Before diving into the featured topic, let it be known that the USD-based platforms and USGovt-sponsored continental trade unions are a dismal failure, poorly crafted, poorly sold. The effect will be to accelerate the gradually accelerating USDollar rejection on a global scale. The war and sanctions angle continue to support and defend the USD, but it is unsupportable (due to crippling debt) and indefensible (due to QE hyper inflation). The previous week was the most damaging in many years from a psychological standpoint. Full Story
Year to date total withdrawals have reached a staggering 561 tonnes, up 7.3 % from 2014, up 33 % from 2013. When using the basic equation for the Chinese gold market to estimate import, we learn that up until March 20 China has net imported 412 tonnes. Add to this India has net imported about 230 tonnes over the same period, that’s 642 tonnes combined. I wonder how long the Chinese can keep up this pace of importing before physical supply from Western vaults runs dry. Full Story
There appears to be trouble brewing along a number of fronts of which Greece might only be one of them. Above is the sinking ship known as Greece as represented by the Global FTSE Greece 20 ETF (GREK-AMEX). Greece is just one of a number of growing global problems. The problems are both economic and geopolitical. All or anyone of them could have a profound negative impact on global stock markets, gold and oil. Full Story
By: Adam Hamilton, Zeal Intelligence - 27 March, 2015
Silver reversed sharply higher over the past week or so, surging dramatically. This was just after it had successfully retested major secular lows, ramping the odds this strong buying is the vanguard of a long-overdue major new upleg. As usual, silver’s coming gains will be fueled by gold’s own advance. As the yellow metal mean reverts higher initially on heavy futures short covering, capital will flock back to silver. Full Story
Inexorably, Relentlessly a Global Climacteric is coming, though it is to date obvious only to a very few. It will profoundly affect not only our investments but also all major Nations and their citizenry. And we will begin to see Visible Major Moves in The Global Climacteric in the next few weeks. Indeed, we just saw some Precursors recently which the Main Stream Media either “neglected” to publicize or have trivialized. Full Story
Though the Fed would deny it, it is clear from the minutes of the last Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting that a rise in interest rates has been put off indefinitely. The subsequent rally in the price of gold and the sudden fall in the dollar tend to confirm this conclusion. Full Story
By: Steve St. Angelo, SRSrocco Report - 27 March, 2015
There is this silly notion that the United States will become energy independent in the next several years, thus making it unnecessary to import oil from Middle Eastern countries such as Saudi Arabia. While some fairy tales in life may come true…. U.S. energy independence isn’t one of them. Full Story
I noted the same conundrum that Mr. Lockhart is now referencing. What I find astonishing however is that Mr. Lockhart never raised the possibility of the Fed actually using this GIFT to reduce the size of the Fed’s balance sheet. Seriously, one could not ask for a better possible scenario into which the Fed could scale down its balance sheet with as little disruption to the financial markets as possible. Full Story
The futures are up the equivalent of about 70 Dow points late Thursday night, having pushed past a 2053.25 target that I'd flagged in the chat room intraday. It took about 90 minutes of head-butting for buyers to accomplish this, but the payoff could come in the form of a rally Friday to 2069.00 or higher. That’s a Hidden Pivot resistance, and traders should consider its attainment an odds-on bet if this vehicle pushes past the 2057.75 midpoint pivot. Full Story
It would be nearly impossible to find two world leaders in living memory whose influence is more inextricably linked to the countries they presided over than Cuba’s Fidel Castro and Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew, who passed away this Monday at the age of 91. Full Story
Many people believe the Chinese are on the cusp of replacing the U.S. in many fashions, I believe this myself. There are others out there who believe the Chinese economy and financial markets will crash and burn with all the rest when the derivatives chain finally breaks, I don't disagree with this either. Let's look at what the Chinese have done, what they are doing and where they may end up. The spoiler is this, I believe you can equate the Chinese to where the United States stood in the late 1920's and early 1930's. Full Story
By: Chris Powell, Secretary/Treasurer, GATA - 26 March, 2015
Yesterday's concentration on gold at the spectacular Mines and Money Hong Kong conference may have inadvertently proved GATA's longstanding contention that gold market manipulation simply can't be discussed in polite company almost anywhere in the world. For at the outset of a panel discussion described as a debate about the direction of the gold price, its moderator, Rod Whyte, a longtime gold advocate and member of the Board of Directors of Australia-based business information provider Aspermont Ltd., announced that the panelists had agreed that gold market manipulation would not be discussed because the topic is "too inflammatory." Full Story
Better late than never, the gold market has entered the digital era, joining other precious metals in the 21st century. Criticism of an archaic global price fixing system intensified with some claiming it lacked credibility. Following numerous fines on international banks due to scandals of price manipulation, gold traders may now have more peace of mind with a new electronic system to manage price setting. Full Story
In our new book The Silver Manifesto, David Morgan and I not only discuss the debt bomb waiting to explode in most every western world economy but also the fact that the Fed will NEVER willingly hike interest rates by any material degree because (i) the monetary policy in place isn’t conducive to economic growth, instead promoting vast misallocations of capital and (ii) because the U.S. economy is a debt based economy which needs constant debt financing, the Fed would never hike interest rates as the cost of servicing the interest on newly acquired debt would spiral out of control, thereby causing deficit spending to go through the roof. Substantially higher deficit spending would necessarily require even more debt accumulation and the cycle would repeat itself. Full Story
As long as the bounce comes from above 2037.25, we can use the large pattern shown to project a target for the next rally. Alternatively, the selloff would wreak heavy technical damage on the daily chart if it continues over the next day or two, exceeding 2029.00 to the downside without an intervening rally lasting more than a day. Full Story
The most recent data available suggests the US Mint is currently the largest mint on the planet in terms of production output, having produced 4.54 tonnes of gold in Eagles and Buffalos year to date (January and February 2015). The largest gold mints of the world are the Turkish State Mint, Chinese Mint, South African Mint, US Mint, Perth Mint (Australia), Royal Canadian Mint and Austrian Mint. Full Story
Suppose that you live in a capital city under siege, that is surrounded by revolutionary armies. And while you don't know the exact timing or specifics, you do believe that the overthrow of the current regime is close to a 100 percent certainty. So you take your life savings and enter into a series of binding contracts with the current regime, under advantageous terms for you. The revolutionary armies enter the capital city, the current regime is ousted, the new regime repudiates the contracts of the previous regime – and you are left penniless. Full Story
Lastweek the FOMC essentially removed forward guidance and placed all options back on the table, and at the end of the day they’ve opened the door for further tightening. As Yellen recently explained in advance, the removal of the word patience from the Fed’s guidance amounts to fair warning to the rest of the world’s central banks: an interest rate hike is on the horizon. Govern your actions accordingly. (My personal guess, for those interested, is September, with the Fed proceeding exceedingly slowly and cautiously thereafter.) Full Story
Gold and silver probed their November 2014 lows early last week and finished strong. From a chart standpoint, they both put in outside reversal weeks to the upside. I'd like to visit the current "setup" in gold and silver from several angles and then take a step back and look at them from a very broad view. Full Story
Silver prices are largely set on the COMEX futures – paper silver. A company can post the margin and sell short thousands of contracts with no actual metal available thereby creating artificial supply. The reverse occurs when some company buys thousands of contracts. It is a paper game, but unfortunately it has tremendous influence on the price of real silver. Full Story
For the last several weeks, I have provided you, and, sometimes even entertained you, with my perspective of a very evil pattern to play out in the metals. Such a pattern was supposed to test the 2014’s lows (and potentially even break them), and then rally to the 2015 highs to set up the final decline to the lower lows to end the 3+ year correction in silver. Full Story
March has not even ended, though preliminary data indicates India has already imported over 130 tonnes of gold this month. A conservative estimate suggests total gross import can reach 150 tonnes of gold this month. Because of a “current account deficit” the Indian government decided in March 2012 to raise to import duty on gold from 2 % to 4 %, in June 2013 from 4 % to 8% and in August 2013 from 8 % to 10 %. Additionally, in August 2013 the 80/20 rule was implemented, which was eventually withdrawn in December 2014. Full Story
By: Peter Schiff, CEO of Euro Pacific Capital - 24 March, 2015
Janet Yellen channels Billy Flynn? Last week the Fed Chairwoman treated us to a master class of rhetorical misdirection which produced some memorable examples of doublespeak, including the soon to be classic "Just because we removed the word 'patient' does not mean we're going to be 'impatient."' But perhaps more surprising than her new heights of verbal dexterity was the market's euphoria at being so blatantly manipulated. Never has the financial world enjoyed a lie so thoroughly. Full Story
If you’ve ever walked a dog, you know about the zigzag path that dogs take down a sidewalk. After all, there are great odors to sniff on both sides of the sidewalk so your dog will veer far to the left, take a few deep sniffs before veering off to the right to see what olfactory surprises the other side holds. Full Story
As an investor, I want to bet on the jockeys who win the most races, not just the best-looking horses. So, while I’m no Tom Peters or Stephen Covey, I’ve made a study of success over the last decade. The critical question for a metals investor: what does it takes to be a serially successful mine-finder? Full Story
For those who don't know, it is proper to replace the words "high yield" with "junk bonds". These are THE most risky, lowest rated credits there are and have soared as investors have chased yield. Does this look like a bubble to you? Has your broker suggested this arena as a way to "diversify" or to strive for added yield ...safely? Do you think the smart money is chasing these blindly? Full Story
On March 20, 2015, global gold price discovery changed. Transparency was introduced to the London gold market, as the new “LBMA Gold Price” was launched. In my professional opinion, the changes in London are ushering in an entire new era of gold price stability, consistency, and transparency, and that will attract large money managers to this spectacular asset. Full Story
American’s ascension is a perfect reflection of the now-robust airline industry as a whole. As recently as a decade ago, about 70 percent of U.S. carriers were operating under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Fast forward to 2014, and the industry saw its most profitable year ever. To generate more revenue and save money, airlines have aggressively implemented new policies in the last few years, including adding additional seats on aircraft, streamlining operations and focusing on fuel-efficiency measures. Full Story
By: Steve St. Angelo, SRSrocco Report - 24 March, 2015
The Western powers are in serious trouble. The once great British Anglo-American Empire, the envy of the world, now resembles more of a phony Hollywood Set backed by a mountain of worthless derivatives and debt. The only thing holding up the Western Financial Empire’s House of Cards is faith that market will continue to believe increasing debt and monetary printing are practical solutions for long-term prosperity. Full Story
From day to day and week to week, short-run fluctuations in the price of gold have, of late, been driven almost entirely by expectations of prospective Federal Reserve monetary policies, particularly with respect to short-term interest rates. In turn, these expectations have been driven by the flow of economic data and the somewhat opaque and contradictory comments by one or another Federal Reserve official. Full Story
Have you had enough of the constant bombardment of noise coming out of the media these days – who could have imagined the stupidity just a few years back. Of course we should have known the last time NASDAQ hit 5,000 this was inevitable, with continued mania in all things technology apparently necessary for an otherwise impotent Empire – drowning in debt with increasing diminishing returns across the gambit. Full Story
Three things support this conclusion. First, the Commitment of Traders report for March 20/15 tells us that the Managed Money crowd (hedge funds) have pushed their net short position to the same extremes as they did at the November low in gold. Since January 27/15, these traders have increased their shorts from 19,873 contracts to 78,623 while reducing their longs from 173,110 to 97,847. This huge swing in fast money positioning suggests to us that gold has double bottomed. Full Story
The significance as you can see is what results when all three series are contracting in unison, a recession. In the old days when things were “normal”, recessions were no big deal. They were inconvenient and yes, they did clean out some mal investment but they were deemed necessary. Recessions were even expected and considered a natural event even though induced by the credit cycle. This is no longer true and has not been since at least the year 2000, it can even be argued all the way back to the early 1990′s. Full Story
Gold had a constructive rally in the back half of the week after the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) highlighted the weak inflationary pressures facing the economy and lowered its projections for interest-rate increases. Despite the Federal Reserve removing the “patient” language from its statement, investors feel we are further from a rate hike than previously anticipated. Full Story
The Fed is important because millions of market participants believe it is important and a critical mass of people are under the illusion that its policies have put the “Great Recession” in the past and laid a path for a sustainably good economy going forward. In short, confidence in the Fed has never been more pervasive as it reaps the reward (the respect and confidence of the majority) for a job well done. Full Story
The Shanghai International Gold Exchange (SGEI) was launched in September 2014, to internationalize the Chinese gold market and the renminbi. The timing of the launch is quite remarkable though, in the context of changes in the international monetary system (IMS). 2015 is likely to force a major shift in the IMS. Two developments are worth watching, the SDR basket will be reviewed, the renminbi will probably be adopted later this year, and the rise of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), an international financial institution proposed by China with many Western members; currently France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Switzerland, New Zealand and the UK. Both developments are severe blows to the US dollar hegemony. Full Story
By: Chris Powell, Secretary/Treasurer, GATA - 23 March, 2015
Your secretary/treasurer was interviewed this morning in Hong Kong by Bernie Lo on CNBC Asia's "Squawk Box" program, discussing gold market manipulation, the failure of mainstream financial news organizations to put critical questions to central banks about their surreptitious intervention in the gold market, the "new" gold fix in London, the market-destroying and imperialistic results of gold price suppression, and the general subversion of democracy by central banking. Full Story
We wrote in one of our daily articles that Sweden had cut its main interest rate into negative territory (-0.10 percent). That way the Riksbank followed other European central banks. Currently, except Sweden, the negative interest rates are set by the Central Bank of Denmark, the European Central Bank and the Swiss National Bank. What does such a historically unusual monetary policy mean for the financial markets? Full Story
Economist Martin Armstrong of Armstrong Economics is the subject of a new controversial documentary The Forecaster. Our guest compares the economic carnage in the EU to the fallout in Detroit, a once vibrant showcase of capitalism. The dollar has considerable upside amid global deflation, as the US is viewed as the least sick patient in the economic ward. Louis Navellier's investment funds continue to top the Wall Street Journal profitability charts in 2014 - 2015. The strong US dollar is erasing profits of multinationals. Such conditions are merely temporary blips amid an ongoing equities bull market. Three months of negative retail sales are exacerbating national deflation, which is impacting Fed policy Full Story
The immediate outlook for gold has improved dramatically following the dollar’s topping action of recent days after the Fed was rumbled, and the vast improvement in the COT structure of the past 2 weeks. While the negative outlook set out in the last update could yet come to pass in the event of a deflationary implosion – and remains a risk until gold breaks out of the downtrend shown here on our 8-year chart – latest COTs certainly suggest that the risk has been averted for now. Full Story
Has the tide begun to turn for the precious metals, notably silver and gold? In our view the turn began last year and if pressed to pinpoint one event, it would be following the failure of the Swiss referendum when the SNB de-pegged the franc from the euro. The Swiss National Bank was frustrated with the continued depreciation of the Euro. This had as much to do with sentiment as it did with the SNB clearing seeing the Euro might be going the way of the Rentenmark. Full Story
As most of you know by now, I am bearish on gold from an intermediate term perspective on account of the fact that I do believe that the Fed is eventually going to have to raise rates and try to somehow normalize monetary policy/interest rates. Perhaps I am wrong about that but I find it hard to believe that we can expect near zero interest rates into perpetuity. My own view is that the Fed can only do much to help the economy with monetary policy. What it cannot do however is to set fiscal policy or to deal with the heavy regulatory burden of an overreaching federal government. Full Story
The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank [AIIB]. What is it? Yet another political disaster for the Obama administration as it leaves a wide swath of blunder after blunder in massively failed efforts to keep US allies from aligning with China’s newest anti-US, anti-fiat Federal Reserve “dollar, AIIB. It will not just compete with the World Bank, a US-dominated financial entity, the AIIB will logically replace the World Bank in its own Asian sphere of influence. Full Story
A great week for markets and stocks who broke out earlier in the week off lows and then continued nice action into Friday. I’m quite heavy into stocks now, mostly focused on the pharma and biotech sectors that I’ve been focused on for a long time now. We are not yet to the blow-off stage that will be similar to the late 90’s in tech but we are getting there and seeing some stunning moves already. Full Story
The content on this site is protected
by U.S. and international copyright laws and is the property of GoldSeek.com
and/or the providers of the content under license. By "content" we mean any
information, mode of expression, or other materials and services found on GoldSeek.com.
This includes editorials, news, our writings, graphics, and any and all other
features found on the site. Please contact
us for any further information.
Live GoldSeek Visitor Map | Disclaimer
The views contained here may not represent the views of GoldSeek.com, Gold Seek LLC, its affiliates or advertisers. GoldSeek.com, Gold Seek LLC makes no representation, warranty or guarantee as to the accuracy
or completeness of the information (including news, editorials, prices, statistics,
analyses and the like) provided through its service. Any copying, reproduction
and/or redistribution of any of the documents, data, content or materials contained
on or within this website, without the express written consent of GoldSeek.com, Gold Seek LLC,
is strictly prohibited. In no event shall GoldSeek.com, Gold Seek LLC or its affiliates be
liable to any person for any decision made or action taken in reliance upon
the information provided herein.
