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- Ukraine standoff dangerous for fragile global economy – positive for gold
- Is renewed Indian demand driving gold prices higher?
- Demand to rise but rallies capped by gold's flow to price-sensitive East
- Scotiabank CEO says ‘dated’ gold fix should be reviewed
- Trader files lawsuit against London gold fix banks
- WANT TO KNOW WHAT’S IN FORT KNOX? HERE’S THE BAR LIST
- Want to Know What’s in Fort Knox? Here’s The Bar List
- Gold may rise toward $2,000 in two years – Barrick CEO
- Something just happened to make the "Wall Street darling" the perfect short.
- Randgold receives approaches for Senegal gold project
- India current-account gap narrows to 4-year low on gold tax
- ECB Ignites Dollar Breakdown, Gold Rally
- USD/JPY - Dollar Keeps Rolling, Ahead Of Unemployment Claims
- In WW2, the US Fought Against Anti-Semitic Fascists. In 2014 We Bring Them to Power
- UK QE and 0.5% Interest Rates, 5 Years On
- Bullion Dealer Inadvertently Reveals How the London Fix Can Easily Manipulate Gold Market
- GLD My #1 Money Making Chart Pattern
- Swiss upper-house votes down proposal to ban central bank gold sales – lower-house yet to vote
- Why the Periphery Is Crumbling: The Spoils System Is Cracking
- What you missed at the inaugural Stansberry Society conference last weekend
- These stocks are BOOMING... But you probably have no idea
- Why Is Our Government (and Deep State) So Incompetent?
- Turkey Feb Gold imports fall 93%, Silver up 310.97%
- The Draghi Party
- 2 Day Sale! Silver Buffs As Low As 69 Cents Over Spot at SDBullion!
- India is experiencing an ‘acute shortage’ of gold – prices are 21% HIGHER than spot gold
- Bail-in Risks See Europe Banks Get Downgrade Warning
- India Imported 6125 Tonnes Of Silver In 2013, Up a Mind-Blowing 6560% YOY!
- Indian bank lockers overflowing with looted gold
- Turkey’s gold imports fall 93%
- 'Bail-in' risks see Europe banks get downgrade warning
- Forget gold and silver... This rare metal could be starting a MAJOR breakout
- Bank of America: China's "Bear Sterns moment" could be just around the corner
- Comex Gold (GC) Futures Technical Analysis – March 6, 2014 Forecast
- TECHNICAL Price & Time: Did Gold Just Run Into a "Death Cycle"?
- PDAC 2014 Underscores Muted Sentiment towards Gold Stocks
- Clamor for easing gold imports strengthens in India
- Making partner has never been this easy. Millionaire shares little-known investment strategy
- ‘Bail-in’ Risks See Europe Banks Get Downgrade Warning
- Tax Havens Make US and Europe Look Poorer than They Are, Exaggerate Size of “Global Imbalances”
- US deep storage gold - weights
- Gold is Heading Back to a Bull Cycle, Nomura Says
- Pepe Escobar: Spring fails in Ukrainian plunderland
- Dr. Marc Faber: "Emerging Economies Will Submerge Soon: Devaluations and Higher Gold Demand Will Follow
- Four King World News Blogs
- London gold broker says swings in prices no sign of manipulation
- Scotiabank CEO Porter Says ‘Dated’ Gold Fix Needs Review
- Lawrence Williams: London Gold Fix days could be numbered?
- Eric Sprott: Gold equities, manipulators and significant earning potential
- Gold is Heading Back to a Bull Cycle, Nomura Says
| Ukraine standoff dangerous for fragile global economy – positive for gold Posted: 06 Mar 2014 05:08 PM PST The potential political and economic fallout between Russia and the West over Ukraine and Crimea could have a major destabilising effect on the global economy and give a further boost to the gold price. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Is renewed Indian demand driving gold prices higher? Posted: 06 Mar 2014 04:12 PM PST Julian Phillips thinks gold prices will be pushed higher by an easing of duties and restrictions on Indian gold imports. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Demand to rise but rallies capped by gold's flow to price-sensitive East Posted: 06 Mar 2014 03:03 PM PST According to analysts, the change in emphasis in the gold market to buyers in the East is likely to make prices more reactive to sharp rallies. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Scotiabank CEO says ‘dated’ gold fix should be reviewed Posted: 06 Mar 2014 12:30 PM PST CEO Brian Porter says the process for setting gold prices, known as the London gold fix, is outdated and should be reviewed. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Trader files lawsuit against London gold fix banks Posted: 06 Mar 2014 12:25 PM PST New York resident Kevin Maher has filed a lawsuit against the five banks involved in setting the London gold fix, according to a filing in US District Court in Manhattan. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| WANT TO KNOW WHAT’S IN FORT KNOX? HERE’S THE BAR LIST Posted: 06 Mar 2014 11:33 AM PST
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| Want to Know What’s in Fort Knox? Here’s The Bar List Posted: 06 Mar 2014 11:00 AM PST
 Thanks to a tip from an SD reader, we have discovered the US’ official bar list of “Deep Storage Gold” held at Fort Knox, Denver, and West Point, buried in a PDF file on the House Financial Services website. Updated on Sept 30th, 2010, the document provides a full bar inventory including total bars, weights, and fineness [...] The post Want to Know What’s in Fort Knox? Here’s The Bar List appeared first on Silver Doctors. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Gold may rise toward $2,000 in two years – Barrick CEO Posted: 06 Mar 2014 10:40 AM PST Jamie Sokalsky thinks gold prices may retest previous highs and rise toward $2,000 an ounce within two or three years. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Something just happened to make the "Wall Street darling" the perfect short. Posted: 06 Mar 2014 10:30 AM PST There's a high-flying company out there that's all over the financial press. It has zoomed to record highs in less than a year. Investors have tried to short the stock, but it has burned them every time. Porter Stansberry, editor of Stansberry's Investment Advisory, has warned readers of the company's extreme overvaluation... but he has hesitated to short the stock – until now. What made Porter change is mind? The company just showed its hand… and it's not pretty. What most people see as a benign move, Porter recognizes as the first step towards the cellar. To find out what blunder this company just made, listen to this clip.
 
Crux note: People normally pay thousands to read about Porter's best investments ideas... and it's worth every penny. But what if you could get his best ideas for $10.00. Stansberry Radio provides the best investment ideas before they go mainstream. It's just the source you need to stay ahead of curve. To find out more click here. More from S&A: Porter Stansberry: My top warning signs for 2014 Steve Sjuggerud: It's official... the gold crash is over Doc Eifrig: How to earn extra income... without leaving your house | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Randgold receives approaches for Senegal gold project Posted: 06 Mar 2014 10:30 AM PST The Massawa project doesn't currently meet Randgold's requirements for development, CEO Mark Bristow said in a presentation in Toronto on Wednesday. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| India current-account gap narrows to 4-year low on gold tax Posted: 06 Mar 2014 10:26 AM PST The deficit was $4.2 billion in October through December, compared with $5.2 billion for the prior quarter, says the Reserve Bank of India. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| ECB Ignites Dollar Breakdown, Gold Rally Posted: 06 Mar 2014 10:21 AM PST Thursday's decision by the European Central Bank to not make any major policy changes has had the predictable effect of igniting a rally in the euro (FXE) and gold (GLD). But the bigger issue is that it has caused further technical breakdown of the trade weighted U.S. Dollar Index (UUP) confirming last week's close below the heavily-defended 80 level. This non-move by the ECB has major implications for current geopolitical events unfolding in Ukraine. But, if the EU was partner to the U.S.'s involvement in fomenting regime change in Ukraine why would the ECB not make moves to back up that play? All about Oil The answer can be summed up in the chart of Brent Crude (BNO) in euro terms. (click to enlarge) Any potential recovery of the southern European economy is heavily dependent on oil and gas prices remaining relatively cheap if the region has any hope of | |||||||||||||||||||||
| USD/JPY - Dollar Keeps Rolling, Ahead Of Unemployment Claims Posted: 06 Mar 2014 10:17 AM PST By Kenny Fisher The US dollar continues to move higher in Thursday trading, as USD/JPY trades in the mid-102 range. The dollar has now gained over 100 points this week. On Wednesday, ADP Non-Farm Payrolls was way off the estimate for a second straight month, as US employment numbers continue to struggle. Today's highlight is Unemployment Claims, as the markets anticipate a stronger reading than last week. There are no Japanese releases on Thursday. Nervous markets remain glued to the Ukraine, as Russia has effectively taken over Crimea following the ousting of the Ukrainian president, who has fled to Russia. The US and Russia continue to talk tough as the standoff between Russia and the Ukraine continue. Until this tense situation subsides, traders should be prepared for volatility in the currency markets. Over in the US, it could be the start of another nasty streak of soft releases. ADP Non-Farm | |||||||||||||||||||||
| In WW2, the US Fought Against Anti-Semitic Fascists. In 2014 We Bring Them to Power Posted: 06 Mar 2014 10:00 AM PST
 In World War II, the United States fought against rabidly anti-Semitic fascists. In 2014, the United States helps them overthrow democratically-elected governments. And the sick thing is that the mainstream media is acting an an accomplice because it is purposely ignoring or greatly playing down the rabid anti-Semitism in Ukraine. The anti-Semitism of many of [...] The post In WW2, the US Fought Against Anti-Semitic Fascists. In 2014 We Bring Them to Power appeared first on Silver Doctors. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| UK QE and 0.5% Interest Rates, 5 Years On Posted: 06 Mar 2014 09:42 AM PST UK interest rates have never been lower. But they have been stuck low for longer. Much longer... FIVE YEARS ago, writes Adrian Ash at BullionVault, "It is fair to say nobody predicted this record low [in UK interes rates] would last as long as it has," reckons the Economic Research Council. Not so. History said otherwise and very loudly. We coughed it too...  As you can see on that chart, the last 5 years paid the lowest rate since the Bank of England was founded in 1694. The previous floor was 2%. But this hasn't been the longest stretch of inactivity. That came in the 18th century, when the Court left Bank Rate at 5% for 100 years. Bondholders ruled the country, after all. Being paid in gold, cash needed a decent rate of interest to deter savers from swapping it for bullion, too. More pertinent, the Great Depression of the 1930s saw the Old Lady throw Bank Rate into the bin for 20 years. Boxing policy into that corner...way down at 2%...meant impotence was the only choice until sharply rising inflation forced the Bank from its stupor. But too little, too late. The collapse of Sterling and the 1970s' wipeout were already baked into the crust. What the Bank didn't do during the 18th century, the Great Depression, nor the 1970s was print enough money to buy one-third of all UK government bonds in issue. And seeing how the Bank of England has now imagined £375bn of QE cash into reality since 2009, what's most remarkable about the last 5 years is that gold and silver did so much better before money-printing and near-zero rates began.  Two thoughts... First, precious metals offer savers and investors financial insurance. Waiting until your house has been flooded makes buying cover expensive, if not impossible. Prudence acts early. Gold and silver remain the best performing assets over the last decade by a country mile over. (Note that back in 2004 the Bank of England had just slashed rates to 3.5%...a half-century low...to stem the DotCom Crash in the stock market. Cheap money didn't begin in 2009.) Second, QE hasn't been inflationary. Not yet. But currently stuck at Threadneedle Street as banking reserves, those frozen billions will melt back into the economy, either written off as "debt relief" to the Treasury...or forced into reality at maturity. Savers and investors wanting to insure against that flood of financial meltwater might want to get in a few sandbags early. Avoid the rush. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Bullion Dealer Inadvertently Reveals How the London Fix Can Easily Manipulate Gold Market Posted: 06 Mar 2014 09:00 AM PST
 Ross Norman, CEO of the well-known London-based Sharps Pixley bullion retailer issued a rebuttal to the Bloomberg article and in defense of the London fix (LINK). Ironically, in his attempted defense of the gold fix process, Norman inadvertently exposes the system’s inherent flaws, thereby showing the reader how the London fix committee can easily manipulate the [...] The post Bullion Dealer Inadvertently Reveals How the London Fix Can Easily Manipulate Gold Market appeared first on Silver Doctors. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| GLD My #1 Money Making Chart Pattern Posted: 06 Mar 2014 08:54 AM PST Over the years Chris Vermeulen has identified a price pattern that consistently makes me money time and time again. This pattern is not found in books, nor is it talked about in any trading course or by any elite traders. What Is It And Why Doesn’t Anyone Talk About It? Well that is a good question and he thinks the main reason is because no one knows about it. He has mentioned it to a lot of traders and many of them are professional traders yet it completely goes over their head or they are dismissing it because they don't want others to find out about it. The other reason could be because traders don’t know what to call it. He gave it a simple name as he just named it what it is, so it is self-explanatory. While he sees and trade this secret price pattern on all time frames (it does not work on tick charts), the longer the time frame in which it forms the better. If the pattern forms a weekly chart then you are looking at a major investing opportunity that has an average return of 57% return within a few weeks. The daily chart pattern tends to provide 10- 20% return within a few days of this pattern forming. Subscribers of hisETF Portfolio Newsletter profited twice in February from it locking in 10% and 21.9% trading simple ETFs. He also mentioned this pattern does not form on baskets of investments like a sector or index. It only takes please on individual investments like stocks and commodities. Here is what a fellow subscriber said: So if you want to be making these trades with Chris join his ETF Trading Newsletter todayETF Newsletter Sincerely, Chris Vermeulen | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Swiss upper-house votes down proposal to ban central bank gold sales – lower-house yet to vote Posted: 06 Mar 2014 08:37 AM PST Cast you minds back to 2011, and to a couple of articles we wrote regarding a grass-roots attempt in Switzerland to back the Swiss Franc with gold and limit the amount of gold the Swiss central bank... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]] | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Why the Periphery Is Crumbling: The Spoils System Is Cracking Posted: 06 Mar 2014 08:00 AM PST
 Instability starts on the periphery and moves into the core. While it is clear that the instability in periphery nations is arising from dynamics unique to each nation, there is one unifying causal factor: the spoils system in each nation is breaking down. In the U.S., the spoils system is almost unlimited. The spoils system [...] The post Why the Periphery Is Crumbling: The Spoils System Is Cracking appeared first on Silver Doctors. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| What you missed at the inaugural Stansberry Society conference last weekend Posted: 06 Mar 2014 08:00 AM PST From Sean Goldsmith in the S&A Digest: I'd like to give kudos to the Stansberry Society team for a fantastic inaugural event. We hosted around 200 people in Miami Beach over the weekend. The event kicked off beneath strung lights on the lawn of the Fontainebleau Hotel. The weather was perfect... We had passed hors d'oeuvres, delicious snacks, and fresh cigars rolled on site. The next day, we gathered at the historic Fillmore Theater in South Beach (and many more watched the event live online from their homes). The highlight for me... There was a collective gasp when Porter announced our mystery keynote speaker... WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. Assange joined us via Skype from the Ecuadorian embassy in London. Ecuador has given him political asylum... But he can't leave the embassy. After the introduction, Assange appeared on a giant screen in front of the audience. Porter had a 30-minute conversation with Assange about WikiLeaks, pervasive government spying around the world, Assange's personal situation, and the future of WikiLeaks. After a long day of wonderful presentations, we had dinner at one of my favorite restaurants on the beach, Prime Italian. We had the entire restaurant for our function. In typical Porter fashion, dinner was over the top: Kobe beef meatballs, crab cakes, bone-in filets... and a glass or two of red wine. Overall, it was a top-notch gathering. Thanks to everyone who attended and presented. If you missed the event in South Beach, we hope you'll join us for the next Society meeting this June in Dallas. The Dallas meeting is going to be focused on the energy sector... And we've already secured one of the richest and most impressive men in the oil business as our keynote speaker. We've set aside a small allotment of "early bird" tickets to the Dallas event for the special price of $299. But once they sell out, the price goes up. For more details on the event, and how to get this special price, click here... More from the S&A Digest: What you should know about Bitcoin and gold Porter Stansberry: How to completely eliminate fear from your investingb Two critical lessons every commodities investor must know now | |||||||||||||||||||||
| These stocks are BOOMING... But you probably have no idea Posted: 06 Mar 2014 08:00 AM PST By Matt Badiali, editor, S&A Resource Report: Over the past few months, junior mining companies have exploded higher... But you won't see it mentioned in the mainstream press. Regular Growth Stock Wire readers know we keep close tabs on small resource stocks. Because this sector regularly goes through huge booms and busts, it's a good friend to the speculator. Get in the booms early and avoid the busts, and you can make huge returns. For the past three years, the mining sector has been in bust mode. Nearly all mining stocks have hit 52-week lows since June 2013. But within the past few months, these stocks have broken out. Many are now up 100% or more this year. And this "stealth" bull market is likely headed higher... Many gauge the price action in junior miners by looking at the Toronto Venture Exchange. With over 1,130 junior miners listed, it's considered the "Dow Industrials of junior mining stocks." But junior miners only make up about half of the stocks in the index. The rest are health care, energy, and services companies. So while junior miners are moving up rapidly, the other half aren't, which dilutes the chart. The Toronto Venture Exchange is up around just 18% from its June 2013 low. The booming junior miners are lost among the rest of the stocks in the index. If you didn't know what to look for, you'd never know this bull market is happening.
But if you look at junior mining stocks individually, you can see the huge gains they've made this year. Take a look at this chart of Yukon gold explorer ATAC Resources:
Since bottoming in January 2014, it has gained 160%. And it's not the only junior miner breaking out this year...
Remember, the mining sector regularly goes through huge booms and busts. It tends to draw in "hot money" every few years – sending these companies up thousands of percent. But these booms are followed by big busts. That's what we've seen over the last three years. Now, it looks like junior mining stocks are getting ready to boom again. Investors are pouring money into the resource sector right now. Gold, silver, and uranium are also up big this year. And junior mining companies have been so oversold that things getting just a little "less bad" will continue to push shares higher. If junior miners are entering boom mode, early investors stand to make extraordinary returns. More on junior miners: Two gold stocks that defied the crash last year... and could be headed even higher now Classic Doug Casey: What you need to know to make a fortune in gold stocks Top Sprott analyst: Our four "must have" criteria for junior resource success | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Why Is Our Government (and Deep State) So Incompetent? Posted: 06 Mar 2014 07:41 AM PST Why is our government so incompetent? Short answer: because incompetence has been fully institutionalized in every branch, every agency and every nook and cranny of the state. Though many may reckon the U.S. government (and its Deep State) are not so much incompetent as merely evil, I suggest incompetence sows the seeds of evil consequences. It’s easy to lay the responsibility for the state’s incompetence on its staggering size and complexity, and there is much truth in the notion that no system of this scale and complexity can possibly be governable or accountable. But I think we owe it to ourselves to dig a bit deeper than this to understand why our visible government (executive, Congress, regulatory agencies, the Federal Reserve, etc.) and the Deep State (everything that’s decided and run behind closed doors) is so monumentally incompetent.
The policies and decisions of the past 15 years can be reduced to three catastrophic blunders: the discretionary war in Iraq and “nation-building” in Afghanistan; allowing those responsible for the 2008 financial meltdown to become even more invulnerable and predatory, i.e. enabling a “too big to fail” banking sector, and Obamacare, the Orwellian-named Affordable Care Act (ACA). Each of these policy decisions has been enormously destructive to the nation, and the opportunities lost in their wake are irreversible. I have covered the systemic reasons for incompetence and failure many times.These boil down to the accumulating sclerosis of bureaucracy and the ratchet effect. I have addressed The Lifecycle of Bureaucracy on a number of occasions:
Our Legacy Systems: Dysfunctional, Unreformable (July 1, 2013) The Way Forward (April 25, 2013) When Escape from a Previously Successful Model Is Impossible (November 29, 2012) Complexity: Bureaucratic (Death Spiral) and Self-Organizing (Sustainable) (February 17, 2011) The ratchet effect can also be visualized as a rising wedge, in which costs and inefficiencies continue rising until any slight decrease in funding collapses the organization. Dislocations Ahead: The Ratchet Effect, Stick-Slip and QE3 (February 14, 2011) The Ratchet Effect: Fiefdom Bloat and Resistance to Declining Incomes (August 23, 2010)
I think we can add a few other factors: 1. That which is cheap and abundant will be squandered until it is no longer cheap or abundant. Our default programming is to squander what is easily available and abundant. This is true not just of resources such as food and energy but of health, trust, power and all sorts of other intangibles. For example, when the Soviet Union collapsed, the U.S. was left with an abundance of soft and hard power on the global stage. The natural response was to squander it on misadventures instead of investing it wisely. When we’re young and healthy, we squander this reservoir of vitality rather than invest it wisely in habits that will maintain our health as we age. There are countless examples of this dynamic. The irony of this dynamic is tragic: by the time we realize we’ve squandered an irreplaceable resource, it’s too late. 2. The prime directive of any bureaucracy is to eliminate all accountability. The raison d’etre of bureaucracy, the very reason for its existence, is not to manage complex affairs but to dissipate accountability into a formless cloud so that no member of the bureaucracy will ever face any consequences for his/her actions. In other words, the prime directive of any bureaucracy is to enforce the perfection of moral hazard, i.e. those making decisions suffer no consequences when the decisions are disastrous. The entire structure of a bureaucracy boils down to this: we followed the rules, and therefore we are blameless. Obamacare and the Pentagon are both perfections of this purposeful loss of accountability. I recently saw a video clip of a journalist who had asked 12 different government functionaries who was in charge of implementing the Obamacare website before its flawed launch and he’d received 12 different answers. In other words, accountability had already been extinguished well before the site was even launched. 3. Bureaucracies are intrinsically prone to group-think. The more closed the bureaucracy, the greater this tendency to eliminate skeptics, heretics, independent thinkers, etc.: Who Gets Thrown Under the Bus in the Next Financial Crisis? (March 3, 2014). The foundational group-think concepts behind each of the three policy disasters listed above have all been discredited, but only after group-think insured the destruction of vital national interests: for example, the neo-conservative “failed-state” concept that guided a decade of foreign policy misadventures: The Rise and Fall of the Failed-State Paradigm: Requiem for a Decade of Distraction (Foreign Affairs). 4. As correspondent Lew G. has pointed out, bureaucracies are not designed to be fail-safe; their complexity and lack of accountability lead not to resilience but to fragility and vulnerability. 5. One systems-level consequence of tightly connected, interactive complex systems is that they generate routinely failures known as “normal accidents,” catastrophes that result from seemingly small miscalculations and miscues that cascade into systemic crises. When accountability has been lost, there are no feedback loops left to correct these “normal accidents,” so the damage piles up within the organization until it collapses in a supernova model of accumulated incompetence. 6. The moral-hazard-riddled leadership of bureaucracies will choose whatever short-term politically expedient fix reduces the immediate political pain (also known as “kicking the can down the road”) rather than risk shaking up the organization by imposing accountability and clearing out the deadwood. This dependence on short-term politically expedient “fixes” that ignore the real problems piles up more moral hazard, failed policies, ineffective deadwood and cost, increasing the system’s fragility and vulnerability to any shock that cannot be dissolved with another short-term can-kicking “fix.” Why is our government so incompetent? Short answer: because incompetence has been fully institutionalized in every branch, every agency and every nook and cranny of both the visible state and the Deep State. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Turkey Feb Gold imports fall 93%, Silver up 310.97% Posted: 06 Mar 2014 07:38 AM PST Turkey's total silver imports during January- February period this year reached 28.76 tons, rose 107.9% compared to 13.83 tons in the same period last year. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Posted: 06 Mar 2014 07:37 AM PST Early in today's session ECB President Draghi threw the Euro bulls a nice bone to chew on and with that, it was off to the races for that currency with the US Dollar and the Japanese Yen both getting ceremonially dumped. If that was not enough for the US Dollar, one of the Fed governors, Mr. Dudley, made his way to the microphones to state that the "Fed has a long time before raising short term rates". STRIKE TWO for the DOLLAR. STRIKE THREE seemed to come in the form of ????. Perhaps it was Dudley's comment about the tapering being data dependent ( recent data has not exactly been resplendent). He did go on to say however that the threshold to change the tapering plans would be "pretty high". Either way, today was one of those days in which certain commodity sectors were seeing big inflows of hot money. Soybeans continue charging higher with corn getting in on the action. Already there is chatter that the planting season here in the US is going to be delayed on account of the abnormally cold weather ( where is that damned global warming when we really need it?). Gold garnered support from the surging Euro but was also aided by the vote out of the Crimean Parliament which wants to put to a vote the idea of breaking away from Ukraine and becoming a part of the Russian sphere. Some are viewing this as an escalation in the drama over there and that of course brings a bid into gold. Like I said the other day, if you have the uncontrollable urge to actually trade the yellow metal at the Comex either lock yourself in vault somewhere away from a computer screen or at least trade small in size. This market is very fickle right now. Just be careful and do not get reckless or listen to all the hype currently coming out of certain segments of the gold community. I put far more credit on what is happening to the Euro and the Dollar than I do to the ridiculous talk of a nuclear war. If the Euro can clear a strong overhead resistance zone near the 1.39 level while the Dollar CANNOT hold support between 79.50 - 79.00 on the USDX, gold should be able to breach overhead chart resistance near the $1,360 zone. It would have to best $1,375 but if it does, should be able to set up at least a test of psychological resistance at the $1,400 level. Dip buying has continued to occur in gold with the situation in Ukraine keeping bears nervous but in my mind, the big driver has been the weakness in the Dollar and the continued move higher across certain key commodity markets. Strangely - and I have yet to make any sense out of this - Copper continues to go absolutely NO WHERE. It baffles me to no end to see this key industrial commodity NOT LEADING the sector. Either copper is going to have to make a sudden move higher or I am concerned that we are going to see some big retracements in the commodity sector at some point. There is a lot of hot money flooding into the sector but a great deal of it is purely technical in nature as momentum funds are buying. The problem is that unless there is a strong fundamental underpinning to some of this, once the upside momentum plays itself out, prices could get hit hard as the longs bail out. The key, at least in my mind, will be whether or not the US Dollar can find its friends again. That is going to take some strong economic data soon. Perhaps it will be a payrolls number but one thing is for sure, the more traders are convinced that the Fed is not going to move on the short term interest rate front any time soon, the more the gigantic specs are going to play their carry trade and shove certain commodity sectors higher. More later if time permits.... busy, busy week.... | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 2 Day Sale! Silver Buffs As Low As 69 Cents Over Spot at SDBullion! Posted: 06 Mar 2014 07:37 AM PST
 Click or call 800-294-8732 to place your order! The post 2 Day Sale! Silver Buffs As Low As 69 Cents Over Spot at SDBullion! appeared first on Silver Doctors. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| India is experiencing an ‘acute shortage’ of gold – prices are 21% HIGHER than spot gold Posted: 06 Mar 2014 07:36 AM PST This news shouldn't come much as a surprise to regular readers – what with the government's attempts to restrict imports, India is currently experiencing an 'acute shortage' of gold, which... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]] | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Bail-in Risks See Europe Banks Get Downgrade Warning Posted: 06 Mar 2014 07:03 AM PST gold.ie | |||||||||||||||||||||
| India Imported 6125 Tonnes Of Silver In 2013, Up a Mind-Blowing 6560% YOY! Posted: 06 Mar 2014 07:00 AM PST
 Indian premiums on gold, currently 15 % above international prices, pushed massive amounts of Indian savers into silver in 2013. Indian silver imports in 2013 were 6125 tons, an all-time record, up 189 % from 2115 tons in 2012. In December, silver imports accounted for 825 tons, up 108 % month over month, and up [...] The post India Imported 6125 Tonnes Of Silver In 2013, Up a Mind-Blowing 6560% YOY! appeared first on Silver Doctors. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Indian bank lockers overflowing with looted gold Posted: 06 Mar 2014 06:55 AM PST The bank lockers in India are increasingly used by gold thieves to stash the loot. Following investigations, the police put on freeze 173 bank accounts and six lockers across three nationalized banks. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Turkey’s gold imports fall 93% Posted: 06 Mar 2014 06:37 AM PST The gold price tiptoed slightly higher yesterday as U.S. private jobs and services sector data disappointed. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 'Bail-in' risks see Europe banks get downgrade warning Posted: 06 Mar 2014 06:08 AM PST Today's AM fix was USD 1,334.25, EUR 971.57 and GBP 798.00 per ounce. Yesterday's AM fix was USD 1,333.50, EUR 971.94 and GBP 799.84 per ounce. Gold rose $2.30 or 0.17% yesterday to $1,337.40/oz. Silver fell $0.02 or 0.09% at $21.17/oz. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Forget gold and silver... This rare metal could be starting a MAJOR breakout Posted: 06 Mar 2014 06:00 AM PST From Jeff Clark, editor, S&A Short Report: Gold and silver are getting all the headlines right now. After a miserable 2013, both precious metals are enjoying big gains this year. Gold is up over 12% in just a little over two months. Silver is up over 10%. But there's another precious metal that has been quietly rallying this year. It's up about 10% since late December. And it looks like it will soon steal the headlines from gold and silver... Platinum could be the big winner in the precious-metals market this year. The metal is 30 times rarer than gold. Most of the world's supply of platinum comes from the Bushveld geological structure in South Africa – where most of the "easy to get" metal has already been extracted. There's still plenty of platinum in the structure, but getting it out of the ground is growing more and more expensive. This will keep pressure on the available supply. Meanwhile, demand for platinum is increasing. Not only does it represent a store of value as a precious metal, but it also has industrial applications for use in electronics, automobiles, dentistry, and jewelry. So the supply/demand equation is shifting in favor of higher platinum prices. And any investor who thinks gold is cheap at the current price has to like the idea of buying platinum here. For most of the past two decades, platinum traded for an average 70% premium to the price of gold. Today, that premium is just 10%. Finally, platinum looks ready to stage a major breakout. Take a look at this chart...
The chart has developed an inverse "head and shoulders" formation. This is a bullish pattern that often signals the reversal from a bearish trend to a bullish one. If platinum can break above the "neckline" of the pattern at about $1,470 per ounce, the projected target is up around $1,600 per ounce. Traders interested in taking a position in platinum can buy the metal itself, or they can buy a platinum fund like the UBS Long Platinum Fund (PTM) or the Sprott Physical Platinum and Palladium Trust (SPPP). More on precious metals: This is the gold "secret" the Chinese do not want us to know URGENT: A master trader's update on gold stocks Silver EXTREME: It's time to take a low-risk, high-reward trade in the most explosive precious metal | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Bank of America: China's "Bear Sterns moment" could be just around the corner Posted: 06 Mar 2014 06:00 AM PST From Bloomberg: The growing risk of default by Shanghai Chaori Solar Energy Science & Technology Co. may become China's "Bear Stearns moment," prompting investors to reassess credit risks as they did after the U.S. securities firm was rescued in 2008, according to Bank of America Corp. "We doubt that the financial system in China will experience a liquidity crunch immediately because of this default but we think the chain reaction will probably start," Hong Kong-based strategists David Cui, Tracy Tian and Katherine Tai wrote in a note yesterday. During the U.S. financial crisis, it took a year "to reach the Lehman stage" when investors began to panic and shadow banking froze, the strategists added. The maker of solar cells said March 4 it may not be able to make an 89.8 million yuan ($14.7 million) interest payment in full by the deadline tomorrow. As sub-prime mortgages fell amid the 2008 U.S. financial crisis, banks began hoarding cash, causing two Bear Stearns Co. hedge funds to seek bankruptcy protection. The troubled bank was sold to JPMorgan Chase & Co. in March of that year in a deal facilitated by the U.S. Federal Reserve. Six months later, Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. collapsed in the biggest bankruptcy in U.S. history. Chaori's potential failure to pay investors would mark the first bond default in Asia's largest economy, highlighting the strain in China's $4.2 trillion bond market after a trust product issued by China Credit Trust Co. was bailed out in January. There haven't been any defaults in China's publicly traded domestic debt market since the central bank started regulating it in 1997, according to Moody's Investors Service. Soros, Gross China's corporate bond market totaled 8.7 trillion yuan at the end of January, compared with 800 billion yuan at the end of 2007, Bank of America estimates. Billionaire investors George Soros and Bill Gross have drawn parallels this year between the situation in China now and that in the U.S. in the run-up to the 2008 financial crisis. Borrowing costs for China's high-yield debt issuers may jump 200 basis points, or 2 percentage points, following a default by Chaori, according to Yang Kun, a Shanghai-based bond analyst at Guotai Junan Securities Co. Two companies postponed domestic bond sales after Chaori warned of its possible default. Suining Chuanzhong Economic Technology Development Co. said yesterday it will delay a planned 1 billion yuan offering due to "serious fluctuations in the bond market following Chaori Solar's statement," while Taizhou Kouan Shipbuilding Co. said it will put off a 300 million yuan sale because of "big fluctuations in the market." Yield Jump The average yield on five-year AA- notes in China jumped 8 basis points to 7.77 yesterday, the biggest increase in almost four months, ChinaBond data show. Ratings of AA- or below are equivalent to non-investment grades globally, according to Haitong Securities Co., the nation's second-biggest brokerage. The average yield on junk corporate dollar debt surged to a record 22.66 percent in December 2008 following the collapse of Lehman, more than double the 9.68 percent at the start of that year, according to the BofA Merrill Lynch High Yield Index. The yuan strengthened 0.24 percent to 6.1282 per dollar in Shanghai yesterday, the biggest gain since December 2012. It advanced 0.22 percent to 6.1146 as of 11:48 a.m. today. Bailout 'Unlikely' A bailout of Chaori "looks unlikely," though the systemic risk to financial markets from such an event will be small, Chang Jian, chief China economist at Barclays Plc in Hong Kong, wrote in a note yesterday. More "selective defaults" are expected this year and the industries most at risk include energy, shipbuilding, steel, cement and property, she wrote, adding that local government financing vehicles are also vulnerable. There is no need to panic about a bond default by Chaori because it only reflects normal volatility in the bond market, former PBOC adviser Li Daokui was cited as saying in a China Securities Journal report today. A local government debt default would be more of a concern because there would be a larger impact, Li said. Chaori Solar will "try to keep the losses of bondholders to a minimum," it said March 4, adding that directors' salaries will be cut or delayed and capital expenditure projects will be suspended. Chaori's default "will most likely be because the government wants to teach the market a lesson and address the implicit guarantee moral hazard issue," the Bank of America strategists wrote, noting that the local government and the underwriter have sufficient funds for a bailout. China's policy makers are seeking to rein in credit expansion while defending this year's economic growth target of 7.5 percent, announced yesterday. Shadow banking in China, which includes trusts and wealth-management products sold by lenders, is more closely linked to the real economy than in Western countries, Finance Minister Lou Jiwei said in a Feb. 22 interview in Sydney. To contact the reporter on this story: Justina Lee in Taipei at jlee1489@bloomberg.net. To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Regan at jregan19@bloomberg.net. More on China: This is one area where China won't beat America anytime soon This is China's secret "financial weapon." The launch date is closer than you think. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Comex Gold (GC) Futures Technical Analysis – March 6, 2014 Forecast Posted: 06 Mar 2014 05:50 AM PST fxempire | |||||||||||||||||||||
| TECHNICAL Price & Time: Did Gold Just Run Into a "Death Cycle"? Posted: 06 Mar 2014 05:50 AM PST dailyfx | |||||||||||||||||||||
| PDAC 2014 Underscores Muted Sentiment towards Gold Stocks Posted: 06 Mar 2014 05:00 AM PST The buzz phrase at PDAC 2014 could be described as "cautious optimism." Executives, analysts and investors seem to believe a corner has been turned but failed to show any excitement or hope beyond that. Some participants estimated that attendance was down 20% from last year and much lower than 2012. I did not attend last year but definitely noticed foot traffic was significantly lower than in 2012. Interest in my presentation this year was much lower than in 2012. Mind you, these are only anecdotal measures of sentiment. However, for me they further underscore that very few seem to believe in the immediate continuation and sustainability of this recovery. During my flight home I read Mining Weekly's cover story (the publication given to every attendee) which further exhibits the mild, cautious optimism pervading the industry. The various assertions and comments included: "Road to recovery will be bumpy," "Most juniors will fail," "Control costs in an era of lower metal prices," and "Metals prices have reached a plateau." Also, there was a mention of strong deflationary forces and deflation, not inflation as the risk. Furthermore, industry titan Rick Rule was quoted in the story and in the Financial Post as saying juniors still need to capitulate. This is simply not the kind of talk that precedes a market decline or prolonged under-performance. Moreover, some of these comments are divorced from a new reality. The chart below shows the CCI (commodities), CDNX and GDXJ. Commodities have broken out from a three year downtrend and advanced above the 400-day moving average for the first time in two and a half years. Canada's Venture (CDNX) which consists of mostly commodity exploration companies declined 65% from top to bottom but is now currently trading above its 200-day moving average and at a 10-month high. It was last above that moving average in spring 2011. Meanwhile, GDXJ is holding strong after declining 82% over a more than two and a half year bear market. The breakout in commodities and end of the downtrend suggests that inflation and not deflation will be the next concern. It also suggests a potential future tailwind for metals prices. The road to operational recovery may be bumpy but that doesn't mean it will be for the related capital markets. The CDNX is at a 10-month high and GDXJ has rebounded 50% in two months. Meanwhile, I'm surprised by Rick Rule's bizarre comment about capitulation considering GDXJ just endured an 82% bear market. (Major kudos to Rick for his market skepticism in 2011 and 2012). Capitulation occurred in spring 2013 and a final wave came in December 2013. Since then, most quality juniors have rebounded 100% or more. Ironically, the time we should be most optimistic is at a market bottom. That is the best time to buy because it has the lowest risk and is when the biggest gains are made. However, the recent bear market remains fresh in the mind of the majority of market participants and company executives. They worry about making another mistake or misleading people so they hedge their views. The toughest time to buy is where we are now, a few months following a major bottom. Prices are materially higher yet sentiment has not shifted enough to displace the bad memories from the preceding bear market. Essentially, there are two reasons (instead of the usual one) not to buy. It is incredibly difficult to buy at this juncture but, as we noted in our last editorial, the evidence favors doing so. Pullbacks, until we see much larger gains should be brief and should be used as an opportunity. ETFs such as GDX, GDXJ, and GLDX have spent the last 11 days consolidating and digesting gains. This is not rocket science. Do your due diligence and take advantage of opportunities when there. Don't overthink it. Be long, sit tight and have an exit strategy (to limit losses) in case things play out differently. If you'd be interested in learning about the companies poised to outperform the sector, then we invite you to learn more about our service. Good Luck!
Jordan Roy-Byrne, CMT | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Clamor for easing gold imports strengthens in India Posted: 06 Mar 2014 04:36 AM PST Due to lower gold imports, India's current-account deficit has fallen to a four-year low. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Making partner has never been this easy. Millionaire shares little-known investment strategy Posted: 06 Mar 2014 04:00 AM PST From Mark Morgan Ford, editor, The Palm Beach Letter: It was 1985. Our direct marketing business was growing rapidly. For the first time in my life, I was making much more money than I could spend. Most of those extra dollars were invested in stocks and bonds. I was comfortable with the bonds but I was skeptical about the stock market. It felt dicey—sort of how it feels today. I looked into precious metals and commodities (touted heavily by investment newsletters back then), but they scared me. And I had no time to start a side business. So when an opportunity to invest outside of Wall Street arose, I was interested. It happened in an elevator in Boca Raton, Fla. I was headed to the third floor of a bank building, on my way to close on a house I'd just bought. I was dressed in a new suit, feeling grown up. At the second floor, the elevator stopped and another young man in a new suit stepped inside. It was Jerry (not his real name), a buddy of mine from high school. "Hey, Jerry," I said. "What are you doing here?" Turns out he had moved to South Florida several years before me. "We've got a lot of catching up to do," he said. "Are you free for lunch?" "Sure," I said, as I got off at the next floor. "I'll meet you downstairs at one o'clock." Over lunch, Jerry told me that he was a real estate attorney. And he was now embarking on a new career as a property developer. "This town is growing fast," he told me. "There is big money to be made building houses for snowbirds." Jerry's enthusiasm about what he was doing got me interested. So the next day, I asked my business partner what he thought about it. He agreed with Jerry. In fact, he was already invested in several developments in West Boca. I called Jerry and asked if there was "any way" for me to get involved in his project. And, yes, there was. His project—an upscale community of 200 homes— was structured as a limited partnership. He explained that, as a general partner, he had to do all the work and take all the responsibility. But I could come in as a limited partner and make money doing nothing. That sounded good to me. I had money, but I had no time. And I didn't need any more responsibility. Jerry had a business plan. And permits. And projections. According to those projections, I could make between 25% and 35% on my money. I knew little about property development and even less about financial projections. But I was impressed by how detailed the plan was. I knew Jerry well enough to know that he wasn't falsifying the numbers. And the numbers looked good. "Even if I don't get a 25% return," I remember thinking, "I'll still be happy. I'll be happy with 20%." So I wrote Jerry a check for $50,000. My job with Creating Wealth is to tell you everything I've learned about creating extra income and building wealth. I've told you how, as an employee, I talked my boss into doubling my salary. I've told you how I gradually and timidly became an entrepreneur. And how I eventually started and developed dozens of multimillion-dollar businesses. I've told you about how, after being burned with rental real estate, I got back into it and gradually built a large portfolio of properties. I've told you about my decision to buy gold. And recently, I've told you about my experience as an art collector. But I've never said a word about that first investment with Jerry—and dozens of similar investments I've made since then. By "similar investments," I mean direct investments in small business ventures. And for our purposes today, I'm going to limit our discussion to investing in those ventures as a minor shareholder or "limited partner." As a limited partner, you're not buying into a business with the intent of running its daily operations. You're not going to wield significant control or be the go-to decision-maker. You're just a "money guy." You supply the business with cash in exchange for a small share of the profits. All businesses of this type are structured in one of three ways: limited partnerships (LPs), limited liability partnerships (LLPs), or limited liability companies (LLCs). We know from reading your letters that more than a few Palm Beach Letter subscribers are interested in this kind of investing. And with good reason: It can give you steady and substantial ongoing income plus equity growth. That amounts to a potentially big return on investment (ROI) with limited risk and virtually no work. It is that last benefit—not having to do any work—that most appealed to me with that first investment with Jerry. Since then, I've invested in more than a dozen real estate development projects. Also three natural resource companies, two start-up technology companies, a private lending company, a furniture factory, a movie, a dozen publishing ventures, a dozen direct marketing companies, and most recently, a local brewery. In today's essay, I am going to tell you what I've learned about this area of wealth building. Pros and Cons of Being a Limited Partner The main benefit of being a limited partner, as I said, is the potentially high ROIs. Higher than you can get with stocks and bonds… without having to do any work. For example, when I invested $80,000 in a wood mill in Nicaragua five years ago, I did so because I knew there was a fast-growing demand for custom-made doors, windows, and furniture. I also knew that an experienced person was running the business. The other limited partners and I didn't have to build the plant, hire and train the employees, produce the product, or sell it. Our only job was to write that first check and then cash profit-distribution checks when they arrived. Another thing I like about being a limited partner is that, in most cases, your financial liability is limited to your initial investment. If the business fails completely, the general partner might have to dig into his pocket to bail it out. But not the limited partners. If, for example, the wood mill in Nicaragua had failed, my risk would have been limited to $80,000. A third benefit of investing in an LP/LLP/LLC is that you can take advantage of certain tax benefits. As a limited partner you don't have to pay self-employment taxes, as you would with your own business. And the profits are treated as pass-through income. So they are not subject to "double taxation," as corporate profits are. When you invest in an LP/LLP/LLC, the first cash you receive is usually return of capital, which is not taxable. Plus, any profits that follow are treated by the IRS as long-term capital gains. Long-term capital gains, as you know, have a lower tax rate than ordinary income (unless you're in the lowest tax bracket). And there is another—intangible—benefit. I'm talking about the fun of being involved in a business outside of your normal sphere of expertise. I like the idea of owning a wood mill. Every time I'm in Nicaragua, I stop by to watch the hundreds of men and women working the machinery. And admire the quality products they produce. So those are the benefits. But there are drawbacks, as well. You do have a certain sum of money at risk. If you invest in the wrong business, you can lose all of it. And if you're a worrier, you will worry about your investment without being able to do anything about it. As a limited partner, you have no obligation—but also no right—to get involved in management. My Batting Average That first project I invested in with Jerry was successful. But it was not nearly as successful as he thought it would be. Since he was new to the business, he didn't anticipate a significant increase in the cost of building materials and labor. Those increases—plus some construction delays—reduced my profit even below the "worst case" 20% that I expected. Still, I made 15%. A very good return. I continued to invest in just about every project Jerry brought to me. I doubled my money on one project in Aspen and made 15-25% on several more. But I lost my entire investment in a development in Miami. (They found Native American bones while digging the foundation!) And I lost a big chunk on a project that ran into Chinese drywall problems. Overall, I've done well with Jerry. I'd say my average ROI has been about 12%. My experience with other investments as a limited partner has been mixed. I made 10-times my money on an overseas development project. The project was (and is) a great success. But the general partner has yet to get all his money out. I made good money with two of my investments in natural resource companies. But I lost half my money in the third one. And I lost all of the money I invested in the movie and the first high-tech start up. (The second one could still be profitable.) Along the way, I learned a few things. The Lessons I Learned Lesson 1: The best deals are in businesses you understand. When I wrote Jerry that check for $50,000 nearly 30 years ago, neither one of us knew as much about property development as we should have. But as time passed, our knowledge increased. And as it did, so did our ability to pick good deals and walk away from bad ones. My single worst investment was that first high-tech company I invested in. I knew absolutely nothing about the industry. I couldn't even explain what they did, despite having heard the CEO explain it a dozen times. The goal of the business (and this is true for many businesses) was to make some noise in the market and then cash out big time in some leveraged deal. That is exactly the kind of thinking I inveighed against in all my essays and books about entrepreneurship. Why did I do it? I liked the CEO. That is, he seemed like the kind of kid that could pull off a trick like that. And I gave into my greed. Something I promised myself I'd never do again. Lesson 2: There are advantages to being a limited partner instead of a general partner. As a limited partner, you can decide beforehand—based on how strongly you believe in a project—how much money you will invest. General partners do not have this option. Jerry, for example, had to back every deal with most of his net worth. The banks required it. And that hurt him in the end. You see, for 20 years, Jerry made truckloads of money on property development deals. But as the real estate market topped in 2008, he had most of his net worth tied-up in that project with the Chinese drywall problems. (Between 2004 and 2008, many contractors had unwittingly imported drywall from China that was defective and toxic.) As a general partner, he was liable for the settlements on the Chinese drywall suits. He was also liable for the debt that accumulated as sales slowed. Another advantage of being a limited partner is how quickly you can recover your initial investment. I didn't know anything about natural resources when I invested in those businesses. I did it because the owners were people I had helped in the past. They felt obliged to make sure I did well. They couldn't ultimately guarantee their success, of course. But they could (and did) structure their deals so that I got my capital investment out before they did. Lesson 3: It's important to go with general partners who are open to your ideas. Because of my experience as a marketer and entrepreneur, I was able to help several of the general partners I invested with make smart business decisions. For example, I persuaded Jerry to use direct marketing techniques to sell the million-dollar homes we were building. At that time, developers used nothing but space ads in newspapers to bring in potential buyers. Sending out carefully crafted letters to high-income addresses proved to be much more effective. Actually, my best deals were the limited positions I took in direct marketing and publishing businesses. I made out very well on almost every single one. In retrospect, this is not surprising. I had a deep understanding of these businesses. I didn't manage the partnerships. I didn't spend nights worrying about them. But I was able to provide useful suggestions. Three Rules I Follow as a Limited Partner There are just three rules. They are simple. They are easy to understand. And they should be very easy to follow unless you let greed blind you… 1. Invest in businesses you know something about. The best opportunities are in the industry you have worked in all your life. You should know the marketing side of that business: What it costs to create products and what consumers are willing to pay for them. You should be aware of the bad ideas that have caused most of the failures in the past. You should also know enough to evaluate the competence of the general partners. 2. Invest with people you trust. There are many ways for general partners to screw limited partners. You can protect yourself from many of them by having a good lawyer review any contracts or agreements before you sign. But paperwork can't protect you completely. You should invest only in people that you know—from experience—have integrity. 3. Bring more than money to the table. As a limited investor, you cannot control the business in any way. (If you do, you might be subject to general liability.) But you can influence the general partners if you think they are heading in the wrong direction. General partners will listen to you only if they think your suggestions have merit. And the only way your suggestions will have merit is if you have knowledge—either industry knowledge or general business knowledge—that they respect. Crux note: Mark's business partner, Palm Beach Letter publisher Tom Dyson, has found a place to store your money that allows you to safely compound your wealth (tax-free) outside the banking system and Wall Street. Tom says he's so happy with the results, he's investing more than $400,000 of his own money this way. Click here for more details. More investment wisdom: Porter Stansberry: Two critical lessons every commodities investor must know now If you're a new investor, chances are, you're making this simple mistake... This is Warren Buffet's simple method to make investing a "sure thing" | |||||||||||||||||||||
| ‘Bail-in’ Risks See Europe Banks Get Downgrade Warning Posted: 06 Mar 2014 03:32 AM PST Following similar moves in the U.S., European banks could see ratings downgrades if regulators continue to move towards depositor and bondholder "bail-ins." S&P signaled that it would review its ratings on banks by the end of April this year. Today's AM fix was USD 1,334.25, EUR 971.57 and GBP 798.00 per ounce. Gold rose $2.30 or 0.17% yesterday to $1,337.40/oz. Silver fell $0.02 or 0.09% at $21.17/oz.
Gold traded below the highest level in more than four months as investors weighed the crisis in Ukraine against the weakening U.S. economy. Prices rose 0.3% after a report showed that U.S. companies added much fewer workers than projected in February. The metal climbed to $1,354.87 on March 3, the highest since October 30, as tension between Ukraine and Russia escalated. Bloomberg reports that gold in Singapore for immediate delivery was at $1,334.86/oz at 2:30 p.m. in from $1,336.90/oz yesterday. The move towards “bail-ins” and away from government “bailouts” continues to evolve Following similar moves in the U.S., European banks could see ratings downgrades if regulators continue to move towards depositor and bondholder "bail-ins." S&P signaled that it would review its ratings on banks by the end of April this year. In the future, rather than banks becoming insolvent and being liquidated and wound up as has happened throughout history, "bail-ins” will force losses on bank’s creditors including depositors as was seen in the testing ground for bail-ins that was Cyprus. Central banks and regulators now think that rather than governments and taxpayers bearing the cost of rescuing failing banks, now creditors including depositors will suffer losses. “Bail-ins” target both depositors and bondholders. In some cases, bondholders are asked to defer repayment deadlines and can even agree to reduce their claims. If this becomes practice, it could drive up the interest charged by bondholders and have a negative feedback loop. Some have warned that bail-ins could also damage the wider economy as it could mean that banks have to charge higher interest on their lending as a result. In our research, we have highlighted that bail-ins may have a very negative impact on consumer and business confidence as people's life savings and cash balances of companies are confiscated as seen in Cyprus. S&P said developments in the U.S. towards “bail-ins” meant that its rating outlook on eight U.S. banks had already been impacted and now they are turning their focus on European banks. The coming bail-in regimes will pose real challenges and risks to investors and of course depositors – both household and corporate. Return of capital, rather than return on capital will assume far greater importance. Evaluating counterparty risk and only using the safest banks, investment providers and financial institutions will become essential in order to protect and grow capital and wealth. It is important that one owns physical coins and bars, legally in your name, outside the banking system. Paper or electronic forms of gold investment should be avoided as they could be subject to bail-ins. Must read guide to and research on Bail-ins can be read here: | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Tax Havens Make US and Europe Look Poorer than They Are, Exaggerate Size of “Global Imbalances” Posted: 06 Mar 2014 03:23 AM PST One of the most important books published in 2011 was Nicholas Shaxson’s Treasure Islands. Shaxson, a veteran Financial Times reporter, gave some dimension and color to the inherently difficult-to-cover tax haven business, or what he called “offshore”. While it’s most famously associated with secret Swiss bank accounts and shady Caymans Islands corporations, the US and the City of London are at the apex of the offshore business, with Delaware corporations and Wyoming limited liability companies playing a significant role in the tax avoidance/secrecy game. It was understandably hard for Shaxson to put hard overall numbers on the extent of tax haven activity and its macroeconomic implications. Peculiarly, despite the importance of this topic, a pathbreaking paper published in 2013 by Gabriel Zucman of the Paris School of Economics, The Missing Wealth of Nations: Are Europe and the U.S. Net Debtors or Net Creditors? (hat tip Dikaios Logos) has received perilous little attention. Perhaps that’s because, among other things, it undercuts the Bernanke-flattering claim that “global imbalances” were a major driver of the financial crisis. The article works back from a long-established, well-known anomaly: international fund flow statistics don’t even remotely add up. Global statistics say, impossibly, that there are a lot more liabilities than assets, and in parallel, that more investment income is paid out than is credited. Zucman looks into the notion that tax haven holdings by wealthy households explain this behavior. He uses a unique Swiss dataset and examines the way that various countries’ investment positions fail to reconcile. From his abstract:
Now think about that. With all the shift of wealth to the top 1% (now at around 40% in the US), 6% hidden away from the tax man is large in an absolute sense, and a significant percentage in the population wealthy enough to avail itself of these boltholes. Here is the longer-form statement of Zucman’s thesis:
The implications are significant. It means the Europe as a whole is a net creditor, the US is less of a net debtor, and the level of global rebalancing needed is less than is pretty much universally assumed in macroeconomic circles. And as Zucman points out, the magnitude of this dark matter means economists are probably looking in the wrong place for answers to pressing economic matters. It means income inequality is even worse than indicated by the already-grim analyses of experts like Thomas Piketty and Edmund Saez; they don’t attempt to allow for tax haven income and assets. The idea that governments can’t afford to pay for services is even more obviously the result of the inability of governments to access income that is shipped under the radar to secrecy destinations. I sanity-checked the paper with an internationally-recongnized tax expert, who wrote back pronto:
However, there a way to considerably constrain this type of investing, although there’s no political will to make it happen:
End all variants of investing in street name (as in registering the ownership in the name of the bank or fund custodian) and require full identification of the ultimate owners (individuals) and beneficiaries of any trusts or corporations that make investments (save for public corporations or other entities where the ownership structure is accessible to tax authorities). The global wealthy have too much to keep all their loot in portable form, like diamonds or gold, and even if they can find a way to tiptoe past the taxman to buy London flats or flashy yachts, they don’t want too much of their wealth tied up in illiquid form that is hard to sell in a pinch. If you require adequate disclosure as a condition of allowing individuals to own and trade securities and mutual funds, you could choke off much of the air supply of tax havens. But it would take international agreement among the major financial centers (ie, firm pressure from the relevant central banks, who do ultimately control the payment infrastructure) and international coordination on any banking-related matter has been very hard to achieve, much the less execute. So sadly, the rich tax cheats have very little to worry about. I strongly suggest you read the paper in full. It has a lengthy section on robustness checks and also goes much further than the brief discussion above indicates in terms of how much the tax haven dark matter explains reconciliation failures in various cross-border statistics. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| US deep storage gold - weights Posted: 06 Mar 2014 02:17 AM PST Still catching up after my two week holiday, have many posts planned including finishing the fractional bullion banking, the London fix manipulation and legal case, Sprott PHYS redemptions, bitcoin. In the meantime, the table from the last post but by ounces of fine gold:  Similar percentages to the one by number of bars. As Golden Nugget commented, I should note that the spreadsheet is only for US Mint held gold, which is 95% of the total, with the other 5% held at the US Fed. Unfortunately the bar list for that is only supplied as a pdf of a scan so impossible to analyse in Excel. Anyone interested in the reality of the US gold reserves really should read the pdf of hearing 112-41 (see link) as this bascially busts many of the memes around the US gold reserves. I will do a post on that hearing as there is a lot of detail supplied and suprising that I've never seen much commentary around it. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Gold is Heading Back to a Bull Cycle, Nomura Says Posted: 06 Mar 2014 02:16 AM PST "Let's hope that the trend continues, or is allowed to continue" ¤ Yesterday In Gold & SilverThere's not a lot to talk about today as far as the gold price is concerned, as it did little in Far East trading---and about the same in early London trading as well. The low tick was at the London a.m. gold fix---and the high came shortly before 1 p.m. EST in New York. After that it got sold down about five bucks going into the 5:15 p.m. electronic close. The CME Group recorded the low and high ticks as $1,332.70 and $1,342.00 in the April contract. Gold finished the Wednesday trading session at $1,336.80 spot, up $2.40 on the day. Net volume was exceedingly light at only 87,000 contracts. The silver price traded in a 20 cent range everywhere on Planet Earth yesterday---and there's even less to see here. The low and high ticks, such as they were, were recorded as $21.155 and $21.34 in the May contract. But, like gold, silver got sold down from its 12:50 p.m. EST high---and finished the Wednesday session at $21.155 spot, up only 1.5 cents from Tuesday Volume, net of March and April, collapsed all the way down to 25,500 contracts, which was a 45% decline from Tuesday's volume. Platinum traded flat until shortly after 1 p.m. Hong Kong time. At that point it developed a positive price bias---and really began to rally around 11:30 a.m. in London trading. The rally got stopped in its tracks about 10:30 a.m. in New York---and got sold down pretty hard after that, giving up almost all of its gains from when Comex trading began earlier in the day. Palladium also traded flat until 1 p.m. Hong Kong time on their Wednesday. From that point every rally attempt of significance got met head-on by a not-for-profit seller. The high tick came shortly after Comex trading began in New York at 8:20 a.m. EST---and from that point the palladium price suffered the same fate as the platinum price. The dollar index closed at 80.16 on Tuesday afternoon in New York---and then didn't do much for the entire Wednesday session, closing at 80.09. Nothing to see here. The gold stocks opened mixed, but quickly rallied---and had most of their gains in by shortly after 11 a.m. EST. From that point on, the stocks chopped sideways in a fairly tight range. The HUI finished up 1.34%. It was almost the same type of price action in the silver stocks---and they closed almost on their high tick of the day, as Nick Laird's Silver Sentiment Index finished up 1.39%. The CME Daily Delivery Report was a rather quiet affair yesterday, as there were zero gold and 29 silver contracts posted for delivery within the Comex-approved depositories on Friday. In silver, JPMorgan stopped 26 contracts in its in-house [proprietary] trading account. The link to yesterday's Issuers and Stoppers Report is here. I noted in the CME's Preliminary volume/price report that was posted on their website in the wee hours of this morning, that silver's open interest in March is down to about 600 contracts net. It will be interesting to see how much of that amount actually gets delivered---and how much of it will be gobbled up by JPMorgan Chase. There were no reported changes in GLD yesterday---and as of 10:20 p.m. yesterday evening, there were no reported changes in SLV, either. After a two week absence, the good folks over at Switzerland's Zürcher Kantonalbank have updated their gold and silver ETF numbers up until February 28. Their gold ETF declined a smallish 31,682 troy ounces over that period---but their silver ETF showed an increase of 53,531 troy ounces. The U.S. Mint had a tiny sales report yesterday. They sold 500 ounces of gold eagles---and 500 one-ounce 24K gold buffaloes. There wasn't much activity in gold within the Comex-approved depositories on Tuesday. They reported receiving 3,215 troy ounces of the stuff---and shipped out 3,793 troy ounces. Most of the activity was at Scotiabank's warehouse. The link to that activity is here. In silver, there was no metal reported received, but 279,687 troy ounces were shipped out---and virtually all of the activity was at Scotiabank's warehouse as well. The link to that action is here. It was another day where the news was dominated by what was happening in the Ukraine and in Russia---and I hope you can find some stories in here that interest you. ¤ Critical Reads Fisher warns Fed's bond buying could be distorting U.S. financial marketsA U.S. Federal Reserve policymaker who has long criticized its bond-buying stimulus said on Wednesday the program has lasted too long, and there are signs it is now distorting financial markets and encouraging risk-taking. In a speech here, Dallas Fed President Richard Fisher amplified some lingering concerns that the central bank's policy stimulus is stoking asset-price bubbles that "may result in tears" for investors acting on bad incentives. "There are increasing signs quantitative easing has overstayed its welcome: Market distortions and acting on bad incentives are becoming more pervasive," he said of the asset purchases, which are sometimes called QE. "I fear that we are feeding imbalances similar to those that played a role in the run-up to the financial crisis," he said in prepared remarks to the Association of Mexican Banks. No! Really? The man has a keen grasp of the obvious. This Reuters story, filed from Mexico City, was posted on their website early yesterday evening EST---and I thank Manitoba reader Ulrike Marx for today's first story.  Bank of England suspends employee as notes show currency rig concerns from 20Bank of England officials knew of concerns the foreign-exchange market was being manipulated as early as July 2006, more than seven years before regulators opened formal probes into alleged rate-rigging. The BOE today released minutes of central bank meetings with traders from some of the world’s biggest banks where they discussed concerns that currency benchmarks such as the WM/Reuters 4 p.m. London fix were being manipulated. The central bank suspended an employee amid an internal investigation into allegations its officials condoned rigging, according to a separate statement. At a July 4, 2006, meeting led by BOE chief dealer Martin Mallett at Smiths of Smithfield, a celebrity-chef-owned restaurant in the City of London, attendees said there was “evidence of attempts to move the market around popular fixing times by players that had no particular interest in that fix,” according to the minutes. “‘Fixing business’ generally was becoming increasingly fraught due to this behavior.” This Bloomberg news item was filed from London---and I found it embedded in a GATA release from early yesterday morning. It's definitely worth reading.  'To be or not to be' – Danes split over E.U. relations'To be, or not to be . . .' is the famous line of one of William Shakespeare's most famous plays. The double-minded theme of The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, aptly reflects the Danish people's relationship with the European Union. In 1972 a good half of them voted Denmark into the EU. In 2000 a similar proportion of citizens voted against joining the euro. Recent events are set to remind Danes of this ambivalence. This interesting, but rather meandering article, was posted on the euobserver.com website yesterday morning Europe time---and I thank Roy Stephens for his first contribution of the day. E.U. offers Ukraine $15 billion, but help hinges on IMF dealThe European Union offered a larger than expected package of aid to Ukraine on Wednesday, saying it was willing to provide $15 billion in loans and grants over the next several years to help get the shattered economy back on its feet. European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said the assistance, to be discussed by European Union leaders at a summit in Brussels on Thursday, would require widespread reforms by the new Ukrainian government and the signing of a deal between Ukraine and the International Monetary Fund. The EU had been expected to come up with a package of short-term assistance worth around 1 or 2 billion euros, but instead presented a more comprehensive program that perhaps by coincidence matched the amount Russia had offered Ukraine before president Viktor Yanukovich's government collapsed. This Reuters story, filed from Brussels, was posted on their Internet site just before noon Denver time yesterday---and I thank Ulrike Marx for her second contribution of the day.  Eleven Ukraine/Russia related stories 1. Putin, Flashing Disdain, Defends Action in Crimea: The New York Times 2. In Crimea, Mother Russia Looms Large: The New York Times 3. "Behind the Kiev Snipers it Was Somebody From the New Coalition"- a Stunning New Leak Released: Zero Hedge 4. Estonian Foreign Ministry confirms authenticity of leaked call on Kiev snipers: Russia Today 5. Russia Proposes Confiscating US, European Assets If Sanctions Adopted: Zero Hedge 6. Crimea Crisis Haunted by Ghosts of Bungled World War I Diplomacy: Bloomberg 7. Questions on Ukraine the West chooses not to answer: Russia Today 8. Ukrainian people will bear brunt of IMF deal with tough austerity: Russia Today 9. Russia puts Ukraine far-right leader on international wanted list over calls for terrorism: Russia Today 10. 'Cold War stereotypes': Russia condemns NATO plan to strengthen cooperation with Ukraine: Russia Today 11. U.S. and Russia fail to reach Ukraine deal on day of frantic diplomacy: The Guardian  UAE, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain recall their ambassadors from QatarThe UAE, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain said on Wednesday they were withdrawing their ambassadors from Qatar because Doha had not implemented an agreement among Gulf Arab countries not to interfere in each others' internal affairs. Qatar said it will not withdraw its envoys from UAE, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain despite differences in matters which it said were "external to the GCC". The move by the three countries, conveyed in a joint statement, is unprecedented in the three-decade history of the Gulf Cooperation Council, an alliance of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, UAE and Oman. Qatar has been a maverick in the region, backing Islamist groups in Egypt, Syria and elsewhere in the Middle East that are viewed with suspicion or outright hostility by some fellow GCC members. This very interesting news item, filed from Dubai, was posted on the gulfnews.com Internet site early yesterday afternoon local time---and once again my thanks go out to Ulrike Marx for sharing it with us.  Pepe Escobar: Spring fails in Ukrainian plunderland Here's the US's exceptionalist promotion of "democracy" in action; Washington has recognized a coup d'etat in Ukraine that regime-changed a - for all its glaring faults - democratically elected government.  Jim Rickards Interviewed by CBC TV about China American economist Jim Rickards looks at the risks inside China as its growth slows. This 6:57 minute must watch video clip was posted on the cbc.ca Internet site on Tuesday---and my thanks go out to reader Harold Jacobsen for sending it our way.  Dr. Marc Faber: "Emerging Economies Will Submerge Soon: Devaluations and Higher Gold Demand Will FollowThis 19:47 minute video interview with Marc was conducted by Tekoa DaSilva of Sprott Global Resources---and is well worth watching. It was posted on the youtube.com Internet site back on February 28---and I thank reader Ken Hurt for pointing it out to us.  Four King World News Blogs 1. Ronald-Peter Stoferle: "U.S. Dollar Collapse, Beijing, Moscow---and the Ascendancy of Gold". 2. Dr. Stephen Leeb: "Germany, Russia, China---and a New Golden Global Currency". 3. Dr. Paul Craig Roberts: "They Will Get the Whole World Blown Up". 4. Louise Yamada: "Three Incredibly Important Gold and Silver Charts". London gold broker says swings in prices no sign of manipulationThe chief executive officer of Sharps Pixley Ltd., who has traded gold for 30 years, challenged a study that says the market’s price-setting mechanism is susceptible to manipulation, compromising the $19.6 trillion of the precious metal that trades annually. The price fluctuations for gold when five banks meet daily to determine the so-called fixing in London are a consequence of supply and demand, not a sign of manipulation, said Ross Norman, the chief executive of Sharps Pixley, a broker of physical gold in the city. Norman previously worked at Johnson Matthey Plc, N.M. Rothschild & Sons Ltd. and Credit Suisse Group AG. Five banks meet twice a day to set benchmark prices used by miners, jewelers and central banks to trade and value the metal. Unusual trading patterns in the spot market during the afternoon session suggest collusive behavior and should be investigated, New York University’s Stern School of Business Professor Rosa Abrantes-Metz and Albert Metz, a managing director at Moody’s Investors Service, wrote in a draft research paper. The bigger price swings in the afternoon are caused by both London and New York being open and more people trading bullion because of increased liquidity as the so-called fixing happens, said Norman. The volatility also | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Pepe Escobar: Spring fails in Ukrainian plunderland Posted: 06 Mar 2014 02:16 AM PST Pepe Escobar: Spring fails in Ukrainian plunderland Here's the US's exceptionalist promotion of "democracy" in action; Washington has recognized a coup d'etat in Ukraine that regime-changed a - for all its glaring faults - democratically elected government. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Posted: 06 Mar 2014 02:16 AM PST Dr. Marc Faber: "Emerging Economies Will Submerge Soon: Devaluations and Higher Gold Demand Will Follow This 19:47 minute video interview with Marc was conducted by Tekoa DaSilva of Sprott Global Resources---and is well worth watching. It was posted on the youtube.com Internet site back on February 28---and I thank reader Ken Hurt for pointing it out to us. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Posted: 06 Mar 2014 02:16 AM PST Four King World News Blogs 1. Ronald-Peter Stoferle: "U.S. Dollar Collapse, Beijing, Moscow---and the Ascendancy of Gold". 2. Dr. Stephen Leeb: "Germany, Russia, China---and a New Golden Global Currency". 3. Dr. Paul Craig Roberts: "They Will Get the Whole World Blown Up". 4. Louise Yamada: "Three Incredibly Important Gold and Silver Charts". | |||||||||||||||||||||
| London gold broker says swings in prices no sign of manipulation Posted: 06 Mar 2014 02:16 AM PST London gold broker says swings in prices no sign of manipulation The chief executive officer of Sharps Pixley Ltd., who has traded gold for 30 years, challenged a study that says the market’s price-setting mechanism is susceptible to manipulation, compromising the $19.6 trillion of the precious metal that trades annually. The price fluctuations for gold when five banks meet daily to determine the so-called fixing in London are a consequence of supply and demand, not a sign of manipulation, said Ross Norman, the chief executive of Sharps Pixley, a broker of physical gold in the city. Norman previously worked at Johnson Matthey Plc, N.M. Rothschild & Sons Ltd. and Credit Suisse Group AG. Five banks meet twice a day to set benchmark prices used by miners, jewelers and central banks to trade and value the metal. Unusual trading patterns in the spot market during the afternoon session suggest collusive behavior and should be investigated, New York University’s Stern School of Business Professor Rosa Abrantes-Metz and Albert Metz, a managing director at Moody’s Investors Service, wrote in a draft research paper. The bigger price swings in the afternoon are caused by both London and New York being open and more people trading bullion because of increased liquidity as the so-called fixing happens, said Norman. The volatility also reflects differing views on the value of metal rather than price manipulation, he said. This Bloomberg news item, filed from London, was posted on their website yesterday morning MST---and I found it embedded in a GATA release. It's worth reading. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Scotiabank CEO Porter Says ‘Dated’ Gold Fix Needs Review Posted: 06 Mar 2014 02:16 AM PST Scotiabank CEO Porter Says 'Dated' Gold Fix Needs Review Bank of Nova Scotia Chief Executive Officer Brian Porter said the process for setting gold prices, known as the London gold fix, is outdated and should be reviewed. “The fix is dated, it has been around for a long period of time,” Porter said today in an interview on Bloomberg Television. “It should be reviewed and any degree of transparency we could bring to that would be healthy.” Bank of Nova Scotia, based in Toronto, is one of five banks overseeing the London gold fix, the century-old benchmark used throughout the $20 trillion market for the metal. Kevin Maher, a New Yorker who said he buys and sells gold futures and options, sued the banks, which also include Barclays Plc, Deutsche Bank AG, HSBC Holdings Plc and Société Générale SA, claiming they colluded to manipulate it. The above three paragraphs is all there is to this very short Bloomberg story yesterday. It was filed from New York---and posted on their Internet site early yesterday afternoon MST. My thanks got out to Ulrike Marx for sending it along. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Lawrence Williams: London Gold Fix days could be numbered? Posted: 06 Mar 2014 02:16 AM PST  Lawrence Williams: London Gold Fix days could be numbered? Perhaps the clue to the argument should be in the name – the Gold Fix or Fixing – the daily meetings between the five bullion banks which set the London agreed gold price morning and afternoon, which much of the gold market uses as benchmark pricing. The silver price is ‘fixed’ similarly once per day. One of the definitions of the word fix from the Oxford Dictionary is, “A dishonest or underhand arrangement”, and, while the London Gold Fix dates back to 1919, the word and this is perhaps a more modern interpretation of the word , it does thus have connotations which may in itself raise doubts about the financial integrity of the overall process. Thus this ‘fixing’ mechanism has been coming under increased scrutiny, perhaps following on from the LIBOR scandal whereby benchmark interest rates had been manipulated in favour of some of the participants setting them. In the latest move regarding the London Gold Fixing which is already under regulatory investigation, a ‘class action’ lawsuit has been initiated in New York against the five member banks for manipulating the gold price through the fixing process. This interesting commentary by Lawrie was posted on the mineweb.com Internet site yesterday---and I thank Ulrike Marx for bringing it to our attention. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Eric Sprott: Gold equities, manipulators and significant earning potential Posted: 06 Mar 2014 02:16 AM PST Eric Sprott: Gold equities, manipulators and significant earning potential GEOFF CANDY: Hello and welcome to this week’s edition of Mineweb.com’s Gold Weekly podcast. Joining me live at the Sprott Asset Management Offices is Eric Sprott himself. Eric it’s been quite a long time since we last chatted and since then a lot has happened in the gold markets. We’ve seen the first year of down movement in gold in a long time. In January though things seemed to pick up a little bit and in February some of that momentum has carried on. Has something not changed necessarily this year, but sentiment seems to have shifted a little. ERIC SPROTT: Well of course it’s the $64m question… what is going to happen in the gold market, and I would say on the surface the two arguments that are gaining a lot of strength, firstly the absolute physical demand for gold that we’re seeing, particularly in China, but also through mint sales and other data like that and other Asian countries and so one can make a case that the physical demand far exceeds supply at western central banks or continuing to supply the gold, and it’s the old supply and demand argument and who is going to win that? The other major change that’s happened here is that a number of spokespeople who have come out and said that gold prices are manipulated and we’ve had about four or five articles and one of the best ones is the book called the “Gold Cartel” by Dimitri Speck… which is a wonderful read by the way and I recommend it to your viewers and listeners. And then there is the discussion by the equivalent to the SEC in Germany, BaFin said that possible manipulation in precious metals could worse than LIBOR and then we’ve had a couple of studies, one by somebody in New York Stern Business School saying it looks like the COMEX market has had some very odd things happening there. This longish interview with Eric was posted on the mineweb.com Internet site yesterday---and it's another contribution to today's column from Ulrike Marx. It's definitely worth reading if you have the time. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Gold is Heading Back to a Bull Cycle, Nomura Says Posted: 06 Mar 2014 02:16 AM PST  Gold is Heading Back to a Bull Cycle, Nomura Says Short version: Well, that was fast! Analysts at Nomura Securities this morning upgraded their view of precious-metals prices, and the gist of the argument is that the conditions which sent gold’s price tumbling 28% last year appear to have vanished. It’s a familiar theme to close watchers of the niche. “Like a phoenix regenerating from its ashes, cyclical gold appears set to recover,” write Tyler Broda and six co-authors. This short article was posted on the Barron's website yesterday morning EST---and it's worth skimming. I thank West Virginia reader Elliot Simon for finding it for us---and it's worth skimming. | |||||||||||||||||||||
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