern time smack down in the precious metals. I don't believe for one second that yesterday's price action in the precious metals was all currency related...but you were certainly encouraged to reach that conclusion when you looked at the chart.
The gold shares gapped down a bit at the open, but began to rally immediately...despite the fact that the gold price never got into positive territory all day long in New York. The HUI hit its high tick of the day at 10:50 a.m. Eastern time...and it was all down hill from there, albeit very slowly. The stocks remained in positive territory for quite a while after the gold price headed south, but got sold off a little more severely during the last ninety minutes of trading...as did the Dow. And also like the Dow, the gold stocks rallied a hair into the close. The HUI finished the day down only 1.14%. For the second day running it appeared that someone was buying precious metal stocks with both hands.
It should come as no surprise that Nick Laird's Silver Sentiment Index finished down on the day...but only down 0.61%.
(Click on image to enlarge) The CME's Daily Delivery Report showed that 44 gold and 21 silver contracts were posted for delivery tomorrow. The link to the Issuers and Stoppers Report is here. There was a big withdrawal from GLD yesterday...to the tune of 563,024 troy ounces. GLD is now back to the inventory level it held on January 26th. There were no reported changes in SLV. Over at Switzerland's Zürcher Kantonalbank they reported updates for their gold and silver ETFs as of May 21, 2012...and there weren't any big changes. Their gold ETF had a withdrawal of only 820 troy ounces...and their silver ETF reported no change at all from the prior report on May 15th. And there was no sales report from the U.S. Mint. And, for whatever reason, the CME did not update the Comex-approved depositories' inventory level for silver on Monday. Here's a chart that Washington state reader S.A. sent me yesterday...and its contents are pretty much self-explanatory.
(Click on image to enlarge) Here's another chart for you. This is one that Australian reader Wesley Legrand sent me in the wee hours of this morning. It's the 1-year Gold Miners Bullish Percent Index. It's only got one way to go...and that's up.
(Click on image to enlarge) And lastly is this photo I borrowed from the good folks over at spaceweather.com on Monday. It shows the annular solar eclipse of the sun on Sunday as photographed by Jacob Thumberger from Gail, Texas. You can read more about it here...and the link is well worth your time.
I have fewer stories for you reading 'pleasure' today. I don't know about you, but I'm very happy about that. It was obvious [at least to me] that the precious metals prices had to be 'encouraged' to decline. James Turk: "Important Chart Suggests Massive Move for Silver & Gold". Swiss Parliament Examines 'Gold Franc' Currency on Tuesday. GLD ETF has large 563,024 troy ounce withdrawal. ¤ Critical ReadsSubscribeJPMorgan Employees Sue Jamie Dimon, Ina Drew Over LossesAdd it to the growing list of people going after JPMorgan Chase. Employees are suing the bank over the $2 billion trading loss that they say hurt their retirement plans. A lawsuit filed on behalf of JPMorgan employees says their retirement accounts fell in value after news broke about the trading loss, Reuters reports. That's because the plan holds JPMorgan shares which have dropped 18% since the loss was announced on May 10. The complaint, filed in U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, names the bank, its CEO and chairman Jamie Dimon as well as former CIO Ina Drew, who resigned soon after the loss was revealed, as defendants. According to the suit, the defendants violated the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act which gives plan participants the right to sue for breaches of fiduciary duty. This story appeared in Forbes yesterday...and I thank Washington state reader S.A. for bringing it to our attention. The link is here.  With New Firepower, S.E.C. Tracks Bigger GameA corporate lawyer, a professional trader and an anonymous middleman carried out a lucrative insider trading scheme for nearly two decades, baffling federal authorities who were trying to unravel the mystery. Like characters in a crime novel, the three men evaded arrest by dumping cellphones, using code names and rendezvousing in Atlantic City to divide their bounty. Then last year, authorities found the culprits. Relying on new tools, investigators at the Securities and Exchange Commission traced the conspiracy to Matthew H. Kluger, Garrett D. Bauer and Kenneth T. Robinson. In April, the three men, who have all pleaded guilty to criminal charges, agreed to pay the S.E.C. roughly $32 million. Embarrassed after missing the warning signs of the financial crisis and the Ponzi scheme of Bernard L. Madoff, the agency's enforcement division has adopted several new — if somewhat unconventional — strategies to restore its credibility. The S.E.C. is taking its cue from criminal authorities, studying statistical formulas to trace connections, creating a powerful unit to cull tips and assign cases and even striking a deal with the Federal Bureau of Investigation to have agents embedded with the regulator. This story showed up on The New York Times website on Monday evening...and I thank reader Phil Barlett for sending it. The link is here.  SEC reviewing JPMorgan's filings after $2B lossMary Schapiro, chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, told the Senate Banking Committee Tuesday that the agency is examining JPMorgan's earnings statements and first-quarter financial reports to determine if they were "accurate and truthful." Schapiro and Gary Gensler, chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, said the $2 billion-plus loss at JPMorgan should be a lesson for regulators that they need to tighten rules mandated under the 2010 financial overhaul. "It would be wrong for us not to take this example," Schapiro said. JPMorgan is the biggest U.S. bank by assets and the only major U.S. bank to stay profitable during the 2008 financial crisis. This AP story was posted over at the barchart.com website yesterday afternoon...and I thank West Virginia reader Elliot Simon for digging it up on our behalf. The link is here.  Heist of the century: Wall Street's role in the financial crisisWall Street bankers could have averted the global financial crisis, so why didn't they? In this exclusive extract from his book Inside Job, Charles Ferguson argues that they should be prosecuted. It is no exaggeration to say that since the 1980s, much of the global financial sector has become criminalised, creating an industry culture that tolerates or even encourages systematic fraud. The behaviour that caused the mortgage bubble and financial crisis of 2008 was a natural outcome and continuation of this pattern, rather than some kind of economic accident. This behaviour is criminal. We are talking about deliberate concealment of financial transactions that aided terrorism, nuclear weapons proliferation and large-scale tax evasion; assisting in major financial frauds and in concealment of criminal assets; and committing frauds that substantially worsened the worst financial bubbles and crises since the Depression. Total fines on the banks for their role in the Enron fraud, the internet bubble, violation of sanctions against countries including Iran and money-laundering activities appear to be far less than 1% of financial sector profits and bonuses during the same period. This story is basically a review of the above mentioned book by the author himself, that was posted on The Guardian's website on Sunday. It's a longish read, but certainly more than worth it if you have the time. I thank reader U.D. for sending it...and the link is here.  Japan's WTF Chart: Are they about to become unglued?Is there now any doubt after seeing this why the proverbial four horseman are really just one giant black swan, only not one of failed bond auctions or something quite as dramatic, but something as simple and mundane as the smallest uptick higher in rates which would blow up the entire global financial farce, starting with the most imbalanced domino of all - the land of the rising sun? Most readers are already well aware of the problems facing Japan these days...and this short read posted over at zerohedge.com is a must read, but it's the graphs that are worth looking at. I thank David Galland over at Casey Research for sending this around yesterday...and the link is here.  Japan Rating Cut Rings Alarm on Tax GridlockJapan's sovereign-rating cut by Fitch Ratings escalated pressure on lawmakers to double the sales tax, with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development warning the nation's debt is heading into "uncharted territory." The local-currency rating was reduced one step, and foreign-currency grade two levels, to A+, the fifth-highest ranking, Fitch said in a statement yesterday. The Paris-based OECD said separately that boosting the 5 percent consumption levy is a "top priority." A surge in demand for Japanese government bonds that sent 10-year yields to the lowest level since 2003 this month is masking the risks from rising debt. Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda has failed to persuade opposition lawmakers to support his legislation, leaving gross public debt poised to reach 223 percent of gross domestic product next year, the OECD said. "It's an alarm bell for Japanese politics and the slow progress in Japan's fiscal consolidation," said Junko Nishioka, chief economist at RBS Securities Japan Ltd. in Tokyo and a former central bank official. "There's no commitment to fiscal consolidation -- in the long run, Japan's creditworthiness and fiscal sustainability aren't looking good." This Bloomberg story was posted on their website early yesterday evening...and it's another offering from West Virginia reader Elliot Simon. The link is here.  Isolated at Home and Abroad Merkel Loses Her Triple-A Popularity RatingRight now, though, things aren't going so well for the chancellor, as she travels this week from one international summit to the next. At the NATO summit in Chicago, a dispute developed over the Afghanistan withdrawal, while at the G-8 summit at Camp David, France's new President François Hollande flexed his muscles. He said he would do the same at a planned dinner in Brussels this Wednesday with the leaders of the European Union member states. The Socialist leader is searching for allies to break Merkel's austerity-led approach in the euro crisis and to back euro bonds, which are deeply unpopular in Berlin. His efforts haven't been fruitless either -- and Germany could soon face further isolation. That might all be more palatable for Merkel if things were going better for her on the domestic political front -- and if she could rely on the stability of her coalition government. But the domestic front for Merkel is anything but quiet. Merkel's decision to fire her environment minister, Norbert Röttgen, last week has created turbulence within the coalition government of her conservative Christian Democrats (CDU), its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), and the business-friendly Free Democratic Party. The CDU is unsettled following the dismissal in ways seldom seen before. But this time it isn't over differences in policy. This time it is about the chancellor herself -- about her leadership style and her character. This story was posted on the German website spiegel.de yesterday...and I thank Roy Stephens for sending it along. The link is here. Three King World News Blog/Interviews Posted: 22 May 2012 09:07 PM PDT  The first blog is with James Turk. It's entitled "Important Chart Suggests Massive Move for Silver & Gold". The next one is with John Embry. That one is headlined "Banks are Loaning Out "Allocated" Gold". Lastly is the audio interview with Egon von Greyerz. I poste | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Swiss Parliament Examines ‘Gold Franc’ Currency on Tuesday Posted: 22 May 2012 09:07 PM PDT  A panel of the Swiss parliament is discussing the introduction of the parallel 'Gold franc' currency. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gold lives! — An interview with Bill Murphy Posted: 22 May 2012 09:07 PM PDT  Resource Clips interviewed GATA Chairman Bill Murphy on Monday and headlined the product, appropriately enough, "Gold Lives!" It was reprinted in the financial section of Canada's National Post on Monday as well...and the link is here. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hedge funds re-evaluate gold’s potential Posted: 22 May 2012 08:56 PM PDT
from news.goldseek.com: Gold's biggest problem since February has been one of relative weakness. This weakness in turn has kept the market-moving hedge fund players away from gold. But as we'll see in the latest commentary, that may be about to change. In late February when the gold price rallied sharply to its highest level of the year at $1,793 it looked, on the surface, like gold was finally about to break out of its holding pattern since last September when the metal took a sharp dive. The February rally proved to be a "head fake" however. The yellow metal took another plunge within days of making its late February high at $1,793 and fell to a low of $1,538 on May 16. Although the gold price made a series of higher peaks in the month of February, the relative strength indicator for gold told a completely different story. Instead of confirming the new high in the gold price, the relative strength line made a conspicuously negative divergence. Notice the lower high in the chart shown below, which plots the daily relative strength reading for the iShares Gold Trust (IAU), our favorite gold proxy. Keep on reading @ news.goldseek.com | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt The First 5000 years. Great Interview Posted: 22 May 2012 08:55 PM PDT I might be back, it's been a while... Great interview... lots on Gold and Silver. It's really a great analysis on money. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Suitcase full of gold plated babies found Posted: 22 May 2012 08:51 PM PDT Thai police arrest man with suitcase full of gold plated babies set to be used in black magic ritual
from dailymail.co.uk: A British citizen has been arrested in Bangkok after six foetuses were found stuffed into travel bags. It was not clear yesterday where the bodies, which had been stored in six travel bags, came from or who had handed them over to Chow. Keep on reading @ dailymail.co.uk |
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