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Quarterly Hogs and Pigs Report Extremely Negative
Harvey Organ: Shanghai Drained of Silver, Bullion Banks Are About to Attack the COMEX!
Paper vs. Physical: PM Fund Manager Explains How The Fed Terrorizes The Precious Metals Market
Guest Post: Tekoa da Silva interviews Rick Rule regarding the Junior Gold Miners
CHARTS : Gold $1200 Underpinned by Physical Demand
A Monetary Cancer Metastasizes in Europe
Emerging Market Valuations
Gold markets waiting for the Asian festive demand
This Economic Theory Might Spell The End Of Bitcoin
COPPER vs SILVER MANIPULATION: The Tale Of Two Metals
End of the Central Bank Gold Agreement
Selling the silver family
End of 'safe haven' gold?
Gold looks cheaper while stocks dip
Metals market update for September 26
Gold's descent to continue, according to Goldman Sachs
HK-China gold exports weak again, but does it matter?
Lukewarm gold demand in India despite low prices
Welcome to the Oligarchy – United States Leads the Developed World in Share of Low Wage Jobs
Death Of Safe Haven Gold Greatly Exaggerated
50 Facts That Show How Far America Has Fallen
SENTIMENT CHARTS FOR GOLD & THE USD AND TECHNICAL CHARTS FOR GOLD AND SILVER
Death Of ‘Safe Haven’ Gold Greatly Exaggerated
Ichimoku Cloud Analysis: GBP/USD, Gold
A stock market crash is coming
Workings of the Shanghai International Gold Exchange - Part 1
Central banks: No more plans to sell gold – Phillips
$1,200 gold 'drawing out renewed Asian interest' - Suchecki
50 tonnes of gold smuggled into India in 10 days – report
LBMA names Citigroup as gold/silver market maker
Gold bottom update
CETA signing postponed
Gold: Corrective Bounce Or Reversal?
TECHNICAL - Gold Rebounds Near Huge 1206 Level; 1240 is Resistance
Gold Bulls Defend Key Support
Comex Gold Futures (GC) Technical Analysis – September 26, 2014 ...
Gold bottom update
Cheapest way to buy Royal Mint gold? Not from the Royal Mint
UK Disses US Dollar While Promoting Gold Yuan
Gold and silver end correction as US stocks tumble
SILVER : Poor Man’s Gold!
CHARTS : Insights From The 10 Year Gold, Silver And Dollar Chart
Currency Wars Deepen: Russia, Kazakhstan Buy Very Large 30 Tons of Gold in August
What is to be done about a world where everything is for sale?
Three King World News Blogs
Gold Downside Risk Seen ‘Significant’ to Goldman Sachs
U.K. moves to extend Libor rigging laws to oil, gold and currency markets
LBMA names Citigroup as gold and silver market maker
Silver, Gold and Currencies Revalued Overnight - Mike Maloney
Weak gold price has Dubai consumers clamoring for more

Quarterly Hogs and Pigs Report Extremely Negative

Posted: 26 Sep 2014 01:14 PM PDT

Living up to their reputation for catching market participants off guard and creating fireworks, the September 2014 Quarterly Hogs and Pigs Report was released this afternoon and "boy howdy" was it a bearish doozy!

In every single category, it showed USDA's numbers far exceeding the average of analysts' estimates ahead of the reports.

Here is a copy of the report, courtesy of Dow Jones:

                                       USDA's               Average             Range
                                      estimates            of estimates       of estimates
All hogs and pigs on Sep 1           98              96.6              95.6- 97.5
Kept for breeding                       102             101.4            99.8- 104.7
Kept for marketing                       97            96.2            94.9- 97.0

Jun-Aug pig crop                         99             97.6              96.4- 99.0
Jun-Aug pigs per litter                  98            97.3              96.2- 98.9
Jun-Aug farrowings                      101          100.4             100.0- 100.7
Sep-Nov farrowing intentions        104          103.2             102.0- 104.3
Dec-Feb farrowing intentions         104         101.5              98.2- 103.6

Hogs weighing under 50 lbs               98          97.9           96.1- 100.4
Hogs weighing 50 to 119 lbs              98          96.4           94.9- 97.7
Hogs weighing 120-179 lbs                97          94.9          94.0- 96.2
Hogs weighing 180 and over               94          93.6         90.9- 96.6

What the report shows, when you dig into it even more deeply, is the number of Pigs Per Litter moving back above the "10" level for the first time since November of last year.

That is a testament to two things:

1.) increased bio-security protocols being followed by larger scale hog producers
2.) decreased incidence of the disease during the warm, dry months of summer

Once we work through the temporary tightness in hogs that has been supporting the nearby October contract, hog numbers are going to ramp up rather rapidly. Also, extremely heavy/record hog weights will continue to mitigate any impact from the PED virus which has plagued the industry.

In comments to the wire reporters this afternoon, I noted that if these heavy weights continue, and I see no reason why there are not going to do just that, especially with cheap new crop corn coming in which is much more nutritious than the older crop stored over from last year, we should see pork production exceed the previous year's numbers for the first time in quite a while.

Another thing - with more abundant pork just ahead, end users of US pork, based on what they can now see in this report, should not be in any particular rush to load up on high-priced pork. Couple that with a soaring US Dollar and I expect export buyers to put off purchases until prices move lower.

I should also note that corn prices have fallen another $0.40/bushel since this report was tabulated. Grain (feed costs) have gotten even cheaper for producers) and that means more chances for increased profits. That will work to spur additional intentions.

While cattle have been shrugging off one negative factor after another, I think this is a bridge too far for even the cattle bulls to have to deal with. We are going to be seeing more pork and more chicken available in the Q4 and Q1 2015. Beef is pricing itself out of the demand side of the equation.

There are now TWO approved vaccines that are out there for PED virus. We are going to find out how effective these are at getting that disease under control, but if they prove to limit mortality even somewhat, the industry is going to see increased numbers as low grain prices will spur even more attempts at expansion.

Right now, based on what I can see in this report, odds favor limit down openings across the complex with perhaps the exception of the October on Monday morning. That month has been the beneficiary of a recent tightness in supply as evidenced by the 180pounds and over at 94% of last year's levels. However, the bulk of those hogs have been put down at this point.

The trade was anticipating a negative report based on the price structure of the Board but this report was so negative and exceeded the average of estimates by such a significant margin, that the initial reaction should be negative. We will have to see how things progress throughout the day however.

Harvey Organ: Shanghai Drained of Silver, Bullion Banks Are About to Attack the COMEX!

Posted: 26 Sep 2014 01:00 PM PDT

Gold & silver expert Harvey Organ joins us this week for an explosive and power packed show discussing: Criminal collusion by the CFTC officials- how CFTC knew what was going on with gold & silver manipulation, and wanted to keep the price suppression game alive while China corners the market More pain ahead for gold […]

The post Harvey Organ: Shanghai Drained of Silver, Bullion Banks Are About to Attack the COMEX! appeared first on Silver Doctors.

Paper vs. Physical: PM Fund Manager Explains How The Fed Terrorizes The Precious Metals Market

Posted: 26 Sep 2014 01:00 PM PDT

As far as the beat-down going, I'm ecstatic over it…the Chinese, Indians and Russians are taking every single piece of gold off of the market that they can get their hands on…I say take it to zero, take it to $5 – I want it to go down…if it goes to $15, I'm definitely backing […]

The post Paper vs. Physical: PM Fund Manager Explains How The Fed Terrorizes The Precious Metals Market appeared first on Silver Doctors.

Guest Post: Tekoa da Silva interviews Rick Rule regarding the Junior Gold Miners

Posted: 26 Sep 2014 12:31 PM PDT

With so many miners getting smashed in price and the HUI down near 2014 lows, I thought that this new interview from the good folks at Sprott would be of interest here in Turdville.

CHARTS : Gold $1200 Underpinned by Physical Demand

Posted: 26 Sep 2014 12:10 PM PDT

A Monetary Cancer Metastasizes in Europe

Posted: 26 Sep 2014 11:30 AM PDT

The European Central Bank again cut the interest rates it controls. Notably, the deposit rate was moved deeper into negative territory. It is now -0.2% (minus 20 basis points, that is not a typo). The ECB says it's trying to nudge prices higher, but it's actually feeding the cancer of falling interest. One man's debt is another's […]

The post A Monetary Cancer Metastasizes in Europe appeared first on Silver Doctors.

Emerging Market Valuations

Posted: 26 Sep 2014 11:16 AM PDT

Here is a look at the CAPE ratios of 17 countries. Click the chart to enlarge.

This graph shows the current pe ratio, current price to book and cape ratio. Click the chart to enlarge.

Here is the source article in the UK Telegraph.

Which countries are the cheapest and which are the most expensive?

The post Emerging Market Valuations appeared first on The Daily Gold.

Gold markets waiting for the Asian festive demand

Posted: 26 Sep 2014 11:07 AM PDT

In China, the Lunar New Year is Feb. 15, so manufacturers are likely to start restocking in December and January ahead of the holiday, he said.

This Economic Theory Might Spell The End Of Bitcoin

Posted: 26 Sep 2014 10:23 AM PDT

[Article By Bitcoinomics.Net Chief Editor, Justin O'Connell]

Originally appeared at Bitcoinomics

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The future of bitcoin trading is in question. Local authorities have had diverse reactions to average people trading bitcoins, from setting up sting operations to outlining lengthy regulatory frameworks. A main question that might be decided over the coming months is whether or not everybody who has sold bitcoins on Local Bitcoins could find themselves in violation of state laws.

All of this could have been predicted by you though, if you knew about one simple economic theory.

The Case Of Pascal Reid

In February, young Quebecker Pascal Reid was arrested and charged by the State Of Florida with 2 counts of money laundering and 1 count of operating a money service business without a license. Pascal has pleaded not guilty on all 3 counts.

Pascal Reid represents your typical bitcoin trader. An individual with spare cash trying to make due by buying and selling bitcoin, an in-and-of-itself perfectly benign act. The Secret Service officers involved in the sting tried to sell Pascal stolen credit cards. Pascal declined.

Why does the State of Florida have so much interest in Pascal’s actions? The $30,000 transaction for which he was “busted” is a droplet of water in the sea of the global economy, especially next to the deep levels of fraud and corrupt in the financial system. Still, he faces 25 years in prison. If he is convicted it will set the precedent to prosecute more average bitcoin traders, and not just the ones with specious ties to online black marketplaces, such as was the case when Charlie Shrem was recently arrested and charged with money laundering.

Pascal Reid never acted in a way that endangered anyone. We know in New York there is already a movement for “BitLicenses,” setting the precedent that bitcoin individuals will be treated as financial institutions, minus the ability to payoff government and absolve individuals of time-served. Pascal’s legal team costs $25,000 per month. His mom put up a website in order to raise funds: http://supportpascal.org/

What Happened?

As he strolled into Miami’s Art Deco district in February with a laptop and $316,000 in digital currency, he didn’t know he was walking into a trap. He thought he’d soon meet a man he knew who wanted to purchase some more bitcoins. In reality, this man was an undercover agent for the US Secret Service.

The case is among a few early precedent setting cases for Bitcoin. Alongside those of Ross Ulbricht and Charlie Shrem, Pascal’s case will set a precedent for alternative currencies.

Heretofore, Localbitcoins.com has been a holdout of sorts for bitcoin traders looking trade bitcoin’s away from the purview of law enforcement…or so many thought. This has changed in the wake of Pascal’s case.

Pascal’s lawyer has said the authorities are trying to set a precedent with Pascal to go after other bitcoiners. The investigation against him began in December 2013. Proy33, a user on Local Bitcoins, could be contacted “anytime” to meet in public and trade bitcoins for cash. Pascal was contacted by authorities.

After Pascal’s first meeting with the agent, a surveillance team followed him to his Broward County home and identified him. The second meeting involved a $1,000 transaction, and the law enforcement agent offered to sell stolen credit card data. Pascal declined. By January’s end, the two men agreed to a $30,000 transaction. Their meeting at the Casa Grande Suite was a fateful one for Pascal.

At that meeting the law enforcement agent informed Pascal the money used in the prior transactions came from credit card data stolen in the Target hacking. After the transaction, he was arrested. Two hours later, at the same hotel, investigators arrested 30-year-old Peruvian Michell Abner Espinoza, concluding yet another Localbitcoins.com investigation. Both were charged with two counts of money laundering and one count of operating an unlicensed money services business.

"[Pascal's] a good kid. Never been any problem before, never, never, never," his mother, Chantal Desbois, said in an interview. "I don't know what could have happened. I don't understand."

"This is going to have a chilling effect on the public perception of bitcoins," Pascal’s lawyer said in an interview.

The State of Florida has the opportunity to set a precedent with the Pascal Reid case, and what’s likely the precedent to be set will be towards new and tighter regulations.

A first time offender like Pascal could face maximum 15 years on one of the money laundering charge, an additional 5 years for the second money laundering charge and 5 years on the unlicensed money laundering charge for a grand total of 25 years.

First To Market

The traditional financial industry made it to market first. It was the big banks and big credit card companies that government regulators were tasked with regulating. But a phenomenon known as “regulatory capture” shows us how a serious danger to the bitcoin community evolved. Regulatory capture, a theory proposed by George Stigler, represents the process whereby regulatory agencies come to be managed and controlled by the industries they were meant to regulate, in the case of bitcoin, many of the agencies tasked with regulating bitcoiners have become beholden by big banks and financial services company. Regulatory capture comes to be so when a regulatory agency, formed to act in the public’s interest, eventually acts in ways that benefit the industry it is supposed to be regulating, rather than the public.

Anybody who has followed finance in modern America can see that the government has become beholden to big banks. Regulatory capture means that agencies will set out to protect the status quo. This means many bitcoiners could end up behind bars.

Originally appeared at Bitcoinomics

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Justin O'Connell is the Chief Executive Officer of GoldSilverBitcoin. He is also the author of the bitcoin book, Bitcoinomics, and administrator of the Bitcoinomics website. Justin is also a co-host at Our Very Own Special Show, a lifestyle podcast about music, news, life and other topics, and head researcher at The Dollar Vigilante. He lives in San Diego, California.

COPPER vs SILVER MANIPULATION: The Tale Of Two Metals

Posted: 26 Sep 2014 10:00 AM PDT

While it's true that the entire financial system is rigged today, some markets are manipulated more than others. This is certainly true for the precious metals… particularly SILVER. This metal is the whipping boy of the Fed and Cartel Bullion Banks. Most would believe it's impossible to manipulate a metal for decades… it isn't. If […]

The post COPPER vs SILVER MANIPULATION: The Tale Of Two Metals appeared first on Silver Doctors.

End of the Central Bank Gold Agreement

Posted: 26 Sep 2014 09:51 AM PDT

Well, end of one CBGA, start of another. Which says a lot about the Eurozone crisis...

THIS isn't your father's gold market, writes Adrian Ash at BullionVault. It isn't even the same market as 10 years ago.

Because the buyers are different. So too are the sellers.

During the 1970s, demand was led by investors...primarily in the rich West. Whereas today, the biggest buyers by far are Asian consumers, as the World Gold Council notes in its latest Gold Investor report.

Despite much lower incomes, India and China save a huge proportion of their earnings...and spend an ever greater share on gold the more income they earn.

This makes it a "superior good" says Professor Avinash Persaud. Commissioned by the World Gold Council to study world gold buying demand, he says it increases faster than household income or GDP...something we've noted of Chinese gold demand before.

On the supply side too, the gold world has changed. Besides a small rise to record mining output, the key source of the last 5 years was "scrap" sales from people needing to raise cash amid the financial crisis (a flow that's now drying up. Fast). During the 1980s and 1990s, in contrast, central banks were the big source of existing above-ground metal, selling it down as prices fell...and worsening the drop by helping gold miners "hedge" their production by lending them metal to sell as well.

Instead of the gold, Western central banks bought more "productive" assets. You know, like US Dollars, Euros, and government debt.

Come the financial crisis however, central banks as a group worldwide turned into net buyers for the first time since the mid-1960s. First because emerging-market nations wanted to lose some of the Dollars piling up in their vaults (thanks to America's perpetual trade deficit). Second because Western central banks...most notably in Europe...decided that selling gold during a crisis isn't so clever.

So, despite having an agreement in place to cap annual sales...aimed at avoiding the clumsy, price-damaging gold sales made by the UK in 1999...central banks in the West have stopped selling gold altogether. We think that's likely to stay true all through the new 5-year agreement, signed in May and running from tomorrow until September 2019.

The current CBGA (as we gold nerds know it) has seen European states sell barely 10% of their agreed limit. The new agreement doesn't bother setting a cap at all. That might suggest they're secretly planning big sales in future. But on the contrary, the lack of sales under the current CBGA made its 400 tonnes per year limit look stupid.

Fewer than 18 tonnes were sold over the last 3 years in total...all of them from the German Bundesbank to mint commemorative coins.

Just what would be the point of setting a sales limit from here? Fact is, central banks sell gold when times are good. They buy or hold when things are bad. They are not selling today.

We don't think Eurozone central bank chiefs have any plans to sell until 2019 at the soonest. We do think there's a message in there about the Eurozone crisis.

Selling the silver family

Posted: 26 Sep 2014 09:42 AM PDT

Purchasing and securing precious metals is easy. It's like stepping out of the river where you can see the mainstream headed for the big waterfall.

End of 'safe haven' gold?

Posted: 26 Sep 2014 09:27 AM PDT

With the current weakness in the gold price, there is a growing cacophony that the safe haven qualities of gold are no longer relevant.

Gold looks cheaper while stocks dip

Posted: 26 Sep 2014 09:06 AM PDT

The U.S. Comex gold futures rebounded 0.21% to $1,221.20 on Thursday after falling roughly the same on Wednesday.

Metals market update for September 26

Posted: 26 Sep 2014 08:47 AM PDT

Gold climbed $3.80 or 0.31% to $1,221.00 per ounce and silver slid $0.18 or 1.07% to $17.52 per ounce yesterday.

Gold's descent to continue, according to Goldman Sachs

Posted: 26 Sep 2014 08:29 AM PDT

According to Jeffrey Currie, Head-Commodoties Research Team at Goldman Sachs, the worst is not yet over for gold.

HK-China gold exports weak again, but does it matter?

Posted: 26 Sep 2014 08:20 AM PDT

The huge fall in Chinese net gold imports via Hong Kong is perhaps more of an indicator of significantly increasing, but unreported, imports through other ports of entry.

Lukewarm gold demand in India despite low prices

Posted: 26 Sep 2014 08:13 AM PDT

One day into the festive season, gold demand remained modest in India. The consumer turnout at Mumbai's busiest Zaveri Bazaar was a clear indication that consumers are less enthused even by the cheap gold prices.

Welcome to the Oligarchy – United States Leads the Developed World in Share of Low Wage Jobs

Posted: 26 Sep 2014 07:45 AM PDT

U.S. policy is all about keeping the 99.9% quiet and distracted, while the oligarchs strip-mine the nation. Unfortunately, that strategy is working… Den of Thieves 1 oz Silver Bar Secure Yours Now at SDBullion! Submitted by Michael Krieger, Liberty Blitzkrieg: In an apparent attempt to advise investors on how they can take advantage of America's […]

The post Welcome to the Oligarchy – United States Leads the Developed World in Share of Low Wage Jobs appeared first on Silver Doctors.

Death Of Safe Haven Gold Greatly Exaggerated

Posted: 26 Sep 2014 06:02 AM PDT

gold.ie

50 Facts That Show How Far America Has Fallen

Posted: 26 Sep 2014 06:00 AM PDT

What has happened to America? Please show these numbers to anyone that does not believe that the United States is in decline. It is time for all of us to humble ourselves and face the reality of what has happened to our once great nation. For those of us that love America, it is heartbreaking […]

The post 50 Facts That Show How Far America Has Fallen appeared first on Silver Doctors.

SENTIMENT CHARTS FOR GOLD & THE USD AND TECHNICAL CHARTS FOR GOLD AND SILVER

Posted: 26 Sep 2014 05:55 AM PDT

lgranalytics

Death Of ‘Safe Haven’ Gold Greatly Exaggerated

Posted: 26 Sep 2014 05:35 AM PDT

ith escalating conflict in the Middle East, an unresolved conflict in the Ukraine, and various other geo-political risks on the horizon such as the contagion risk of Ebola, it would be expected that the longstanding ‘safe haven’ qualities of gold would come into play as they have done in the past. Today, and the ‘flight to quality’ and ‘financial insurance’ characteristics of gold should in theory be as important now as they were in 1979-1980 given similar invasions and occupations in various countries, not least in the Middle East with ISIS, and the renewed bombing in Syria/Iraq by the US and/or a US coalition.

The contention therefore is that, for now, the death of safe haven gold has been greatly exaggerated. Gold is a hedging instrument and a safe haven asset as seen in history and much academic research in recent years. Download 'GOLD IS A SAFE HAVEN ASSET' Here

With escalating conflict in the Middle East, an unresolved conflict in the Ukraine, and various other geo-political risks on the horizon such as the contagion risk of Ebola, it would be expected that the longstanding ‘safe haven’ qualities of gold would come into play as they have done in the past.

In September 2008, during the financial crisis, the gold price rose $50 in one day, September 18, as investors sought refuge in the one asset that they perceived to be a safe-haven of high liquidity and high credit quality. This one day move in September 2008 was the largest one day move since February 1980.

Back in late 1979 and early 1980, some of the key drivers that propelled the gold price higher were the Russian invasion of Afghanistan and the Iranian hostage crisis.

Just looking back at old newspaper gold market commentaries in 1979 and 1980 will highlight that a lot of the key drivers for the rise in the gold price at that time were geo-politically related.

Today, the world appears to be as uncertain if not more uncertain. Indeed, in 1980 there was little risk of terrorism – state sponsored or otherwise.

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, the gold futures markets did not have nearly as large an impact on the world gold price as they does now, and the gold price was primarily driven by physical demand for gold, a lot of which was Middle Eastern and Asian demand.

The concept of unallocated gold accounts in the London market was in its infancy and was only being discussed by the five gold fixing bullion banks as a security issue in not having to move gold shipments around London so often. The practice of having unallocated gold not fully backed by allocated gold was not encouraged at that time.

Fast forward to today, and the ‘flight to quality’ and ‘financial insurance’ characteristics of gold should in theory be as important now as they were in 1979-1980 given similar invasions and occupations in various countries, not least in the Middle East with ISIS, and the renewed bombing in Syria/Iraq by the US and/or a US coalition.

Coupled with these worsening geopolitical developments, global macro economic risks remain elevated, with official interest rates at historically low levels, continued central bank balance sheet expansion through quantitative easing programs, and continued fiat currency debasement in the US dollar, Euro and other reserve currencies.

Inflationary risks therefore remain at the forefront. But at the same time, the gold price barometer is not signalling these inflationary risks either.

The key driver of the gold price at the moment is perceived to be the relative strength of the US dollar, yet the US dollar is only stronger compared to the other main currencies because these currencies, such as the Euro, are weak due to their economies remaining weak and their money supplies having been debased.

The economic recovery in the US is tentative at best. With the current weakness in the gold price, there is a growing cacophony that the safe haven qualities of gold are no longer relevant. Indeed, some in the financial markets are saying that the current gold bull market is dead.

It would appear to us that the factors that would make gold a safe-haven asset have not gone away.

In fact these factors are strengthening, as described above. The only rational explanation appears to be that gold remains an investment safe-haven as it has always done, but that this is not yet being recognised by the price discovery process in the market.

Adding in the fact that there is a continued disconnect between, on the one hand, the global physical gold market primarily driven out of China and India, and on the other hand, the New York gold futures market and unallocated London bullion market on the other hand, then this disconnect should not be expected to persist over the medium term.

This is especially the case given the heightened geopolitical and macroeconomic risks.

With the gold price not yet signalling the geopolitical and macroeconomic alarm bells that many would have expected it to, the question of gold price manipulation remains a valid question.

Recent gold price manipulation by an investment bank for commercial reasons has been established in the case of the successful prosecution against Barclays by the FCA regulator.

For strategic reasons, central banks do not welcome a disorderly increase in the gold price because it makes their fiat currencies look vulnerable and adds to inflationary expectations.

It is therefore not unrealistic to think that some of the current gold price weakness may be related to nonpublic gold market interventions by some of the world’s central banks such as the Federal Reserve and the ECB, perhaps under the auspices of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS).

There is plenty of documentary evidence to suggest that the G10 central banks have historically discussed the gold price during their regular meetings and they also are very cautious on allowing more recent document releases through freedom of information requests.

For different reasons, the Chinese government welcomes a low gold price since it allows China to continue to accumulate gold in large quantities. Even if this accumulation of gold by China is being done for other reasons, it does act as a way of hedging China’s exposure to its vast holdings of US dollar denominated Treasuries. Time will tell if this has been China’s strategy.

Most markets these days are being manipulated. Therefore it seems very possibly that the gold and silver markets are too. This could be one of the factors in the precious metals surprisingly poor performance in recent weeks despite significant geopolitical and indeed economic uncertainty.

The Middle East is a powder keg that seems likely to explode. The U.S. and western nations have taken a hard stance against an increasingly powerful Russia. This is effecting an already fragile Eurozone and other economies.

Brinkmanship and a failure of diplomacy has brought the world close to a serious military conflict.

Gold has protected wealth throughout history from financial crises and war. We believe it will continue to do so in the coming years

It is very likely that tensions will lead to safe haven demand for gold and higher prices. An economic war has broken out between major world powers and the historical record shows that sanctions and protectionism tend to lead to military confrontation and war.

Everybody should own some physical gold as a hedge and a safe haven asset to protect against the significant risks challenging us today which include bail-ins, currency wars, terrorism and war.

The contention therefore is that, for now, the death of safe haven gold has been greatly exaggerated.

Gold is a hedging instrument and a safe haven asset as seen in history and much academic research in recent years. That is not apparent in recent weeks but we believe it will be in the medium and long term.

Download 'GOLD IS A SAFE HAVEN ASSET' Here

MARKET UPDATE
Today's AM fix was USD 1,222.25, EUR 958.70 and GBP 749.11 per ounce.
Yesterday's AM fix was USD 1,210.50, EUR 950.61 and GBP 742.05 per ounce.

Gold climbed $3.80 or 0.31% to $1,221.00 per ounce and silver slid $0.18 or 1.07% to $17.52 per ounce yesterday.

Gold bullion in Singapore rose 0.1% to $1,223.91 an ounce by 0342 GMT, on track for a gain of almost 0.7% for the week.

Gold rebounded on Friday, aiming to break a three week losing streak, as equity markets dipped, but investors are still cautious that a strong dollar and improving U.S. economy could mean a movement in monetary policy.

In London this morning spot gold was up 0.1% at $1,223.10 an ounce by 0959 GMT and on track for a marginal weekly gain. U.S. gold futures gained $1.50 to $1,223.50 an ounce.

The gold price is essentially unchanged from yesterday’s New York close. In yesterday’s New York trading session gold rose from $1,210 to close at $1,221.90. This level was maintained in overnight Asian market trading and into London morning trading.

Overhead resistance is now at $1,240 and if the price weakens to below $1,200, it would be expected to test the $1,184 level which is the December 2013 low. The $1,184 level is also a July 2013 low, so is being currently labelled as a 'triple bottom'.

Below this is the $1,155 price level which is a technically important Fibonacci 61.8% retracement level. Technical levels are important in the commodity and metal markets since various trading strategies take these levels into account when deciding when to buy and sell.

The Fibonacci 61.8% retracement level represents a 61.8% pullback from the entire 2008-2014 upward gold price move which saw gold rose from the $690 area in October 2008 up to above $1,900 in early September 2011, a move of about $1,210.

A 61.8% pullback of this upward move brings the price approximately back to the $1,155 level.

Silver is also essentially unchanged from yesterday’s New York close. The silver price was more range bound than gold yesterday and it moved within a $17.40 to $17.60 band. On the downside, the $17.27 level is a key technical level since this represents a Fibonacci 78.6% retracement of the entire move up in the silver price since 2008.

The Gold/Silver ratio is currently about 69.7 and could breach 70, which is an important trading level. If this were to happen, it would mean that the silver price would continue to weaken slightly relative to the gold price over the short term.

Palladium is currently trading at $805. After rising above $900 at the beginning of September, the palladium price has now fallen back to its current level very close to $800.

The continued long term move up in the palladium price this year has been made on the back of mining strikes in South Africa and strong industrial demand for palladium in the global automobile market. Palladium is currently trading near its 200 day moving average of 803.

The weakness in the palladium price this week is due to news that Norilsk, the big Russian palladium producer, is in talks to buy $2 billion worth of palladium from a stockpile of palladium that is maintained by the Russian government / Russian central bank. The size of this stockpile is not publicised.

Some of the current supply deficit in the palladium market would be solved if Norilsk was to be able to gain access to the Russian state’s stockpile, hence the uncertainty in the palladium price.

If it palladium price makes a move down below the $800 level, it could fall to the March 2013 high of $786. Palladium however, is still in a long term uptrend that began in 2008, but since the price has fallen back from $900 to $800 so quickly, the 200 day moving average near $800 is an important level.

Platinum is currently trading at $1314, near the lows over the last year. The 2013 low, in June 2013, was $1,288 so this is a critical level over the short term. The December 2013 low was $1,311 which has now been breached.

For the current week, the gold price has risen marginally, and is up 0.25% from last week’s close.

Silver however is down 5.05% from last Friday’s London silver fix price of $18.45.

Palladium is down 2.18% for the week, from $823 at last Friday’s London PM close.

Platinum is 2.45% lower compared to last Friday’s PM platinum fix price of $1,347 in London.

Momentum remains to the downside and the short term technicals remain poor. We would caution against buying until we see a higher weekly or indeed monthly close.

A higher weekly close today would make us bullish for next week as physical demand is picking up in India and China ahead of festival season. Dollar cost averaging remains prudent.

by Ronan Manly , Edited by Mark O'Byrne

See GoldCore's 'Gold Important Diversification As Living In One Greatest Financial Bubbles Ever' Webinar Here

Ichimoku Cloud Analysis: GBP/USD, Gold

Posted: 26 Sep 2014 05:25 AM PDT

fxstreet

A stock market crash is coming

Posted: 26 Sep 2014 05:00 AM PDT

From Jeff Clark, editor, S&A Short Report:

The stock market is ripe for a crash.

The current bull market is one of the longest in history. We haven’t seen a stock market correction of more than 10% in almost three years.

And historically, the stock market makes an important, long-term top every six to seven years. The last top was in September 2007. So the market is primed for another one right now.

Make no mistake, a collapse is coming… The warning signs are starting to flash. And it will end badly.

But we’re not there yet…

Throughout history, there have been three warning signs that precede nearly every market collapse. We saw them before both the 2008 global financial crisis and the 2000 dot-com bubble.

And we’re seeing two of these warning signs today…

Recommended Links

The first is a sharp and sudden rise in interest rates.

Prior to the stock market making an important long-term top, the 10-year Treasury note yield has ALWAYS spiked higher.

For example, the 10-year yield was just 4.5% in January 1999. One year later, it was 6.75% – a spike of 50%. The dot-com bubble popped two months later.

In 2007, rates bottomed in March at 4.5%. By July, they had risen to 5.5% – a 22% increase. The stock market peaked in September.

Here’s how the 10-year Treasury note yield looks today…

The 10-year yield bottomed at 2.35% three weeks ago. It’s now at 2.6%. That’s a 10% increase in just three weeks. So this could be the start of a sharp move higher in rates.

Along with a spike in interest rates, we’re also seeing a record amount of stock purchased on margin.

The stock market tends to form important tops around the same time as margin debt peaks. In other words, just as investors have borrowed the most money to buy stocks in the stock market, the market starts to fall.

Here’s a look at the history of peak margin debt and how it lined up with a top in the stock market…

Year	Peak Margin Debt	Stock Market Top
1972	$7.9 billion in December	One month later
1980	$14.5 billion in December	One month before
1987	$44 billion in September	One month before
1994	$62 billion in February	The same month
2000	$278 billion in March	The same month
2007	$381 billion in July	Three months later

This year, margin debt hit an all-time high of $464 billion in June… And the stock market rallied to a new all-time high this month.

So we now have two warning signs of a top in the market. But it’s not time to panic yet. You see, until the third warning sign flashes, it’s too early to worry about a collapse.

And our third warning sign won’t flash until the market’s price action turns lower.

Take a look at this chart of the S&P 500…

When the S&P 500 is trading above its 20-month EMA, stocks are in a bull market. When the index drops below the line, stocks are in a bear market.

As you can see, the S&P 500 is well above its 20-month EMA today. Stocks are still in a bull market.

So even though we have rising interest rates and record levels of margin debt, we don’t yet have price action that confirms the top is in place. We’re close… and we’re getting closer every day.

It’s time to be cautious about buying stocks, but it’s not time to sell stocks and start short selling just yet. Until the S&P 500 moves below its 20-month EMA, the bull market will keep going.

Workings of the Shanghai International Gold Exchange - Part 1

Posted: 26 Sep 2014 04:18 AM PDT

Koos Jansen, metal analyst for Bullion Star, delves into the finer details of the SGEI - a new international gold exchange in China.

Central banks: No more plans to sell gold – Phillips

Posted: 26 Sep 2014 04:16 AM PDT

Today marks the last day of the third Central Bank Gold Agreement and it seems there are no more plans to sell gold, says Julian Phillips.

$1,200 gold 'drawing out renewed Asian interest' - Suchecki

Posted: 26 Sep 2014 03:56 AM PDT

Bron Suchecki of the Perth Mint says gold's fall has Asian markets taking greater interest in gold, according to his sources.

50 tonnes of gold smuggled into India in 10 days – report

Posted: 26 Sep 2014 02:35 AM PDT

A Hindustan Times report earlier this week reckons around 50 tonnes of gold were smuggled into India in the prior 10 days alone.

LBMA names Citigroup as gold/silver market maker

Posted: 26 Sep 2014 02:04 AM PDT

The move underscores the bank's ambitions to expand into the precious metals sector.

Gold bottom update

Posted: 26 Sep 2014 02:00 AM PDT

Perth Mint

CETA signing postponed

Posted: 26 Sep 2014 01:36 AM PDT

The 35 billion dollar CETA EU-Canada trade deal won't be signed on Friday as planned. Germany called Thursday for a controversial investor protection clause to be removed, saying quote "it is utterly clear we reject these rules" and "the debate is not over by a long shot." The dispute doesn't bode well for another transatlantic trade pact, the T-Tip with the US...

Read

Gold: Corrective Bounce Or Reversal?

Posted: 26 Sep 2014 01:35 AM PDT

investing

TECHNICAL - Gold Rebounds Near Huge 1206 Level; 1240 is Resistance

Posted: 26 Sep 2014 01:35 AM PDT

dailyfx

Gold Bulls Defend Key Support

Posted: 26 Sep 2014 01:35 AM PDT

dailyforex

Comex Gold Futures (GC) Technical Analysis – September 26, 2014 ...

Posted: 26 Sep 2014 01:30 AM PDT

fxempire

Gold bottom update

Posted: 26 Sep 2014 12:45 AM PDT

Following up on my Sep 18 post gold has bounced a couple of times off sub $1210 level which is encouraging. I note there was another 5 tonnes of kilobars withdrawn out of Comex on the 23rd and by my calculation there is still another 10 tonne of kilobars in Comex still to come out.

SGE premiums have been moving up and currently at 1.05 yuan/gram and this matches the premiums Perth Mint has been getting on kilobars, which have increased since my last post. Part of that demand has been related to the SGE International Board launch but our dealers' feedback is the $1200 level is also drawing out renewed Asian interest.

What I didn't see on the 18th was any positive narrative around gold, but that has changed. First up we have this Reuters article which runs with the mine cost/closure narrative:

"$1,200 is a critical level. The industry has geared itself around $1,200," said Joseph Foster, portfolio manager at institutional investor Van Eck Global. "If it falls below that level, then there are a lot of mines around the world that are really going to struggle."

This is an important narrative for gold, and I've mentioned it before here. Then we had these two headlines:
Bloomberg: Gold Premiums in India Seen Doubling on Festival Demand
Gulf News: Weak gold prices has Dubai consumers clamouring for more

On the negative side re narrative Goldman are still downbeat on gold and stocking to their $1050 call and the strong dollar story is the biggest risk to gold breaking $1180.

Cheapest way to buy Royal Mint gold? Not from the Royal Mint

Posted: 26 Sep 2014 12:14 AM PDT

The Royal Mint has this week started selling investment coins such as sovereigns direct to the public. But you can buy the same gold for less - here's how

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

UK Disses US Dollar While Promoting Gold Yuan

Posted: 26 Sep 2014 12:00 AM PDT

David Jensen

Gold and silver end correction as US stocks tumble

Posted: 25 Sep 2014 11:38 PM PDT

Gold and silver prices enjoyed a sudden surge yesterday as US stocks fell in their worst single day for two months. Is this the end of the precious metal correction and the start of something nasty for stocks?

Gold prices spiked to $1,228 and silver to $17.72 an ounce giving the precious metals respite from a summer correction. Both metals were looking very oversold and an obvious buy from a contrarian perspective with negative market sentiment at a peak.

Correction over?

A market timers index tracked by the Hulbert Financial Digest scored minus 46.9 per cent, which means that the average short-term gold timer is now allocating nearly half his clients' gold-oriented portfolios to going short.

There’s a long record of these bets going wrong as market sentiment is always at its worst just before it turns for the better. Why should that happen now for the monetary metals?

Basically fears of higher interest rates that impact badly on precious metals unless inflation is also rising, will quickly recede as a weaker stock market will lessen the Fed’s room to raise rates. A strong equity correction could send monetary policy in the opposite direction and boost gold and silver prices.

Given that gold and silver have just been through a three-year correction they are ideally positioned as a safe haven asset to benefit from a stock market sell-off and may not fall with it as in 2008-9.

SILVER : Poor Man’s Gold!

Posted: 25 Sep 2014 11:20 PM PDT

silverseek

CHARTS : Insights From The 10 Year Gold, Silver And Dollar Chart

Posted: 25 Sep 2014 11:20 PM PDT

goldsilverworlds

Currency Wars Deepen: Russia, Kazakhstan Buy Very Large 30 Tons of Gold in August

Posted: 25 Sep 2014 11:14 PM PDT

"New lows were set for this move down across the board"

¤ Yesterday In Gold & Silver

The gold price didn't do much of anything in Far East trading until after 1 p.m. on their Thursday afternoon. At that point the HFT boyz showed up---and by shortly after the London open, had gold at a new low for this move down. From there the gold price rallied a few bucks until 9:30 a.m. in New York---and the away it went to the upside---running into resistance at the p.m. gold fix---and then getting capped at 10:45 a.m. EDT. At that point it rallied in a much more subdued manner, hitting its high tick shortly before 2:30 p.m. in electronic trading. The price didn't do much after that.

The low and high ticks were recorded by the CME Group as $1,206.60 and $1,225.30 in the December contract.

Gold finished the Thursday session in New York at $1,221.90 spot, up $5.30 from Wednesday's close. Net volume was enormous at 172,000 contracts, with a third of that amount occurring before the 10:30 a.m. BST London a.m. gold fix---5:30 a.m. EDT.

Here's the 5-minute gold chart courtesy of reader Brad Robertson---and you can see that there was a lot of volume around the 9:30 a.m. to 10:45 a.m. rally in New York. Add 2 hours to this chart for EDT.

Silver opened on the usual down tick at 6 p.m. on Wednesday evening in New York---and continued down from there, helped along by the HFT algos starting an hour before London opened. They did push silver to a new low for this moved down, but it was only by a few pennies. Silver made lot of attempts to rally after that, but you can tell by the sawtooth pattern in the Kitco chart below that the not-for-profit sellers were out and about. The high tick in New York trading came at 10:45 a.m. EDT---and that was it for the day.

The low and high ticks were reported as $17.27 and $17.69 in the December contract.

Silver closed yesterday at $17.50 spot, down 17.5 cents from Wednesday's close. Net volume was pretty hefty at 53,000 contracts, with just over 70 percent of that amount coming after the morning gold fix in London.

The price pattern in platinum was far more subdued, but the low tick, like the other precious metals, came moments after the Zurich open. The subsequent rally to its high tick of the day also ran into a willing seller at the magic 10:45 a.m. EDT mark, just like for gold and silver. The price bias was quietly lower for the remainder of the Thursday session. Platinum closed lower by 13 dollars, but would have finished much higher if 'da boyz' hadn't show up at 10:45 a.m. EDT. Ditto for the other three precious metals.

Palladium traded lower right from the get go on Thursday morning Tokyo time---and was sitting at $806 spot just minutes after the Zurich open. Then it got its lights punched out by JPMorgan et al---and within an hour, the price was down to $792---and also a new low tick for this move down. It rallied back above $800 the ounce within ninety minutes, but then drifted quietly lower for the rest of the day, closing down 18 bucks.

The dollar index closed late on Wednesday afternoon in New York at 85.06---and when it opened on Thursday in the Far East, it moved quietly higher, but began to rally with more conviction starting at 2 p.m. Hong Kong time, an hour before the London open. It reached it 85.47 high just after 9 a.m. BST in London---and hung in there until around 9:30 a.m. EDT before selling off a bit. The dollar index closed at 85.18, up another 12 basis points.

The gold stocks opened down a bit, but quickly rallied into positive territory, only to get cut off at the knees at 10:45 a.m. EDT when 'da boyz' showed up to cap the rallies in all four precious metals. The stocks got sold down a bit, but rallied back as the day wore on---and the HUI closed up 0.31%, which is better than the alternative.

The silver equities followed a similar pattern, as Nick Laird's Intraday Silver Sentiment Index closed up 0.36%.

The CME Daily Delivery Report showed that 5 gold and 24 silver contracts were posted for delivery within the Comex-approved depositories on Monday. The link to yesterday's Issuers and Stoppers Report is here.

The CME Preliminary Report for the Thursday trading session showed that 6 gold and 41 silver contracts are still open in the September contract. From that, you have to subtract the deliveries posted in the prior paragraph.

Monday and Tuesday are the last delivery days in the September contract, so what's left of these numbers should show up in tonight's preliminary report. With luck, we may also get First Day Notice delivery numbers for October, but it's more likely that they'll show up in Monday's report---and I'll have them for you on Tuesday morning. October isn't a big delivery month in either gold or silver, so I'm not expecting anything out of the ordinary as far as deliveries are concerned.

There were no reported changed in GLD yesterday---and I'm happy to say that the 2,397,570 troy ounces that were reported deposited in SLV on Wednesday, was not the Tuesday volume double counted---so that second deposit was legit. Where is all this silver coming from---and who the heck is depositing it? Questions with no answers at the moment---and we may never know the answers.

And as of 10:14 p.m. EDT yesterday evening, there were no reported changes in SLV yesterday.

Since yesterday was Thursday, Joshua Gibbons, the "Guru of the SLV Bar List" updated his website with what was going on inside SLV for the week ending Wednesday, September 24---and this is what he had to report: "Analysis of the 24 September 2014 bar list, and comparison to the previous week's list---3,141,611.3 troy ounces were added (all to Brinks London). No bars were removed or had a serial number change."

"The bars added were from: Solar Applied Materials (1.5M oz), Valcambi (0.3M oz), Krasnoyarsk (0.3M oz), Kazakhmys (0.3M oz), and 13 others."

"As of the time that the bar list was produced, it was overallocated 181.7 oz. All daily changes are reflected on the bar list, except the 2,397,420.0 oz deposit last night (24 September 2014)."

[I'm in discussions with Joshua about the contents of that last sentence---and I'll report back once we have settled things. - Ed]

"About 2.8M oz of the deposits appear to be fresh bars (never in SLV before)." The link to Joshua's website is here.

There was no sales report from the U.S. Mint yesterday.

There was no in/out movement in gold worth mentioning in the Comex-approved depositories on Wednesday. In silver, there was nothing reported received---and 1,064,562 troy ounces were shipped out. Most of the 'out' activity was at Canada's Scotiabank and Brink's, Inc. The link to that action is here.

I have the usual number of stories for a weekday column---and I'm sure you'll find the odd one of interest.

¤ Critical Reads

U of T's Auerbach: Fed Has Created a $2.7 Trillion Time Bomb

The Federal Reserve has built a $2.7 trillion time bomb that will cause economic mayhem if not carefully diffused, says Robert Auerbach, a professor of public affairs at the University of Texas at Austin.

Although the Fed has pumped trillions of dollars into the economy since 2008, most of it has remained idle in the form of private bank's excess reserves it continues to hold, he writes in an article for The Huffington Post.

Excess reserves exploded under the former Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and have continued soaring under current Chair Janet Yellen, from $1.6 billion in August 2008 — almost nothing in central bank terms — to $2.7 trillion as of Sept. 4, notes Auerbach, a former economist with the House Financial Services Committee, the U.S. Treasury's Office of Domestic Monetary Affairs and the Fed.

There's nothing really new here, but it's nice to be reminded that this potential inflationary bombshell still hangs over the market. I doubt very much that interest rates on these excess reserves will be removed, as the interest created out of thin air on the excess reserves created out of thin air, are being used to recapitalize the banking system. This news item appeared on the moneynews.com Internet site at 8:04 a.m. EDT on Thursday---and today's first story is courtesy of West Virginia reader Elliot Simon.

James Grant: Don't get hysterical over deflation

Looking ahead to GDP data on Friday, with Jim Grant, founder and editor of Grant's Interest Rate Observer. Grant outlines the risks to the U.S. economy.

This 1:53 minute video clip appeared on the cnbc.com Internet site at 3 p.m. yesterday afternoon---and its courtesy of reader Ken Hurt.

Survey: Three Out of Four Americans Feel Like Recession Continues

Americans have a bleak view of the economy and their own financial situations, according to a new study from the Public Religion Research Institute.

While the Great Recession officially ended in June 2009, only 21 percent of Americans believe it's really over, while 72 percent believe it continues.

Only 7 percent of Americans report they are in excellent shape financially, while 34 percent say they're in good shape, 37 percent say they're in fair shape, and 20 percent say they're in poor shape.

Just 30 percent believe the economy has improved during the past two years, while 35 percent say it has worsened, and 33 percent say it is about the same.

This article put in an appearance on the moneynews.com Internet site at 8:20 a.m. EDT on Thursday morning---and it's the first offering of the day from Elliot Simon.

Eric Holder is Resigning

Eric Holder Jr., the nation's first black U.S. attorney general, is preparing to announce his resignation Thursday after a tumultuous tenure marked by civil rights advances, national security threats, reforms to the criminal justice system and five and a half years of fights with Republicans in Congress.

Two sources familiar with the decision tell NPR that Holder, 63, intends to leave the Justice Department as soon as his successor is confirmed, a process that could run through 2014 and even into next year. A former U.S. government official says Holder has been increasingly "adamant" about his desire to leave soon for fear he otherwise could be locked in to stay for much of the rest of President Obama's second term.

Holder already is one of the longest serving members of the Obama cabinet and ranks as the fourth longest tenured AG in history. Hundreds of employees waited in lines, stacked three rows deep, for his return in early February 2009 to the Justice Department, where he previously worked as a young corruption prosecutor and as deputy attorney general — the second in command — during the Clinton administration.

This NPR news item showed up on the Zero Hedge website yesterday---and it's courtesy of reader 'David in California'.

N.Y. officials downplay subway attack reports

Iraq's prime minister said Thursday that captive militants for the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) told his intelligence agents of an alleged plot to attack subways in the United States and Paris.

U.S. law enforcement officials told CBS News they are investigating the threat, but as of overnight, there was still no intelligence on any credible specific plot against the U.S. A half-dozen French officials contacted by The Associated Press said they knew of no plot.

FBI Director James Comey told reporters Thursday afternoon that he was unaware of any threat directed at U.S. subways.

Not that I have a suspicious mind, but currents events in the Middle East are the perfect cover for the powers-that-be to drop another 9/11 event [or more than one] on the world. I found this CBS story from yesterday in a Zero Hedge piece---and it's the second article in a row from reader 'David in California'.

G7 Urges to Continue Trilateral Talks Between EU, Ukraine, Russia

The foreign ministers of G7 countries stressed the importance of continuing trilateral talks between the European Union, Russia and Ukraine in a joint statement on Thursday.

"We welcome that the trilateral talks between Ukraine, Russia and the EU will continue. It is equally important to continue the discussions between Russia, Ukraine and the EU on resolving outstanding energy issues," reads the statement, released by the foreign ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States and High Representative of the European Union.

On September 12, Russia, Ukraine and the European Union held a trilateral meeting, which resulted in a compromise to put off the implementation of Kiev's free trade pact with the EU until December 2015.

This story is from the RIA Novosti website---and it was posted there just after midnight Moscow time on their Friday morning---and I thank Roy Stephens for his first of many contributions to today's column.

E.U. to discuss lifting sanctions against Russia in October — diplomatic source

The European Union may begin discussions on lifting sanctions against Russia in October, and lifting the first block of sanctions is not probable before November, a European diplomatic source told ITAR-TASS on Friday.

The source said the de-sanctions' process may be organized only on the step-by-step basis depending on development of the situation in Ukraine.

The diplomat said about two possible ways of lifting sanctions, “where both are on the step-by-step basis, and lifting of the entire block at a time will not be possible.”

This story, filed from Brussels, showed up on the itar-tass.com Internet site on Friday morning Moscow time---and it's another contribution from Roy Stephens.

Kremlin ready for energy company bailout

Russian energy companies feeling the squeeze from Western economic sanctions can appeal for help from the government, the deputy energy minister said Thursday.

Russia relies heavily on oil and natural gas revenues to support its economy. When sanctions targeting Russian energy companies went into force earlier this year, Andrei Belousov, an economic adviser to the Kremlin, said the Central Bank of Russia may sell some of its foreign currencies to blacklisted companies in an effort to offset the punitive measures.

Deputy Energy Minister Kirill Molodtsov said Thursday the federal government was on standby should sanctions-strapped companies need support.

"In a situation when the companies came under sanctions, they can appeal to the government for support, if there is such a need," he said.

This UPI story, filed from Moscow, appeared on their Internet site at 9:03 a.m. EDT yesterday morning---and I thank Roy Stephens for bringing it to our attention.

What is to be done about a world where everything is for sale?

Next time you read about an auctioneer’s gavel coming down on a $150 million painting bought by some flunkey representing the ruling family of Qatar, don’t ooh or aah, but think of those monsters in Iraq and Syria who have their children pose on video while holding up the severed heads of innocents. And no, it’s not a stretch — without Qatar’s gold Islamic State would not exist, not even in the movies.

Let me put it another way: had Calvin Coolidge or Herbert Hoover given White House dinners for Al Capone, the outcry would have been heard all the way down to Patagonia. Yet, as reported in these here pages by Charles Moore, not only did the head of the family lunch with the Queen at Windsor, a cousin and his mother also lunched the next day at Windsor and caused a stir because they were not included in the Queen’s carriage. They sponsored Ascot this year, and Elizabeth Anson was their PR person. She burst into tears after failing to include them in the lead carriage. All I can say is shame on Ascot, more shame on Anson, and eternal shame on the stuffed shirts who forced the Queen to break bread with these characters.

What is to be done about a world where everything is for sale?

Posted: 25 Sep 2014 11:14 PM PDT

What is to be done about a world where everything is for sale?

They say Brits will do anything for money, but the rest of the Western world is just as bad. Just look at how a tiny Gulf nation of 250,000 goatherds managed to land the World Cup in 2022. To call the bribes Qatar must have paid to Fifa delegates colossal would be an understatement. But forget the 50-degree-Celsius heat and that football is unplayable in that hellhole, the scandal of modern-day slavery as practised by the Qataris is a far bigger depravity, overlooked by the West. In fact, calling foreign workers indentured servants is a euphemism; they are modern-day slaves. Foreign workers do not enjoy a minimum wage in Qatar, nor do they have any rights. They are not allowed to change jobs, however feudal the conditions, get a driving licence, rent a room or open a checking account unless they have their employer’s permission. Thousands have died while working in appalling conditions (hundreds of Nepalese alone), which provoked an investigation by the Norway-based Global Network for Rights and Development, which sent a researcher and a photographer. Last week the Qatari government confirmed that the two have been arrested and are in prison. So much for European influence in that sweaty hellhole.

This very interesting article appeared on the spectator.co.uk Internet site on Sunday---and I thank South African reader B.V. for sharing it with us.

Three King World News Blogs

Posted: 25 Sep 2014 11:14 PM PDT

Three King World News Blogs

1. Bill Haynes: "Stunning Demand" One Individual Buying $40 Million of Gold 2. Egon von Greyerz: "Global Market Collapse and Wealth Destruction is Now Upon Us" 3. John Hathaway: "Absolutely Stunning Developments in Gold"

[Please direct any questions or comments about what is said in these interviews by either Eric King or his guests to them, and not to me. Thank you. - Ed]

Gold Downside Risk Seen ‘Significant’ to Goldman Sachs

Posted: 25 Sep 2014 11:14 PM PDT

Gold Downside Risk Seen 'Significant' to Goldman Sachs

Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s Jeffrey Currie says the worst isn’t over yet for gold after prices erased almost all of this year’s gain.

“Risks are significantly skewed to the downside,” said Currie, who told investors to sell last year before gold’s biggest collapse since 1980. “Much of the support was coming from political uncertainty in Ukraine and what was going on in Middle East,” and those concerns have faded, he said in a telephone interview yesterday.

After bullion’s rally in the first half of the year beat gains for commodities, equities and Treasuries, the metal is heading for its first quarterly decline in 2014. Demand for precious metals as a protection of wealth has been eroded by the outlook for a strengthening U.S. economy, which helped spark a rally in the dollar as the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index of equities surged to a record this month.

With bulls hit stories like this, you'd think that Currie's hand has to be shaking a little when he reaches for his paycheque/paycheck. Like John Hathaway and many others, Jeffrey Currie will never talk about the real reason why precious metal prices are in the dumps, even though they all know better. This Bloomberg story, filed from New York, was posted on their Internet site at 6:38 a.m. Denver time on Thursday morning---and I found it on the Sharps Pixley website.

U.K. moves to extend Libor rigging laws to oil, gold and currency markets

Posted: 25 Sep 2014 11:14 PM PDT

U.K. moves to extend Libor rigging laws to oil, gold and currency markets

Traders who manipulate key oil, gold and currency benchmarks will be handed the same huge fines or jail sentences as those who rig Libor under government proposals to tackle market abuse.

The Treasury launched a formal consultation on Thursday to extend the new legislation to cover the foreign exchange, fixed income and commodity markets. Under the proposals, the legislation would cover the London Gold Fixing and the LMBA Silver Price, which determine the price of the precious metals in the London market.

Also targeted is the ICE Brent futures contract, "which acts as the crude oil futures market's principal financial benchmark", the Treasury said.

“The integrity of the City matters to the economy of Britain. Ensuring that the key rates that underpin financial markets are robust, and that anyone who seeks to manipulate them is subject to the full force of the law is vital," said Andrea Leadsom, economic secretary to the Treasury.

That's all very cute, but as I've said before---and in my presentation at the Casey Summit on Sunday---it's not the fixes that matter, it's the bias between the morning and afternoon gold fix. It has been negative every year since 1975. I'll have a chart on this in The Wrap section. This story appeared on the telegraph.co.uk Internet site at 11:13 a.m. BST on their Thursday morning---and I thank reader "Roger in La La Land" for sending it along. Phil Barlett sent us the Bloomberg take on this. It's headlined "U.K. Seeks to Criminalize Manipulation of 7 Benchmarks".

LBMA names Citigroup as gold and silver market maker

Posted: 25 Sep 2014 11:14 PM PDT

LBMA names Citigroup as gold and silver market maker

The London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) said on Thursday it appointed Citigroup as a market maker, underscoring the bank's ambitions to expand into the precious metals sector while others are exiting due to regulatory concerns.

LBMA said it named Citibank, a unit of Citigroup, as a spot market-making member effective Thursday. Currently, LBMA has 12 market makers that serve in either one, two, or all three of the spot, forwards, and options markets. They make markets by quoting two-way prices in both gold and silver products to other market makers.

This just exchanges one crook for another. Exit Deutsche Bank---enter Citibank. Please move along, nothing to see here. This Reuters story, filed from New York, appeared on their Internet site at 3:40 p.m. EDT yesterday---and I found it on the gata.org Internet site.

Silver, Gold and Currencies Revalued Overnight - Mike Maloney

Posted: 25 Sep 2014 11:14 PM PDT

Silver, Gold and Currencies Revalued Overnight - Mike Maloney

In this video, Mike explains the mechanics behind what he sees coming: short term deflation followed by big or even hyperinflation as central banks try to print their way out of the mess they have created. The result is the same as it has always been throughout history, with gold delivering either a technical knockout or a complete decimation of currency.

No surprises here, as many analysts, including myself---have been discussing this for years. It's just the timing that remains unknown. This 9:02 minute video clip was posted on the youtube.com Internet site on Wednesday---and it's certainly worth your time.

Weak gold price has Dubai consumers clamoring for more

Posted: 25 Sep 2014 11:14 PM PDT

Weak gold price has Dubai consumers clamoring for more

With local gold prices dipping below the 140 dirhams a gram (for 22-karat) level for the first time this year, it was enough to unleash a manic round of buying at jewellery stores in the United Arab Emirates and the Gulf over the weekend. If the current levels -- of around Dh140 -- can sustain itself, it could lead to a surge in buying ahead of the key festivals of Eid and Diwali next month, industry sources say.

Industry feedback suggests that on Friday itself nearly 1.5 tonnes of gold could have been bought at retail level transactions across the Gulf, with the UAE accounting for nearly half of that. On Monday, with the price at Dh139.25 a gram, the level of consumer interest was sustained.

"The month with Diwali" -- the Indian festival when buying jewellery is rated as auspicious -- "represents a peak buying period for the trade in the Gulf, and this year it's doubly so with Eid also falling in the same month," said Shamlal Ahmad, director of International Operations at Malabar Gold & Diamonds. "Shoppers are clearly bringing forward their purchases to make use of the soft prices."

This positive gold-related story, filed from Dubai, appeared on the gulfnews.com Internet site at 5:31 p.m. local time on their Wednesday afternoon---and it's definitely worth reading. I found it embedded in a GATA release yesterday.

Save Your ASSets First

Friday, September 26, 2014