Gold World News Flash

Silver Update – Treasury Tricks
R. Russell - I Saw Bread Lines, Babe Ruth & The Graf Zeppelin
TF Metals Report: Swiss gold was used to bomb the price and now it's gone
Western gold heading East must be from central banks, Eric Sprott says
GaveKal On The Recent Emerging Market Surge: "Little To Suggest Any Sustainable Economic Healing"
Today's WTF "All Clear" Indicator To Buy Everything
Inflation is everywhere except in the news, GoldMoney's Turk tells KWN
The Gold Price Traded as High as $1,304.50 Closing Up $8.30
The Gold Price Traded as High as $1,304.50 Closing Up $8.30
James Turk: Silver Is One Of The Best Buys On The Planet Today
Gold Price About To Break Higher Or Lower
Silver Improves Water Purifiers And Smart Tags
Global COLLAPSE Occurring Right Now! Here's Why.
Gold Daily and Silver Weekly Charts - À Chaque Fou Plaît Sa Marotte
Gold Daily and Silver Weekly Charts - À Chaque Fou Plaît Sa Marotte
Silver Is One Of The Best Buys On The Planet Today
Why the U.S. Recovery is Such a Disappointment
Top 10 Reason To Invest In This Junior Gold Miner in Nevada
Russia can retaliate against attacks in markets, Embry tells KWN
Threatening The Elite's Economic System
Build up to WW3 - ELITE AGENDA for a ECONOMIC COLLAPSE & GLOBAL RESET
Squawk Showdown: Bitcoin or Gold? Whatâ€™s Next for Currency
Breakthrough in Crude Oil Price Only A Matter Of Time
India's BJP Win to Boost Gold Prices?
India's BJP Win to Boost Gold Prices?
India's BJP Win to Boost Gold Prices?
Near-Term Outlook Grim For Precious Metals As Two Props May Have Just Been Removed
Not All Gold Is Created Equal: Know Before You Buy
Gold Bullion Pops Over $1300 as India Elections End, Gold-Friendly BJP Expected to Win
U.S. Dollar/Yen Dynamics and the Stock Market
The Discovery of the Decade—On Sale
You've Been ZIRP'd...!
You've Been ZIRP'd...!
So Cheap It Hurts
So Cheap It Hurts
Juniors Operating from the Driver's Seat: Adrian Day
Juniors Operating from the Driver's Seat: Adrian Day
Whatâ€™s Going on With the U.S. Dollar

Posted: 12 May 2014 09:20 PM PDT

R. Russell - I Saw Bread Lines, Babe Ruth & The Graf Zeppelin

Posted: 12 May 2014 09:02 PM PDT

Today KWN is publishing another important piece that was written by a 60-year market veteran. At nearly 90 years old, the Godfather of newsletter writers, Richard Russell, discusses the time he saw Babe Ruth hit home run, the Graff Zeppelin fly over Manhattan, World War II, gold, silver, stocks, and much more -- enjoy.

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

TF Metals Report: Swiss gold was used to bomb the price and now it's gone

Posted: 12 May 2014 07:32 PM PDT

10:34p ET Monday, May 12, 2014

Dear Friend of GATA and Gold:

The TF Metals Report's Turd Ferguson tonight compiles evidence that Switzerland's gold reserves were the crucial ammunition for the gold leasing that has driven the monetary metal's price down since 2011. He concludes that the Swiss gold now is gone, replaced with irredeemable paper claims. Ferguson's commentary comes as "An Open Letter to the Good People of Switzerland" and it's posted at the TF Metals Report's Internet site here:

http://www.tfmetalsreport.com/blog/5731/turdville-love-open-letter-good-...

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

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Join GATA here:

Committee for Monetary Research and Education
Spring Dinner Meeting
Union League Club, New York City
Thursday, May 22, 2014

http://www.cmre.org/news/spring-meeting-2014/

Porter Stansberry Natural Resources Conference
AT&T Performing Arts Center
Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House
2403 Flora St., Dallas, Texas
Saturday, May 31, 2014

http://stansberrydallas.com/

Canadian Investor Conference 2014
Vancouver Convention Centre West
1055 Canada Place, Vancouver, British Columbia
Sunday and Monday, June 1 and 2, 2014

http://cambridgehouse.com/event/25/canadian-investor-conference-2014-inc...

New Orleans Investment Conference
Hilton New Orleans Riverside Hotel
New Orleans, Louisiana
Wednesday-Saturday, October 22-25, 2014

https://jeffersoncompanies.com/new-orleans-investment-conference/home

* * *

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

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Western gold heading East must be from central banks, Eric Sprott says

Posted: 12 May 2014 06:24 PM PDT

9:24p ET Monday, May 12, 2014

Dear Friend of GATA and Gold:

Too much gold is being refined in the West for it not to be coming out of central bank vaults to feed Asia's huge demand for the monetary metal, Sprott Asset Management CEO Eric Sprott tells Sprott Money News in an eight-minute audio interview here:

http://www.sprottmoney.com/sprott-money-weekly-wrap-up

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

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Buy metals at GoldMoney and enjoy international storage

GoldMoney was established in 2001 by James and Geoff Turk and is safeguarding more than $1.7 billion in metals and currencies. Buy gold, silver, platinum, and palladium from GoldMoney over the Internet and store them in vaults in Canada, Hong Kong, Singapore, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom, taking advantage of GoldMoney's low storage rates, among the most competitive in the industry. GoldMoney also offers delivery of 100-gram and 1-kilogram gold bars and 1-kilogram silver bars. To learn more, please visit:

http://www.goldmoney.com/?gmrefcode=gata

Join GATA here:

Committee for Monetary Research and Education
Spring Dinner Meeting
Union League Club, New York City
Thursday, May 22, 2014

http://www.cmre.org/news/spring-meeting-2014/

Porter Stansberry Natural Resources Conference
AT&T Performing Arts Center
Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House
2403 Flora St., Dallas, Texas
Saturday, May 31, 2014

http://stansberrydallas.com/

Canadian Investor Conference 2014
Vancouver Convention Centre West
1055 Canada Place, Vancouver, British Columbia
Sunday and Monday, June 1 and 2, 2014

http://cambridgehouse.com/event/25/canadian-investor-conference-2014-inc...

New Orleans Investment Conference
Hilton New Orleans Riverside Hotel
New Orleans, Louisiana
Wednesday-Saturday, October 22-25, 2014

https://jeffersoncompanies.com/new-orleans-investment-conference/home

* * *

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

ADVERTISEMENT

Silver mining stock report for 2014 comes with 1-ounce silver round

Future Money Trends is offering a special 18-page silver mining stock report about how to profit with the monetary and industrial metal in 2014, and it comes with a free 1-ounce silver round. Proceeds from the report's sales are shared with the Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee to support its efforts to expose manipulation in the monetary metals markets. To learn about this report, please visit:

http://fmturl.com/gata/

GaveKal On The Recent Emerging Market Surge: "Little To Suggest Any Sustainable Economic Healing"

Posted: 12 May 2014 05:15 PM PDT

One of the biggest casualties of the taper tantrum in mid-2013 and early 2014 were the stock indices of Emerging Markets. Of course, both drawdowns were followed by prompt buying as for all concerns about fund flows, the carry trade proved to be alive and well, whether due to ongoing QE by the Fed (and the broken market's inability to price in tapering by the same Fed which has manipulated it to all time highs) or rumors that either a European QE or a boost to the Japanese QE are just around the corner.

But is there anything fundamental to explain why the equity indices of the "Fragile Five" countries, Brazil, South Africa, Indonesia, India and Turkey, have regained their recent highs? According to GaveKal the answer is a resounding no: "As investors, we like equity rallies to be propelled by fundamental factors, like earnings re-ratings or growth surprises. But there is little behind this rally to suggest any sustainable economic healing." So what is pushing this particular subset of risk higher? Why the global liquidity tsunami of course.

From Evergreeen GaveKal

Emerging Markets Carry Trade Looks Vulnerable

Over the last two months, emerging markets have delivered a handsome rally, with the MSCI emerging markets index recording a 7% return in US dollar terms, compared with just 1% for the developed markets. The trouble is that this rally has been driven primarily by investors' growing enthusiasm for carry trades in an environment of declining global volatility. Experience teaches this is an engine which can all too suddenly be thrown into reverse.

The defining feature of the current run-up in emerging markets is that the greater the sell-off a country suffered last year, the stronger the rally it has enjoyed this year. As a result, the so-called "fragile five"—Brazil, India, Indonesia, Turkey, and South Africa— the markets most reliant on foreign capital and so most vulnerable during last year's taper tantrum, are no longer looking quite so fragile. Since their lows in January, the Turkish lira has surged 13%, the Brazilian real 10%, the South African rand 8% and the Indonesian rupiah and Indian rupee 6% each.

It hasn't taken long for the rebound to flow through to stock markets. In local currency terms, an investor with an equally-weighted allocation to each of the fragile five's equity markets will already have seen his portfolio regain its previous high reached in May 2013.

As investors, we like equity rallies to be propelled by fundamental factors, like earnings re-ratings or growth surprises. But there is little behind this rally to suggest any sustainable economic healing. Sure, there are pockets of earnings re-ratings because of last year's currency depreciation, but we see little in terms of broad-based economic surprises. According to the Citi Eco Surprise Index, economic data in the emerging market has largely surprised on the downside so far this year. Most forward-looking indicators, especially in Asia, are signaling no prospect of any decisive upturn in the growth outlook. What's more, the prevailing direction of economic and monetary policies is hardly investor-friendly. Credit moderation remains the order of the day in China, while policy settings have been on hold among many of the other major emerging markets in the run-up to national elections. And with food prices turning up, monetary easing is now off the table for emerging market central bankers.

That leaves the search for carry as the principal engine of the current rally. The markets which sold off most violently last year, and which have rebounded most strongly over the last couple of months, are those offering the most attractive yields. As volatility in global financial markets fell this year, and lingering fears of emerging market (EM) contagion evaporated, the lack of yield on cash prompted investors to turn once again to the high yielding emerging market currencies and fixed income markets which took such a beating last year.

The widespread return of calm which has underpinned the revival of the EM carry trade is marked, and even ominous. Unless you are trading the renminbi or the Russian market, volatility levels in major equity markets, currency pairs, Credit Default Swap (CDS) spreads and basis swaps are once again approaching, if not already below, the lows seen last April. Even Chinese CDSs are at year-to-date lows, despite the worries over China's growth trajectory, while volatility in the Brent crude market has fallen even as geopolitical uncertainty has mounted. While low volatility is nothing new in the era of financial repression, it still signals a remarkable rebound in confidence given expectations that the Fed will halt its balance sheet expansion within a few months.

On this premise, the moment that volatility returns, the EMs will be extremely vulnerable to investor repositioning. Quite what the trigger might be is impossible to say. But history teaches us that volatility rarely stays this low for long.

* * *

History, also teaches us the central planning on such a grand, global scale always ends in tears too, but for now the music is playing and the dancing, on "other people's tab" must go on.

Today's WTF "All Clear" Indicator To Buy Everything

Posted: 12 May 2014 05:12 PM PDT

Does this look in any way normal to anyone?

Certainly seemed like someone is was in a hurry to dump VIX futures contracts at the open... (and that rippled down to the spot VIX)

And as Salient Partners' Epsilon Theory notes,

1M implied volatility on the VIX fell to an all-time low last week. Generally speaking, this means that options on short-term market volatility increasing have never been cheaper.

How is this possible, you ask, with outright war simmering in Eastern Ukraine and China flexing its muscles in the South China Sea? Because Mario Draghi is "signaling" that he's going to launch a European version of QE. Because the Narrative of Central Bank Omnipotence has never been stronger, and for markets this is the only thing that matters. Because we continue to live in the new Goldilocks environment, where mediocre growth is not so weak as to plunge us into recession but not so strong as to take central banks out of play. If the news gets a lot better the market will go down, and if the news gets a lot worse the market will go down.

But what I call the Entropic Ending, a market-positive gray slog where global growth is more-or-less permanently crippled by the very monetary policies that prevent global growth from collapsing, can go on for a looooooong time.

and how to tell when this starts to change...

How can you know if this Narrative starts to waver or shift? If and when gold starts to work.

This is what gold means in the modern age... not a store of value or some sort of protection against geopolitical instability... but an insurance policy against massive central bank error and loss of control.

And gold and silver started to work today.

Inflation is everywhere except in the news, GoldMoney's Turk tells KWN

Posted: 12 May 2014 05:08 PM PDT

8:07p ET Monday, May 12, 2014

Dear Friend of GATA and Gold:

GoldMoney founder and GATA consultant James Turk takes a detailed look at commodity prices and concludes that inflation is everywhere except in the mainstream financial news media. Turk's comments come in an interview with King World News excerpted here:

http://kingworldnews.com/kingworldnews/KWN_DailyWeb/Entries/2014/5/12_Si...

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

ADVERTISEMENT

Silver mining stock report comes with 1-ounce silver round

Future Money Trends is offering a special 18-page silver mining stock report about how to profit with the monetary and industrial metal in 2014, and it comes with a free 1-ounce silver round. Proceeds from the report's sales are shared with the Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee to support its efforts to expose manipulation in the monetary metals markets. To learn about this report, please visit:

http://fmturl.com/gata/

Join GATA here:

Committee for Monetary Research and Education
Spring Dinner Meeting
Union League Club, New York City
Thursday, May 22, 2014

http://www.cmre.org/news/spring-meeting-2014/

Porter Stansberry Natural Resources Conference
AT&T Performing Arts Center
Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House
2403 Flora St., Dallas, Texas
Saturday, May 31, 2014

http://stansberrydallas.com/

Canadian Investor Conference 2014
Vancouver Convention Centre West
1055 Canada Place, Vancouver, British Columbia
Sunday and Monday, June 1 and 2, 2014

http://cambridgehouse.com/event/25/canadian-investor-conference-2014-inc...

New Orleans Investment Conference
Hilton New Orleans Riverside Hotel
New Orleans, Louisiana
Wednesday-Saturday, October 22-25, 2014

https://jeffersoncompanies.com/new-orleans-investment-conference/home

* * *

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

ADVERTISEMENT

Buy metals at GoldMoney and enjoy international storage

GoldMoney was established in 2001 by James and Geoff Turk and is safeguarding more than $1.7 billion in metals and currencies. Buy gold, silver, platinum, and palladium from GoldMoney over the Internet and store them in vaults in Canada, Hong Kong, Singapore, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom, taking advantage of GoldMoney's low storage rates, among the most competitive in the industry. GoldMoney also offers delivery of 100-gram and 1-kilogram gold bars and 1-kilogram silver bars. To learn more, please visit:

http://www.goldmoney.com/?gmrefcode=gata

The Gold Price Traded as High as $1,304.50 Closing Up $8.30

Posted: 12 May 2014 04:31 PM PDT

12-May-14	Price	Change	% Change
Gold Price, $/oz	1,295.60	8.30	0.64%
Silver Price, $/oz	19.50	0.42	2.22%
Gold/Silver Ratio	66.441	-1.038	-1.54%
Silver/Gold Ratio	0.0151	0.0002	1.56%
Platinum Price	1,440.90	12.00	0.84%
Palladium Price	808.90	9.00	1.13%
S&P 500	1,896.65	18.17	0.97%
Dow	16,697.47	112.13	0.68%
Dow in GOLD $s	266.41	0.08	0.03%
Dow in GOLD oz	12.89	0.00	0.03%
Dow in SILVER oz	856.28	-13.11	-1.51%
US Dollar Index	79.95	0.02	0.03%

Today the GOLD PRICE traded as high as $1,304.50, but fell back at Comex close to $1,295.60, up only $8.30. Silver added 42.3 cents to 1950c.

Over the weekend the gold price traded down to $1,277.70, but began recovering and today climbed steadily to a $1,304.50 high. Thrice now gold has validated the bottom boundary of an even-sided triangle (forming since mid-April.). If the GOLD PRICE closes above $1,315.80 (last low), it will break out of this triangle.

The SILVER PRICE pattern over the last three days followed gold's, with a 1905c low over the weekend and a 1967c high today. Silver has now walked through its downtrend line and closed today above its 1949c 20 day moving average.

Most frustrating part of my job is watching investors. Why? Because they love to buy a rising market, especially after it's been rising a long, long time -- precisely when they shouldn't buy. And they hate to buy a low market, especially if it's been low a long time, like silver and gold prices. But the road to riches is not "buy high and sell low," but just the opposite. And nowhere are the nerves wracked more or more courage needed than to buy when it's low, based on your own knowledge and analysis.

So I sit here watching investors shun gold and silver at precisely the instant they ought to be buying. I reckon that goes with the territory.

Expect silver and gold prices to grind higher through May. Stocks are topping now, although they may make additional marginal new highs. Watch for it.

As I've been expecting, Stocks made a new high here in May. Dow today posted a new all time high close at 16,695.47, up today 112.13 or 0.68%. S&P500 joined in, up 18.17 (0.97%) to 1,896.65. But if I owned stocks I would be sore distressed about the non-confirming Russell 2000 and Nasdaq Composite and Wilshire 5000, all many furlongs from new highs.

It is instructive for my Tennessee hick mind to gaze upon the Bank Stock Index ($BKX) divided by the S&P500 ($SPX). Lo, since 2011 late Bank Stocks have outperformed the S&P500, yea, even these very scoundrel, bankrupt, Too-Big-To-Fail- Too-Big-To-Jail banks. A clearer sign of faith in the financial system would be impossible to imagine than faith in these parasitic behemoths. Behold! the spread broke down early in April, or, in English, the S&P500 began outperforming the Bank Stock Index.

Lo, also instructive to my benighted mind, which lives so far back in the woods that I have to order sunlight from Sears and Roebuck: Divide the Bank Stock Index by Gold. Since (as you would expect) the gold peak in August 2013 bank stocks have outperformed gold as faith in the (preposterous, ridiculous, jerry-built, predatory, corrupt) financial system solidified. That trend went into high gear in 2013, but turned and broke down in January 2014. It remains in an overall downtrend, and within that downtrend is -- get this -- trending down.

What can it all mean? That investor confidence in the financial system is turning down and shifting to gold, and, ultimately that implies, from financial to tangible assets. In case you're wondering, the BKX has turned down against silver as well.

But what do I know, a durned nacheral born fool from Tennessee? What's my hick opinion against all them Wall Street Smarties?

Last Thursday the head criminal at the European Central Bank (ECB) one Mario Draghi (look for his picture coming in post offices soon) announced he would begin inflating the euro more. As usual, he announced no real move but only jawboned, but that was enough to break the euro's back. Friday the US dollar index shot up 45 basis points to end at 79.93. The euro's uptrend was crushed. The Yen was indifferent.

Today the US dollar index rested quietly in a narrow range and rose only 2 basis points to 79.95. The euro fell another 0.1% to $1.3757, while the Yen dropped slightly (0.25%) to 97.92. Dollar should remain strong for several months, although technically it must still close above 80.20 to confirm its reversal.

Before we turn from stocks, let it be noted that in spite of new all time highs in the Dow and S&P500, the Dow in silver did not rise but fell. The Dow in Gold rose only 0.2%, and is nowhere near its all time high (13.80 oz or G$285.27 gold dollars).

Aurum et argentum comparenda sunt -- -- Gold and silver must be bought.

- Franklin Sanders, The Moneychanger
The-MoneyChanger.com

© 2014, 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 Traded as High as $1,304.50 Closing Up $8.30

Posted: 12 May 2014 04:31 PM PDT

12-May-14	Price	Change	% Change
Gold Price, $/oz	1,295.60	8.30	0.64%
Silver Price, $/oz	19.50	0.42	2.22%
Gold/Silver Ratio	66.441	-1.038	-1.54%
Silver/Gold Ratio	0.0151	0.0002	1.56%
Platinum Price	1,440.90	12.00	0.84%
Palladium Price	808.90	9.00	1.13%
S&P 500	1,896.65	18.17	0.97%
Dow	16,697.47	112.13	0.68%
Dow in GOLD $s	266.41	0.08	0.03%
Dow in GOLD oz	12.89	0.00	0.03%
Dow in SILVER oz	856.28	-13.11	-1.51%
US Dollar Index	79.95	0.02	0.03%

James Turk: Silver Is One Of The Best Buys On The Planet Today

Posted: 12 May 2014 03:10 PM PDT

As global markets continue to see some wild trading, today James Turk told King World News that “silver is one of the best buys on the planet today.” Turk also spoke about the extraordinary price inflation the world is witnessing and compared various prices of commodities from 1980 to today in this fascinating interview.

Gold Price About To Break Higher Or Lower

Posted: 12 May 2014 02:48 PM PDT

The price of gold started today’s night session with one of those typical sell orders, bringing the yellow metal to its critical support level of $1,280. Shortly after the New York trading session begun, gold spiked higher and touched $1,305 an ounce. That is a 2% spread on the day, from low to high.

The daily chart (see below) shows a strong support level around $1,270 – $1,280, which we indicated with the blue horizontal line. Since the peak of mid-March, gold has made lower highs, which should be a reason for concern, at least from a chart point of view. However, the potentially good news for bulls is that, after touching three times the descending support line (indicated in blue as well), it seems that the gold price has moved outside that trading pattern. Since mid-April, gold has made a first higher high.

Note how the moving averages are flattening at this point in time, a sign of consolidation.

It is critical though, as the chart pattern indicates, that $1,270 – $1,280 is NOT breached. Otherwise the bulls are in trouble.

gold price – 12 May 2014

The chart learns also that gold is ripe for a trending move. The coming days will show whether the move will be higher or lower; both directions are still open in our opinion.

On the flip side, we should note that the metals are not really favored by two factors. First, the miners are not bullish in terms of price action and volume. Second, from a seasonal point of view, we are entering the most quiet period of the year. Both factors would support the bearish case, at least on the short run. A retest of the December lows should not be excluded till July/August.

Silver Improves Water Purifiers And Smart Tags

Posted: 12 May 2014 02:24 PM PDT

In its monthly industry release, The Silver Institute reported once again several new applications of silver in products across several industries, in particular health, food and beverage. The Silver Institute has written extensively how silver has helped breakthrough improvements in product development and industries; read previous articles here, here, here, and here.

Silver and Gold Smart Tags Tell When Food, Beverages, Medicine Have Spoiled

Chinese scientists have developed 'smart tags' composed of silver and gold microscopic-sized rods that can stick to containers and change color when food has gone bad.

The tags, each about the size of a corn kernel, mimic the time and temperature conditions under which specific foods would deteriorate and indicate possible spoilage by changing color.

The tags work without opening the package or touching the food inside. The tags were tested on milk that was exposed to different temperatures and bacteria until spoilage occurred. This data allowed researchers to synchronize the tags to show when the milk was unfit to drink. The tags, which cost less than a cent each, can also be customized to work on canned goods and even medicines still inside their containers.

"We successfully synchronized, at multiple temperatures, the chemical evolution process in the smart tag with microbial growth processes in the milk," lead researcher Chao Zhang, a scientist at Peking University in Beijing, said in a statement. "If a product was left out too long or stored improperly — even if customers, grocery-store owners and manufacturers can't tell the difference without opening it and smelling it — the tag still gives a reliable indication of the quality of the product."

The silver and gold nanorods tags contain vitamin C, acetic and lactic acids, and agar, which react with nanorods to change their color. The gold nanorods are naturally red. Over time, the other compounds such as silver leave deposits, forming a silver shell layer that alters the shape and composition of the gold nanorods, a process that changes their color. "Therefore, as the silver layer thickens over time, the tag color evolves from the initial red to orange, yellow, green and even blue and violet," Zhang explained.

The tags were introduced at the American Chemical Society's National Meeting in Dallas on March 17.

Tata Improves its Non-Electric, Silver-Based Water Purifier

As a follow-up to its popular Tata Swach non-electric, silver-based water purifier (See Silver News, February, 2012, Tata's's Inexpensive Nanosilver Water Filters Reach a Half-Million Sold), Tata Chemicals, Ltd. has introduced the Tata Swach Silver Boost, which adds a water storage capacity of 14 liters, auto-shut off mechanism and direct-tap-fill. The Swach Silver Boost can produce 3 to 4 liters per hour of drinking water depending upon the initial water quality.

In touting the Swach Silver Boost, company officials noted that while chlorine disinfection is the most commonly used technology for water purification, it only provides protection from bacteria and virus, and does not protect from Cryptosporidium which can cause substantial weight loss, nausea and even malnutrition. Other water purification technologies that only use membrane purification do not provide protection against virus which may cause harmful diseases like Polio, Hepatitis A and Hepatitis E.

"Over and above protection from water-borne diseases like diarrhea, dysentery, jaundice and cholera, the Tata Swach Silver Boost combines the power of MF [Ultra/Microfiltration] membrane with silver nanotechnology to make water microbiologically safe from virus, bacteria and parasites/cyst along with safety from algae, fungi, rust, metal particles and turbidity. It provides double protection from bacteria through Tata Swach Bulb and Tata Swach MF membrane," said Ashvini Hiran, COO, Consumer Product Business, Tata Chemicals, in a prepared statement.

Purification takes place when water is dropped through the Bulb, which consists of carbon from burnt rice husks and nanosilver, which can remove microbes including cholera, E-Coli and the rotavirus. The MF membrane is the final stage of purification and removes bacteria, cysts, protozoa, algae, fungi, rust, metal particles, Giardia and turbidity.

The Tata Swach Silver Boost will retail for about $US45.00.

Silver-Laced Holographic Sensors Allow Cheap, Fast Medical Testing

Calling their inventions 'smart holograms,' researchers at the University of Cambridge have figured out that by imbedding silver particles in hydrogels – highly-absorbent materials used in products ranging from contact lenses to disposable diapers – and hitting them with a laser, that the metal particles form 3-D holograms in a fraction of a second. In the presence of various chemicals, the hydrogels either swell or contract, forcing the holograms to change color based on which compound has been introduced.

This means that the silver-laced hydrogels could be used for a slew of medical and environmental tests to check for compounds such as glucose, alcohol, hormones, drugs, bacteria and pollutants. Researchers suggest that the smart holograms hold the promise of detecting diabetes, drug use, cardiac abnormalities, infections and hormonal imbalances. An added benefit is that the holograms are constructed in less than a second, making these sensors suitable for mass production.

"Currently, a lot of medical testing is performed on large, expensive equipment," said Ali Yetsien, a Phd. student in the Department of Chemical Engineering & Biotechnology who is leading the research. "While these sorts of inexpensive, portable tests aren't meant to replace a doctor, holograms could enable people to easily monitor their own health, and could be useful for early diagnosis, which is critical for so many conditions."

He added that the sensors are faster, easier and cheaper to produce than current technologies, about 10 cents each, which make them practical in developing economies where tests, such as those to detect abnormal amounts of glucose, would otherwise be too expensive. He added that the holographic process is reversible, allowing the hydrogel to be used many times before it must be discarded.

holographic sensors silver physical market

silver: holographic sensors

Global COLLAPSE Occurring Right Now! Here's Why.

Posted: 12 May 2014 01:23 PM PDT

Economically, this system is dead. It's a zombie being fed life simply by what they refer to as "Quantitative Easing". I prefer to call it MONEY PRINTING. Even with the trillions being force fed in to the financial system, grow is slowing all around the world.As I discuss in my book, and concur...

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Gold Daily and Silver Weekly Charts - À Chaque Fou Plaît Sa Marotte

Posted: 12 May 2014 01:20 PM PDT

Gold Daily and Silver Weekly Charts - À Chaque Fou Plaît Sa Marotte

Posted: 12 May 2014 01:20 PM PDT

Silver Is One Of The Best Buys On The Planet Today

Posted: 12 May 2014 12:58 PM PDT

As global markets continue to see some wild trading, today James Turk told King World News that "silver is one of the best buys on the planet today." Turk also spoke about the extraordinary price inflation the world is witnessing and compared various prices of commodities from 1980 to today in this fascinating interview.

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

Why the U.S. Recovery is Such a Disappointment

Posted: 12 May 2014 12:27 PM PDT

'So we have, indeed, had a disappointingly slow recovery, and our consistent expectations for a pickup in growth have been dashed over a number of years… And the labor market is behaving in some perplexing ways and showing patterns that are novel.' - Janet Yellen in a speech to the Economic Club of New York on April 15th

We certainly agree on the first acknowledgment — 'a disappointingly slow recovery'. This has been the most agonising post-recession recovery since The Great Depression, in spite of record stimulus efforts including zero bound interest rates.

We definitely agree with expectations being consistently dashed. The people at the Fed couldn't hit a target (any number: employment, GDP, CPI) if their lives depended on it.

Why?

Simple, the Fed still believes in an economic model fuelled by high octane consumer credit.

This employment and income negativity is feeding into social mood and how people see themselves.

However, the new post Great Financial Crisis model is running on unleaded cautious consumption. Little wonder the economic motor is sputtering. Thirdly, the US labor market is apparently behaving in perplexing ways. Really?

Only someone completely devoid of contact with the real world (and Janet's life of academia definitely qualifies her for this) could describe the goings-on in the US labour market as 'perplexing and novel'.

From where we write — on the distant shores of Australia we'll help Janet unravel the 'mystery' confounding her. The Washington Post recently tracked the decline in real (after inflation) median earnings for US males (based on education levels) between 1969 and 2009.

The 'real' income for the lowest skilled workers is 65% lower compared to 45 years ago.

Michael Greenstone and Adam Looney of the Hamilton Project went deeper into the median income numbers and discovered this rather depressing finding:

'[M]edian earnings for men in 2009 were lower than they were in the early 1970s. And it gets worse… Between 1960 and 2009, the share of men working full-time fell from 83% to 66%, and the share not making formal wages tripled from 6% to 18%. When you take all men, not just those working full-time, [you see] a plummet of 28% in median real wages from 1969 to 2009.'

There are a couple of assumptions you can draw from this:

As income declined over the forty-year period, credit became the substitute to maintain living standards — especially as the cost of credit became increasingly cheaper from 1980 onwards via falling interest rates. The credit bubble that started to implode in 2008 was a result of income substitution and investment speculation.
Declining real incomes meant employment gradually lost its attractiveness compared to welfare. More people opted out of workforce participation and into the social security office.

In 1977, US Congress amended the Federal Reserve Act, outlining the Fed's new and improved mission in life:

'…long run growth of the monetary and credit aggregates commensurate with the economy’s long run potential to increase production, so as to promote effectively the goals of maximum employment, stable prices and moderate long-term interest rates.'

During the period that the Fed was charged with the responsibility of 'maximum employment', real incomes fell and eventually, workforce participation declined. Well done. The clueless Fed is now scratching its head over the workings of the jobs market. They never understood it in the good times, why should they be any better informed in the tough times?

The US workforce participation rate has fallen back to levels last seen in 1975. Perhaps baby boomers influence these numbers by opting for early retirement. Most likely the greater influence is the anaemic recovery post-GFC. The diminished ranks of US taxpayers bear the cost of this workforce exodus.

The Heritage Foundation produced a graphic on how a US tax dollar is spent. Major entitlements — Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security — take the lion's share at 49%.

Income security and other benefits — federal employee retirement and disability, unemployment benefits, welfare programs (food and housing assistance) — account for a further 20%. (NOTE – the cost of Obamacare is NOT in these figures).

Nearly 70% of every tax dollar is going in entitlement spending.

When you consider the government provides you with a fortnightly income cheque, access to medical services, food stamps and housing, where's the incentive for an unskilled or even semi-skilled worker to actively seek employment?

According to a recent study by Greg Kaplan, Assistant Professor of Economics at Princeton University, there are over 16 million US families where no-one has a job:

A family, as defined by the BLS,'is a group of two or more people who live together and who are related by birth, adoption or marriage. In 2013, there were 80,445,000 families in the United States and in 16,127,000 — or 20 percent — no one had a job.'

One in five families where no-one is employed. That is a truly appalling statistic for the once great US economy.

This employment and income negativity is feeding into social mood and how people see themselves.

The Pew Research Center released the findings of their latest research on 'what class people consider they belong to'. Armed with the knowledge above, the results are not that surprising. Pre-GFC only 25% perceived themselves as 'lower class', today it's 40%.

Surprisingly, the so-called 'wealth effect' has not had the desired psychological impact the Fed was hoping for. After six years of pumping up asset values, less people see themselves in the 'upper class' category.

The only 'trickle down' effect the Fed has created is people cascading into poverty, whether real or imagined.

The jobs market is not that perplexing — an economy bereft of high octane credit is shrinking. The more an economy contracts the less likely 'budget-squeezed' consumers are to borrow, thus a self-feeding loop is created. While you have a government that is prepared to underwrite the budgetary cost of its grand social programs with printed dollars, more people will opt for entitlement over employment.

What really perplexes me is how long this whole unproductive and artificial charade can continue before there is large scale social unrest or the system buckles under its own idle weight. The only certainty and consistency in all of this is that the Fed will remain as clueless as they have been.

Regards,

Vern Gowdie
for The Daily Reckoning

Ed. Note: The “disappointingly slow recovery” continues to slowly disappoint, and with the Fed at the helm of the economy, that’s not likely to change anytime soon. So it’s best to stay informed and prepare your portfolio for whatever comes next. Sign up for the FREE Daily Reckoning email edition, right here, to learn how you can gain exclusive access to some of the world’s best investment research. Current readers are treated daily to no less than 3 chances to discover real, wealth-building profit opportunities. And it’s delivered, FREE, direct to your email inbox. So don’t wait. Click here now to sign up for FREE.

Top 10 Reason To Invest In This Junior Gold Miner in Nevada

Posted: 12 May 2014 12:18 PM PDT

For over a year Bob Kramer, the CEO of Canamex Resources (CSQ.V or CNMXF) and I have been working closely to advance Canamex Resources Bruner Project. I became a shareholder and then Canamex came on to sponsor our website in late 2013. With the support of the Gold Stock Trades network the stock went from $.055 to $.14.

We became very close over the past few months and was one of the first to congratulate me on the birth of my son Tzvi Pesach on April 14th, 2014. I recently spoke to him last Wednesday and he was so excited about the drilling program this summer. Unfortunately, Bob Kramer will never be able to see the results of what he worked so hard to achieve these past few months as he suddenly passed away over the weekend. Family came first to Bob. I would like to send my deepest condolences and prayers to Bob Kramer’s family and all his loved ones.

In January of 2014, I worked with Bob up in Vancouver to create the top 10 reasons to invest in Canamex Resources as I believed this should go in the front of the presentation. Here are the reasons Bob and I both came up with:

Top 10 Reasons to Invest in Canamex Resources Corp. (from Corporate Presentation)

1)Location: Mining friendly Nevada is the top gold producing region in the Americas

2)New Discovery: Drill intercept 110 metres (360 feet) of 4.08 gpt (0.119 opt) gold

3)Historical Resource: Drill intercept 57.9 metres (190 feet) of 5.23 gpt (0.155 opt) gold

4)Growth: Two expanding open pitable deposits on Bruner Property

5)Processing: Excellent metallurgy with high gold extractions and low reagent consumption demonstrated in both deposits

6)Development: 500 acres of private land containing historical resource and attractive facility sites to shorten path to development

7) Excellent Infrastructure: Grid power 12 miles away and direct highway access

8)Largest Shareholders: Strategic investors NYSE MKT-listed

9)Valuation: Low in comparison to Nevada peers

10)Management: Demonstrated industry successes

Please see our latest interview below:

Bob’s last words to me was that he was really looking forward to reporting the drill results from Bruner to my readers and that I should try my best to spread the word about the quality of this project which we both believed in. Let’s hope and pray that Bob’s final wishes are granted that we should hear good news and that his memory should be a blessing for all of us. May Bob Kramer rest in peace and may the master of mercy watch over him.

Disclosure: I own Canamex and the company is a website sponsor.

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Russia can retaliate against attacks in markets, Embry tells KWN

Posted: 12 May 2014 11:10 AM PDT

2p ET Monday, May 12, 2014

Dear Friend of GATA and Gold:

The West can't do anything in Ukraine itself, Sprott Asset Management's John Embry tells King World News today, and so is attacking Russia in the markets, but Russia has the capacity to strike back hard:

http://kingworldnews.com/kingworldnews/KWN_DailyWeb/Entries/2014/5/12_Ru...

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

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Join GATA here:

Committee for Monetary Research and Education
Spring Dinner Meeting
Union League Club, New York City
Thursday, May 22, 2014

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Wednesday-Saturday, October 22-25, 2014

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Or by purchasing a colorful GATA T-shirt:

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

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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:

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Threatening The Elite's Economic System

Posted: 12 May 2014 10:50 AM PDT

Nothing short of a total collapse or some large scale catastrophe will make the elite change there current system. Period. It won't be done by spreading the word, for every one person you wake up and who truly want to change, there are 20 sheep lined up to keep it in place. Ignorance is bliss.

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Build up to WW3 - ELITE AGENDA for a ECONOMIC COLLAPSE & GLOBAL RESET

Posted: 12 May 2014 10:08 AM PDT

Corpse of Cold War propaganda enthusiastically resurrected by mainstream media he establishment has begun a new mass marketing campaign for World War III, equating Vladimir Putin with Adolf Hitler.The fact that the current crisis in Ukraine was instigated by a US-backed coup which toppled a...

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Squawk Showdown: Bitcoin or Gold? Whatâ€™s Next for Currency

Posted: 12 May 2014 10:01 AM PDT

Georgi Ivanov writes: Our recent Squawk Walk on the streets of Taipei surveyed people at random what they would decide, given a choice to walk away with a gram of gold or a USB stick, loaded with one bitcoin. The responses varied, but with a slight margin, bitcoin won the competition. We have to ask – are virtual currencies on the path to revolutionizing the global financial system, or are they just a lot of hot air? The truth would have to be somewhere in the middle: changes are coming, but they will not be revolutionary, yet, cryptocurrencies do offer a new opportunity for the unprecedented democratization of global finance.

Breakthrough in Crude Oil Price Only A Matter Of Time

Posted: 12 May 2014 09:57 AM PDT

On Friday, crude oil hit an intraday high of $101.18 supported by ongoing concerns over tensions in Ukraine. Despite this improvement, the commodity reversed and lost 0.20% as weaker-than-expected economic data from China and a stronger dollar weighted on the price. Because of these circumstances, light crude erased earlier gains and temporarily slipped below the psychological barrier of $100 once again. Is it enough to trigger another sizable downswing?

India's BJP Win to Boost Gold Prices?

Posted: 12 May 2014 09:30 AM PDT

Gold prices might pop short-term. But 3 facts say Western guesswork will likely be disappointed...

FOR A NATION where gold investment and ownership matters so very much, politicians in India have gone awful quiet about its de facto ban on gold imports during the current national elections, writes Adrian Ash at BullionVault.

Finally ending in Varanasi on Monday after four weeks touring the country, India's elections are widely expected to land BJP leader Narendra Modi the prime minister's job. The gold and jewelry industry in India – former world No.1 consumer nation, but with barely an ounce of domestic mine output – last year sided with Modi, and Modi sided with the two-million or so gold industry workers. The incumbent Congress Party, in contrast, has faced down India's deeply-rooted culture, history and savings habits to try and curb gold inflows, making a hot topic of the Current Account Deficit (CAD) and making enemies of the jewellery business and plenty of other voters meantime.

Victory for the BJP might therefore boost global gold prices. Or so you might think. But there are three problems with guessing that a more gold-friendly administration in India will automatically mean gold rising.

First, the BJP's manifesto makes no mention of gold. Not a word on bullion or jewelry either, despite previously saying the anti-import rules would be reviewed inside 3 months of taking power. Instead, the manifesto vows that "CAD will be brought down aggressively, by focusing on exports and reducing the dependency on imports." So far, so vague and so what? Whatever Modi's apparent support for ending India's ban on gold imports, he's never stated clearly how the BJP plans to address the issue. Any action on gold "should take into account the interests of the public and traders," Modi is quoted today by BusinessWorld magazine, "not just economics and policy." If ever a lobby group looked set for disappointment, this would be it.

The 10% import duty looks set to be trimmed anyway if Congress did somehow win re-election, if only as a way of claiming the anti-import policy is working and a little more gold can now be allowed. Instead the kicker remains India's 80:20 rule, under which 20% of all new shipments must be re-exported before the rest can clear customs. Causing such confusion last summer that India's monthly gold imports sank from record highs to zero, that rule was imposed by the independent Reserve Bank. So it's not actually in government's gift to repeal immediately. And like shaving the top off the high rate of duty, tweaking that ratio would now embed the policy, making it a more permanent part of India's gold regulation.

Second, India hasn't been short of gold anyway. "We see reports of gold smuggling reappearing," as Modi said this January. "In the 1960s and 70s, when gold smuggling was big, it created the underworld, which troubles us even now." India was still the world's No.1 consumer before imports were deregulated in the early 1990s. Today's heavy import duties offer fat margins to so-called "grey market" inflows and the gangsters who run them. So despite the anti-import rules, India's private gold demand rose more than 12% to 975 tonnes last year, according to data compiled by market-development organization the World Gold Council. Its full-year 2013 Gold Demand Trends put India's gold smuggling "closer to the top end" of 150-200 tonnes – a figure which would widen India's official CAD by some 20% from the government's earlier fiscal-year forecast of $45 billion, or even 25% if the newly revised $35bn forecast is to be believed.

Third, whatever happens to India's gold policy in the coming weeks and months, it's highly unlikely to boost prices either way. Because people who buy gold because it's gold – led by Indian and Chinese households – don't push gold higher. What counts for a bull market are not consumers, but people who buy gold because it isn't anything else, meaning investors. Just look at 2013's price action. Imports to India hit all-time highs last spring. Chinese demand was also off the charts. Yet prices were meantime falling at the fastest pace on record. Anyone scratching their head needs simply to swap the horse and cart around to see how this rolled forwards, with Western money managers reducing their gold holdings to buy the equities, credit and real-estate exposure they'd fled five years before.

By the time India slammed the shutters with the 80:20 rule in July, gold had already completed its 30% drop for 2013. The back-half of last year saw Dollar prices go sideways even as the subcontinent's legal, visible demand vanished. Its return would by no means suggest a strong rise from current levels.

The root cause of India's huge gold demand meanwhile remains unaddressed. According to Modi's rhetoric, some Congress Party leaders think it stems from financial ignorance and ill-education amongst the rural poor. Certainly they have cast buying gold as anti-social, a waste of resources in a "useless" asset which should be put to public use instead. But in truth, people choose to buy gold with their own money when that money loses value, and for Indian households, that's been the case pretty much every year since WWII.

Like the US Fed or Bank of England at the start of the 1980s then, the Reserve Bank of India could curb all gold demand – legal and grey – overnight if it wished. But strong real rates of interest aren't politically popular anywhere here in 2014. So Western traders and investors watching the heaviest buyers for some kind of direction might expect the floor which Indian, Chinese and Western retail demand put beneath gold prices last year to stay firm in 2014.

No, India's gold buyers didn't spur a surge in prices. But they plainly like a bargain in gold, and they have – over the last 14 years – stepped up their demand at ever-higher prices both in Dollar and Rupee terms.

India's BJP Win to Boost Gold Prices?

Posted: 12 May 2014 09:30 AM PDT

Gold prices might pop short-term. But 3 facts say Western guesswork will likely be disappointed...

India's BJP Win to Boost Gold Prices?

Posted: 12 May 2014 09:30 AM PDT

Gold prices might pop short-term. But 3 facts say Western guesswork will likely be disappointed...

Near-Term Outlook Grim For Precious Metals As Two Props May Have Just Been Removed

Posted: 12 May 2014 08:12 AM PDT

A dearth of positive catalysts for precious metals could make the period ahead a trying one for gold and silver investors, as two bullish factors – safe haven demand stemming from violence in the Ukraine and the weakening U.S. dollar – could be fading. This sets the stage for another move [...]

Not All Gold Is Created Equal: Know Before You Buy

Posted: 12 May 2014 06:20 AM PDT

Peter Krauth writes: If you own gold, or are thinking of buying some, here's something you need to consider... It's not all the same. Some, like fake gold-painted lead ingots, have no value whatsoever.

Gold Bullion Pops Over $1300 as India Elections End, Gold-Friendly BJP Expected to Win

Posted: 12 May 2014 05:45 AM PDT

GOLD BULLION prices popped to a 3-session high above $1300 per ounce Monday lunchtime in London, reversing an overnight drop as analysts and traders looked to events in Ukraine, India and China for speculative support.

Called a "farce" by the interim government in Kiev, and not backed by Moscow, the weekend's unofficial poll in east Ukraine's Donetsk region voted unanimously to join Russia.

New data in China – the world's No.1 gold bullion importer, producer and consumer in 2013 – meantime showed a further slowdown in new lending by commercial banks, but money-supply growth accelerated above 13% year on year in April, recovering from March's multi-year low.

Former world No.1 consumer India imported 75% less gold bullion last month than April last year's record monthly inflow, figures this weekend showed, helping the trade deficit drop 4% in Dollar terms from March to $10.1 billion.

Today marks the last day of voting in India's national elections, with the opposition BJP's Narendra Modi widely expected to become prime minister.

"Modi has said any action on gold should take into account the interests of the public and traders," reports BusinessWorld magazine, "not just economics and policy."

But while seen to back the gold industry's calls for an end to the restrictions in India's election campaign, the BJP's election manifesto was silent on gold import rules.

Spring 2013's gold price crash unleashed such strong demand from Indian households that the government hiked import duty to 10%, banning the import of gold bullion coins and investment medallions.

The Reserve Bank of India then imposed an effective ban on gold bullion imports in July – again aimed at reducing the country's large Current Account Deficit with the rest of the world – by demanding that 20% of any new shipments must be sold export before being released from customs for domestic use.

Last month's annualized drop in gold bullion imports does not account for smuggling volumes, which have leapt according to customs officials.

"Any relaxation of the import restrictions in India," says French investment bank and London market-maker Societe Generale's analyst Robin Bhar, "particularly the 80:20 rule could unleash further fresh local demand, which would add to upside price potential."

For now – and with gold bullion premiums inside India dropping back to $100 per ounce over the world's London benchmark – "Physical [Asian] demand is currently evaporating at prices over $1300," says Bhar, "although there is every possibility that the market can adjust to higher prices later in the year."

Over in China, the most active gold bullion contract on the Shanghai Gold Exchange today closed some $1.70 per ounce above equivalent London quotes, extending its premium into a second week after a rare run of trading below international prices.

U.S. Dollar/Yen Dynamics and the Stock Market

Posted: 12 May 2014 05:17 AM PDT

It is imperative to understand the dynamics between the U.S. dollar and the Japanese Yen in order to grasp what is occurring across international markets. Investors have been borrowing Yen at nearly zero percent interest rates and buying higher-yielding assets located worldwide. These market savvy institutions and individuals realize that buying income producing assets, which are backed by a currency that is gaining value against the Yen, is a win-win trade.

The Discovery of the Decade—On Sale

Posted: 12 May 2014 03:59 AM PDT

Dear Reader,

I have a stock pick for you this week, and breaking with tradition, I’m going to give you the name and ticker, rather than just tease you with the story.

Since recent events may accelerate payback, I want you all to have a chance to evaluate our research—and results, if this play works out the way I think it will.

Please consider this Daily Dispatch a “free sample” of our work.

But first, a word of encouragement, since recent volatility in our market has many investors wondering if this really is a good time to be buying.

Sell in May, Rue the Day

Long-time readers know that precious metals tend to exhibit a seasonal pattern to their price trends, with summer weakness that leads to strength in the fall, as Jeff Clark noted in his March 10 Daily Dispatch.

Add to this the fact that mineral exploration in the Northern Hemisphere, especially in Canada, enters a sort of hibernation during winter months and then reawakens in the spring. With winter drill programs already announced, we typically see less news flow starting about now until well into the summer.

These variables combine to exacerbate the “sell in May and go away” conventional wisdom regarding the broader stock markets, as many brokers and promoters in our sector take their holidays during these relatively quiet months. Sometimes, even with stable or rising metals prices, shares in great companies can drop over the weeks and months just ahead, simply due to the lack of Push. Here at Casey Research, we call this Shopping Season, and it seems to have arrived early this year.

It is never safe, however, for metals speculators to head for the Bahamas and ignore the market for months; there’s always the possibility of a sudden black-swan event that kicks precious metals into a higher gear earlier than expected.

Further, individual companies can and do buck the trends all the time. That’s especially so if they’re working on a discovery that could deliver game-changing results at any time, working in a country where water doesn’t freeze in January, or working underground, where seasons are irrelevant.

What If Prices Go Lower?

Imagine that you were offered a brand-new Ferrari 458 Italia at a 75% discount during an economic downturn.

Even those not into high-maintenance cars would have to think about it—it could potentially be a very profitable trade.

Now suppose you bought the car, garaged it, cared for it, waited for the car market to turn around—and then the market got even worse for a while, and you saw the same car offered for 50% less than you paid for it.

While you might regret that you didn’t time the bottom right, would you conclude that the Ferrari was worthless?

I think you can see where I’m going here. Unless desperately short on cash for some extremely urgent need, nobody would sell our hypothetical Ferrari at a great loss; they’d simply wait out the downturn, no matter how long or painful. Whatever else might change, the Ferrari remains a Ferrari.

Just as, whatever else happens in the economy, an ounce of gold remains an ounce of gold. And yet, when it comes to the best-of-the-best gold stocks in the junior mining sector, investors seem increasingly willing to make the mistake of dumping valuable companies, simply because they are on sale. The error here is confusing price and value—and recognizing such errors before the market does is the essence of successful speculation.

Sales are for buying. A solid company with a deeply undervalued asset and all the cash needed to correct that mis-valuation is exactly the sort of bargain we like to buy during Shopping Season. That’s the kind of opportunity I have for your consideration today.

I hope you enjoy our “free sample.” Of course, I also hope new readers will subscribe to the International Speculator and see what else is on our current Shopping Season list. No hard feelings if that’s not for you; I understand that just as not everyone wants all that comes with a high-performance vehicle, not everyone is cut out to be a high-stakes speculator.

Regardless, and whether or not you buy the stock I recommend below, I hope you’ll read the case and watch the story as it evolves, to see if I’m right about the company.

Sincerely,

Louis James
Senior Metals Investment Strategist
Casey Research

P.S. I’ve heard gold described as many things—as an inflation hedge, a safety net… but never as “unsurance” before. That’s what Grant Williams from Mauldin Economics calls it in this very interesting interview that also covers China’s recent bulk purchases of the yellow metal, the difference between physical and paper gold, a case for gold price manipulation, and more. You can watch it here.

(Note that the video is on a promotional page for Bull’s Eye Investor, Grant’s monthly newsletter. I’ve been told that new subscribers will get a free copy of the documentary film Money for Nothing, a history of the Federal Reserve and the many bubbles it has created.)

Rock & Stock Stats	Last	One Month Ago	One Year Ago
Gold	1,287.75	1,305.90	1,468.60
Silver	19.14	19.77	23.91
Copper	3.07	3.04	3.34
Oil	99.99	102.65	96.66
Gold Producers (GDX)	23.73	25.07	29.85
Gold Junior Stocks (GDXJ)	35.07	38.40	48.48
Silver Stocks (SIL)	12.03	13.15	14.47
TSX (Toronto Stock Exchange)	14,534.06	14,435.58	12,543.90
TSX Venture	991.10	1,003.37	969.73

Discovery of the Decade, On Sale

Pretium Resources (PVG, $6.57, PVG.TO, C$7.18, $712.8 million market cap)

The Pretium story is simple: a group of serially successful geologists have made an extraordinarily large and spectacularly high-grade discovery in an area called Valley of the Kings, which is part of the company’s flagship Brucejack gold project in mining-friendly Canada.

We’re not talking about grams of gold per tonne (g/t) here, or even ounces, but kilos of gold per tonne in many drill intersections. And we’re not talking about a small, rich “sweet spot”, but a monster gold system with more than 6.6 million ounces of gold in Proven & Probable mining reserves, averaging 13.6 g/t gold, within 13.6 million ounces of gold in all resource categories, averaging 20.5 g/t gold.

There are 1.7 million more ounces at the project’s West Zone. Both zones are wide open for expansion—and are adjacent to 35 million ounces of bulk-grade gold in Pretium’s Snowfield gold project (which itself is adjacent to Seabridge Gold’s 63.9-million-ounce bulk-grade KSM deposit).

To give you an idea how rare a bird this is, a recent report shows 26 gold deposits larger than one million ounces—just 26 in the entire world—that have more than 10 grams of gold per tonne of ore.

There are only 11 such deposits above 15 g/t, which the Valley of the Kings zone beats, if you consider its 8.7 million ounces of Measured & Indicated gold averaging 17.6 g/t. To count publicly reported gold deposits that are both larger and higher-grade than Pretium’s Valley of the Kings, you only need one finger.

That’s right: just one.

Pretium’s Valley of the Kings is the richest gold discovery in the last 10 years, and one of the richest in recorded history.

But that’s just the beginning. A deposit this rich will pay for many faults and still make for a highly profitable mine, but there are many questions to answer before one can say so. Is there a lot of mercury, arsenic, or other toxic elements in the mix? Is there a national park or endangered species living on top of the deposit? Is the local government likely to steal the mine if one builds it?

I don’t have space in this column to deliver an entire “Casey 8 Ps” analysis of the company, but the questions above have been thoroughly addressed in the company’s June 2013 feasibility study. That study is being updated in view of the company’s late 2013 bulk sample, which produced almost 50% more gold than the company’s estimates predicted.

Pretium also discovered more gold veins when it went underground for the bulk sample, and is incorporating those and other new discoveries into its mine plan.

Nevertheless, and despite what is a somewhat aggressive—at the moment—gold price assumption of $1,350 per ounce, the study yields some terrific results, including:

After tax net present value (NPV-5% discount) of $1.8 billion

After tax internal rate (IRR) of return of 35.7%

Project finance payback in 2.2 years

Mine life of 22 years, at an annual rate of 425,700 oz. per year

All-in sustaining cost of $508 per oz.

Critical point: even at an unrealistically low $800 gold price, the project still makes money (IRR of 13.7%).

In short, this project has all the signs of a world-class, high-margin gold mine in the making, at a rate of production large enough to make Pretium of interest as an acquisition target for any of the world’s major gold producers.

That’s particularly important today, because one of those major producers, Goldcorp (GG, G.TO), just lost out in a bidding war over Canada’s Osisko Mining (OSK.TO). Goldcorp has shown its appetite for acquiring large, world-class assets while prices are down, and it has a good $3 billion in working capital to pursue them.

It’s hard to imagine a more attractive takeover target than Pretium—and if that happens, these shares could easily jump 20% to 30% in a day.

That’s no exaggeration; just look at Osisko’s stock chart, and you’ll see that it jumped more than 20% when Goldcorp made its offer last January and is close to doubling since then.

But the beauty of the situation is that Pretium doesn’t need to get bought out in order to hand us a major win; the company is fully funded for this year’s work advancing the project, and even has a little cash flow coming from a small amount of (very high-grade) mining allowed under its exploration permit. Given the exceptionally high rate of return on investment the Brucejack project boasts, we think the company will be able to obtain bank and other financing to build the mine and become a highly profitable mid-tier gold mining company.

Investors who buy now win either way, which is why this company is one of those listed in our special report, 7 Must-Own Mining Stocks for 2014, which you get free if you try a risk-free subscription to the International Speculator today.

You can read all the details about Pretium in that report, but there’s one more thing I should tell you, in case you decide not to subscribe; there’s a reason besides gold’s correction that these shares are selling for less than half of what they were a couple years ago.

It’s quite the drama, actually; last October, one of Pretium’s consulting engineering firms (a highly respected firm in its field) quit the job abruptly. On the way out, they basically said that the Brucejack resource estimate was bogus—that the deposit wasn’t really there!

That’s pretty extreme, but even more extreme was the consultants saying that, based on their statistical analysis, the Valley of the Kings bulk sample then under way should be stopped, being a waste of time and money. Management and a second consulting firm that made the resource estimate calculations (also highly respected) said they wanted to see the proof in the pudding of the bulk sample.

And a good thing, too, because their view was fully validated by the bulk sample; instead of the 4,000 ounces the bulk sample was originally estimated to produce, the sample actually yielded 5,865 ounces of gold—and that in a toll mill in Montana, not optimized for Brucejack ore.

Of course, that took time to show, and before the company could prove its point, a ridiculous number of ambulance-chasers announced class-action lawsuits on behalf of shareholders, and the whole circus took this formerly $17.92 stock all the way down to $3.10.

Now, I have known management at Pretium for many years, and was dead certain they were not faking their deposit, so I doubled down. (Yes, I personally own shares in the company; I bought them after recommending the stock to subscribers and I am not allowed to sell them before giving subscribers a chance to do so first.) Many International Speculator subscribers were able to buy shares close to the $3 mark and have doubled their money on those investments since then. Because I was right: the bulk sample results vindicated management—and added a significant amount of cash to the till. The company is back in the race today.

But it’s not too late to build a position in this great company with the discovery of the decade in hand. Due to gold’s continuing fluctuations, the shares are still selling for not much more than they were at IPO—before the company made its record-smashing Valley of the Kings discovery.

Remember; a Ferrari is a Ferrari, value is value, and when you can buy a high-margin $1.8 billion asset for $700 million (or $6.57 or C$7.18 per share), that’s a bargain.

To find out more about Pretium and our six other 7 Must-Own Mining Stocks for 2014, I encourage you to subscribe to the International Speculator today. Remember that you have three full months to check out our newsletter, and if you’re not happy with it, cancel any time within those three months for a full refund.

Or, if you decide to just buy or watch the stock to test us out, that’s fine too; I sincerely hope you’ll make a bunch of money, and come back for more.

Gold and Silver HEADLINES

Funding Still an Issue for Miners, Especially Juniors (Mining.com)

The latest quarterly report released by SNL Metals & Mining reveals that funding remains an issue for miners, especially explorers. Out of the mere US$7 billion raised by the mining sector in the first quarter of the year, only $1.6 billion went to juniors. Exploration activity has contracted rapidly; the number of projects that reported drill results in the quarter was 856, which is just 56% of the year-ago level (1,517), which itself was down from 62% in the first quarter of 2012 (2,465).

Regarding regional activity, SNL highlights two areas: Asia, which is dominating metals production, and Latin America, which remains an important target for mine development.

Oklahoma House Passes Bill That Reaffirms Gold and Silver as Money (tenthamendmentcenter.com)

A bill to legalize gold and silver as legal tender was passed through the Oklahoma state house with a resounding 74-12 vote. The bill also provides a state-level tax exemption to Oklahoma residents who exchange their precious metals for another medium of change.

If signed into law, the state will become the second to recognize gold and silver as legal tender authorized for payments of debts and taxes. Earlier this year, the Arizona senate passed a similar bill by a vote of 18-12, but it stalled in the state house.

Recent News in International Speculator and BIG GOLD—Key Updates for Subscribers

International Speculator

This potential 10-bagger company has launched an aggressive drill program, and several of the targets have game-changing potential for the stock. Even more attractive is that the company is undervalued for what it already has.

This stock is down on some alarming news, but we say it’s a buying opportunity. When things get sorted out and the company gets back on track, the current sell-off will be seen as an excellent buying opportunity for a wide range of investors… but only in retrospect.

BIG GOLD

Despite significantly lower metals prices, this company’s higher production last quarter led to an impressive 14% rise in profit. Though there is political risk with the stock, this growing mid-tier producer is on its way to a major, which makes it worth the risk.
One of our top picks reported another strong quarter, thanks to recent acquisitions and h

You've Been ZIRP'd...!

Posted: 12 May 2014 02:20 AM PDT

A funny picture entitled 'Grandma and her savings account bail out wealthy asset owners...'

ZERO INTEREST RATE Policy (ZIRP) was instigated by a credit induced collapse of the US financial system and perpetuated in December of 2008 by desperate financial policy makers as a fix to problems they created in the first place, writes Gary Tanashian in his Notes from the Rabbit Hole.

In reality, it is simply an epic distortion of normal economic signals that cleaned up the mess created by previous policy distortions (like the commercial credit bubble of the Greenspan era) by systematically (5+ years and running) main lining new distortions into the system.

So in addition to this picture, which could one day hang in a monetary museum with the title Grandma and Her Savings Account Bail Out Wealthy Asset Owners, let's take a walk down memory lane and marvel at some other pictures created by this policy...

The venerable S&P 500 is in the 6th year of a bull market. At some point over the last year or so the public finally became aware of the bull market in US stocks; 4+ years in.

As the public came in, momentum came into the market for the first time, especially in big tech. Bears hold prospects for the little topping pattern way up there, but so far that is a drop in the bucket compared to the upside this market has seen.

Of course, the object of policy making has been at least two-fold; bail out the big banks (the pigs at the trough), and create a stock bull market to increase household net worth on paper, through ownership of stocks. The BKX, while weak lately, quadrupled over the last 5 years.

Gold at first did what it was supposed to do, acting as liquidity and leading asset markets out of the price destruction of the melted down prior credit bubble. Then a funny thing happened, Europe sprung a leak to compound global credit fears and gold experienced an upside blow off in 2011 as players the world over knee jerked into the honest money value retainer.

That was of course after silver had sucked in every last commodity (and inflation) bull as the commodity echo bubble blew out in early 2011.

So what was left? Why Google of course! A truly great company that was in a long and bullish consolidation as we noted at the time.

But then some not-so-great companies got in on the act. It is no coincidence that major financial operators ran a promotion on 3D Systems in particular and 3D Printing (AKA 'additive manufacturing') in general just as the public got re-involved in the markets.

There were plenty of other momentum sectors that blew off and have now tanked as these late investors got what they deserved, and what Wall Street served. And of course it is not just over valued and junk stocks that have been manically bulled, so too have junk bonds...

Where in 2008, people had gone so risk off so as to be monetarily traumatized, in 2014 they have become so bullishly deranged that they will accept the debt of the least trustworthy entities for ever decreasing interest return.

From MacroTrends comes this view of the monetary value asset as measured in base paper and digital money.

By this measure, gold certainly was a bubble in 1980. Now? Not so much. What is in a bubble is peoples' willingness to accept an equal and opposite stance to the over bearish, over gloomy one of 5 years ago. Mission accomplished Federal Reserve; Everyone into the pool!

Also from MacroTrends, we present a picture for the happy and bullish people who support current policy making and financial engineering in general. Mainstream economists and market strategists can trot out bushels of data that confirm the good job our policy makers have done in cleaning up 2008′s mess. Taken at face value, the above is a picture of increasing employment and decreasing debt. That is a good thing.

But the current bubble is not in total 'total credit', is it? No, the current bubble is in policy making and official credit. There is ZIRP in black (chart via SlopeCharts), maintaining and sustaining the stock bull market even as stocks slip into and out of positive correlation to 10 year yields (green).

We continue to consider that through not only the unprecedented duration of ZIRP but also various engineering of the yield curve and its nominal longer term components (QE and especially the inflation-sanitized Operation Twist) price signals in this market are, to use a highly technical term, really screwed up.

So we are set adrift and Wall Street's strategists and associated media not only work up great touts like the Great Promotion Rotation into stocks and out of bonds (how's that working out in 2014?) and the above mentioned 'Additive Manufacturing' revolution (ha ha ha...you know I have a special spot for this one since I am from the US manufacturing sector), but they busily extrapolate more good times ahead while sweeping under the rug the truth many of the pictures above portray.

What is that truth you ask? In 2014 we have come full circle to a fully opposite state from unsustainable over bearishness and gloom that was in force from Q4 2008 through Q1 2009. ZIRP has punished savers and prudent people every step of the way and rewarded asset owners over and over again.

If the Fed is all powerful as so many have come to believe, Janet Yellen can continue to be coy about the Fed Funds rate as long as she wants. This would theoretically sustain the policy bubble indefinitely. But given the steroidal policy inputs to the financial markets ongoing for 5+ years, right minded people should be aware that distortions have a funny way of coming to the surface when least expected. Again, we are 180° from March, 2009. People have moved on from the doom and gloom.

You've Been ZIRP'd...!

Posted: 12 May 2014 02:20 AM PDT

A funny picture entitled 'Grandma and her savings account bail out wealthy asset owners...'

The venerable S&P 500 is in the 6th year of a bull market. At some point over the last year or so the public finally became aware of the bull market in US stocks; 4+ years in.

That was of course after silver had sucked in every last commodity (and inflation) bull as the commodity echo bubble blew out in early 2011.

So what was left? Why Google of course! A truly great company that was in a long and bullish consolidation as we noted at the time.

From MacroTrends comes this view of the monetary value asset as measured in base paper and digital money.

So Cheap It Hurts

Posted: 12 May 2014 01:57 AM PDT

Waiting for "value" isn't easy. Here's a tip worth every penny it costs you...

NOT MUCH happening in the markets, writes Bill Bonner in his Diary of a Rogue Economist.

The Dow up a bit. The Nasdaq down a bit. Gold flat. Twitter got slammed again. Shares in the online "self-expression platform" are down about 50% so far this year.

Your correspondent believes he recommended you sell high-flying tech stocks. If he didn't, he should have. But he does not usually make investment recommendations. He does not do investment analysis. He does not often invest.

Instead, he waits. And waits. And waits – until a bargain screams so loudly in his ear it threatens his hearing.

But even at that moment, he hesitates. When something is so cheap it appears to be a "once-in-a-lifetime opportunity" his feet grow cold.

What's wrong with it, he wonders? If it's so cheap, there must be a reason. What do all those people who don't want it know that he doesn't? Blood in the streets doesn't bother him; but what if the next blood trickling down the gutter is his own!

Then he is delayed and disturbed by the philosophic implications. If there had really been a Dollar bill lying on the sidewalk in front of him, surely someone would have picked it up? And if someone had picked it up...it couldn't still be there, could it? Well then, it isn't there, no matter what his eyes tell him.

But what do skittish, panic-prone markets do...except wig out from time to time? And what good are they if coldblooded and steel-nerved investors can't take advantage of them? And how would they ever get back to normal if all investors took temporary madness as proof of permanent impairment?

Assuming the market anomaly is still with us by the time this cranial indigestion has passed, we are ready to act. We are talking about Russia...and specifically about a gift that keeps on giving. Gazprom controls more than 15% of global gas production and reserves. And we expect it is going to be selling that gas for a long, long time.

Gazprom (which trades on the Pink Sheets in the US under ticker symbol OGZPY) has a return on equity of about 13%...and a net profit margin of nearly 30%. By comparison, ExxonMobil has an ROE of 18% and a net profit margin only half as high.

According to data from Reuters, you can buy ExxonMobil for 13.8 times its 12-month "as reported" earnings. And you can buy Gazprom for just 2.7 times its 12-month "as reported" earnings.

By this measure, a Dollar's worth of earnings from the US oil major will cost you $13.80. But each Dollar of Gazprom's earnings will cost you just $2.70.

Does this mean we should expect the share price of Gazprom to go up any time soon?

Nope.

For all we know, the entire Russian army stands amassed on the border of Ukraine, and every valve capable of delivering Russian gas to Europe has a pair of hands on it, determined to shut it off.

Another fact recorded in the book we can't seem to find, is that next year an inventor will discover a marvelous way to power the world on water – making gas obsolete. And the year after, a report from the FDA will tell us that Russian gas causes people to gain weight – another devastating blow to Gazprom.

All we know is that some things are expensive and other things are cheap; and Gazprom looks more down than up to us. Of course, we spend our investment lives looking for assets that are absurdly cheap; when we come face to face with one, we don't want to duck.