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• What Happens With The Gold Price If Deflation Wins?
• The Development and Opening of China’s Gold Market
• Mining veteran: This is the 1990′s all over again in the gold market
• Leading Indicators for Gold’s Turnaround
• Silver Prices Are Ready to Rally!
• Welcome to Arcadia – The California Suburb Where Wealthy Chinese Criminals are Building Mansions to Stash Cash
• China gold output growth to slow in coming years - BMI
• Porter Stansberry: This is the “drawbridge” that’s destroying America’s middle class
• 5 Bills in the Land of the Free that are straight out of Atlas Shrugged
• End of the Empire
• SD’s AGXIIK Ready For Ebola (Or Thanksgiving Turkey)
• Steve Sjuggerud: It’s official… The U.S. dollar has topped
• San Francisco Pension Fund Asks Hedge Fund Manager Whether it Should Invest in Hedge Funds
• Ebola delaying Liberia’s first modern gold mine
• “Save Our Swiss Gold ” - Game Changer For Gold?
• “Save Our Swiss Gold ” – Game Changer For Gold?
• Gold making cat-like moves, is it about to pounce?
• Gold rebound thwarted by positive US data, equity gains
• Gold price upside limited in 2015 - Scotiabank
• LBMA names Morgan Stanley as gold/silver market maker
• Anglo Asian set for 29% annual increase in Azerbaijan
• With Seizures Up, Indian Gold Smuggling Loses Its Shine
• Thomas L. Friedman: a Pump War?
• Dana Allen: How the Soviet Empire’s Fall was Engineered
• LME to take over London platinum, palladium fixes
• Is Gold as Dead as This Year's Hurricane Season?
• Jewellery sales double on the occasion of Gurupushya Nakshatra
• Singapore Exchange meets demand for physical gold
• With seizures up, Indian gold smuggling loses its shine
• Is there a lifeline available for the eurozone this time around?
• Harvey Organ’s Gold & Silver Update: Something Has Got to Give!
• The Height of Idiocy: US Government Hijacks the Whole Swiss Banking System
• Silver Myths Smashed, Pt. 3: The Silliest Question You Could Possibly Ask about Silver

What Happens With The Gold Price If Deflation Wins? Posted: 17 Oct 2014 01:05 PM PDT Since writing last month that inflation was on the rise, things have taken an abrupt turn. Look at the deflationary actions that have recently taken place: The US dollar has shot up The US bond market has rallied Precious metals prices have collapsed Base metal prices have fallen Stock markets have declined Oil and other commodities have fallen. Further, just last week the International Monetary Fund cut its global economic growth forecast for the third time this year. Why? It doubts how quickly "rich countries will be able to pull free from high debt and unemployment in the wake of the 2007-2009 global financial crisis." It's hard to argue that high debt levels are deflationary. And with the current expansion based largely on debt, we can't expect sustainably higher economic activity to be generated. So what happens if deflation wins? Even if we eventually get inflation, what happens to our gold investments if we first go through a deflationary bust? There aren't a lot of modern-day examples of deflation. The Consumer Price Index (CPI), as faulty as it may be, has registered only three declines since 2000, and all were short-lived. The CPI fell: August to October, 2006 July to December, 2008 March and April, 2009. That's it. You can find other fleeting periods further back, but nothing long enough to draw any strong conclusions. The only example we have of true deflation is the Great Depression. The Great Depression Speaks You'll recall that the United States was on a gold standard at the time. But there's still a lesson to be learned about gold and deflation… On April 5, 1933, President Roosevelt issued an executive order forcing delivery (confiscation) of gold owned by private citizens to the government in exchange for compensation at the fixed price of $20.67/oz. Less than nine months later, he raised the gold price to $35, effectively diluting the dollar in every wallet 41% overnight and swindling everyone who had turned in gold. So even in the midst of one of the biggest deflations the world has ever seen, the government raised the gold price. We don't know exactly what an untethered gold price would have done during the Depression, but given its distinction in history as a store of value, it's likely to retain its purchasing power in a deflationary setting regardless of its nominal price. In other words, while the price of gold might not rise or could even fall, it would still provide monetary protection against an unstable economic environment, especially when you consider that most other assets would be in decline. The Gold Rush of the Great Depression Perhaps a more direct example is the miners. It was the only way citizens could effectively own gold after Roosevelt's confiscation. The comparability isn't perfect, but again, there's something to learn. When the stock market crashed in 1929, gold stocks were part of the general wreckage. The market then rallied and recovered almost 50% of its losses by April 1930, with gold shares again tagging along. It's what happened next that gives us another clue about gold and deflation… When the bear market resumed in the summer of 1930, all securities sold off again—except gold stocks. Gold shares stayed basically flat until early 1931, when their appeal to the masses kicked into high gear. Look at how shares of Homestake Mining, the largest gold miner in the US at the time, and Dome Mines, Canada's senior producer, performed during the Great Depression. Company Stock Price 1929 Stock Price 1933 Total Gain Homestake Mining $65 $373 474% Dome Mines $6 $39.50 558%   During a period of soup lines, crashing stock markets, and falling standards of living, investors fled to the only gold they could own at the time. Yes, volatility was high throughout the Depression, with occasional wild price swings, but after the 1929 crash most of the volatility was to the upside. From Homestake's chart, you get a clear picture of the rush to own gold compared to the market as a whole: Notice the large spike down in both Homestake and the Dow during the 1929 crash—but then look at Homestake's recovery immediately afterward, returning close to its old high. You'll then notice the stock took almost two years to exceed its old high, but once it broke out, it was off to the races. The stock doubled four times in five years during a seven-year run to its peak after the '29 crash. The conclusion? If history is any guide, gold can hold its own against deflation. Its status as a safe-haven asset during one of the greatest times of economic distress was demonstrated clearly by investors buying the stocks. All this said, the overriding concern is that in a fiat system, any deflation will be met with an inflationary overreaction. And the worse the deflation, the more extreme the overreaction will be. QE5, anyone? There's turmoil ahead, and almost certainly another crisis. The recent decline in the gold price has only served to make our insurance cheaper. Accumulating physical bullion will offset whatever form that crisis may take. The Hard Assets Alliance can help, learn how. This article was published in the October issue of the SmartMetals Investor—a free, monthly newsletter from the Hard Assets Alliance featuring the precious metals news and commentary investors need today. The full issue—including the real reason to own precious metals, why the strong dollar will pass, and what that means for gold, and a silver lining for silver—is available now with free sign up to the SmartMetals Investor.

The Development and Opening of China’s Gold Market Posted: 17 Oct 2014 12:27 PM PDT This is a translation of a speech delivered by Xu Luode, Chairman of the Shanghai Gold Exchange, at the LBMA Bullion Market Forum in Singapore on 25 June, 2014. Thank you for inviting me to attend the LBMA Singapore Forum. It's my great pleasure to be here. So now let me give you a brief introduction on our country's gold market. First of all, let us all have a look at China's current gold production. For seven consecutive years, gold production in China has been the largest in the world, with nearly 430 tonnes produced last year. China has the second- largest gold reserves in the world. This is the latest figure. Before that, China had been ranked third. Next is our consumption of gold. According to the statistics compiled by Mr Zhang Bingnan, gold consumption reached 1,174 tonnes last year, and that is also the largest in the world. I slightly disagree with Mr Zhang, as I think we might have consumed even more than that. I think that it is always a good thing to have a higher figure, rather than a lower one. There are two factors supporting consumption in China's gold market. One of them is jewellery. China has an extremely high level of jewellery consumption. Such growth in jewellery consumption shows that China's level of consumption, as in gold consumption, is in a very healthy state. The other one would be gold bullion, as residents are now allocating gold to their asset allocation, and this volume is currently also high. Next is imports. Data on China's gold imports has not previously been made available to the public. However, gold has historically been imported through Hong Kong, and Hong Kong is highly transparent, disclosing details such as the number of tonnes of gold imported on a monthly basis. Last year, China imported 1,540 tonnes of gold. Such imports, together with the 430 tonnes of gold we produced ourselves, means that we have, in effect, supplied approximately 2,000 tonnes of gold last year. The 2,000 tonnes of gold were consumed by consumers in China. Of course, we all know that the Chinese 'dama' [middle-aged women] accounts for a significant proportion in purchasing gold. So last year, our gold exchange's inventory reduced by nearly 2,200 tonnes, of which 200 tonnes was recycled gold. Seeing such a tremendous market in China last year, many of you are very concerned about what will happen not only this year but also in the future. In my opinion, there will certainly be some differences this year compared to last year. One factor is that the growth rate is slowing down. In the first quarter of this year, gold consumption was still increasing and the import volume remained steady. In terms of the general trend, Mr Albert Cheng from the World Gold Council has estimated that the per capita gold consumption is only 4.5 grams in China whereas it is as high as 24 grams worldwide. The difference of nearly 20 grams represents the potential growth of the physical gold market in China. So I think that China still has a significant growth potential. Many of you are very concerned about the structure of the gold market in China at the moment. China is a country that is undergoing a significant degree of market transformation. China's gold market has only undergone 10 to 12 years of development, but has its own distinctive features. There are differences when compared with the gold markets of some of the developed countries and even with Singapore's gold market. So I call it 'One Body with Two Wings', where 'One Body' refers to our Shanghai Gold Exchange, and 'Two Wings' refers to the sub-market of our commercial banks, as well as the sub-market of our futures exchange. Many of you asked if I have seen ourselves as being too important. Why are we One Body, while others are Two Wings? It is not that I have seen ourselves as too important. I have always held the opinion that any market must have physical commodities as the basis. Be it bulk commodities or other trading markets, transactions are based on physical commodities, and our gold exchange is one based on physical commodities. An exchange with no physical commodities as the basis may grow to a gigantic scale, but there will still be some restrictions when it comes to supporting the physical economy or wielding influence on other aspects of the market. Therefore, I think that as a market trading mainly physical commodities while also trading derivatives, our gold exchange should indeed be playing the role of a central hub in China's gold market. As for the current gold market of our commercial banks, Mr Zhou Ming will be providing an explanation later in his presentation. Our futures exchange is not represented here today, but I can tell all of you that China's futures exchange has also been doing very well in many aspects. Many of you here today are their members. At the SGE, trading of physical commodities accounts for 35% of total transactions, and investment trading, or rather, derivatives trading accounts for 65% of the total transactions. I believe there will still be changes to this ratio in the future, as in the percentage of transactions accounted for by derivatives may increase further. In my opinion, the desired ratio should be something like 20%/80% or 10%/90%. As for our exchange, let me give a brief introduction to all of you as some of you are familiar while others are unfamiliar with it. The SGE was established in 2001 and officially commenced operations in 2002. Chart 2 shows the transaction volumes of the SGE's products since 2009. As at the end of last year, we have traded more than 11,000 tonnes of gold and 430,000 tonnes of silver. Despite relatively large fluctuations in gold prices this year, we have still managed to maintain a 17% growth in our gold trading volume compared to the corresponding period last year. So the momentum is still healthy. Besides, we have established a system for logistics, delivery and distribution, as well as a funds clearing system. It should indeed be said that the development outlook is still promising. In terms of development opportunities for the entire gold market in China, I have mentioned earlier that there is a tremendous potential for our physical gold market. However, we think that our market as a whole is facing three critical opportunities. The first one is a critical period of strategic opportunities. The keynote speaker, Jeremy East, from Standard Charted, explained this point very well earlier today (Jeremy's speech is reproduced on page 10). He talked about the impact of China on the world economy, the global impact of RMB internationalisation and the global impact of China's gold market. China's economy is developing at a medium to high speed, with an annual growth rate of 7.5%. I think this level of growth is sustainable for many years to come. Therefore, such a rate is a significant factor supporting the development of China's gold market, as well as a fundamental factor supporting the flow of gold from West to East. So in this regard, China's gold market is currently still in a period of strategic development. The second one is a period of accelerated development. With China's investors becoming increasingly mature, participants in China steadily increasing in number and our products getting richer day by day, especially our continually enhanced innovation capabilities, our market is experiencing a period of accelerated comprehensive development. The third is an increasing international presence. Until recently, China's gold market was a closed market. Other than imports, China's gold is invested in by domestic investors and onshore funds. We think that China's gold market has reached a new phase of opening up. It is because the extent of China's economic openness is getting increasingly larger, and our RMB internationalisation is accelerating, especially when we have set up a free trade zone in Shanghai in which free conversion of RMB is possible. Another reason is that China's gold market has now developed to a reasonable size. That is why we think that the time has come for China to open up its gold market to the world. As well, we should have an overall goal for the opening up of China's gold market. Just as Singapore's Minister for Trade and Industry told us today that Singapore has an overall goal and overall plan for its gold market, China also has an overall goal for the opening up of our gold market to the world. First of all, we should leverage the opportunities presented by RMB internationalisation to open up China's gold market gradually to the world. Secondly, we have technically implemented such opening up through the establishment of our Shanghai Gold Exchange International Board. So how do we open up to the world? The international board will help to open the door and invite everyone into China's gold market. Thirdly, we find that we should have a target of serving global investors to create an influential international gold market in China. In other words, China should still have the opportunity to become a prominent gold market, and Shanghai should become a global centre for gold trading. I think we are rather confident about this. This is our goal. So has such a goal obtained the support of the Chinese government, or rather, the support of our regulatory authorities? I am very pleased to say that this is indeed the case. The international board has obtained approval from our central bank, the PBOC, and received support and made the relevant institutional arrangements. Many of you were very concerned about whether you can trade with US dollars or offshore RMB, and how to participate in trading. Let me tell you, we have now completed the design such that you can trade on the international gold board with your offshore RMB and offshore foreign currency through a free-trade account in the free trade zone. One week before I came here, we signed an agreement with the regulatory authorities for the use of free-trade accounts. So what are the specific details of the design of our international gold board? I have thought for a long time about how best to explain this clearly to all of you. It is, in fact, very simple. First of all, who are the participants, as in the ones who can participate in trading on our international board? Well, any foreign legal entity or any legal entity that will be established in the Shanghai Free Trade Zone is eligible to apply to become a member of our gold exchange. Of course, there will be many applications, and there will also be some criteria and qualifications for the admission of members. Similarly, there are strict requirements for those wanting to become members of the LBMA. There would still be some requirements in order to participate. We welcome anyone meeting these requirements to join us. Those who cannot meet our requirements can still participate in trading through any of our future international members who can act as brokers. Secondly, the transactions on our exchange are priced in RMB. I believe that such a design will enrich the international gold market and make it more credible. We have US dollar pricing. We have London gold pricing. And we can also have RMB pricing. Earlier, I have reported on the data that physical gold consumption in China's gold market has, in effect, reached more than 2,000 tonnes last year. All of you here are experts in this industry and are very clear about the percentage accounted for by these 2,000 tonnes of physical gold in the global market. So I think that RMB pricing should enhance the entire price mechanism. After fixing the price in RMB, you can participate in transactions on our international board with your offshore RMB or even offshore foreign currencies. These days, I often have friends asking me whether we have two boards, one called the international board, and the other called the domestic board. We have, in effect, only one board where domestic and foreign investors trade together with onshore and offshore funds based on a single price. So they are, in fact, together, not separate. If that is the case, what is the purpose of setting up the SGEI? It has three main responsibilities. The first one is to serve as an IT system interface enabling international members to trade on our main board. The second role is to implement the clearing of funds. I mentioned earlier that trading would be done through an FT account. Incoming offshore funds should still be subject to regulation, meaning that incoming funds can only be used to invest in the trading of products on our gold exchange. You cannot use these funds to do any other thing, such as to buy properties or stocks in China. So the account is needed for you to place your money in it. This account will be opened in the name of our SGEI. Therefore, it serves the role of the clearing and management of funds. And what is the third role? We have created the role of transhipment trade. Many international gold experts have mentioned that Shanghai could serve as a centre for the transhipment of gold. In other words, countries in Southeast Asia or certain parts of East Asia could import gold through Shanghai. So we have, in fact, adopted this suggestion. As such, we designed an important function on our international board for it to be equipped with the ability to conduct transhipment trade. This is an institutional arrangement. For the purpose of such an arrangement, we have set up a 1,500-tonne gold vault in the Shanghai Free Trade Zone. This can serve as a delivery store for both gold imported into China and transhipped to other destinations. So what is the current status of preparations for the international board? As our market is now transforming from an entirely domestic market to an international market, some of our rules have been adapted. We are also soliciting opinions on this matter from some of our participants, and this is more or less completed. Secondly, the IT system has been built and is now technically online, with the capability to conduct transactions. What we are doing right now is to invite international members to become members of our exchange. Many of the banks, corporations and investment companies or funds that are present here today have established very good relations with us. I might also have sent our invitation to many of you. At this stage, we are only engaging in discussions. We would like to see all of them become members of our exchange, and their responses have been encouraging. They said that they would be very willing to participate in China's market and become a member of our exchange. We expect to launch this international board officially before the end of 2014. Another thing I would like to elaborate on is that, as our international board is priced in RMB, there are many other opportunities involved. As we all know, there is a difference in interest rates between onshore and offshore RMB funds, or between onshore RMB funds and foreign-currencies. Furthermore, as transactions are quoted in RMB, you are, in effect, using RMB during settlement. So there is an exchange rate difference involved here. We all know that China's exchange rate has appreciated continually over the past few years. However, the RMB exchange rate is now fluctuating more flexibly in both directions, sometimes appreciating and sometimes depreciating. The degree of daily exchange rate fluctuations in China was 1%, but it has now relaxed to 2%. If the exchange rate fluctuates by 2% daily, I suppose this is not a small amount. In other words, investing in such a product from our gold exchange would involve gold price fluctuations, as well as interest rate and exchange rate fluctuations. Therefore, it is, in effect, a three- in-one product that provides investors with the potential for profit. I think China's gold market is developing very well. So I am very confident about the launch of our international board. I am also very optimistic about the development of our gold market as a whole. So I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you for your support and welcome your participation in our market. Together with all of you, we will take our global gold market to greater heights! Thank you for listening. Chairman of the SGE Mr Xu Luode, Bachelor of Economics and senior accountant, is the Chairman of Shanghai Gold Exchange. He is also the Vice Chairman of China Gold Association, the Vice Chairman of China Payment and Settlement Association, the Executive Member of China Society for Finance & Banking and the Executive Member of China Numismatic Society. Before taking the current position, Mr Xu Luode served successively as the Deputy General Director of the General Office in People's Bank of China, the Director General of Payment and Settlement Department in People's Bank of China, and the President of China UnionPay.

Mining veteran: This is the 1990′s all over again in the gold market Posted: 17 Oct 2014 11:47 AM PDT From Henry Bonner in Sprott’s Thoughts: It looks like the late 90′s are back in vogue in the mining industry. Steve Todoruk, a mining veteran who joined Rick Rule in 2003 at Sprott Global Resource Investments Ltd. says he’s seeing some key similarities between today and the last big bear market for resource stocks, which lasted from around 1998 to 2001. Many of today’s mining legends made their reputation and their fortune during that time. See Steve’s latest note below: The last time we saw this happen was in the late 1990′s. Gold was around $300 per ounce; silver was near $6; and copper was $0.60 a pound. Commodity prices had fallen so much that big miners were producing near or below the sale price of their product. In some cases, the more they produced the more money they lost. Many mines had been shut down or were in the process of closing due to their inability to produce a profit. Copper miners needed around $1.10 per pound to make a decent profit. At $0.60 these companies were losing their shirts. In the gold space, Goldcorp was one of the very few miners to eke out a small profit because they had only one mine, which happened to be one of the richest high-grade gold mines in the world. Today, most industry experts believe that the ‘all-in sustaining cost’ to produce one ounce of gold is somewhere between $1,000 and $1,300. The all-in sustaining costs include all the costs of running current mining operations plus cash spent finding new ounces to replace mined reserves. Gold is trading around $1,200 right now, which means that most companies are probably losing money or breaking even. Few are making any kind of a profit. An important difference between the late 90′s and today is the amount of hedging. In the 90′s, companies often sold their gold forward (hedged), so when gold prices fell to $300, they had pre-sold a lot of their production at over $400 per ounce − enough to keep many mines open that would have almost definitely been shut down otherwise. Over the last decade, investors demanded full exposure to a rising gold price as the reason to buy shares in producing miners. Companies listened and almost all eventually got rid of their hedging agreements. Few or none of the big producers hedge any gold to speak of. As a result, gold miners today don’t have the benefit of having hedged some of their gold production at higher prices. They have to sell their production at the current market. One temporary measure they can use is to mine only the high-grade areas of their deposit, but that game cannot last long and can greatly reduce the long-term production potential of a mine. Throughout my life, I’ve been through 5 cycles in commodity prices, which correlate to bear markets and bull markets in mining stocks. Some cycles are more dramatic than others, but they all pretty well play out in the same way. You see a decline in the prices of the commodities and the share prices of the producers, followed by a rise in commodity prices and rising share prices. In the late 1990s, the miners needed to start making money if the world economies wanted to continue having a supply of metals. This would also make money available for exploration of new deposits of gold, silver, copper, uranium, or other metals. Smart investors bought shares in some of the miners since they stood to make money if commodity prices went up. They also bought up exploration companies with deposits that would increase substantially in value if metals prices rose. One of these companies was Bob Quartermain’s Silver Standard Resources (SSRI). Ross Beaty of Pan American Silver (PAAS) was one of the ‘smart investors’ in the space. He went out and acquired a number of copper deposits that he believed were cheaply priced, and he was well-rewarded. My boss Rick Rule started his first two Limited Partnerships in 1998 and 2000, buying shares in companies like Silver Standard and Pan American Silver, to the delight of his investors when commodity prices started to rise in the early 2000s. Today may offer a similar opportunity for investors. The miners are hurting. Mines may soon start shutting down, and that pain is also killing junior mining stocks. There always will be a mining industry. The world needs the metals. The world also needs the junior miners since they make most of the discoveries which the majors end up turning into mines. Some companies will therefore survive – but probably not all. One indication that a company may be viable is its ability to continue to raise funds in a bear market. On the other hand, the companies that cannot raise money tend to go quiet. They slow down or become inactive. Some merge with other companies or get bought out, and some simply close up shop. It’s time to respond like we’re right back in the 90′s. Just like the ‘smart investors’ of that period, we want to choose the survivors that could become much more valuable if metals prices rise. Steve recently commented that some stocks are staying well above their former lows, and that recent deals raise the specter of more mergers and acquisitions coming. These are encouraging signs, even if things could get worse before they get better. Read more here.

Leading Indicators for Gold’s Turnaround Posted: 17 Oct 2014 11:39 AM PDT Gold is currently getting a reprieve as it trades close to $1240 which is above important weekly support at $1200. It's safe for the time being but we believe that Gold will ultimately break back below $1200 and below $1100 before the end of the already long in the tooth bear market. Because Gold is somewhat of an anti-asset, it's important to chart its course against other asset classes. Gold performs best when its strong against all other classes. Moreover, prior to recent important bottoms Gold bottomed first against other classes before bottoming in nominal terms. It appears that could happen again. The first chart looks back at the 2008 bottom. We plot Gold against foreign currencies, commodities, global equities and the S&P 500. Gold's lowest tick was late October 2008 while its daily low was in November 2008. Against other asset classes, Gold bottomed before then. Gold bottomed against foreign currencies and the S&P 500 in September while bottoming against global equities in May and commodities in June.       We should also note that while Gold bottomed in April 2001, it bottomed in real terms (against foreign currencies, equities and commodities) months before then. Let's look at the same charts today. While Gold has only recently emerged from a weak triple bottom, it is showing more strength against the other asset classes. Against foreign currencies Gold is nearly 10% above the December 2013 low. Gold is very close to an 11-month high against commodities and is trading at a 7-month high against global equities. Gold remains weak against the S&P 500.   Going forward there are a few things we will be watching. Assuming Gold breaks back below $1200 and eventually below $1100, will it be able to hold these recent lows against the other asset classes? If yes then that will show that though Gold is declining it is maintaining the kind of relative strength that was in place at previous major bottoms. Secondly, the Gold vs. S&P 500 ratio is very important. US equities and precious metals have been on a divergent course since the summer of 2011. If we get a weekly close in the ratio above 0.75 then it would signal a major turning point in favor of Gold. In the meantime we would advise continued caution. Gold and Silver have bounced but only from an extreme oversold condition. Though Gold has rallied $50/oz the miners have done nothing. The large caps (GDX, HUI) are trading dangerously close to recent lows while the juniors (GDXJ) have tread water at best. They are hinting that this rally won't last. Please stand aside for the time being. I see a potential lifetime buying opportunity emerging in the months ahead. Consider learning more about our premium service including a report on our top 5 stocks to buy at the coming bottom. Good Luck!   Jordan Roy-Byrne, CMT Jordan@TheDailyGold.com     The post Leading Indicators for Gold's Turnaround appeared first on The Daily Gold.

Silver Prices Are Ready to Rally! Posted: 17 Oct 2014 11:30 AM PDT Silver is currently inexpensive compared to the S&P 500 Index, crude oil, the size and rate of increase of the national debt, and especially the future price for silver after markets have reset, paper assets have devalued, and hard assets have jumped much higher in price. Examine the following graph of weekly silver prices since […] The post Silver Prices Are Ready to Rally! appeared first on Silver Doctors. Check out these similar articles: Silver – Keep it Simple – Part 2 The Energy Factor to Push Gold to New Highs Jim Willie Bombshell: Saudi Royal Gold Ransacked in London to Prevent Default!

Welcome to Arcadia – The California Suburb Where Wealthy Chinese Criminals are Building Mansions to Stash Cash Posted: 17 Oct 2014 10:52 AM PDT In some California communities, 90% of real estate buyers are from China. Yes, 90%. Naturally, many of them are buying multi-million dollar homes in "all cash" transactions. Well it appears that one of those communities is the 57,000 person Los Angeles suburb known as Arcadia. The suburb had a relatively insignificant Asian population of 4% in 1980, but it is now 59%. Of course, I could care less what the ethnic mix of any particular suburb is, but what does concern me is that a lot of the recent money coming in seems to be from questionable characters. The buyers are getting access to U.S. real estate via the EB-5 visa program, and of the 10,000 of these given away this year, 85% went to the Chinese. Oh, and it's estimated some 20% of these home sit vacant. A great use of resources… Read the rest here.

China gold output growth to slow in coming years - BMI Posted: 17 Oct 2014 10:51 AM PDT BMI analysts say growth will slow significantly in coming years in the face of declining ore grades and waning profitability.

Porter Stansberry: This is the “drawbridge” that’s destroying America’s middle class Posted: 17 Oct 2014 10:00 AM PDT From Porter Stansberry in The S&A Digest:  In today’s Friday Digest, I want to talk about the drawbridge that’s destroying America. Yes, that’s right. The drawbridge. Just give me a minute to show you what I’m talking about… First, a few facts. The real (adjusted for inflation) median household income in the U.S. has declined over the last decade or so, from $57,000 to just under $52,000. That represents about a 9% decline in the standard of living for the average American household. Nearly the entire decline in real incomes has occurred since 2008, which returns the average American household back to its standard of living in the mid-1990s – before the entire Internet revolution. For most people in America, income is in a serious decline. That has never happened before over a decade-long period in the United States. What’s worse is that prior to this decline, real incomes had been stagnant for a long time. Median household income hasn’t materially increased since 1973, when real average household income was $48,557. And even this is misleading… In the early 1970s, there weren’t as many families with two wage-earners as there are now. For the last 40 years or so, families have made up for America’s stagnant standard of living by sending the wife to work outside the home and then, later, by running up huge debts and speculating in real estate. These aren’t solutions to the problem. And now, the problem is getting much, much worse. The underlying economic cause of this problem is easy to see and easy to understand. Wages are no longer connected to gains in productivity. As you can see from the following chart, since 1948, productivity has grown 254%, but hourly wages have only grown 113%. The disconnect begins in 1971… the same year President Nixon untethered the U.S. dollar from gold.   Lest you think this economic history is in some way unduly influenced by my libertarian political orientation, this chart appeared in Paul Krugman’s New York Times column on July 18, 2012. Krugman, as you may know, is among the most liberal economists published anywhere in the world today. Now… about that drawbridge. The chart above – which shows the sudden and lasting disconnect between increases to productivity and wages – is the explanation for Americans’ stagnant incomes over the last 40 years. Something has substantially changed in the way our economy works. Working harder or – working smarter – isn’t benefiting employees anymore. And now, these stagnant incomes have begun to decline significantly. On the other hand, Americans who own assets and businesses – whether they’re small entrepreneurs like landlords, technology titans who created Internet businesses, or private-equity investors (like Warren Buffett) – have seen their wealth soar over the last 40 years. This is the drawbridge I’m talking about – the bridge in America that exists between the very wealthy and the very poor. That bridge began to open 40 years ago… the chasm underneath it has grown deeper and deeper every year… and right now, as I’m writing these words to you… the gates are coming down and the bridge is beginning to move faster. You have to decide what side of the bridge you’re going to be on. You have to move quickly… because getting across that bridge will soon be impossible. Historically, the key to advancement in America was education. But the cost of a high-quality college education in America has risen 12 times over the past 30 years. Today, Harvard costs $50,000 a year in tuition. Very few people from the wrong side of the drawbridge can afford these costs. Likewise, the real costs of everything associated with the “normal” middle class in America are fast becoming out of reach. The costs of quality housing, health care, and education are now far beyond the reach of most Americans. The drawbridge is opening… wider and wider. There are two core reasons this has happened in our country. Both are easy to understand. One was a critical mistake of the rich and the powerful. The other has been a critical mistake of those claiming to represent the poor. First and foremost, the central reason that wages have become disconnected from productivity gains is because our currency – which was tied to gold, a resource of limited elasticity – was unlinked to any natural commodity. The result has been unlimited credit for our banking system and our government. The bailouts of 2008 and 2009 were financed (like earlier bailouts in 1974, 1981, 1990, and 1998) by a massive expansion of the money supply. The way to understand this is simple. Today in America, the risks of capitalism and bankruptcy have been socialized. Even though he owned several of the country’s biggest banks, Warren Buffett didn’t go broke in 2008. He didn’t go broke because the Fed printed $4 trillion and bailed out the banking system. Meanwhile, the rewards of capitalism are still reserved for those who own and control the assets of our economy. Who pays? Wage earners and savers, who depend on the value of the dollar. Who profits? Leveraged capitalists and the owners of great assets. If the dollar was still tied to gold, the government and the Federal Reserve would not have the power to create unlimited amounts of new reserves. To garner capital to bail out a failing bank, the government would have to actually attract additional capital by offering a high interest rate. Historically, that’s exactly what happened during market corrections. These high rates would reward savers and wage earners, while punishing capitalists and leveraged owners of assets. The balance was maintained between those who earned and saved and those who borrowed and speculated. Today, there is no balance whatsoever. Earning and saving now means being on the wrong side of the drawbridge. Author Ayn Rand famously said of the poor, “They have always been with us, don’t be one of them.” By that, she meant that there is no real solution to poverty, because most people end up poor because of their poor choices. That may no longer be true in America today, which is a sobering thought. America has become a country of soaring income inequality. For decades, America was not only the richest nation, but also the most middle-class – sitting right in the middle of the world’s nations in terms of income inequality. That’s no longer true. Over the last 40 years, income inequality has soared. We now trail Brazil (land of a million slums) and Mexico (land of narcotics) as the G20 nations with the widest amount of income inequality. The drawbridge is going higher and higher… That has led to an entire industry that exists to exploit the poor. Consider the recent union-backed move to raise the minimum wage. I could explain, using a million examples, why minimum-wage laws are terrible for poor people. That isn’t in doubt. When wages rise above the marginal value of labor, there is no longer a reason for employment. Thus, minimum-wage laws destroy jobs. Why, then, are the politicians so determined to raise minimum-wage laws? Consider the new law in Los Angeles, where city council passed a $15.37 minimum-wage law for large hotels. (There goes room service…) However, the law contains a provision that allows unions to waive the requirement in collective bargaining. The law is actually a cudgel designed to benefit unions. If you’re a hotel, you have a choice: pay an uneconomic wage… raise your prices to compensate and watch as all of your business goes elsewhere… or partner with the union to force your employees into a collective bargaining agreement that will see them earn less and force them to pay union dues. Guess where those union dues go? Directly to Democrat politicians. This is just one example out of thousands that show how promises to help America’s middle class and poor end up simply empowering the political class. Folks who think Obama was going to give them free health care should see what actually happens when they try to call a doctor. Meanwhile, have you seen the huge rise in managed care stocks? Have you seen the drug company stocks? One more example… Obama says he will help you pay for college. A law passed last year that allows students to avoid paying back their student loans or strictly limiting the payments to only 10% of their discretionary income. There are now 1.9 million Americans enrolled in the program, sheltering $101 billion in loans. Surely this is the way over the drawbridge, right? It’s a way for student loans – even people with hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt – to be financed by “poor” students. Maybe. But the loans are only forgiven if the students work for 10 years in government or for a nonprofit – like a “community organizer,” perhaps. Imagine your career potential if you spent the years between 25 and 35 working in government or politics. Who does this really empower, the students or the politicians? There’s a drawbridge opening in America. It’s a bridge that’s being forced open by economic policies that favor the rich and the powerful rather than the wage earners and savers. And on the side of the poor, there are a bunch of people who claim to help… but who really just exploit. What should you do? Follow Ayn Rand’s advice and don’t be one of them. Don’t get into debt. Don’t believe that spending $100,000 on college will save you. Don’t believe that working for the government is the answer. Realize that in America today, you’re not going to become wealthy being a wage earner. You must – must – find a way to acquire assets. That’s the only way across the bridge. You can do so by starting a business of your own. You can do so by getting into a job (like sales) where your earnings can vastly exceed the average earner. And you can do so by learning to invest wisely. Saving by itself is no longer enough. That’s where we can help… We’ve now posted more than 100 different – and completely free – articles about investing on our website. Spend some time at our investor education center. The secret to wealth in America is sitting right there… Start with our “11 Steps” manifesto… These are the ideas we wish we had learned before we invested a single dollar. Step 3, for example, teaches you the No. 1 factor in your investment success. If you don’t understand this idea, you’re almost sure to destroy your chances of financing your retirement with your savings. Step 5 shows you what you’re actually buying when you purchase shares of a stock. This will forever change the way you view your investments. Step 8 is often the hardest for new investors to practice. But it’s one of the most powerful tools at your disposal. Read through the “11 Steps” right here. Once you’ve gone through all 11 steps, spend time this weekend reading through the “Secrets of Financial Insiders” section of the education center. There are 15 essays… They’ll take about five minutes each to read. In less than two hours, you’ll understand more about how the market works than any of your friends, family, or neighbors. In particular, don’t miss editor in chief Brian Hunt’s essay on why your broker knowingly gets you into losing trades… Extreme Value editor Dan Ferris’ essay on why you, as an individual shareholder, just aren’t that important… and my essay detailing the only chance you have at becoming a successful investor. Once you have that as your foundation, you can explore the rest of what the education center has to offer, including… A Private Letter from Warren Buffett The message at the heart of this essay addresses the very foundation of successful investing. There’s No Secret to Investment Success… Except This One Where to find the world’s greatest businesses today… The 5 Magic Words Every Trader Says Over and Over, All the Time This idea is something that could immediately turn a struggling trader into a highly-profitable one. Never Retire Instead of retiring and giving up all of your “active” income, consider this idea. One last thing… If you would like to glean insight from some of the brightest political and financial minds in the world, I strongly encourage you to join us online tomorrow, October 18. You’ll hear from former Congressman and leading libertarian Dr. Ron Paul. Currency expert Jim Rickards will also tell you what the government is doing to destroy the U.S. dollar – and accelerate this widening income disparity. You’ll also hear from Agora founder Bill Bonner, me, and a host of other bright minds. Crux note: To reserve your space, click here now. PLEASE NOTE: This is your last chance to register. This must-see event takes place tomorrow, October 18.

5 Bills in the Land of the Free that are straight out of Atlas Shrugged Posted: 17 Oct 2014 09:50 AM PDT With each new piece of legislation being proposed in the Land of the Free, Atlas Shrugged seems to be ever more prophetic. While even the most terrifying elements of the book are coming true, so are the reactions. People and companies are leaving, refusing the put up with the looting of their efforts any longer. Despite politicians' […] The post 5 Bills in the Land of the Free that are straight out of Atlas Shrugged appeared first on Silver Doctors. Check out these similar articles: Congress Brings Atlas Shrugged to America With This New Bill Watch the CFTC’s Meeting on Discussion of ‘SWAPS’ LIVE 6 New Apocalyptic Technologies That You Haven’t Heard About Yet!

End of the Empire Posted: 17 Oct 2014 09:15 AM PDT If the top 1/100th of 1% crowding airports with their private jets isn’t afraid of impoverished, disenchanted debt-serfs with pitchforks, they should be.    Submitted by Charles Hugh Smith, Of Two Minds:  By End of the Empire I refer not to the collapse of American Imperial power but to the excesses and anxieties that characterize the decay […] The post End of the Empire appeared first on Silver Doctors. Check out these similar articles: Open Interest in Silver Declines Another 387 Contracts Silver COT Report 12/2/11 What Does It Take To Be Middle Class?

SD’s AGXIIK Ready For Ebola (Or Thanksgiving Turkey) Posted: 17 Oct 2014 09:00 AM PDT AGXIIK is ready for Ebola:     AGXIIK (aka TND’s Prepper Jack) admits the suit is probably not the be all and end all protection against Ebola.  But hey, that meat thermometer will come in handy this Thanksgiving.  Just imagine the talk around the Prepper Jack table this Thanksgiving.   The post SD’s AGXIIK Ready For Ebola (Or Thanksgiving Turkey) appeared first on Silver Doctors. Check out these similar articles: Ebola Ravages Health Workers: More Than 240 Sick, More Than 120 Dead CDC Getting Dozens Of Calls 'About People Who Are Ill After Traveling In Africa' CONTAGION and The U.S. Government's Ebola Vaccine

Steve Sjuggerud: It’s official… The U.S. dollar has topped Posted: 17 Oct 2014 08:15 AM PDT From Dr. Steve Sjuggerud, editor, True Wealth:  Earlier this week, risky assets tanked… and “safe haven” assets soared… But one traditional safe-haven asset didn’t follow the script – the U.S. dollar. As investors fled Italian bonds, Greek bonds, and Japanese stocks, they poured money into U.S. government bonds as a safe-haven play. A huge amount of dollars was needed yesterday to buy all those bonds. In a single day, the interest rate on 10-year government bonds fell from about 2.2% down below 2.0% (before settling at 2.1%). That might not sound like much, but it is a massive move. So you would think the U.S. dollar would have gone up. It didn’t. What that tells me is that everyone who wants to own a U.S. dollar already owns it… This fits with the numbers from my friend Jason Goepfert of www.SentimenTrader.com. Jason’s sentiment data shows that the U.S. dollar is more loved than it ever has been. It can’t go higher, because there’s nobody out there left to fall in love with it. So it can only go down. After doing nothing for a while, the U.S. dollar started taking off in July. And it’s been a one-way ride to the start of October… Take a look: That smooth one-way ride created the dollar love-fest. It lulled traders to sleep. It was practically Groundhog Day, as currency traders woke up each morning to the same thing – a higher dollar. Those days are now over. The U.S. dollar just peaked. Trade accordingly… Good investing, Steve Crux note: The market’s recent dips have investors scared… and they’ve pushed many different asset prices to extremes. But Steve says this is exactly what he wants to see… In his latest True Wealth newsletter – out today – he uncovers all kinds of bargains in stocks… real estate… and commodities… including a new and better way to own gold stocks. To be one of the first to get Steve’s new recommendations, click here now.

San Francisco Pension Fund Asks Hedge Fund Manager Whether it Should Invest in Hedge Funds Posted: 17 Oct 2014 08:00 AM PDT The San Francisco pension fund has been soliciting advice on whether to invest $3 billion in hedge funds from a consultant who himself is a hedge fund manager. You just can't make this stuff up. Submitted by Michael Krieger, Liberty Blitzkrieg: Most readers will be familiar with the common fee structure for hedge funds known as […] The post San Francisco Pension Fund Asks Hedge Fund Manager Whether it Should Invest in Hedge Funds appeared first on Silver Doctors. Check out these similar articles: Leaked Documents Show How Blackstone Fleeces Taxpayers via Public Pension Funds New Jersey's Debt is Downgraded by Fitch as Chris Christie Funnels Pension Money to Private Equity and Hedge Funds New York Launches BitLicense Proposal – How Bad is it?

Ebola delaying Liberia’s first modern gold mine Posted: 17 Oct 2014 05:04 AM PDT Logistical problems could delay initial gold production from Aureus' New Liberty - West Africa's newest developing gold mine.

“Save Our Swiss Gold ” - Game Changer For Gold? Posted: 17 Oct 2014 05:02 AM PDT gold.ie

“Save Our Swiss Gold ” – Game Changer For Gold? Posted: 17 Oct 2014 05:01 AM PDT We believe that the "Save Our Swiss Gold" campaign has the potential to be a game changer in the gold market – both in terms of the ramifications for the current global monetary system and in terms of higher gold prices. There has been a lack of coverage of this important story and there is therefore a lack of awareness about the possible implications for the gold market. Thus, in the weeks prior to the referendum on November 30th, we are going to analyse the referendum, the important context to the referendum and the ramifications of a yes or a no vote. Mark O'Byrne, Head of Research GoldCore (Essential Guide To Gold and Silver Storage In Switzerland) "Save Our Swiss Gold " – Game Changer For Gold? by Ronan Manly, GoldCore Consultant Contents - Foreword - Introduction - Success of Swiss People's Party (SVP) - Direct Democracy and Popular Initiatives - Petition Filing - Initiative Launch - Motivation for the Initiative - Gathering the People's 100,000 Signatures - Gold Initiative Gets Over 107,000 Signatures - Selling The Swiss Family's Gold  Swiss Flag in the Swiss Alps Foreword We believe that the "Save Our Swiss Gold" campaign has the potential to be a game changer in the gold market – both in terms of the ramifications for the current global monetary system and in terms of higher gold prices. There has been a lack of coverage of this important story and there is therefore a lack of awareness about the possible implications for the gold market. Thus, in the weeks prior to the referendum on November 30th, we are going to analyse the referendum, the important context to the referendum and the ramifications of a yes or a no vote. Mark O'Byrne, Head of Research GoldCore Introduction In less than six weeks, on November 30th a federal referendum is being put to the Swiss electorate, which, if it passes, will have very significant ramifications for the Swiss currency and the global gold market. If it passes it will force the Swiss National Bank to substantially increase Switzerland's monetary gold reserves and make it harder for Swiss monetary policy to informally peg the value of the Swiss Franc to the Euro below 1.20. Even if it does not pass, it has the potential to be a "wedge issue" and lead to a fractious debate about gold and monetary policy in a leading industrial nation. This has the potential to create a new found awareness of gold's importance as a monetary asset and as a safe haven asset. The upcoming referendum on Switzerland's gold has evolved via a Swiss popular initiative, which is a form of direct democracy campaigning by citizens in Switzerland. In this case, the initiative is called the "Save Our Swiss Gold (Gold Initiative)". To really understand the "Save Our Swiss Gold (gold Initiative)" and the upcoming Swiss gold referendum on 30 November, it's important to understand how this initiative arose and what its motivations are. It's also important to understand the Swiss political system, since this provides a framework to explain how the initiative proceeded through the Swiss political system to a referendum, and how the referendum voting system works in the Swiss Confederation. Success of Swiss People's Party (SVP) The Swiss gold initiative was launched by members of the Swiss People's Party (SVP) in 2011. Politically, the SVP is considered to be a conservative or right-wing nationalist populist party, although it's also known as the Union Démocratique du Centre in French (Democratic Union of the Centre). Ideologically, the SVP is nationalist, conservative, Eurosceptic and against mass immigration. The SVP were the party that successfully brought the anti-immigration popular initiative to a successful referendum outcome in Switzerland in February 2014. This happened despite the majority of the Swiss body politic and Switzerland's other political parties calling for a 'no' vote in that referendum. This highlights the fact that popular referendum results in Switzerland do not necessarily follow party voting lines. The SVP grew to be the largest political party in Switzerland in the late 1990s, with a notably strong power base in German speaking Zurich, and it continued to strengthen across Switzerland in the 2000s. Currently, the SVP has one elected representative on Switzerland's seven member governing Federal Council, 5 representatives in the upper house of parliament, and 54 representatives (the largest grouping) in the lower house of parliament. Direct Democracy and Popular Initiatives   Switzerland's political system is world renowned for including many of the features of direct democracy including direct initiatives and referenda. Initiatives are campaigns via a petition which aim to bring a proposal to a vote by an electorate. In Switzerland, a 'popular initiative' is a form of initiative that can be activated by Swiss citizens to propose a change to a law. According to the Swiss Federal Administration, popular initiatives are the driving force behind direct democracy. Since the Swiss political system is structured along federal, cantonal, and communal (municipal) lines, there can be federal popular initiatives, as well as popular initiatives on a canton and commune level [1]. Federal Palace of Switzerland Federal popular initiatives aim to change an aspect of the Federal Constitution. Cantonal popular initiatives aim to change an aspect of that canton's constitution (each canton has its own constitution in addition to the Federal Constitution). Switzerland is a Confederation made up of 26 cantons and half-cantons and over 2,600 communes (local communities) [2]. A canton is analogous to a state of the Confederation. On the cantonal level, there are 20 full cantons and 6 half-cantons, a point which comes into play in federal referendums under the concept of 'double majority', which is explained below. The 6 half-cantons were created at various times in Swiss history when three previous full cantons each split in half. The requirement of a federal popular initiative calls for the collection of more than 100,000 signatures among the Swiss electorate over an 18 month period in order to advance the popular initiative to a federal referendum [3]. Petition Filing The SVP filed their initiative petition with the Swiss Government on 26 August 2011, and a preliminary review of the initiative was approved on 6 September 2001 by the Federal Chancellor, Corina Casanova, who concluded that "the title of the Swiss federal popular initiative 'Save our Swiss Gold (Gold) initiative' meets the legal requirements of Article 69 Paragraph 2 of the Federal Act of 17 December 1976." As part of the legal process for federal popular initiatives, the text of the initiative was then published on 20 September 2011 in an official government publication called the Federal Gazette. At that time, the Federal Chancellery listed 17 creators and authors of the initiative, namely: Toni Bortoluzzi, Yvette Estermann, Hans Fehr, Sylvia Flückiger, Patrick Joyous, Oskar Freysinger, Thomas Fuchs, Andrea Geiss Buhler, Alfred Army, Hans Kaufmann, Lukas Reimann, Ernst Shibli, Ulrich Schlüer, Jürg Stahl, Luzi Stamm, Christoph von Rotz, and Walter Wobmann [4]. Initiative Launch The Swiss gold initiative was launched by the SVP at a press conference on 20th September 2011, in Bern where it was stated that the initiative had been launched by four members of the Swiss parliament, including SVP National Councillor Luzi Stamm. The title of the initiative was, at that time, stated to be "Gold Initiative: A Swiss Initiative to Secure the Swiss National Bank's Gold Reserves", although the official name of the initiative was filed as 'Save Our Swiss Gold initiative'. Luzi Stamm stated that there were three parts of the initiative, namely: - The gold of the Swiss National Bank must be stored physically in Switzerland - The Swiss National Bank does not have the right to sell its gold reserves - The Swiss National Bank must hold at least twenty percent (20%) of its total assets in gold. Motivation for the Initiative The SVP said at their launch campaign that they had various motivations in launching the initiative. Firstly, given that the European Central Bank and Federal Reserve had rapidly expanded their money supplies, thereby devaluing the Euro and the US dollar, this impacted the relative strength of the Swiss Franc, and put pressure on the Swiss Franc to also devalue. To counteract these pressures, holding a certain percentage of reserves in gold would allow the Swiss Franc to act as a strong, gold-backed currency, and constrain its devaluation. Secondly, according to the SVP, Switzerland's gold had always been considered to be the "property of the Swiss people". This historical right was severed in 2000 via a Constitutional change, after which the Swiss National Bank proceeded to sell 1,550 tonnes of the country's original 2,590 tonnes of gold reserves. The SVP maintain that selling these gold reserves was a mistake and that the Swiss National Bank and Swiss politicians should not have this right to sell the nation's gold. Lastly, to increase transparency, the SVP reasoned that the Swiss National Bank should be forced to reveal where the Swiss gold reserves are located and to repatriate any gold reserves held abroad back to Switzerland (since at that time in 2011 the Swiss National Bank would not comment on the locations of the remaining gold reserves). In summary, the SVP said that having transparency and a currency which does not continually devalue would become a model example to other countries and central banks around the world [5]. Gathering the People's 100,000 Signatures Article 139 of the Swiss Constitution is titled "Popular Initiative for Partial Revision of the Federal Constitution" and it states that any 100,000 citizens may request a partial revision of the Federal Constitution. Article 139 also details the rules under which a popular initiative proceeds through and is treated by the Federal parliament. Initiative campaigners request a revision via collecting signatures on an official form, and can collect signatures anywhere, for example in households, workplaces, public places, and at public events. The signatures are then verified locally by local government offices who issue certificates of authenticity for the signature lists [6]. The signatures and their certificates are then handed in to the Federal Chancellery for 'verification of petitions'. Credit Suisse Gold Bar Gold Initiative Gets Over 107,000 Signatures The Swiss gold initiative committee filed their signatures with the Federal Chancellery on 20 March 2013. The gold initiative committee and their campaigners managed to collect 107,380 signatures. Of the 107,380 signatures submitted, 106,052 were said to be valid and on 16 April 2013, the Chancellor Corina Casanova deemed that the "Save Our Swiss Gold (gold Initiative)" had arrived at 100,000 valid signatures in accordance with Article 139. This information was then also published in the Federal Gazette. Given the specific wording of the suggested constitutional change, the initiative was classified as a specific draft as opposed to a general proposal. This is important since a specific draft initiative has to attain a double majority of voters and cantons if it is to pass. The signatures were collected across all 26 cantons and represent just over 2% of the most recent total electorate figure of 5.22 million Swiss voters. Over 27,000 signatures were collected in Zurich, representing 3% of the Zurich electorate, over 15,000 signatures from Bern, representing 2.1% of the Bern electorate, and over 13,300 from Aargau, representing 3.25% of the Aargau electorate. Aargau is a canton in the north of Switzerland between Basel and Zurich. In total these three cantons represent 40% of the Swiss electorate. Overall the signature total per canton was in the range of 0.22% to 3.32% of the canton electorate total [7]. Selling The Swiss Family's Gold  The SVP's concerns with the previous sale of Swiss gold reserves refers to two distinct periods between 2000 – 2005 when the Swiss National bank sold 1,300 tonnes of gold, and following that, between 2007 -2008, when the Swiss National Bank sold a further 250 tonnes of Swiss gold reserves. The gold sales between 2000 – 2005 are especially contentious since they arose after a substantial series of legal changes were introduced between 1997 – 1999 by the Swiss government and parliament with substantial advice and planning by the Swiss National Bank. In 1997 the previous requirement that the Swiss Franc be 40% backed by gold was replaced with a 25% backing, as a precursor to the demonetisation of gold. An 'Expert Group' compromising Swiss National Bank and Swiss Federal Administration staff then recommended in 1997 that Switzerland should sell 1,300 tonnes of gold. They did this by revaluing the gold reserves from a historical fixed price to a higher market related price, and then argued that the 2,590 tonne gold holdings was excessive as part of the SNB's reserve portfolio. In April 2000, further legal changes occurred for the Swiss currency, when constitutional amendments were passed by the Swiss electorate which severed the link between the Swiss Franc and gold, and dropped the 25% gold backing for the currency. The Swiss parliament also passed new Federal currency laws which demonetised gold. Taken together, all of these changes then left the door open for the Swiss National Bank to begin gold sales. The SNB sold 120 tonnes of gold over a six month period from May 2000 until September 2000. This was followed by a sale of 200 tonnes over the following 12 months from October 2000 until September 20)1. The majority of these sales (220 tonnes) were conducted by the Bank for International Settlements on behalf of the SNB. The SNB then began direct gold sales, selling 980 tonnes over four years from October 2001 until September 2005. In total, this amounted to 1,300 tonnes. Of the total, 730 tonnes were sold to 25 counterparties, with the physical gold sale trades settling at the Bank of England. The other 350 tonnes were sold using derivative overlays in tranches of approximately 50 tonnes each. These Swiss gold sales formed part of the first and second Central Bank Gold Agreements on coordinated gold sales. The proceeds of the Swiss gold sales were paid out as distributions in the ratio of one third for the Swiss Confederations and two thirds for the cantons. The additional 250 tonnes gold sales over the years 2007 and 2008 were said by the Swiss National bank to be due to a need to rebalance the reserve portfolio between currencies and gold. In total, these sales between 2000 and 2008 amounted to 1550 tonnes of Swiss gold. End of Part 1 by Ronan Manly, GoldCore Consultant Editor, Mark O'Byrne, Head of Research [1] http://www.iniref.org/swiss-dd.html [2] http://direct-democracy.geschichte-schweiz.ch/switzerlands-political-sys… [3] https://www.ch.ch/en/popular-initiatives/ [4]https://translate.google.com/translate?act=url&depth=1&hl=en&ie=UTF8&nv=1&prev=_t&rurl=translate.google.com&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http://www.admin.ch/ch/d/pore/vi/vis415.html [5] http://gold-initiative.ch/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/goldinitiative-engl… [6] http://www.iniref.org/swiss-dd.html [7]https://translate.google.com/translate?act=url&depth=1&hl=en&ie=UTF8&nv=1&prev=_t&rurl=translate.google.com&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http://www.admin.ch/ch/d/pore/vi/vis415.html See Essential Guide To Gold and Silver Storage In Switzerland   GOLDCORE MARKET UPDATE Today's AM fix was USD 1,238.00, EUR 966.89 and GBP 769.61 per ounce. Yesterday's AM fix was USD  1,241.00, EUR  969.38 and GBP 775.87 per ounce. Gold climbed $1.70 or 0.14% to $1,239.50 per ounce and silver slipped $0.05 or 0.29% to $17.38 per ounce yesterday. Gold in U.S. Dollars – 2 Years (Thomson Reuters) Gold edged higher on Friday and was poised for a second straight week of gains as growing fears over the health of the world economy took a toll on global equities and the dollar, leading to safe haven gold buying. Platinum and palladium were the biggest precious metal gainers of the day, recovering about 2% from sharp overnight losses. Gold is up about 1.4% for the week after reaching a one-month high of $1,249.30 on Wednesday. Gold has seen safe haven buying along with U.S. Treasuries on increasing concerns over financial markets, the Eurozone, the emergence of Ebola and the global economy Weak data from China and Europe have in particular badly spooked markets, though U.S. jobless claims and industrial output data on Thursday were slightly better than expected. Dollar weakness has also supported gold and silver as the sluggish data stoked worries that the U.S. Federal Reserve would have to delay the long threatened increase in higher rates. SPDR Gold Trust, the world’s largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, said its holdings rose 0.24 percent to 760.94 tonnes yesterday. In the world's largest gold buyer China, premiums recovered to $2-$3 an ounce from $1-$2 overnight, showing higher demand and lending support to global prices. SGE gold withdrawals were very high this week and saw a very large rise for the week of 68.4 tonnes with most of the buying after their Golden Week holiday. Get Breaking News and Updates On Gold and Markets Here See Essential Guide To Gold and Silver Storage In Switzerland

Gold making cat-like moves, is it about to pounce? Posted: 17 Oct 2014 04:52 AM PDT Gold is holding higher levels, moving slightly down before recovering to hold the highest levels seen recently, observes Julian Phillips.

Gold rebound thwarted by positive US data, equity gains Posted: 17 Oct 2014 04:39 AM PDT Despite hitting a resistance at $1250 levels, gold is still on track for second weekly gains. Changing rate expectations are driving gold and US dollar, analysts said.

Gold price upside limited in 2015 - Scotiabank Posted: 17 Oct 2014 04:00 AM PDT Patricia Mohr advises that copper will drift lower in 2015, as zinc prices remain steady at "lucrative levels" this year.

LBMA names Morgan Stanley as gold/silver market maker Posted: 17 Oct 2014 02:27 AM PDT Just three weeks ago, the LBMA named Citigroup as a spot market-making member.

Anglo Asian set for 29% annual increase in Azerbaijan Posted: 17 Oct 2014 01:59 AM PDT The miner plans to reach its target of between 62,000 and 67,000 gold ounces for the year.

With Seizures Up, Indian Gold Smuggling Loses Its Shine Posted: 16 Oct 2014 11:38 PM PDT "'Da boyz' have sliced about $190 per ounce off the palladium price" ¤ Yesterday In Gold & Silver It was a nothing sort of trading day in the gold market everywhere on Planet Earth on Thursday, as every rally, no matter how tiny, was nipped in the bud before it could break above the $1,245 spot mark.  The gold price was kept corralled within a ten dollar price range for the entire day.  The low and high ticks aren't worth bothering with. Gold closed in New York on Thursday afternoon at $1,238.90 spot, down $2.20 on the day.  Net volume was still pretty chunky at 176,000 contracts. It was more or less the same price chart for silver, as it traded in a 20 cent range for all of the Thursday session---and I shall dispense with the low and high for this metal as well. Silver finished the trading day at $17.365 spot, down 8 cents from Wednesday.  Net volume was pretty decent in that metal as well---36,000 contracts. Platinum traded within a few dollars of $1,250 spot right up until 9:15 a.m. BST in London.  At that point the price got engineered lower by the HFT boyz and their algorithms to the tune of twenty bucks.  It rallied in fits and starts after that---and managed to cut its loss by almost half by the close.  Platinum was finished the Thursday session down 13 bucks. The palladium price traded virtually unchanged from the time the market opened in New York on Wednesday evening, right up until the London a.m. gold 'fix' was done for the day---and then JPMorgan et al went after palladium with a vengeance for the second day in a row.  By 11:40 a.m. EDT they had peeled about 35 dollars off the price---and set a new low in the process.  It gained back about 15 of that in pretty short order---and then traded sideways into the 5:15 p.m. EDT close of electronic trading.  Palladium was closed down 24 bucks, but was down 38 dollars at its low. When I was discussing palladium in the context of the October Bank Participation Report [BPR] in last Saturday's column, this is what I had to say at the time: "In palladium, '3 or less' U.S. bullion banks are net short 8,687 Comex contracts, which is down from the 10,643 contracts they were net short in the September BPR, but virtually the same as they were short back in the July BPR.  So even though JPMorgan et al engineered the price down by about $150 during the reporting month, to its lowest level since mid April, that's the best they could do.  The non-technical traders on the long side in the Managed Money category flatly refused to puke up their positions, or go short by much.  That situation holds true to a certain extent in platinum as well." "Also in palladium, '13 or more' non-U.S. banks were net short 3,765 Comex contracts, which is down big from the 5,937 Comex contracts they held net short in September's BPR.  But it's only a marginal improvement in their 4,694 short position they held back at the end of June." "Try as they might, da boyz can't get any traction in palladium---and that's certainly obvious over the last 18 months in the chart below.  And as an aside in Chart #5, look at the obscene short positions compared to their puny long positions held by the '3 or less' U.S. banks.  It's so grotesque, one doesn't know whether to laugh or cry." [The 'click to enlarge' feature works wonders here] Well, dear reader, since they got nowhere with the 'investors' in the Managed Money category of the Disaggregated COT Report with their efforts in September, they're doubling down this month---and it's time to place your bets as to how low they can get the price.  All proceeds will be divided up between South Africa and Mother Russia---the two countries getting royally screwed over by all these Comex paper games. The dollar index closed late on Wednesday afternoon in New York at 84.87.  From there it crept up to the 85.00 mark---and stayed there until the 10:30 a.m. BST London morning gold fix was in.  Then it jumped up to its 85.37 high shortly after 11 a.m. BST, before chopping lower for the remainder of the Thursday session, closing back below the 85 mark at 84.96---up 9 basis points on the day. The gold stocks opened slightly in the red, but were back in positive territory---and hit their high around 10:30 a.m. EDT.  Then they didn't do much until 1:45 p.m. when a thoughtful soul sold them into negative territory, just like what happened on Wednesday---and a couple of other days in the last week or so.  And though they rallied off their lows, they couldn't quite make it back into the black, as the HUI closed down another 0.30%. The silver equities ploughed a slightly different path.  They, too, started off in the red, but rallied to their high tick shortly after 1 p.m. EDT.  Like the gold shares, they got sold off a bit as well, but Nick Laird's Intraday Silver Sentiment Index still finished up a decent 1.85%. The CME Daily Delivery Report showed that no gold or silver contracts were posted for delivery on Monday. The CME Preliminary Report for the Thursday trading session showed that gold open interest in October dropped by one contract---and now sits at 966 contracts.  In silver, the October open interest declined by 14 contracts, the number that were posted for delivery in yesterday's Daily Delivery Report---and now sits at 174 contracts. After a deposit on Monday---and a withdrawal on Tuesday, an authorized participant added another 57,683 troy ounces to GLD yesterday.  And as of 10:21 p.m. EDT yesterday evening, there were no reported changes in SLV. Since yesterday was Thursday, Joshua Gibbons, the "Guru of the SLV Bar List" updated his website with the in/out activity from the iShares.com Internet site for the reporting week---and this is what he had to say: "Analysis of the 15 October 2014 bar list, and comparison to the previous week's list --- 4,505,960.9 troy ounces were removed (all from Brinks London). No bars were added or had a serial number change." "The bars removed were from: Britannia Refined Metals (1.7M oz), Degussa (0.6M oz), Handy Harman (0.6M oz), and 37 others." "As of the time that the bar list was produced, it was overallocated 369.9 oz.  All daily changes are reflected on the bar list---and of the 4.5M oz removed, about half was from the 08 October 2014 deposit, and about half that had been in there for many years."  The link to Joshua's website is here. The U.S. Mint had a sales report yesterday.  They sold 100,000 silver eagles---and that was it. Over at the Comex-approved depositories on Wednesday, there was no reported in/out activity in gold, but another 1,102,428 troy ounces of silver were shipped out, almost all of it from Scotiabank's vault---and the link to that activity is here. Here's the 1-year VIX chart updated with yesterday's data. Here's a chart that Nick Laird passed around late last night MDT.  It's the weekly gold withdrawals from the Shanghai Gold Exchange for the week ending Friday, October 10.  They reported that 68.369 tonnes were withdrawn---and that's quite a bit. I have the usual number of stories for a mid-week column---and I hope there are some in here that you like.  There are also some absolute must reads that shouldn't be missed. ¤ Critical Reads Data Dependent Fed Ignores 'Data' - Bullard Joins Williams in Call for QE4 As yet another fed speaker takes the jawboning lectern yesterday, it is becomingly increasingly clear that The Fed truly has only one mandate - to keep stocks up. While claiming to be "data-dependent", which judging by the general trend of government-supplied data (and President Obama), things are going great; Jim Bullard joins his intervention-prone colleague Williams. This short commentary appeared on the Zero Hedge website at 10:29 a.m. EDT yesterday---and it's courtesy of Manitoba reader U.M.  A more in-depth story on this appeared on the newsmax.com Internet site at 12:39 p.m. EDT yesterday afternoon.  It's headlined "Bullard: Fed Should Consider Delay in Ending Q.E."---and I thank West Virginia reader Elliot Simon for sending it. Morgan Stanley's Parker: 'Calm Down ... We're Near the Bottom' Adam Parker, chief equity strategist at Morgan Stanley, doesn't see the stock market correction going much further, if at all. The reason: third-quarter profits. "I'm focused on the corporate earnings," he tells CNBC. "I think that generally you're going see earnings grow year over year, and I don't think the S&P 500 really ever goes down 10 percent unless people are afraid of that." The index has slid 7.8 percent from its Sept. 19 record high, closing Wednesday at 1,862.49. "I'm trying to keep my eye on the ball here and say, 'Guys, calm down,'" Parker notes. "Earnings are growing. There are buybacks. There is a dividend. We have a good set of companies here." Well, it's only the bottom if the Plunge Protection Team has decided that Wednesday's low print at 1:30 p.m. EDT was indeed it.  This article showed up on the moneynews.com Internet site at 8:46 a.m. EDT on Thursday---and it's the second story of the day from Elliot Simon. Wolf Richter: Silicon Valley mega-startups go parabolic. Flame-out already happening It’s anecdotal evidence, but it’s everywhere in San Francisco and Silicon Valley. A neighbor was cooling her heels by the curb, suitcase next to her. She’s going to Europe on a “vacation-thing,” organized and paid for by her company, she told me. A team-building perk. She’s a coder at a startup, her first job out of college. When she moved in less than two years ago, trucks kept pulling up to deliver her latest acquisitions. One day, she gingerly parked a new BMW in the garage. As we were chatting about her trip to Europe, a limo pulled up for her ride to the airport. That too was part of the perk. No expenses will be spared. This startup occupies super-expensive San Francisco office space that’s way too big for the number of employees. It’s embellished with designer furniture. Free lunches are de rigueur. All paid for with the boundless money it is getting from investors. But who cares, except for a few wayward souls in the venture capital [VC] community who lament those sizzling burn rates. Bill Gurley, partner at Benchmark, had stepped to the forefront a few weeks ago to warn that “the average burn rate at the average venture-backed company” is at an “all-time high since ‘99 and maybe in many industries higher than in ‘99”. Marc Andreessen, founder of long-forgotten Netscape, then warned in a series of tweets: “When the market turns, and it will turn, we will find out who has been swimming without trunks on. Many high burn rate companies will VAPORIZE.” His final and most eloquent tweet: “Worry.” Some other VCs chimed in when they had a minute, in between throwing even more cash at these companies to drive their valuations ever deeper into the stratosphere: in the first half, they’d thrown $15.6 billion at them in later-stage financing rounds, The Wall Street Journal reported, on track to break the record of $28.4 billion set in 2000, the year of peak craziness as the whole scheme was already collapsing. This essay is definitely worth reading---and the embedded chart is not to be missed.  It was posted on the wolfstreet.com Internet site back on Thursday, October 9---and my thanks go out to Mark Hancock for bringing it to our attention. HFT Firm Athena Engaged In Massive Closing Price Manipulation, Called It "Gravy" And to think it was only yesterday when The Wall Street Journal unleashed this epic puff piece about HFT shop Hudson Trading with the following bulls hit: In their minds, they are making the markets more efficient through their trading... Critics of high-frequency trading are not likely to be easily won over, however. It’s going to take a lot of frank discussions between firms like Hudson River Trading and the market commentators who see them as parasites. Sadly, what makes it complicated is that they are parasites, the only question if they are law-abiding parasites or criminal parasites. Enter the daily exhibit of yet another HFT firm busted for rigging everything it touches. Today's culprit: Athena Capital, which did what every other algorithmic, HFT firm does - rig the market of course, but at least it had a sense of humor about it: Athena called the market-rigging algorithm that "manipulated the closing prices of tens of thousands of stocks during the final seconds of almost every trading day during the Relevant Period" by the very amusing name "Gravy." But remember: HFTs are really your friend - they just provide liquidity and stuff. Why should anything surprise us anymore?  This longish article appeared on the Zero Hedge website at 2:12 p.m. EDT yesterday---and I thank Elliot Simon for his third offering of the day. Mish Shedlock: How Can There Not Be a Currency Crisis? The Fed claims that signs of economic stress are very low, but savvy investors feel otherwise. With geopolitical unrest expanding and central banks doing the opposite of the right things, is a currency crisis barreling toward us? See what Mish Shedlock had to say about the state of world finance at the 2014 Casey Research Summit. Mish's 31:27 minute presentation at the Summit was posted in the clear over at the caseyresearch.com Internet site yesterday---and it's worth watching if you have the time. Thomas L. Friedman: a Pump War? Is it just my imagination or is there a global oil war underway pitting the United States and Saudi Arabia on one side against Russia and Iran on the other? One can’t say for sure whether the American-Saudi oil alliance is deliberate or a coincidence of interests, but, if it is explicit, then clearly we’re trying to do to President Vladimir Putin of Russia and Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, exactly what the Americans and Saudis did to the last leaders of the Soviet Union: pump them to death — bankrupt them by bringing down the price of oil to levels below what both Moscow and Tehran need to finance their budgets. Think about this: four oil producers — Libya, Iraq, Nigeria and Syria — are in turmoil today, and Iran is hobbled by sanctions. Ten years ago, such news would have sent oil prices soaring. But today, the opposite is happening. Global crude oil prices have been falling for weeks, now resting around $88 — after a long stretch at $105 to $110 a barrel. The price drop is the result of economic slowdowns in Europe and China, combined with the United States becoming one of the world’s biggest oil producers — thanks to new technologies enabling the extraction of large amounts of “tight oil” from shale — combined with America starting to make exceptions and allowing some of its newfound oil products to be exported, combined with Saudi Arabia refusing to cut back its production to keep prices higher, but choosing instead to maintain its market share against other OPEC producers. The net result has been to make life difficult for Russia and Iran, at a time when Saudi Arabia and America are confronting both of them in a proxy war in Syria. This is business, but it also has the feel of war by other means: oil. The Russians have noticed. How could they not? They’ve seen this play before. The Russian newspaper Pravda published an article on April 3 with the headline, “Obama Wants Saudi Arabia to Destroy Russian Economy.” It said: “There is a precedent [for] such joint action that caused the collapse of the U.S.S.R. In 1985, the Kingdom dramatically increased oil production from 2 million to 10 million barrels per day, dropping the price from $32 to $10 per barrel. [The] U.S.S.R. began selling some batches at an even lower price, about $6 per barrel. Saudi Arabia [did not lose] anything, because when prices fell by 3.5 times [Saudi] production increased fivefold. The planned economy of the Soviet Union was not able to cope with falling export revenues, and this was one of the reasons for the collapse of the U.S.S.R.” Like Ted Butler mentioned in yesterday's column, oil prices are being engineered lower by JPMorgan et al, just like what's happening in the four precious metals, plus copper.  But having said that, this absolute must read op-ed commentary appeared on The New York Times website on Tuesday sometime---and I thank reader Jim Skinner for sending it our way. <

Thomas L. Friedman: a Pump War? Posted: 16 Oct 2014 11:38 PM PDT Thomas L. Friedman: a Pump War? Is it just my imagination or is there a global oil war underway pitting the United States and Saudi Arabia on one side against Russia and Iran on the other? One can’t say for sure whether the American-Saudi oil alliance is deliberate or a coincidence of interests, but, if it is explicit, then clearly we’re trying to do to President Vladimir Putin of Russia and Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, exactly what the Americans and Saudis did to the last leaders of the Soviet Union: pump them to death — bankrupt them by bringing down the price of oil to levels below what both Moscow and Tehran need to finance their budgets. Think about this: four oil producers — Libya, Iraq, Nigeria and Syria — are in turmoil today, and Iran is hobbled by sanctions. Ten years ago, such news would have sent oil prices soaring. But today, the opposite is happening. Global crude oil prices have been falling for weeks, now resting around $88 — after a long stretch at $105 to $110 a barrel. The price drop is the result of economic slowdowns in Europe and China, combined with the United States becoming one of the world’s biggest oil producers — thanks to new technologies enabling the extraction of large amounts of “tight oil” from shale — combined with America starting to make exceptions and allowing some of its newfound oil products to be exported, combined with Saudi Arabia refusing to cut back its production to keep prices higher, but choosing instead to maintain its market share against other OPEC producers. The net result has been to make life difficult for Russia and Iran, at a time when Saudi Arabia and America are confronting both of them in a proxy war in Syria. This is business, but it also has the feel of war by other means: oil. The Russians have noticed. How could they not? They’ve seen this play before. The Russian newspaper Pravda published an article on April 3 with the headline, “Obama Wants Saudi Arabia to Destroy Russian Economy.” It said: “There is a precedent [for] such joint action that caused the collapse of the U.S.S.R. In 1985, the Kingdom dramatically increased oil production from 2 million to 10 million barrels per day, dropping the price from $32 to $10 per barrel. [The] U.S.S.R. began selling some batches at an even lower price, about $6 per barrel. Saudi Arabia [did not lose] anything, because when prices fell by 3.5 times [Saudi] production increased fivefold. The planned economy of the Soviet Union was not able to cope with falling export revenues, and this was one of the reasons for the collapse of the U.S.S.R.” Like Ted Butler mentioned in yesterday's column, oil prices are being engineered lower by JPMorgan et al, just like what's happening in the four precious metals, plus copper.  But having said that, this absolute must read op-ed commentary appeared on The New York Times website on Tuesday sometime---and I thank reader Jim Skinner for sending it our way.

Dana Allen: How the Soviet Empire’s Fall was Engineered Posted: 16 Oct 2014 11:38 PM PDT Dana Allen: How the Soviet Empire's Fall was Engineered In March 1999 I was privileged to hear from John Browne, Margaret Thatcher's Foreign Policy Advisor the story of how a plan was developed to end the Soviet Empire. Browne said the key individuals in this were President Reagan, Bill Casey of the CIA, Thatcher, Browne and the Pope.  Reagan thought differently than previous presidents and the State Department, who thought just containing and living with the Soviets was the best policy. Reagan wanted to actively topple them. Remember the 2nd prong in bankrupting the Soviets, reducing their Foreign Exchange income? The first step on that was to determine where the Soviets income mostly came from. It turned out to be Oil and Gold. Then Browne said that this is where the CIA came in, they in a very sophisticated manner went around the world and manipulated markets to drive down the price of both Oil and Gold. Remember where Oil and Gold were when Reagan took over? They were in the neighborhood of $30 a barrel and $500 an ounce. Both fell dramatically under Reagan. As Browne made this and other points I would look across the patio and look at Mrs. Casey and Al Haig and both would be nodding in agreement with Browne's points. The conclusion of the speech was that it worked, and the Soviets ran out of money and fell. There are people who believe that the American government is today manipulating the price of gold downward for their own purposes. I do not know if this is true, however I do know they have the capability to do so as they did it in the 1980s to bankrupt the Soviets. One of the incredible things about this story is that it was written on August 17, 2001---that's 13 years ago.   It was this essay that sent me in search of what happened to Canada's gold---and my rather lengthy tome: "When Irish Eyes are Smiling: The Story of Canada's Gold?" was the result.  This story by Dana Allen is one I posted in The Wrap section of last Saturday's column, but I though it important enough to drag it out and stick it in today's Critical Reads section.  If you haven't read it, it's probably the most important article in today's column---and falls into the absolute must read category.  It's posted on GATA Chairman Bill Murphy's website lemetropolecafe.com.

LME to take over London platinum, palladium fixes Posted: 16 Oct 2014 11:38 PM PDT LME to take over London platinum, palladium fixes The London Metal Exchange, owned by Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd, will take charge of London's platinum and palladium pricing, also known as "fixes", from Dec. 1, replacing a teleconference with an electronic platform. The unexpected move marks a stunning comeback for the LME, which failed to secure administration of the century-old London silver price benchmark - the first to go electronic in a wave of reform for precious metals pricing procedures. It also puts the world's biggest metals marketplace back in contention to take over the much larger gold benchmark. "We built (our electronic platform) primarily to participate platinum and palladium but the gold fixing process is very similar, so what we said is that if the market would like to use (it) for gold as well then we are very happy to discuss that," the LME Head of Business Development Matthew Chamberlain said in a phone interview with Reuters. Needless to say, I'm underwhelmed by this news, dear reader.  The Reuters article, co-filed from Singapore and London, showed up on the mineweb.com Internet site yesterday---and it's another contribution to today's column from reader U.M.

Is Gold as Dead as This Year's Hurricane Season? Posted: 16 Oct 2014 11:38 PM PDT Is Gold as Dead as This Year's Hurricane Season? It’s been 3,279 days since a hurricane hit Florida. As hurricane season comes to a close next month, only Mother Nature knows how long the streak will last. Like many Floridians, we stayed home and rode out a hurricane—once! We’d built a home on Perdido Key, a barrier island west of Pensacola. It was engineered to withstand 150-plus mph winds, and it was a beautiful home with a master bedroom spanning the entire third floor, looking out across the Gulf of Mexico. Hurricane Danny hit the Gulf shortly after we moved in. It was a fast-moving Category I with winds gusting in the 75-80 mph range. Full of confidence and a bit curious, we decided to hunker down and ride it out. At the speed it was traveling, it should have been over in a matter of hours. Then, Danny caught everyone by surprise and stalled in Mobile Bay, pounding us for three days. We tried to get some sleep in our bedroom, but we could feel the house move with each gust of wind. We moved downstairs to the guest room, but sleep was impossible as the wind howled, making sounds we’d never heard before. We watched bits and pieces of our neighbor’s tile roof fly off and smash a few feet from our house. We were trapped and terrified for three days. Never again! It took months for our island recover. This very interesting commentary from Dennis Miller, was posted on the millersmoney.com Internet site yesterday.  It's certainly worth reading if you have the time.

Jewellery sales double on the occasion of Gurupushya Nakshatra Posted: 16 Oct 2014 11:38 PM PDT Jewellery sales double on the occasion of Gurupushya Nakshatra Gold jewellery sales doubled on the occasion of the Gurupushya Nakshatra, one of the most auspicious occasions celebrated largely in the western Indian states. Jewellery retailers attracted customers through massive discount on making charges. While the occasion is celebrated every year on Thursday ahead of Diwali, this year the significance was unique as the day coincided with the stars coming together making thereby, the most sacred day for owning a piece of gold. "We marketed today's occasion differently this year. In all our advertisements, we mentioned that all lucky stars are coming together on Thursday after 95 years. Such occasion will come next only after 70 years in 2085 and hence, giving the rarest of the rare lifetime opportunity for consumers to own a piece of gold. Therefore, all our 14 retail stores are witnessing a bumper sale with an estimate to achieve at least 100% growth on Thursday," said R K Sharma, chief executive officer of Delhi based P C Jewellers (PCJ). In a complete shift of perennial mode of business through usual means of advertisements and event sponsorships, jewellery retailers have identified celebrations of different geographies to boost sales. Jewellery retailers have picked up dozens of region specific celebrations with religious connection to focus on marketing accordingly. Similar to Akshaya Tritiya celebrated in the South, jewellers have picked up Gurupushya Nakshatra in the west which is largely celebrated in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh etc. This gold-related story appeared on the bullionbulletin.in website yesterday sometime---and I thank reader U.M. for sharing it with us.

Singapore Exchange meets demand for physical gold Posted: 16 Oct 2014 11:38 PM PDT Singapore Exchange meets demand for physical gold THE big news of the week, which went unnoticed by the mainstream media, was the launch of the new gold kilogram bar contract by the Singapore Exchange. The new Singapore Kilobar Gold contract is for 25kg of 99.99% pure gold and began trading on the Singapore Exchange on Monday, introducing centralised trading and clearing of a physically delivered gold contract in Singapore. The contract is the result of collaboration between International Enterprise Singapore, the Singapore Bullion Market Association, the Singapore Exchange and the World Gold Council. Asia’s incessant demand for physical gold is the biggest driver for the implementation of a new gold contract trade on the Singapore Exchange. The move comes after the Singapore government in 2012 exempted investment in precious metals from a 7% goods and services levy. Meanwhile, the Shanghai Gold Exchange was launched in September inside the city’s free-trade zone, offering yuan-denominated contracts backed by gold held in Shanghai. Furthermore, the recent rally in the dollar is unjustified by the economic fundamentals and will not be sustainable in the long term. Gold, therefore, remains a crucial portfolio diversifier for the potential dangers ahead. Here's another gold-related story from the bullionbulletin.com Internet site yesterday---and it's another offering from Manitoba reader M.A.

With seizures up, Indian gold smuggling loses its shine Posted: 16 Oct 2014 11:38 PM PDT With seizures up, Indian gold smuggling loses its shine Gold smuggling into India, the world's second-biggest consumer of the precious metal, is becoming more risky for couriers following a surge in seizures and less profitable for the gangs behind the practice. After being caught off guard by a jump in smuggling on the back of a hike in import duty last year, government agencies have stepped up seizures to the extent that couriers are demanding more money to carry in gold, according to customs intelligence officials and an industry analyst. At the same time, a drop in the gap between local and global prices also means there is less profit to be made by smuggling in gold, giving banks more business and higher revenue for a government struggling to rein in a fiscal deficit. "Gold smuggling was highly profitable ... but now with the drop in premiums and tight security, legal imports are increasing," said Milind Lanjewar, additional commissioner of customs intelligence at Mumbai international airport. This Reuters article, filed from Mumbai, showed up on their website at 5:16 a.m. IST on their Friday morning---and I thank Manitoba reader U.M. for her final contribution to today's column.

Is there a lifeline available for the eurozone this time around? Posted: 16 Oct 2014 08:31 PM PDT Is European Central Bank president Mario Draghi finally revealed as the emperor with no clothes? He is not the Fed chair. So what if anything can be done to throw a lifeline to the eurozone economy, the largest economic bloc in the world? European stocks dropped for an eighth day in the longest rout since 2003, oil fell toward $80 a barrel and treasuries rose on concern global growth is slowing. Bonds from Greece to Spain slid while the dollar strengthened. Bloomberg's Jonathan Ferro reports on ‘Bloomberg Surveillance’…

Harvey Organ’s Gold & Silver Update: Something Has Got to Give! Posted: 16 Oct 2014 06:00 PM PDT  China is still in a holding pattern ready to pounce when needed. The open interest on silver remains highly elevated.  Gold has a low OI with a low gold price.  Silver has a high OI with a low silver price. Something has got to give!! Let’s head immediately to see what the data has in […] The post Harvey Organ’s Gold & Silver Update: Something Has Got to Give! appeared first on Silver Doctors. Check out these similar articles: Harvey Organ’s Gold & Silver Update: PM’s Rebuff All Attempts of Containment! Harvey Organ’s Gold & Silver Update: We Are Moving Closer to Backwardation! Harvey Organ Updates His Readers- Will Continue Posting on SilverDoctors

The Height of Idiocy: US Government Hijacks the Whole Swiss Banking System Posted: 16 Oct 2014 04:00 PM PDT This is the economic equivalent of a military occupation… Submitted by Simon Black, Sovereign Man:  True story. One of our SMC members just received a package from HSBC giving him and his wife a deadline to comply with FATCA—US' global tax law. As Canadians they'd long felt bad for Americans having to deal with the […] The post The Height of Idiocy: US Government Hijacks the Whole Swiss Banking System appeared first on Silver Doctors. Check out these similar articles: Ron Paul: The IRS's Job Is To Violate Our Liberties A List Of 97 Taxes Americans Pay Every Year An Interview With Barack Obama About The IRS Scandal, AP Phone Records And Benghazi

Silver Myths Smashed, Pt. 3: The Silliest Question You Could Possibly Ask about Silver Posted: 16 Oct 2014 03:15 PM PDT Wondering what is the most ridiculous question one could possibly ask about silver?  Submitted by The Wealth Watchman:  So Many Myths, So Little Time Do ya wanna know the hardest part of about writing a "Silver myth-Smashing series"?  It certainly hasn't been figuring out how to dispel the lies, that's for sure! Silver lies are all brittle […] The post Silver Myths Smashed, Pt. 3: The Silliest Question You Could Possibly Ask about Silver appeared first on Silver Doctors. Check out these similar articles: COT REPORT REVEALS MASSIVE PLUNGE IN SILVER COMMERCIAL NET SHORT POSITIONS!! Silver COT Report 10/7/11 Guest Post: If You Can’t Afford Silver or Gold, Exchange Your Fiat For Copper and Nickel

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