Recent developments in precious metals space raise series of questions in terms of sustainability of yellow and white metal moves in the foreseeable future. In order to gauge near-term precious metal moves, investors track precious metals’ relationship between currency fluctuations, stock market influence and crude oil prices. In this essay we would like to provide you with our thoughts regarding crude oil. Full Story
By: Daniel Aaronson and Lee Markowitz - 11 March, 2011
In early 2008, Lehman Brothers management increased the company’s dividend even as its underlying credit quality was rapidly deteriorating. In a potential repeat of history, Jean Claude Trichet, the Chairman of the European Central Bank (ECB), hinted last week at a possible interest rate hike in the near future. Full Story
By: Adam Hamilton, Zeal Intelligence - 11 March, 2011
After soaring 35% in just 6 weeks, silver has driven trader enthusiasm to a fever pitch. Naturally after such a magnificent surge to new multi-decade highs, silver bullishness is off the charts. Expectations for continuing near-parabolic gains are nearly universal, with ebullient commentators coming out of the woodwork to predict spectacular near-term price targets. Full Story
If one considers the Real Numbers, and not the Bogus Official Statistics (see below) or Main Stream Financial Media Talking Heads’ Spin, one realizes that we are at The Very Threshold of Hyperinflation. Full Story
There is a rather popular cliché that those who don’t know their history are doomed to repeat it. I tend to like the variation, that the only thing we have learned from history is that we have learned nothing from it. Sounds like a clever oxymoron, but given the state of affairs in the world today, it is more than apropos. It would seem that once again, we are defying logic and trying to go back to 2005 when it was all roses, honey, easy mortgages, and big trade deficits. Have we really not learned a thing? Full Story
By: The Energy Report and Siddharth Rajeev - 11 March, 2011
As an investment option, uranium glows brightly for Siddharth Rajeev, vice president and head of research at Fundamental Research Corp. He also favors coal and explains why size matters when it comes to potash in this exclusive interview with The Energy Report. Full Story
On Eliminating the Fed, I must hasten to add that increasing numbers of Americans are beginning to wake up that things aren’t exactly right with the privately owned Federal Reserve Bank which issues and profits from the US money which should be an asset of the American people. Well, it’s not an asset of the people. Full Story
No one thought it would be easy for state and local governments to get their budgets under control. However, by eliminating collective bargaining for most public employees, it appears that Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker may have paved the way for other states to succeed at it. One good thing to notice is that Wisconsin turned out not to be…France. Full Story
For some time I've been saying that the economy is in the “eye of the storm” and that when it emerged, the weather would be far rougher than in 2008. The trillions of currency units created since the Greater Depression began in 2007 have papered over the situation, but only temporarily. Full Story
By: The Gold Report and Matthew Zylstra - 10 March, 2011
Northern Securities Analyst Matthew Zylstra seeks out junior precious metals stocks with value in the ground and growth potential that are not yet obvious to the markets. He also looks for companies that have unrecognized base metal potential that can significantly reduce the cash costs of precious metals production. In this exclusive interview with The Gold Report, Matt shares some strategies that can move portfolio values significantly upward. Full Story
The last few weeks has seen a startling rise in fuel and food prices. This has been a key contributor to the political and economic instability overseas; it’s also paving the way for an even bigger crisis for the U.S. and the world economy by 2012. Full Story
As you will discover from the charts and information in this article, the previous three gold and silver parabolics (2004, 2006 and 2008) had a common characteristic. Each exhibited a midpoint consolidation - a resting place that separated the character of the first half and second half of the parabolic move. This observation is particularly relevant at this time, as both gold and silver have presently completed this midpoint consolidation and are already on their way to concluding the 2011 parabolic. Full Story
Even silver and gold bears realize that the dollar is in decline, but few realize the extent of such a decline and how massive shifts in capital flows in 2008 will affect the dollar in 2011. Full Story
By: Richard Daughty, The Mogambo Guru - 10 March, 2011
I was amused at the title “Cash Drains From Treasury as Republicans and Democrats Dither” by Terence P. Jeffrey, who is the author of the book Control Freaks: 7 Ways Liberals Plan to Ruin Your Life. Full Story
Don’t expect all hell to break loose in Saudi Arabia when demonstrators hit the streets today in a planned show of strength. Protests are likely to be subdued, according to a Rick’s Picks subscriber who lives there. “You need to take what the news and Internet are saying with a grain of salt,” he wrote. “I am currently living in Saudi and have been talking to the locals the past few weeks. Everybody I have talked to does not believe anything will happen this weekend, nor do they want change. Full Story
By: Julian Phillips & Peter Spina, for the Gold & Silver Forecaster - 9 March, 2011
The Silver Price is hitting new recent highs at $36.55 today in a more vigorous performance than even gold. Many in the developed world precious metal markets are amazed at the performance of silver and see this continuing, whereas others feel it is running away with itself. The “backwardation” in silver [when ‘spot’ – or immediate delivery prices are higher than for future delivery] has stressed just how much immediate demand there is for silver and clearly a physical shortage of the metal has arisen. There are two apparently conflicting pictures of the role of silver. The industrial side of silver demand, currently thriving and the investment side, which is also thriving and should continue to do so. Full Story
USFed Chairman Bernanke and the Quantitative Easing programs are caught in a negative feedback loop, the instruments at risk being the USDollar and the USTreasury Bond. The former suffers from lost integrity and direct inflation effect. The latter suffers from direct intervention and market ruin. The next QE round is guaranteed by the failure of the previous program in an endless cycle to be recognized later this year. Leaders are confused why the recovery does not take root. It is because the entire system is insolvent, and the 0% rate assures total capital destruction, not to mention the big US banks are sacred, never to be liquidated, a primary condition for recovery. Full Story
FOUR YEARS AGO it felt like most finance journalists didn't know gold's color, let alone why their readers might want to read about it. Come Sept. 2007 however, and the credit crunch – first in Europe's money markets and then on Britain's High Streets as Northern Rock collapsed – made gold's rare indestructibility all too alluring. Full Story
Things are not always as complicated as they seem. With respect to the Federal Reserve System, it is a deliberate mystery. It was deliberately designed in 1910 to deceive the public, who were opposed the idea of a central bank. The conspirators who met on Jekyll Island in November 1910 knew this. They did good work from their point of view. They concealed the beast. Full Story
By: David Coffin & Eric Coffin, HRA Advisories - 9 March, 2011
Gold’s early year price decline reversed during Egypt’s street action. The new uptrend continues and has steepened as the movement spreads over North Africa and southwest Asia. This comes as gold’s 60% price gains of the past two years finally shows up in the bottom lines of yellow metal producers. Full Story
By: Bob Chapman, The International Forecaster - 9 March, 2011
It should be kept in mind that inflation was on its way long before this recent incident. Last year we predicted 14% real inflation in the US in 2011. We are currently somewhere between 7% and 9% and those numbers are about to escalate quickly. Remember, normally prices rise as a result of the Fed increasing the supply of money and credit, which translates in a general increase in the price to $850 billion in fiscal spending in QE1 and stimulus 1. We do not know the numbers on QE2 as yet, but we believe they are in the same area, along with stimulus 2 of $862 billion. The total has to be thus far between $900 billion and $1.7 trillion by the Fed. Full Story
By: Richard Daughty, The Mogambo Guru - 9 March, 2011
Whenever I am confronted with some new monetary or fiscal outrage, I go through the 5 Stages of Shock, namely starting with Denial (“Nobody is that stupid!”) Then I quickly move to the Anger (“Those bastards!”) stage, followed by Fear (“We’re Freaking Doomed”) and Bargaining (“I’ll use my votes for the persons who are as against this outrage as I am, and who campaign on a platform of tracking down the banker and neo-Keynesian economist trash that did this to us, and put them in jail so that I won’t have to personally get up off my fat, lazy butt to rise up and lead a popular rebellion to abolish the Federal Reserve, put the United States back on a gold standard and re-establish the Glass-Steagel separation of banking from investing”). Full Story
You already know the basic reasons for owning gold – currency protection, inflation hedge, store of value, calamity insurance – many of which are becoming clichés even in mainstream articles. Throw in the supply and demand imbalance, and you’ve got the basic arguments for why one should hold gold for the foreseeable future. Full Story
Middle East is still the talk of interest in the commodity markets and the markets have been experiencing substantial volatility over the past weeks. Commodity markets also followed the trend and witnessed highs; Brent traded above US$115 a barrel while gold continues as a safe haven for investors with prices above $1400 per ounce. Apart from geopolitical speculations, precious metals have influenced by currency and stock market moves. Full Story
Silver has been red hot lately and the silver shares have joined in the fun. Yet, we haven’t seen a corresponding breakout in Gold or in the gold shares (as evidenced by GDXJ and GDX). In the chart below we show SIL (large silver stocks), Silver, Gold, GDXJ (gold juniors) and GDX (large cap golds). Full Story
The PDAC conference is in full swing in Toronto. The PDAC is the Prospectors & Developers Association Conference. I can tell you that the feel of this conference is: solid. There is no indication of any mining stocks bubble. Markets tend to display this kind of aura in their middle phase. Mining stocks are in the middle phase of a monster bull market, and poised to enter an epic third phase higher. Full Story
The conflict in North Africa was a predictable outcome of the US Monetary Policy of Quantitative Easing. It is not plausible that the US Federal Reserve, as the manager of the world's Reserve Currency, did not fully recognize the global ramifications of such monetary inflation actions well in advance. Quantitative Easing like the Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBM) of the cold war era has had the same devastating pre-emptive impact on Libya. Full Story
There's a scenario that could play out between May and September in which commodities (including my beloved silver) and the stock and bond markets could all sell off between 20% and 40%. The trigger will be the cessation of QE II and a multi-month pause before QE III. Full Story
Increases in gold’s ‘real’ price are most pronounced during a collapse of an inflationary construct, as in 2000 and again in 2008. This is usually accompanied by deflationary hysteria and if one is prepared, epic opportunity. Silver’s impulsive increase in relation to gold argues that the construct may not yet be ready to roll over since a positive silver-gold ratio (SGR) indicates that a sea liquidity continues to rise. Full Story
By: Steve Saville, The Speculative Investor - 8 March, 2011
"Don't fight the Fed" is an adage that's always worth remembering; however, this adage shouldn't be applied to all of the Fed's endeavours because the Fed is powerful in some areas and impotent in others. For example, the Fed can ALWAYS depreciate the US dollar -- that is, it can always cause dollar-denominated prices to rise -- if it chooses to do so, but it can't create real economic growth or sustainable employment (despite the fact that achieving "full employment" is part of the Fed's official mandate). Furthermore, although the Fed can always bring about a rise in prices by inflating the currency supply, it can't control which prices rise the most in response to its monetary inflation. In fact, the price-related effects of the Fed's inflation will often be the opposite of what the Fed intends. Full Story
The single most dominant theme among political commentators is the belief that government should do something – anything – to fix the financial system. Regardless of party affiliation, there is a near universal agreement that government should be charged with the task of regulating the financial realm in order to prevent another catastrophe. Full Story
By: Richard Daughty, The Mogambo Guru - 8 March, 2011
According to Harper’s Index, the “estimated value of Chinese household income that goes unreported is $1.4 trillion.” To put it in perspective, the follow-up item is “Portion of China’s GDP this represents: 1/3.” Of course, I don’t know what to make of this, economics-wise or any other wise, but merely note with a soft whistle of appreciation that that is a LOT of money unaccounted for, and which does not show up in official statistics, which means that somebody is seriously underestimating something, which means that trouble is usually ahead. Full Story
There he goes again! Mario Cavolo, a congenital optimist who regularly contributes to Rick’s Picks, was arguing the rosy case in the forum on Monday, claiming that only half of America will sink into the coming Depression, leaving the other half to prosper as always. His post can be found by clicking here. Below is my response, one of many that his message elicited. Full Story
By: The Gold Report and Siddharth Rajeev - 7 March, 2011
There is more to the periodic table—and to investing opportunities—than gold, silver and copper. Siddharth Rajeev, vice president and head of research at Fundamental Research Corp., sums up the market prospects for rare earth elements (REE) and a host of metals in this exclusive interview with The Gold Report. Full Story
By: David N. Vaughn, Gold Letter, Inc. - 7 March, 2011
Yes, the world is changing all right. Our world and personal way of life is changing. Our standard of living is taking a steeper and steeper dive south by the hour. Problem is the change began a long time ago. That change being the gradual destruction of the United States. And now as momentum has built that destruction will only grow and grow. Full Story
It’s no surprise the developed Western economies continue to print money, albeit at increasing slower rates as rising prices are now becoming problematic. That is to say, the prices for food, energy, and all those other things are beginning to rise noticeably even for Westerners, with sirens going off in emerging markets (because food and energy comprise such large percentages of an average budget), however because the world’s fiat currency economy(s) continue to need perpetual stimulus, the problem remains. Full Story
By: Peter Schiff, CEO of Euro Pacific Capital - 7 March, 2011
As the world confronts one of the most critical periods of economic upheaval that it has ever seen, it is clear that our most influential economic stewards have absolutely no idea what they are doing. But, like kids with a new chemistry set, they are nevertheless unwilling to let that stand in the way of their experimental fun. As they pour an ever-growing number of volatile ingredients into their test tubes, we can either hope that they magically stumble on the secret formula to cure the world's ills, or more pragmatically, we can try to prepare for the explosion that is likely to result. Full Story
The big surprise was in the silver COT, where the big 4 increased their net short position by 3000 contracts on the previously mentioned reduction of 1300 contracts in the total commercial net short position. This increase in the big four’s short position broke the pattern of a reduction in the concentrated short silver position that had been in force for months. The increase in the concentrated short silver position was so unexpected by me that I thought, at first, it must have been a mistake. Full Story
Warren Buffet released his annual shareholder letter last week and also conducted what has become an annual interview on CNBC with Becky Quick. During the interview they covered an array of topics including the economy, the U.S. government’s fiscal situation, inflation, Berkshire’s investments, and oil. At one point during the interview Joe Kiernan asked Buffet about gold and commodities. Full Story
All commodities have been in a recovery phase since the wipe-out of the global financial crisis two years ago. But in recent weeks a notable new trend has emerged with agriculture and livestock coming under pressure, while energy and precious metals have taken off. Full Story
Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell said on Face the Nation yesterday that President Obama wasn’t serious about the budget. Lest anyone mistake this for partisan sniping, here’s an interesting factoid that drives the charge home: the $4 billion in spending cuts that Congress just approved to avoid a government shutdown amounts to about ten hours of government spending and less than a day of Treasury borrowing. Full Story
1st Hour: Headline news & the Market Weatherman Report. Spotlight Stock Picks. Host Chris Waltzek & Bob Chapman, The International Forecaster discussion and answer listener's questions. 2nd hour: Harry S. Dent Jr., The Great Depression Ahead Bill Murphy, GATA.org Full Story
By: Julian D. W. Phillips, Gold/Silver Forecaster - Global Watch - 6 March, 2011
So just how much gold central banks will buy in the open market is difficult to project. All we can say is that taking the amount over the IMF total of 403.3 tonnes plus the amount the IMF sold in the open market [181.3 tonnes plus 87.2 tonnes] we have a figure of the amount central banks bought in the open market in 2010 of 268.5 tonnes, told us that, that was their appetite for gold last year. We expect that appetite to grow in 2011. This amount of even 268 tonnes would now have to come from the open market in London. Full Story
By: Bob Chapman, The International Forecaster - 6 March, 2011
The Federal Reserve tells us we need inflation to overcome the overhang created by debt and its inflationary aspects. The inflation does not create jobs – it just distorts prices upward. We are told by the head of the Fed, Mr. Bernanke, that he can end inflation when he thinks it is necessary. That is not true, because if inflation ends deflation takes command and the economy collapses. There is no finely honed instrument for turning these two opposite effects on and off; thus, inflationary instruments have to be blunt and overused. Full Story
By: John Mauldin, Millennium Wave Advisors - 6 March, 2011
The economy is doing better, and we will survey some of the highlights. But does this mean the stock market is headed higher? A chart from Louis Gave got me to thinking, and I shot off a few thoughts and questions to Ed Easterling and Vitaliy Katsenelson. What ensued was a lively “battle” of charts and thoughts and more questions, so this week I let you look over my shoulder at our conversation. This letter will print longer than normal, as there are a lot of charts. I think you will find it very thought-provoking, if only a little cautionary. And we start with a look at a survey about what Americans think of the current fiscal deficit and the ways to remedy it. Full Story
By: Arnold Bock (with Lorimer Wilson) - 6 March, 2011
Let me explain why I still think such a basket of commodity-related assets is the only way to go. I also encourage you to read my recent article entitled “Confessions of a Conservative Investor” here in which I explain why I believe there is nothing speculative about investing in commodities and why, in fact, they are the ideal investments for cautious investors. Full Story
Regulators seem innocent of knowledge about financial regulations and financial crises. It is runaway speculation that causes panics, and when a mania erupts there is no way of curbing it. Even when the senior currency was convertible into gold there were huge bubbles and consequent collapses. As a prominent banker in the mid-1800s observed, "No warning can save a people determined to suddenly grow rich." Full Story
Many investors are confused with the choppy action on the DOW, so we have provided a chart to illustrate our forecast on the expected price action. This corrective action is an ending diagonal pattern which is a terminal pattern. We should see further upside towards the recent highs with a a sharp decline to at least the starting point of the ED pattern. We will likely see a brief rally at this level before further downside. Full Story
With less than one quarter of 2011 gone, we have seen the spread of three revolutions. The first is literal. It is happening in North Africa. The second is intellectual: the acceptance by large numbers of voters of a shutdown of the United States government, which is deemed to be out of control. The third is political: the willingness of state legislatures in the rust belt to remove the 70-year government subsidies to public employees' unions. Full Story
By: Richard Daughty, The Mogambo Guru - 6 March, 2011
I was intrigued by an essay titled “What You Need to Know About Buying Silver Today”‘ which came as the result of Jeff Clark, of Big Gold, being interviewed by The Daily Crux. Of course, Mr. Clark knows all the reasons to buy silver, and deftly ticks them off, one after another, as I would do if they ever asked me, instead of everyone always rudely shouting at me, “Hey! You can’t come in here!” and “Don’t eat that!” and, “Stop yelling at me to buy gold, silver and oil stocks as protection against the suicidal lunacy of the Federal Reserve creating so much money!” Full Story
It was a strong week for the precious metals especially Silver. We had a few large players in the world talk about Gold and the coming further weakness of the US Dollar and it’s lessening role throughout the world. Full Story
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