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Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Gold World News Flash

Gold World News Flash


Government Shutdowns, the Debt Ceiling and Gold

Posted: 09 Oct 2013 12:00 AM PDT

by Pater Tenebrarum, Acting-Man.com:

Political Grandstanding and the Dreaded ‘Shutdown’

There have been 18 so-called ‘government shutdowns’ in the US in the past four decades, including the current one. Some were of very short duration, lasting only a day or two, a few lasted much longer (the record was the 21 day event in 1995). These shutdowns tend to happen fairly regularly when the administration is in cohabitation with a Congressional majority in the hands of the opposition party.

For instance, if the Congressional majority is Republican and the president a Democrat as is the case at the moment, the Republicans will suddenly pretend to rediscover their inner fiscal conservative. Republican administrations backed by a Republican Congress are well known for spending money like drunken sailors, so this is really only pretense. The grandstanding is designed to pull the wool over the public’s eyes: see, there are finally a few principled politicians making a stand on reducing the public debt!

Read More @ Acting-Man.com

Created Currencies… are NOT GOLD! (Financial Prepping 101)

Posted: 08 Oct 2013 11:05 PM PDT

Read the Latest News About: Gold    Silver    Economy    Central Banking Paper currencies seem normal. They seem natural. We are told they...

{This is a content summary only. Click on the blog title to continue reading this post, share your comments, browse the website, and more!}

Structured Finance: Sovereign Debt, Banks, and Gold

Posted: 08 Oct 2013 10:30 PM PDT

by Janet Tavakoli, Tavakoli Structured Finance:

The U.S never really minded if a Latin American oil minister took a kickback here or a bribe there to grease the wheels for a foreign oil company or an importer of hard liquor. Latin American taxpayers wouldn't notice. The money was really just an upfront golden parachute. No U.S. executive ever went to jail just because he voted himself a huge separation bonus as a corporate raider took over a company. Shareholders didn't complain. The only difference between an executive and a Latin American honcho was the executive got his money after he lost power. But the U.S. minded a lot after Alan Garcia won Peru's presidential election in 1985. Garcia announced to the world that Peru couldn't pay back its debt. Garcia was going to mess with U.S. banks, and that was definitely not okay.

Peru's $14 billion in foreign debt was equivalent to Peru's entire annual national income. Peru hadn't made principal payments on its commercial debt in more than a year and was $475 million in arrears on interest payments, 36% of which was owed to U.S. banks.

Read More @ Tavakoli Structured Finance.com

This Resilient Commodity to Ready for a Big Comeback

Posted: 08 Oct 2013 09:40 PM PDT

by John Whitefoot, SilverBearCafe.com:

For many investors, 2013 was supposed to be the year that silver regained its luster. Most economists thought silver would climb as a hedge against inflation and be a devalued dollar on the heels of continued economic turmoil. Or, assuming the economic rebound was in full swing, it would grow due to industrial demand for everything from solar panels to electronics, batteries to the automotive industry.

Strangely, none of that happened. Silver benefits by being both a precious metal and an industrial metal. As an industrial metal, investors need to actually see enough economic growth before they can ride that bandwagon. As a precious metal, silver is being taken along for the ride by investors fleeing gold.

Read More @ SilverBearCafe.com

Governments Will Start Panicking As Chaos & Crisis Accelerates

Posted: 08 Oct 2013 09:02 PM PDT

With continued uncertainty in global markets, today the 42-year market veteran who correctly predicted that the Fed would not taper is now warning King World News that governments will start panicking as the chaos and crisis accelerates. He also discussed what all of this means for key markets such as gold and silver. Below is what Egon von Greyerz, founder of Matterhorn Asset Management out of Switzerland, had to say in his interview.

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

In The News Today

Posted: 08 Oct 2013 08:52 PM PDT

Jim Sinclair's Commentary The repression of gold cannot carry on too much longer based on the following. White House to nominate Yellen Fed chair: WSJ By Carla Mozee LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) — The White House is expected to nominate Federal Reserve Vice Chairwoman Janet Yellen as the chairwoman of the Federal Reserve, according to a... Read more »

The post In The News Today appeared first on Jim Sinclair's Mineset.

The Fire Fueling Gold

Posted: 08 Oct 2013 08:20 PM PDT

by Frank Holmes, Gold Seek:

Gold took quite a beating in September, bucking its seasonal average monthly return of 2.3 percent. The political battle between President Barack Obama and Congress, China's Golden Week, and India's gold import restrictions likely weighed on the metal.

September's correction only adds to the negative sentiment toward the precious metal. The assumption from many market pundits is that gold is no longer attractive as an investment. With rising rates and continuing low inflation, U.S. investors believe they have a solid case for selling their holdings.

However, this could be a premature assessment, causing these bears to potentially lose out on a lucrative position.

Read More @ GoldSeek.com

Is Homeland Security Preparing for the Next Wall Street Collapse?

Posted: 08 Oct 2013 08:00 PM PDT

by Mark Daniels, Activist Post:

Reports are that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is engaged in a massive, covert military buildup. An article in the Associated Press in February confirmed an open purchase order by DHS for 1.6 billion rounds of ammunition. According to an op-ed in Forbes, that's enough to sustain an Iraq-sized war for over twenty years. DHS has also acquired heavily armored tanks, which have been seen roaming the streets. Evidently somebody in government is expecting some serious civil unrest. The question is, why?

Recently revealed statements by former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown at the height of the banking crisis in October 2008 could give some insights into that question. An article on BBC News on September 21, 2013, drew from an explosive autobiography called Power Trip by Brown's spin doctor Damian McBride, who said the prime minister was worried that law and order could collapse during the financial crisis.

Read More @ Activist Post

China’s unstoppable gold imports continue virtually unchecked

Posted: 08 Oct 2013 07:40 PM PDT

by Lawrence Williams, MineWeb.com

People have been predicting that imports of gold into China would slow down – well August figures suggest they may have, but only by a minute 3 tonnes compared with a month earlier, and the country remains on track to comfortably exceed 1,000 tonnes of known net gold imports for the year, with a total of 723 tonnes imported via Hong Kong for the first eight months.

Extrapolating this over the full year would give a total import figure (via Hong Kong alone) of 1,084.5 tonnes. On the evidence of the past six months' import figures, the full year total could be quite a bit higher if recent momentum is sustained – and there's no real sign of it slowing down, at least not yet – it seems more likely that the full year figure could well end up at more like 1,150 tonnes. Certainly, in past years, imports have tended to rise as the year progresses, which means that even this number could be a conservative estimate.

Read More @ MineWeb.com

India Will Dominate the Silver Market in 2013

Posted: 08 Oct 2013 07:35 PM PDT

 

David Franklin

Precious metals have surged back in the last few days as the gravity of the situation in Washington hit investors. Equity market participants who seemed so sure a compromise was at hand on Friday afternoon, were disappointed Monday that no deal had been achieved. With the S&P at post-shutdown lows, it seems precious metals have caught a bid. Since the start of the shutdown gold is up almost 3% and silver has appreciated by nearly 6% as investors have ruminated on the implications of a default by the US Government.

With silver falling by 26% so far this calendar year

Starved of gold, Indians may import record volumes of silver

Posted: 08 Oct 2013 07:20 PM PDT

By Siddesh Mayenkar
Reuters
Tuesday, October 8, 2013

MUMBAI -- Indian silver imports are on pace to hit a record high this year as the wedding and festival season drives up buying of the precious metal instead of the traditional gold, made scarcer and dearer by official measures aimed at cutting the trade gap.

Higher silver demand in the world's biggest buyer may help support prices, which have fallen almost 30 percent this year on the international market and are on track for their biggest annual drop in almost three decades.

The increase in buying is unlikely to spark a fresh policy response from authorities, as in the case of gold, since the value of silver that is imported is far lower than that of gold and therefore not critical to the trade balance.

... For the complete story:

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/10/08/us-india-silver-idUSBRE99711G2...



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Join GATA here:

Louis Boulanger Now Seminar
Visitors Center, Holy Trinity Parnell
Auckland, New Zeland
Sunday, October 13, 2013

http://www.gata.org/files/GATAInNewZealand.pdf

Gold Investment Symposium 2013
Luna Park Conference Center, Sydney, Australia
Wednesday-Thursday, October 16-17, 2013

http://gold.symposium.net.au/

The Silver Summit
Davenport Hotel, Spokane, Washington
Thursday-Friday, October 24-25, 2013

http://www.cambridgehouse.com/event/silver-summit-2013

Mines and Money Australia
Melbourne Conference and Exhibition Centre
Tuesday, October 29-Friday, November 1, 2013

http://www.minesandmoney.com/

New Orleans Investment Conference
Sunday-Wednesday, November 10-13, 2013
Hilton New Orleans Riverside Hotel
New Orleans, Louisiana

https://jeffersoncompanies.com/landing/speakers?IDPromotion=613011610080...

* * *

Support GATA by purchasing DVDs of our London conference in August 2011 or our Dawson City conference in August 2006:

http://www.goldrush21.com/order.html

Or by purchasing a colorful GATA T-shirt:

http://gata.org/tshirts

Or a colorful poster of GATA's full-page ad in The Wall Street Journal on January 31, 2009:

http://gata.org/node/wallstreetjournal

Help keep GATA going

GATA is a civil rights and educational organization based in the United States and tax-exempt under the U.S. Internal Revenue Code. Its e-mail dispatches are free, and you can subscribe at:

http://www.gata.org

To contribute to GATA, please visit:

http://www.gata.org/node/16

Embry sees dollar devaluation as inevitable; Roberts says Fed will lend to Treasury

Posted: 08 Oct 2013 07:01 PM PDT

10a CST Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Dear Friend of GATA and Gold:

At King World News, Sprott Asset Management's John Embry says gold price suppression is aimed at maintaining the U.S. dollar's status as world reserve currency a little longer but devaluation is inevitable since the country's liabilities are beyond repayment:

http://kingworldnews.com/kingworldnews/KWN_DailyWeb/Entries/2013/10/8_US...

Also at KWN, former Assistant Treasury Secretary Paul Craig Roberts speculates that if the U.S. government runs out of cash, the Federal Reserve will advance to the Treasury Department whatever money is necessary or the president will declare an emergency and rule by decree, ignoring any debt ceiling:

http://kingworldnews.com/kingworldnews/KWN_DailyWeb/Entries/2013/10/8_Fo...

CHRIS POWELL, Secretary/Treasurer
Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee Inc.



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Join GATA here:

Louis Boulanger Now Seminar
Visitors Center, Holy Trinity Parnell
Auckland, New Zeland
Sunday, October 13, 2013

http://www.gata.org/files/GATAInNewZealand.pdf

Gold Investment Symposium 2013
Luna Park Conference Center, Sydney, Australia
Wednesday-Thursday, October 16-17, 2013

http://gold.symposium.net.au/

The Silver Summit
Davenport Hotel, Spokane, Washington
Thursday-Friday, October 24-25, 2013

http://www.cambridgehouse.com/event/silver-summit-2013

Mines and Money Australia
Melbourne Conference and Exhibition Centre
Tuesday, October 29-Friday, November 1, 2013

http://www.minesandmoney.com/

New Orleans Investment Conference
Sunday-Wednesday, November 10-13, 2013
Hilton New Orleans Riverside Hotel
New Orleans, Louisiana

https://jeffersoncompanies.com/landing/speakers?IDPromotion=613011610080...

* * *

Support GATA by purchasing DVDs of our London conference in August 2011 or our Dawson City conference in August 2006:

http://www.goldrush21.com/order.html

Or by purchasing a colorful GATA T-shirt:

http://gata.org/tshirts

Or a colorful poster of GATA's full-page ad in The Wall Street Journal on January 31, 2009:

http://gata.org/node/wallstreetjournal

Help keep GATA going

GATA is a civil rights and educational organization based in the United States and tax-exempt under the U.S. Internal Revenue Code. Its e-mail dispatches are free, and you can subscribe at:

http://www.gata.org

To contribute to GATA, please visit:

http://www.gata.org/node/16

12 Ominous Warnings Of What A US Default Would Mean For The Global Economy

Posted: 08 Oct 2013 06:02 PM PDT

Submitted by Michael Snyder of The Economic Collapse blog,

A U.S. debt default that lasts for more than a couple of days could potentially cause a financial crash unlike anything that the world has ever seen before.  If the U.S. government purposely wanted to damage the global financial system, the best way that they could do that would be to default on U.S. debt obligations.  A U.S. debt default would cause stocks to crash, would cause bonds to crash, would cause interest rates to soar wildly out of control, would cause a massive credit crunch, and would cause a derivatives panic that would be absolutely unprecedented.  And that would just be for starters.  But don't just take my word for it.  These are the things that top financial experts all over the planet are saying will happen if there is an extended U.S. debt default.

Because they are so close together, the "government shutdown" and the "debt ceiling deadline" are being confused by many Americans.

As I wrote about the other day, the "partial government shutdown" that we are experiencing right now is pretty much a non-event.  Yeah, some national parks are shut down and some federal workers will have their checks delayed, but it is not the end of the world.  In fact, only about 17 percent of the federal government is actually shut down at the moment.  This "shutdown" could continue for many more weeks and it would not affect the global economy too much.

On the other hand, if the debt ceiling deadline (approximately October 17th) passes without an agreement that would be extremely dangerous.

And if the U.S. government is eventually forced to start delaying interest payments on U.S. debt (which could potentially happen as soon as November), that would be absolutely catastrophic.

Once again, just don't take my word for it.  The following are 12 very ominous warnings about what a U.S. debt default would mean for the global economy...

#1 Gerald Epstein, a professor of economics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst: "If the US does default, that will make the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy look like a cakewalk"

#2 Tim Bitsberger, a former Treasury official under President George W. Bush: "If we miss an interest payment, that would blow Lehman out of the water"

#3 Peter Tchir, founder of New York-based TF Market Advisors: "Once the system starts to break down related to settlement and payments, then liquidity disappears, as we saw after Lehman"

#4 Bill Isaac, chairman of Cincinnati-based Fifth Third Bancorp: "We can’t even imagine all the things that might happen, just like Henry Paulson couldn’t imagine all the bad things that might happen if he let Lehman go down"

#5 Jim Grant, founder of Grant’s Interest Rate Observer: "Financial markets are all confidence-based. If that confidence is shaken, you have disaster."

#6 Richard Bove, VP of research at Rafferty Capital Markets: "If they seriously default on the debt, what we're really talking about is a depression"

#7 Chinese vice finance minister Zhu Guangyao: "The U.S. is clearly aware of China's concerns about the financial stalemate [in Washington] and China's request for the US to ensure the safety of Chinese investments."

#8 The U.S. Treasury Department: "A default would be unprecedented and has the potential to be catastrophic: credit markets could freeze, the value of the dollar could plummet, U.S. interest rates could skyrocket, the negative spillovers could reverberate around the world, and there might be a financial crisis and recession that could echo the events of 2008 or worse"

#9 Goldman Sachs: "We estimate that the fiscal pull-back would amount to 9pc of GDP. If this were allowed to occur, it could lead to a rapid downturn in economic activity if not reversed quickly"

#10 Simon Johnson, former chief economist for the IMF: "It would be insane to default, but it’s no longer a zero-percent probability"

#11 Warren Buffett about the potential of a debt default: "It should be like nuclear bombs, basically too horrible to use"

#12 Bloomberg: "Anyone who remembers the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. little more than five years ago knows what a global financial disaster is. A U.S. government default, just weeks away if Congress fails to raise the debt ceiling as it now threatens to do, will be an economic calamity like none the world has ever seen."

A U.S. debt default could be the trigger for the "nightmare scenario" that so many people have been writing about in recent years.  In fact, it could greatly accelerate the timetable for the inevitable economic collapse that is coming.  A recent Yahoo article described some of the things that we would likely see in the event of an extended U.S. debt default...

A default would upend money markets, destroy bond funds, slam the brakes on lending, cause interest rates to spiral, make our banks insolvent, and deal a blow to our foreign trading partners and creditors around the globe; all of which would throw the U.S. and the world into economic disarray.

And of course stocks would crash big time.  Deutsche Bank's David Bianco believes that if the U.S. government starts missing interest payments on U.S. Treasury bonds, we could see the S&P 500 go down to 850 by the end of the year.

There would be almost immediate panic among ordinary Americans as well.  In fact, it is being reported that some banks are already stuffing their ATM machines will extra cash just in case...

With just 10 days left to raise the debt ceiling and congressional Republicans threatening to force the government to default on its obligations, banks are taking some dramatic steps to prepare for the economic chaos that would result should the brinkmanship continue.

 

The Financial Times reports that one major U.S. bank has started stuffing its automatic teller machines with extra cash in preparation for a possible bank run from panicked depositors. The New York Times reports that another bank is weighing a plan to advance funds to customers who rely on Social Security and other government payments that could stop in the event of a default.

Let's hope that cooler heads will prevail and that a U.S. debt default will be avoided.

Unfortunately, it appears that the Democrats are absolutely determined not to be moved from their current position a single inch.  They have decided to refuse to negotiate and demand that the Republicans give them every single thing that they want.

And who can really blame them for adopting that strategy?  After all, it has certainly worked in the past.  Whenever Democrats have stood united and have refused to give a single inch, the Republicans have always freaked out and caved in eventually.

Will this time be any different?

The funny thing is that once upon a time, Barack Obama was adamantly against any increase in the debt limit.  The following comes courtesy of Zero Hedge...

Obama Debt Ceiling

But now Obama says that it is so unreasonable to be opposed to a debt limit increase that any negotiations are out of the question.

So which Obama is right?

If the Democrats will not negotiate, a debt default could still be avoided if the Republicans give in.

And that is what they always do, right?

Perhaps not this time.  Just check out what John Boehner had to say on Sunday...

"I, working with my members, decided to do this in a unified way," the speaker said -- with demands to defund, delay or otherwise alter the Affordable Care Act.

 

Boehner had expected that the Obamacare fight would come during the next vote to raise the debt ceiling, “but, you know, working with my members, they decided, let's do it now," he said. "And the fact is, this fight was going to come, one way or another. We’re in the fight. We don't want to shut the government down. We’ve passed bills to pay the troops. We passed bills to make sure the federal employees know that they're going to be paid throughout this.”

 

"You've never seen a more dedicated group of people who are thoroughly concerned about the future of our country," he said of House Republicans. "It is time for us to stand and fight."

But will the Republicans really stand and fight?

In the past, betting on the intestinal fortitude of the Republican Party has been a loser every single time.

So we'll see.  Boehner insists that this time is different.  Boehner insists that he is not going to fold like a 20 dollar suit this time.  In fact, when he was asked if the U.S. government was headed toward a debt default if Obama continued to refuse to negotiate, Boehner made the following statement...

"That's the path we're on."

The mainstream media has certainly been placing most of the blame at the feet of the Republicans, but at least the U.S. House of Representatives has been trying to get an agreement reached.  The House has voted 26 times since the Senate last voted.  Harry Reid has essentially shut the Senate down until the Republicans fold and give the Democrats exactly what they want.

The funny thing is that this could probably be solved very easily.  If the Democrats agreed to a one year delay to the individual mandate, the Republicans would probably jump at it.  And because of epic technical failures, hardly anyone has been able to get signed up for Obamacare anyway.  So a one year delay would give the Obama administration time to get their act together.

Unfortunately, the Democrats seem absolutely obsessed with the idea that they will not give the Republicans one single inch.  They seem to believe that this will be to their political benefit.

But this is a very dangerous game that they are playing.  The U.S. government must roll over 441 billion dollars of short-term debt between October 18th and November 15th.

If a debt ceiling increase is not in place by that time, it will send interest rates soaring.  Borrowing costs for state and local governments, corporations, and ordinary Americans will go through the roof and economic activity will be hit really hard.

And as detailed above, we could potentially be looking at a financial crash that would make 2008 look like a Sunday picnic.

So let us hope for a political solution soon.  That will at least kick the can down the road for a little bit longer.

If a debt default were to happen before the end of this year, that would bring a tremendous amount of future economic pain into the here and now, and the consequences would likely be far greater than any of us could possibly imagine.

Sovereign Investors Dollar Cautious For 2014

Posted: 08 Oct 2013 05:20 PM PDT

My Dear Extended Family, I can post all the dire warnings from every parts of the globe concerning the possibility of a default on US debt. You have seen them all, and heard all the analysts screaming bloody murder. What no one is focusing on is the impact on future dollar sovereign investment appetite because... Read more »

The post Sovereign Investors Dollar Cautious For 2014 appeared first on Jim Sinclair's Mineset.

COMEX Gold Inventories Steady Overall With 40,000 Ounces Moved Out of Deliverable Category

Posted: 08 Oct 2013 04:53 PM PDT

COMEX Gold Inventories Steady Overall With 40,000 Ounces Moved Out of Deliverable Category

Posted: 08 Oct 2013 04:53 PM PDT

US Treasury Default Risk Now The Same As JCPenney's Was In July

Posted: 08 Oct 2013 04:32 PM PDT

The cost of protecting against a default on US Treasuries for one-year has surged to 60bps this morning. This is the highest since the Debt-ceiling debacle in 2011 and worse than Lehman. The 1Y cost is the highest relative to the 5Y cost ever.

 

However, many people look at the 60bps and shrug it off as de minimus, after-all, JCPenney trades at 1200bps-plus and is still alive. This is a mistake.

 

The price of protection for US sovereign debt depends on recovery expectations AND the EURUSD exchange rate expectations. Based on current levels, USA CDS imply a 5.9% probability of default - the same as JCPenney in July.

When an entity defaults, the CDS is triggered and an auction takes place to settle the transaction... the buyer of insurance delivers a bond and the seller of protection delivers "par" or 100 cents on the dollar. Therefore the buyer of protection pockets the difference between the cheapest-to-deliver bond and 100.

In the case of US Treasuries, the cheapest to deliver bond is a longer-dated bond trading around $84 (and so that will be in big demand should a technical default occur as protection buyers scramble to lock in their profit.)

 

Also, given that the current premium is 60bps (and it trades in EUR since there would be no protection in USD as the US government could simply print more money to pay its debt and the owner of debt would be unprotected from wealth destruction), which is around 80bps in USD, a recovery of 84c implied a 5.9% chance of US Treasury technical default over the next year.

 

In the case of JCPenney, assuming the standard 40% recovery (which could be worse given Goldman's 1st lien), the US Treasury default rate of 5.9% implies a spread of around 300bps for JCPenney - a level which it was at in July.

The bottom line is that considering 60bps as a small number is a mistake and we hope we have clarified a little about just how concerned investors should be at these levels in this arcane marketplace.

(Note: bear in mind there are a miriad of additional technical details that complicate this analysis further but we hope this gives a sense of the relative scale of a 60bps level for 1Y USA default protection).

Silver Leads Gold Higher

Posted: 08 Oct 2013 03:03 PM PDT

Graceland Update

China Says “This Is US’ Responsibility,” Imports Another 131 Tonnes Of Gold

Posted: 08 Oct 2013 02:59 PM PDT

Chinese Vice Finance Minister Zhu Guangyao commented publicly by expressing his concerns about the United States debt ceiling saga (via Reuters):

“The United States is totally clear about China’s concerns about the fiscal cliff.”

“We ask that the United States earnestly takes steps to resolve in a timely way before Oct. 17 the political (issues) around the debt ceiling and prevent a U.S. debt default to ensure safety of Chinese investments in the United States and the global economic recovery,” Zhu said. ”This is the United States’ responsibility.”

That is close to a warning. The situation is indeed serious enough to send out warnings. Zerohedge showed today for the first time on record the US government is riskier that US banks. The fact of the matter is that the yield on short-term Treasury-Bills is above the yield on US interbank loans. T-Bill yields (the US government’s “risk”) have surpassed short-term LIBOR (US Banks’ “Risk”).

In his daily commentary, gold expert Jim Sinclair said this could be the point of confidence loss in the dollar because of the real and feasible threat of a dysfunctional legislative unable to avoid default. He says: “This “near crisis” is not going to be easily or if at all forgotten by major holders of US debt.”

Meantime, China continues to hoard gold in an unabated way. As reported by Reuters moments ago:

  • Net gold flows into China – excluding imports by Hong Kong from China – hit 110.505 tonnes in August, compared with 116.385 tonnes in July, data from the Hong Kong Census and Statistics Department showed.
  • Total imports from Hong Kong rose to 131.374 tonnes from 129.232 tonnes a month ago.
  • China’s net gold imports from Hong Kong have totalled 744.818 tonnes for the first eight months of the year, while India’s purchases as of August stand at a little less than 600 tonnes.

Courtesy of Sharelynx, readers see the monthly evolution of gold imports from Hong Kong to China. The record amounts of gold imports continue consistently.

china gold imports august 2013 physical market

It was only two weeks ago when we reported how China Stimulates Gold Demand And Becomes World's Largest Gold Importer.

The Gold Price Closed Today at $1,324.60

Posted: 08 Oct 2013 02:53 PM PDT

Gold Price Close Today : 1324.60
Change : -0.50 or -0.04%

Silver Price Close Today : 22.440
Change : 0.055 or 0.25%

Gold Silver Ratio Today : 59.029
Change : -0.167 or -0.28%

Silver Gold Ratio Today : 0.01694
Change : 0.000048 or 0.28%

Platinum Price Close Today : 1403.70
Change : 8.10 or 0.58%

Palladium Price Close Today : 712.75
Change : 2.30 or 0.32%

S&P 500 : 1,655.45
Change : -20.67 or -1.23%

Dow In GOLD$ : $230.60
Change : $ (2.40) or -1.03%

Dow in GOLD oz : 11.155
Change : -0.116 or -1.03%

Dow in SILVER oz : 658.49
Change : -8.75 or -1.31%

Dow Industrial : 14,776.53
Change : -159.71 or -1.07%

US Dollar Index : 80.166
Change : 0.432 or 0.54%

Franklin is travelling this week, but he wanted y'all to receive today's prices, below.
God willing, Franklin will return on Monday, 14 October 2013.

Argentum et aurum comparenda sunt -- -- Gold and silver must be bought.

- Franklin Sanders, The Moneychanger
The-MoneyChanger.com

© 2013, The Moneychanger. May not be republished in any form, including electronically, without our express permission. To avoid confusion, please remember that the comments above have a very short time horizon. Always invest with the primary trend. Gold's primary trend is up, targeting at least $3,130.00; silver's primary is up targeting 16:1 gold/silver ratio or $195.66; stocks' primary trend is down, targeting Dow under 2,900 and worth only one ounce of gold or 18 ounces of silver. or 18 ounces of silver. US $ and US$-denominated assets, primary trend down; real estate bubble has burst, primary trend down.

WARNING AND DISCLAIMER. Be advised and warned:

Do NOT use these commentaries to trade futures contracts. I don't intend them for that or write them with that short term trading outlook. I write them for long-term investors in physical metals. Take them as entertainment, but not as a timing service for futures.

NOR do I recommend investing in gold or silver Exchange Trade Funds (ETFs). Those are NOT physical metal and I fear one day one or another may go up in smoke. Unless you can breathe smoke, stay away. Call me paranoid, but the surviving rabbit is wary of traps.

NOR do I recommend trading futures options or other leveraged paper gold and silver products. These are not for the inexperienced.

NOR do I recommend buying gold and silver on margin or with debt.

What DO I recommend? Physical gold and silver coins and bars in your own hands.

One final warning: NEVER insert a 747 Jumbo Jet up your nose.

The Gold Price Closed Today at $1,324.60

Posted: 08 Oct 2013 02:53 PM PDT

Gold Price Close Today : 1324.60
Change : -0.50 or -0.04%

Silver Price Close Today : 22.440
Change : 0.055 or 0.25%

Gold Silver Ratio Today : 59.029
Change : -0.167 or -0.28%

Silver Gold Ratio Today : 0.01694
Change : 0.000048 or 0.28%

Platinum Price Close Today : 1403.70
Change : 8.10 or 0.58%

Palladium Price Close Today : 712.75
Change : 2.30 or 0.32%

S&P 500 : 1,655.45
Change : -20.67 or -1.23%

Dow In GOLD$ : $230.60
Change : $ (2.40) or -1.03%

Dow in GOLD oz : 11.155
Change : -0.116 or -1.03%

Dow in SILVER oz : 658.49
Change : -8.75 or -1.31%

Dow Industrial : 14,776.53
Change : -159.71 or -1.07%

US Dollar Index : 80.166
Change : 0.432 or 0.54%

Franklin is travelling this week, but he wanted y'all to receive today's prices, below.
God willing, Franklin will return on Monday, 14 October 2013.

Argentum et aurum comparenda sunt -- -- Gold and silver must be bought.

- Franklin Sanders, The Moneychanger
The-MoneyChanger.com

© 2013, The Moneychanger. May not be republished in any form, including electronically, without our express permission. To avoid confusion, please remember that the comments above have a very short time horizon. Always invest with the primary trend. Gold's primary trend is up, targeting at least $3,130.00; silver's primary is up targeting 16:1 gold/silver ratio or $195.66; stocks' primary trend is down, targeting Dow under 2,900 and worth only one ounce of gold or 18 ounces of silver. or 18 ounces of silver. US $ and US$-denominated assets, primary trend down; real estate bubble has burst, primary trend down.

WARNING AND DISCLAIMER. Be advised and warned:

Do NOT use these commentaries to trade futures contracts. I don't intend them for that or write them with that short term trading outlook. I write them for long-term investors in physical metals. Take them as entertainment, but not as a timing service for futures.

NOR do I recommend investing in gold or silver Exchange Trade Funds (ETFs). Those are NOT physical metal and I fear one day one or another may go up in smoke. Unless you can breathe smoke, stay away. Call me paranoid, but the surviving rabbit is wary of traps.

NOR do I recommend trading futures options or other leveraged paper gold and silver products. These are not for the inexperienced.

NOR do I recommend buying gold and silver on margin or with debt.

What DO I recommend? Physical gold and silver coins and bars in your own hands.

One final warning: NEVER insert a 747 Jumbo Jet up your nose.

John Hathaway: Precious Metals Investing Remains Compelling

Posted: 08 Oct 2013 02:48 PM PDT

In his latest quarterly report, John Hathaway from the Tocqueville gold fund explains the rationale for investing in the precious metals. In his opinion, the precious metals sector remains compelling for two fundamental reasons:

  1. “Global fiscal and monetary policies have been directly and indirectly subsidizing asset values, which make financial assets especially vulnerable to permanent impairment when supports inevitably end.”
  2. “Continuous and unconstrained monetary emissions are fraught with unintended consequences, which have historically included debasement of paper currencies via inflation or devaluation and sovereign debt crises. These risks can imperil all financial assets both in terms of their market prices and solvency.”

Hathaway writes it is astonishing how the Federal Reserve with its monetary policy continue to get credibility and trust by the markets. Several Fed officials have recently told there is no consensus on slowing the rate of asset purchases and reducing the size of the Fed balance sheet.

“It is our view that the Fed will be unable to taper because economic activity will remain lethargic indefinitely.  We also believe that the robust level of activity required to execute the Fed's fabled "exit strategy" will remain elusive because the Fed's strategy of asset purchases suppresses interest rates. Artificial interest rates impede productive economic activity by distorting price signals and misdirecting capital flows. The longer current Fed policies remain in force, the greater the potential disruption to financial markets when it changes, most likely due to events yet unforeseen. Still, conventional economic commentary remains confident of Fed competence to unwind its balance sheet. When this confidence dissipates, as we expect, investment demand for gold will resurface in the most forceful manner.”

The outlook remains compelling for several other reasons:

  • The mining industry cannot continue to justify new mine construction as the gold price is currently lower than gold production. Mine supply should decline in these circumstances.
  • Demand for gold investments free of counterparty risk will be driven by the spread of banking and securities industry regulation.
  • A loss of credibility in intermediaries such as Comex and LBMA is realistically to be expected. The paper market in gold is deep and liquid, says Hathaway, subject to manipulation by speculative capital.
  • Asian demand for physical gold continues in complete contrast to liquidation by Western investors over the past two years. Shanghai premiums vs. London spot were up to 7% this year.
  • Sentiment remains at very low levels. The following chart shows a muted level of interest by speculative longs on the Comex.
    Gold Net Commercial Position 3Q13 investing

Expectactions: The gold market should be preparing a major advance. That type of market reversals, however, require a tolerance for the pain that it takes to be invested at the low. Money on the sideline will be paralyzed and unable to act until metals and share prices have advanced strongly.

The gold market Q3 2013 in 53 charts

The Fire Fueling Gold

Posted: 08 Oct 2013 02:29 PM PDT

Gold took quite a beating in September, bucking its seasonal average monthly return of 2.3 percent. The political battle between President Barack Obama and Congress, China's Golden Week, and India's gold import restrictions likely weighed on ... Read More...

The U.S. Will Never Say Default

Posted: 08 Oct 2013 02:24 PM PDT

“The United States will never default on its debt,” says former Comptroller General and I.O.U.S.A. protagonist David Walker. “The Treasury can and should prioritize its debt service payments.”

We’re delighted to see Mr. Walker affirm something we’ve hammered at since at least the first of the year. Even if the Treasury hits the debt ceiling, it will have no problem continuing to pay interest on the national debt.

“The Bureau of Public Debt knows who’s owed what, when,” Mr. Walker tells CNBC. “And we have plenty of cash flow to meet those debt service obligations.”

It’s Uncle Sam’s other various and sundry obligations that would have to give way. At the risk of repeating ourselves further: To stay under the debt ceiling would require, in effect, an instant balanced budget so that no more additional debt accrues.

It isn’t that hard to get from here to there. As we noted yesterday, the “partial government shutdown” already amounts to a 17% cut in government spending — or $626 billion if it lasted for all of fiscal year 2014.

The White House’s 2014 budget request projects a deficit of $744 billion. Really, how hard would it be to scare up another $122 billion in savings?

The problem is Wall Street won’t stand for that.

“In recent meetings with Republican lawmakers and Obama administration officials,” reports this morning’s Wall Street Journal, “chief executives of the nation’s largest financial institutions said putting some payments ahead of others would create insurmountable uncertainty for investors, drive up borrowing costs and cause market disruptions, according to people familiar with the meetings.”

Says Tom Simons, an economist at investment bank Jefferies Group: “This is going to be permanently damaging for business and consumer confidence if this happens. People will never look at the United States Treasury the same ever again.”

Hmmm… He says that as if it’s a bad thing…

“I think most people sort of knew that the shutdown business was the undercard to the main event,” says our Chris Mayer — “which is the debt ceiling issue.

“It’s rare that any sovereign in our paper-money age defaults for obvious reasons. It’s hard to run out of money when you can print what you want and people who hold the debts you owe have to take it.

“I think we can rule out the idea that whatever resolution comes out of this is going to fix anything. The U.S. government will still be deeply in the red. It will still have a growing pile of debts. And the value of the U.S. dollar will likely continue to crumble like a sand castle worn away by wind and an incoming tide.

“In other words, expect more of the same. Meanwhile, markets will go up and markets will go down. People are still people — and they have a tendency to misprice securities. There is always something to do, as the great investor Peter Cundill used to say.”

Regards,

Dave Gonigam,
for The Daily Reckoning

P.S. One of the best ways to keep track of the market volatility that Chris mentions is by subscribing to The Daily Reckoning. That way, you get premium daily market updates and commentary that we just don't post to the site. To sign up, simply click here.

Original article posted on the 5 Min. Forecast

PAPER DOES NOT EQUAL PHYSICAL!

Posted: 08 Oct 2013 02:18 PM PDT

PAPER DOES NOT EQUAL PHYSICAL! But Paper dollars buys silver....

[[ This is a content summary only. Visit http://goldbasics.blogspot.com or http://www.newsbooze.com or http://www.figanews.com for full links, other content, and more! ]]

The Ethics of “Making the Empire Pay”

Posted: 08 Oct 2013 01:44 PM PDT

"Yeah, I’m sooo scared," wrote one of our subscribers in an email to us yesterday. "When did you people turn into shills for the military-industrial complex?"

[Ahem.]

"My security would be greatly enhanced if every damn one of 'em would go home forever and the entire machine would grind to a halt, so don’t try to pump this bilge my way."

We hear you. And we agree.

We're not much on socially responsible investing… even when we judge a certain investment vehicle to be thoroughly irresponsible, if not downright reprehensible.

"The insidious increase in power," says retired army Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, "and the influence over foreign policy that the military has is very dangerous. And maybe in the long run, it's even more dangerous than a coup."

Wilkerson was Colin Powell's right-hand man in the military under the first President Bush… and again in the State Department under the second. It was Wilkerson who vetted the intelligence that went into Powell's now-infamous speech at the United Nations 10 years ago during the run-up to the Iraq War.

He admits he fell down on the job.

The "mobile bioweapons labs" were the fantasy of an Iraqi defector, egged on by the Pentagon. In retirement, Wilkerson has turned into a trenchant critic of the military-industrial complex Eisenhower warned about 52 years ago. As such, he is also the harbinger of the military's slow-motion coup.

"What happens," Wilkerson explained to radio host Rob Kall last November, "is the power shifts gradually, and gradually, and incrementally over to the war-making side, to where you wake up one morning and all you're doing is making war. And you have so many people — from Lockheed Martin, to the Congress of the United States, to the armed forces, to you name it — who are making so much money off that war-making that you can't stop it. That's not a coup, but it is something worse, in my view. It is, ultimately, the destruction of our Republic."

So why, you might ask, would we suggest investing in defense or cybersecurity stocks or — to use a phrase made popular when Americans were having second thoughts about World War I — the "merchants of death"?

Simply put, because there are pitfalls of "socially responsible investing."

We're not much on socially responsible investing… even when we judge a certain investment vehicle to be thoroughly irresponsible, if not downright reprehensible.

"Maximizing profits and conforming to social policies are separate endeavors," wrote the late Harry Browne in 1995. "You can cater to one endeavor only at the expense of the other."

Name almost any investment, and we can come up with a valid objection to it… and not on hippy-dippy "save the Earth" or "fair trade" grounds, either:

If you own a gold stock, there's a good chance the company is stomping all over the property rights of someone whose land happens to sit on top of a gold deposit. Third-world governments routinely cut sweetheart deals with mining firms to seize land held in the same family for generations, with zip for compensation.

Or if you own any kind of government bond, your stream of income depends on the ability of that government to extract tax payments from the citizens in its jurisdiction.

Meanwhile, if you shun the stocks of the major banks because they accept government bailouts, you've passed up monster rallies going back to late 2011 — 59% on J.P. Morgan Chase, 79% on Citigroup and 130% on Bank of America. Just sayin'.

Run down all 10 sectors of the S&P 500 and we'll find something objectionable. Health care? The government has totally co-opted the insurance industry and Big Pharma… or maybe vice versa. Telecom? All the big companies collude with the National Security Agency's warrantless wiretapping. Consumer staples? Hope you don't mind General Mills and Kellogg sucking up the corn subsidies for breakfast cereal (and adding to kids' waistlines, which you'll pay for years from now when they develop diabetes and go on Medicaid).

OK, you get the idea.

Back to Col. Wilkerson's interview. It reinforces our own thoughts about the empire having a logic of its own. The military's silent coup "is something that just happens, and it directs American policy toward war in an increased and ever-dangerous manner, and we wind up one day with no money left, no economy, and the only thing we're good at (and that's going away fast, because you need money in an economy to support a military) is the military."

We're no happier about it than you or Col. Wilkerson. But if government is going to direct more and more of the economy going forward, it only makes sense to "follow the money" and channel your own investment flows into those areas that will benefit most.

"The stock exchange isn't a pulpit," wrote Harry Browne. "If you want to promote a particular environmental policy, political philosophy or other personal enthusiasm, do it with the profits you make from hardheaded investing."

Amen.

Regards,

Addison Wiggin
for The Daily Reckoning

P.S. As we’ve said before, our beat at The Daily Reckoning is money. Whether the markets hit new highs or gold rallies above $2,000 or the dollar falls to zero… we’ll be there to reckon with it. And we’ll have a way for our readers to protect their own assets in the process. That’s why we publish The Daily Reckoning email, every day. To ensure that you know what to do with your money regardless of what comes next. We offer readers no less than 3 chances to learn about specific, actionable profit opportunities every day. So if you’re not getting the email, you’re not getting the full story. Sign up for The Daily Reckoning, for FREE, right here.

Gold Daily and Silver Weekly Charts - Cap, Cap, Cap...

Posted: 08 Oct 2013 01:42 PM PDT

Gold Daily and Silver Weekly Charts - Cap, Cap, Cap...

Posted: 08 Oct 2013 01:42 PM PDT

Gold Seeker Closing Report: Gold and Silver End Slightly Lower

Posted: 08 Oct 2013 01:12 PM PDT

Gold saw a slight gain at $1327.06 in Asia before it fell back to $1315.94 in London and then climbed to as high as $1329.80 by midmorning in New York, but it then fell back off in the last 6 hours of trade and ended with a loss of 0.23%. Silver slipped to $22.11 before it rebounded to $22.476 and then also fell back off in late trade, but it ended with a loss of just 0.13%.

Former US Treasury Official - President To Seize Total Power

Posted: 08 Oct 2013 01:03 PM PDT

Today a former US Treasury Official warned King World News that the President of the United States will declare a "National Catastrophe," and seize total power, much like a Caesar would, if it is deemed necessary to avoid a disastrous US default and subsequent collapse. He also spoke about other drastic emergency measures which would also be implemented in order to avoid a US default. Below is what Dr. Paul Craig Roberts had to say.

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Silver Leads Gold Higher

Posted: 08 Oct 2013 10:32 AM PDT

Chinese investors should be back on the "gold buying job" today. Twice a year, Chinese citizens celebrate "Golden Week". Businesses are generally closed, and workers spend time with their families. Read More...

Silver Leads Gold Higher

Posted: 08 Oct 2013 10:11 AM PDT

Chinese investors should be back on the "gold buying job" today. To understand why that is, please click here now. Twice a year, Chinese citizens celebrate "Golden Week". Businesses are generally closed, and workers spend time with their families. Chinese gold buyers should become quite active in the next few days, as Golden Week ends, and the nation goes back to work. India's Diwali festival is also approaching. In the coming weeks, physical demand for gold is likely to be relatively strong.

U.S. Looks 50 Years Ahead on the Road to Serfdom

Posted: 08 Oct 2013 09:26 AM PDT

Want to know just how invasive the state is going to get in the United States?

Well, take a look across the pond.

In terms of the large, invasive state, we English are way ahead of you guys. We’re a good 50 or more years further down the road to serfdom.

…governments perpetrated their atrocities and were able to do so through the theft that is fiat money.

Nineteenth-century Britain was about as glorious a libertarian existence as history has to offer. We didn't call it libertarian then. It was known as "classical liberalism" or "Gladstonian liberalism" — after our prime minister, William Gladstone.

From the end of the Napoleonic wars in 1815 to World War I in 1914, it was a period of unprecedented peace, prosperity, innovation, and invention. The lots of millions were bettered.

We became more literate, more numerate, and healthier. We lived longer and we grew richer. Peasants who moved to the cities to work in the factories during the Industrial Revolution saw their children become members of the new educated middle class. The efficiencies of the Industrial Revolution and the wealth generated by it led to the abolition of slavery in 1834 — yes, we were a generation ahead of you guys.

One of the first things people chose to spend their newly generated wealth on after food, clothing, and shelter was education: bettering their lot. By the 1860s, literacy rates had more than tripled from the beginning of the century, and something like 95% of the population could read.

It was achieved without the help of the state. In 1965, the historian A.J.P. Taylor wrote:

"Until August 1914, a sensible, law-abiding Englishman could pass through life and hardly notice the existence of the state beyond the post office and the policeman. He could live where he liked and as he liked. He had no official number or identity card. He could travel abroad or leave his country for ever without a passport or any sort of official permission. He could exchange his money for any other currency without restriction or limit. He could buy goods from any country in the world on the same terms as he bought goods at home. For that matter, a foreigner could spend his life in this country without permit and without informing the police."

Things began to change in the late 19th century. People were getting worried about those at the bottom of society. So in 1870, the government made education compulsory. Then they started providing it.

The Liberal government of 1906-14, championed by David Lloyd George and Winston Churchill, started helping us out in other ways. They gave us pensions and health care. The Pensions Act of 1908, the People's Budget of 1909-10 (to "wage implacable warfare against poverty," declared Lloyd George), and the National Insurance Act of 1911 saw the Liberal government moving away from its tradition of laissez-faire systems toward larger, more intrusive government.

Just as Byzantium followed Rome, the USA followed Britain and became the world center of innovation, freedom and prosperity.

Taxes were collected from the wealthy and the proceeds redistributed. Afraid of losing votes to the emerging Labour party and the increasingly popular ideology of socialism, modern liberals betrayed their classical principles. In his War Memoirs, Lloyd George said "the partisan warfare that raged around these topics was so fierce that by 1913, this country was brought to the verge of civil war."

Then our government got us involved in this wonderful thing called World War I. It led to the death of about 8 million soldiers and another 12 million civilians. Not only did it destroy lives and families, but it destroyed people’s ability to look after themselves and their kin. So the government stepped in and got even more involved — and Britain was caught in an ever-increasing vicious circle of state involvement in our lives.

Do you know something? In 1914, the British government took us off the gold standard to pay for World War I. The German government did the same. If either had had to pay for that war in cash gold, neither could have done so — and the war would have had to stop.

Instead, governments perpetrated their atrocities and were able to do so through the theft that is fiat money.

Meanwhile, Europe’s gold went west, and with it went our glorious libertarian society. Just as Byzantium followed Rome, the USA followed Britain and became the world center of innovation, freedom and prosperity.

Fast forward a couple of generations and the U.S. began to make the same decisions we did — crazy foreign wars, abandoning the gold standard, an ever-growing welfare state designed to help people but having the opposite effect.

Britain has long been bankrupt. Were it operating in a natural market environment, our state would have long since gone under. But it doesn’t. It grows and grows and invades.

The U.S. will do the same.

But have no fear. You can still prosper. You and your family can still enjoy life. But it helps if you have a rough idea what’s coming — and at all times embrace the positive.

Sincerely,

Dominic Frisby
for The Daily Reckoning

Ed. Note: Mr. Frisby is right. You can still enjoy life and prosper regardless of what the yahoos in Washington do to impede your personal freedoms. You just need to get the right insight. And while that can be tough in today’s world of 24-hour news networks and perpetual talking heads, there are still outlets for truth. Laissez Faire Today is one of them. It is a completely free service on the topics of liberty and personal freedom, and in addition, offers readers no less than 3 chances at unique, actionable profit opportunities every single day. Don’t miss another issue. Sign up for FREE, right here, and get Laissez Faire Today delivered straight to your email inbox.

Original article posted on Laissez Faire Today

The Daily Market Report

Posted: 08 Oct 2013 09:20 AM PDT

Gold Firms Amid Heightened Concerns Over Possible Default


08-Oct (USAGOLD) — Gold firmed to new highs on the week, underpinned by continued worries about the government shutdown and potential default by the U.S. Additionally, Chinese investors are returning from a week-long national holiday, which was expected to boost demand for the yellow metal.

The shutdown is now a week old and there is still no sign that a breakthrough is imminent. More significantly, the clock is ticking down ever closer to a technical default that could have catastrophic implications.

The Bipartisan Policy Center refined its projection of when the United States “will be unable to meet all of its financial obligations in full and on time” They now put that point at sometime between October 22 and November 1. That’s slightly beyond the October 17 drop-dead date given by Treasury Secretary Lew.

There have been some hints from the White House that the President would accept a very short-term debt ceiling hike to stave off a default and give Congress some more time to iron out their differences. However, with opposing parties still miles apart, I’m not sure there can be any real progress in such a short period of time. We therefore would be right back in the same position just a few short weeks down the road.

Meanwhile, the financial press seems to be escalating the rhetoric, using words like ‘dangerous’ and ‘catastrophic’ to define the likely consequences of a default. If it comes to that, I don’t think they are exaggerating. If the biggest economy in the world defaults, there’s going to be mayhem in markets around the world.

Let’s home our policymakers come to their senses before that happens. In the meantime, take your defensive positions now, because things are going to get progressively more ‘interesting’ the closer we get to that deadline.

China Gold Imports Continue To Impress

Posted: 08 Oct 2013 09:13 AM PDT

More evidence of the record amount of gold (GLD) bullion flowing from the West to the East came earlier today when the Hong Kong Census and Statistics Department reported that net gold imports to mainland China totaled 111 tonnes in August. This was down slightly from 116 tonnes in July and below the record net [...]

Fueling The Gold Fire

Posted: 08 Oct 2013 08:53 AM PDT

Gold took quite a beating in September, bucking its seasonal average monthly return of 2.3 percent. The political battle between President Barack Obama and Congress, China’s Golden Week, and India’s gold import restrictions likely weighed on the metal. September’s correction only adds to the negative sentiment toward the precious metal. The assumption from many market pundits is that gold is no longer attractive as an investment. With rising rates and continuing low inflation, U.S. investors believe they have a solid case for selling their holdings.

600 DRDGold employees strike after it refuses union demands

Posted: 08 Oct 2013 08:23 AM PDT

The South African junior gold miner says 600 of its employees went on strike after it refused to give in to their union’s wage demands.

Read more….

Little to no ‘default premium’ in the gold price, yet

Posted: 08 Oct 2013 08:23 AM PDT

Early prices for the yellow metal are being pushed up by demand from Asia rather than US political issues, says Julian Phillips.

Read more….

Direct economic impact of gold mining $210 billion plus globally

Posted: 08 Oct 2013 08:23 AM PDT

The World Gold Council and Price Waterhouse Coopers have produced a fascinating report looking at the direct economic impact of gold mining on the global economy and that of specific nations.

Read more….

India hauls in 32kg of gold in latest smuggling bust

Posted: 08 Oct 2013 08:23 AM PDT

India’s insatiable appetite for the precious metal has opened up several routes for smugglers from Dubai to Nepal to Bangladesh, with gold smuggling doubling between April to August.

Read more….

Luxury-focused Indians swing for gold

Posted: 08 Oct 2013 08:23 AM PDT

A growing fondness for heavy gold jewellery sets from Italy and Switzerland has gripped the nouveau riche and the luxury conscious in India.

Read more….

Decade-old Darfur conflict reignited by search for gold

Posted: 08 Oct 2013 08:23 AM PDT

Fighting between rival tribes over the Jebel Amer gold mine in Darfur has killed more than 800 people and displaced some 150,000 others since January.

Read more….

China gold imports from Hong Kong slip 5% in August

Posted: 08 Oct 2013 08:23 AM PDT

Purchases were still above 100 tonnes for a fourth straight month as strong demand for jewellery and bars persisted.

Read more….

Gold Looks for Fed Minutes Boost

Posted: 08 Oct 2013 08:04 AM PDT

Gold is trading flat on Tuesday ahead of Fed minutes due Wednesday, Aurum Options Strategies' Tom Vitiello tells TheStreet's Joe Deaux.

[[ This is a content summary only. Visit http://goldbasics.blogspot.com or http://www.newsbooze.com or http://www.figanews.com for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Did Gold Stop to Respond to The U.S. Dollar Price Moves?

Posted: 08 Oct 2013 07:53 AM PDT

Taking the above into account, investors are focusing now on the U.S. government shutdown and its impact on the dollar, and probably wondering where the final bottom of the current corrective move will form. Read More...

The Fire Fueling Gold

Posted: 08 Oct 2013 07:10 AM PDT

Gold took quite a beating in September, bucking its seasonal average monthly return of 2.3 percent. The political battle between President Barack Obama and Congress, China's Golden Week, and India's gold import restrictions likely weighed on the metal.

Did Gold Stop to Respond to the U.S. Dollar Price Moves?

Posted: 08 Oct 2013 07:01 AM PDT

The recent week was tough for the U.S. currency. Investors avoided the dollar as uncertainty over the U.S. government shutdown and the upcoming debate on the debt ceiling weighed on sentiment. The shutdown, with its suspension of funding for government workers and some programs, could hamper U.S. growth and delay tapering.

The Mining Sector Resembles a Somme Battlefield

Posted: 08 Oct 2013 07:00 AM PDT

Technical trader Clive Maund, the force behind CliveMaund.com, tells The Gold Report that the prolonged naked shorting of precious metals stocks has been immensely destructive to the sector and has left a battlefield littered with corpses, like the first day of the Battle of the Somme. The silver lining: He believes his charts are showing a Head-and-Shoulders bottom, which could signal an excellent entry point.

To See How Stock Market Turns Out, Here’s What Happened in Japan

Posted: 08 Oct 2013 06:55 AM PDT

Michael Lombardi writes: If you want to see how this all turns out in the end, I’m talking about the Federal Reserve’s program of printing over $1.0 trillion a year in new paper money (something that’s never happened in history), we need not look any further than the Japanese economy. Why? Because the Japanese economy collapsed about 15 years before our credit crisis collapse of 2008. What we are doing now (artificially low interest rates, deep government debt, and money printing), the Japanese did years ago.

Consolidated Goldfields Names Its Recent Acquisition of the Kennedy Property “The Klondike Pass Gold Project”

Posted: 08 Oct 2013 06:27 AM PDT

Consolidated Goldfields Corporation ("Consolidated" or the "Company") (CDGF) would like to announce that it has named its recent acquisition of the Kennedy Property in Pershing County the Klondike Pass gold project. Klondike Pass is a well-known geographic reference point on the property which is situated in the prolific Willow Creek Mining District; and as a result, the Company has chosen to use this historical site as its name.

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