07.24.14- Tapering Is Bullish For Gold
John Manfreda

I wanted to address tapering, an end to monetary stimulus, and what it means for gold. In 2013 the price of Gold suffered its worst year since 1981. The general consensus on why gold crashed was because of the Fed's forward guidance stating the US economy is on the verge of recovery, with government data supporting an economic recovery, which will ultimately lead to the end of monetary stimulus, followed by interest rate normalization. Read More

07.23.14- Escalating Ukraine crisis could blow gold sky high
Lawrence Williams

Far from coming to an end the Ukraine crisis could be far from over and as the West and Russia are embroiled in accusation and counter-accusation over the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17, the potential for escalation is perhaps getting more serious by the day.  It has brought a safe-haven focus back into the gold market which is probably likely to remain given Ukraine is not the only major flashpoint of worry with Syrian, Iraqi and Israeli/Gaza (Hamas) conflicts all raging and building up deep-rooted concerns and polarisation amongst those affected.  Violence may well not offer solutions to these deep-seated problems but can only intensify hatreds amongst those innocents affected. Read More

07.22.14- Western Delusions vs. Chinese Realities
Jeff Clark

I don’t want to say that mainstream analysts are stupid when it comes to China’s gold habits, but I did look up how to say that word in Chinese…

One report claims, for example, that gold demand in China is down because the yuan has fallen and made the metal more expensive in the country. Sounds reasonable, and it has a grain of truth to it. But as you’ll see below, it completely misses the bigger picture, because it overlooks a major development with how the country now imports precious metals. Read More

07.21.14- Must-know: 3 reasons silver isn't the same as gold
Russ Koesterich, CFA

Many investors who remain cautious on gold wonder whether they should get their precious metal exposure through silver instead. In response, Russ explains why the two metals aren't interchangeable.

In recent weeks, many investors reluctant to add to their gold positions are asking me if they would be better off getting their exposure to precious metals through silver instead.

While I don't have strong views on the direction of silver prices, I think it's important to distinguish between gold (IAU) and silver (SLV) rather than assume that the two metals are interchangeable. Read More

07.19.14- Silver Before it's Too Late
Dr. Jeff Lewis

The ongoing plight of the long term value investor continues - seemingly without end. However, decades of exuberance and greed have colluded. The financial establishment has created an accident waiting to happen. The mainstream has not "priced in" risk, which makes it even harder to travel the road less traveled. And once the accident happens, it may be too late.

If silver prices were to suddenly move back toward natural price equilibrium, there would naturally (not always the best thing) be a rush to get on board. Read More

07.18.14- 'Archduke Ferdinand' Moment? Drums Of War Grow Louder In Ukraine and Middle East
Mark O'Byrne

Today’s AM fix was USD 1,310.25, EUR 968.40 and GBP 765.78 per ounce.

Yesterday’s AM fix was USD 1,302.75, EUR 962.65 and GBP 761.35 per ounce.

Gold rose $21.10 or 1.62% yesterday to $1,319.60/oz and silver climbed $0.39 or 1.88% to $21.14/oz.

Gold dipped 0.4% on profit taking today but is likely to be supported by a wave of risk aversion after the airline tragedy. Read More

07.17.14- Why Texas Wants its Gold Back
from the Fed
Garth Kant

More security 'in the event of a national or international financial crisis'

“The eyes of Texas are upon you” goes the song, but right now those eyes seem to be squarely focused on the financial crisis in Cyprus.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry is supporting a bill that would return the state’s $1 billion in gold reserves currently stored by the Federal Reserve at a vault in New York to the state. Read More

07.16.14- Understanding Stock Warrants
Dudley Pierce Baker

If you don't understand stock warrants, you are not alone. Very few of the professional newsletter writers and analysts understand them so why should you?

Allow me to give you a brief education on stock warrants in the following paragraphs and tell you exactly why you need this information.

Did you know that warrants have been in existence and trading for many decades but very few investors know about them? Why? Are warrants that difficult to understand? Of course not, it's just that one needs to take some time to learn and understand this incredible investment vehicle. Read More

07.14.14- Gold Slumps Most In 2014 As "Someone" Dumps $1.37 Billion
In Futures At US Open
Tyler Durden

(Editor's Note: The Bear was, initially, intended to offer educational content and commentary to help our readers make economic decisions and protect their capital. When I started it, I was somewhat confused, but not mad. Over the years, as I have uncovered more and more lawlessness and corruption, I have, understandably, grown angry. As a result of my anger, the editorial tone of the web site has changed. I think I can sum it up by saying that the current editorial tone of the Bear has become fifty percent wake-up calls and fifty percent affirmation. I hope that I am successful at presenting our readership with information that they had not been privy to before. The gist of the news that I am currently uncovering is truly outrageous. The depth of deceit and corruption concerning our leaders and the banksters they serve presents an unconscionable situation which borders on unbelievably, but I am, by now, very use to most people refusing to believe the truth. The truth is out there and I have become obsessed with my quest to uncover it, everyday. Those that refuse to even consider these allegations are deluded and will provide little more than unprepared fodder when the Great Shearing shifts into high gear. Read More

07.14.14- Mexico Looks To Back Peso With Silver: "Would Unleash a Global Power Shift"
Mac Slavo

For many Americans the country of Mexico conjures up images of a third world nation. The poverty, lack of basic services, and extreme violence has left the populace so desperate that thousands of people on a daily basis head to the United States for a better life.

But according to Future Money Trends, all that could change in the near future as key Mexican financial leaders and politicians have been working to institute sweeping monetary change that, if implemented, could unleash a global power shift of epic proportions. Read More

07.12.14- The Perfect Crime and the Plight of the Modern Silverite
Dr. Jeff Lewis

Silver is not just any old commodity. It is old money. Despite massive efforts and price fixing, clipping and manipulation, it has remained central to monetary and political systems for centuries. Today it is small and relatively dark in the context of modern investing.

Desperate times call for desperate measures. And the desperation to buy and hold metal should simply be proportional to the desperation of the will of the monetary powers to maintain the status quo.

Here's a quote from ZeroHedge that sums up the demise of fiat: Read More

07.11.14- How high does gold go as TRILLIONS rush into the PM markets?
Marshall Swing

Many writers have tried to guesstimate what price these metals, and others, will rise to once world wide collapse ensues and also as the smoke begins to clear over social anarchy and virtually all forms of trading goods have ground to a halt due to total lack of trust by the world's merchants in any currency other than their own, and even their own is greatly devalued due to there no longer being an international clearing house for currency exchange or faith in any one single currency such as we have today with the U.S. Dollar. Read More

07.10.14- You Can Profit from the Metal China Needs Most
Byron King

Last week, right before the Fourth of July festivities kicked off in this nation, the Wall Street Journal mentioned a new environmental technique being developed on the other side of the world: the Chinese are trying to build wind tunnels big enough to blow the smog out of Beijing.

It's likely you've heard of the problems they have with pollution over there, but if you'll excuse the pun, all this talk of wind tunnels is just blowing smoke. What China really needs is to stop putting un-catalyzed exhaust into the air. Read More

07.09.14- The Coming Two-Stage Rally in Silver
Steve St. Angelo

As the MSM, Wall Street and various so-called analysts waste time focusing on worthless and insignificant data, the price of silver is positioning itself for the coming TWO-STAGE RALLY.  The majority of the precious metals analysts discuss the revaluation of silver as it pertains to the amount of fiat currency in the system.

While this is a good determination (from past historical guidelines), it only deals with one part of the overall equation.  The second and maybe the more important factor… is the destruction of “PAPER CLAIM CHECKS” on physical assets. Read More

07.08.14- Investing in silver after the surge?
Truth in Gold

The prospect of investing in silver in 2014 started off looking dismal. Silver was down by almost 50% since the beginning of 2013.

However, the commodity appears to be making a comeback.

Silver prices rose by about 12.5% in June – twice as much as gold prices. Last week, they finished up 1.3% on the week, and had a more dramatic 6.1% run the week ending June 20.

With silver prices on the rise, is now a good time to be investing in silver? Read More

07.07.14- Platinum Nudges Up As South African Miners Strike At Impala
Devon Maylie

JOHANNESBURG—South Africa's platinum-mining industry said on Wednesday that the industry's main labor union has made fresh demands that go beyond a preliminary accord struck last week, a move set to delay a definitive agreement to end a long-running strike.

The new demands will cost the country's biggest platinum producers an additional $93 million to the offer they made last week, something they "simply cannot afford," the companies said in a joint statement. Lonmin PLC said in a separate statement that it will cost it an additional $18 million alone. Read More

07.05.14- Gold And Silver – For Now, Charts Proving More Reliable Than Fundamentals
Michael Noonan

Pick your poison for knowing what news is impacting gold and silver these days.  Both have been in year-long TRs, [Trading Range], within a broader down trend context.  That may be in the process of changing, but change takes time to turn a trend.

From our limited point of view, the list of events that are impacting the suppression of gold and silver all revolve around the NWO [self] destruction of the petrodollar, that fiat Federal Reserve Note, commonly [mis]called the “dollar,” and soon to lose its status as the world’s reserve currency. Read More

07.04.14- Threading the Needle of Price Discovery
Dr. Jeffrey Lewis

Price discovery in all commodities is an electronic paper affair. While the macro-economy and the geopolitical provide a distant framework, they do not wield significant direct influence. The "discovery issue" occurs across the board, but is nowhere more evident than in the precious metals futures markets and, most notably, silver. A look under the hood at the most recent rally confirms that we are nowhere close to the point of return to equilibrium price.

The set up for precious metals has been in place for years. In silver, the trading structure has been this way for decades. Read More

07.03.14- Three developing gold market situations to monitor for the rest of 2014
Michael J. Kosares

As you can see in the chart below, even as we are consistently reminded that the stock market is trading at record highs, gold remains the best performer on the year thus far -- better than Treasuries, the euro, commodities, farmland, NASDAQ and the Dow Jones Industrial Average, better even than silver. The nearly 10% appreciation in the price began under what we believe to have been oversold conditions at roughly $1200 per ounce. Much of the early year upward price adjustment had to do with investors globally taking advantage of the oversold market. Over the first six months of the year, we have enjoyed a steady increase in business at USAGOLD. Read More

07.02.14- Silver: The Irresistible Force
Jeff Nielson

Close followers of my work may have detected what seems to be a conundrum, if not an outright contradiction in my writing. Having been the first to write about our Hostage Markets of the last 3 ½ years; it was recently asserted (in my June 19^th column on precious metals) that gold and silver are about to break-free of this crime paradigm. Call this "the irresistible force".

On the other hand; my latest commentary for Sprott Money states categorically:

We now have an abundance of evidence to conclude that the One Bank will never (voluntarily) allow gold or silver prices to rise by any significant amount. Read More

07.01.14- Gold Prices Benefit From Economic Sins
Gary Christenson

Governments, such as the United States, United Kingdom, Europe, and Japan, spend their paper currencies as if tomorrow will never come.  They act as if they believe debts can increase forever, more money will always be available, and debts can be rolled over forever.  A recent US vice-president even stated that "deficits don't matter."  Such economic sins may help the financial elite but they ultimately hurt most people and most economies.

Governments pretend they don't know there are consequences to actions, bills must be paid, and nothing lasts forever.  Government actions are equivalent to an individual announcing, "I can't be out of money, my credit cards still work." Read More

06.30.14- Is This Economic Wishful Thinking or Reality? Decide on Your Own
Birch Gold Group

Wishful thinking seems to be the theme in the markets lately.

Last week, the financial media continued to try to sell the idea that the U.S. is truly on the rebound, pushing news of increased consumer confidence and better jobless numbers. Of course, the real picture is always a little further down the page – so keep reading.

Reality check: We are still teetering in an economy that is full of mixed news. Any good news is seemingly always followed by bad news. This week, the good news is consumer confidence. The University of Michigan keeps track of a figure that purports to measure how consumers are “feeling”. That index rose slightly from 81.9 in May to 82.5 in June. Read More

06.28.14- An Appetizer Of Two Dozen Silver Facts
Charles Savoie

I have an extensive research documentary under way which I intend to present to any interested parties in the near future. This briefer presentation is meant as an "appetizer" to the "full course meal" which will follow. Two dozen silver facts today! That's something many people could present. Let's see what I found in the information resources I've been developing since the year 2000, many of which still aren't available on the web, but in library archives. Frank M. Smith, smelter manager of Bunker Hill & Sullivan Mining, in "Silver---What About Its Future?" that appeared in the Mining Congress Journal, November 1930, page 800--- Read More

06.27.14- Why The COMEX Is Corrupt
Theodore Butler

It is one thing to label (libel?) the world's most important precious metals exchange as the most corrupt; but perhaps quite another to prove it in terms beyond reasonable doubt. First, let me be clear in what I am asserting – the Commodities Exchange Inc. (COMEX), owned and operated by the CME Group, has come to control and manipulate the price of gold and silver, as well as copper, for the sole benefit of certain exchange insiders, most prominently JPMorgan.

Through corrupt trade practices, the COMEX has stolen and captured the pricing mechanism for gold, silver and copper away from the influence of actual supply and demand fundamentals. Replacing the law of supply and demand as the price determinant, the COMEX has substituted a private club run by a few large traders who, in turn, dictate prices to metal producers, consumers and investors. Read More

06.26.14- The Palladium Bull Run is Underway
David H. Smith

A precious metal which has over 80% of its annual production coming from just two countries? Considerably rarer than its cousin, platinum – known by the Spanish Conquistadors as "little silver" - yet sells for a bit more than half as much? Like silver, a "two-doors" metal with both vital industrial applications and increasing investor interest? And like these metals, it can be bought and sold by investors in the form of bullion coins and ingots? That metal is palladium. Read More

It's A Trap?!?!
Bill Holter

“Gold and silver have turned!”  I bet you have heard that one before.  In fact, I said this almost 12 months ago at the end of last June.  Back then we had another 2 day waterfall event which became common events throughout 2013.  As it turns out, that event was the (a) “retest” of $1,180 in gold and $18 in silver.  I believe that last June really was the bottom in price.  We have chopped since then and had a good little rally to start this year off only to be pressured down again…but I believe that things have now changed.

So why did the metals soar on Thursday?  Was it because Janet Yellen and the Fed were “dovish” as is commonly thought?  Maybe, but haven’t they been dovish since 2008?  Read More

06.24.14- The Only PGM Stock You Should Buy
Jeff Clark

It’s quite the dilemma

One of the major reasons we’re so bullish on platinum group metals—palladium, in particular—is because of the intractable problems with supply. But most of the producers are backed into corners, with few options for improving their outlook. There’s simply no way for these metals to avoid a long-term production deficit due to the deep-seated problems with the companies that produce them. So, how to invest? Read More

06.23.14- Silver price busts out of 3-year downtrend
Frik Els

With all the focus on the surprise move in gold on Thursday after months of subdued trade, it was easy to miss the action in silver.

As is the norm, trade in silver was more volatile than gold, with the precious metal gaining 4.4% to trade above $20 an ounce for the first time in almost three months.

The metal added another 1% on Friday, hitting $20.91 and bringing gains for the week to more than 6%.

While gold broke through its 200-day moving average – a very bullish sign – on a long term horizon silver's breakout could turn out to be more significant. Read More

06.21.14- Silver Takes the Lead over Gold
Dan Norcini

Long time readers of this site will already know that it is my opinion that silver requires an environment in which inflation expectations are alive and well in order to outperform gold. In an environment in which traders are more concerned over deflationary pressures, silver will fare far less well than the yellow metal.

In other words, one's investment or trading decisions need to take into account the sentiment among players when deciding to approach either or both of these markets. Even more so that than however is the signals that can be derived from tracking these markets. When rightfully understood, it can help one discern what is on the minds of some of the large speculators that dominate these markets and whose buying or selling decisions most greatly influence price direction. Read More

06.20.14- Gold and silver prices break out
Peter Cooper

Silver tripped across the $20 an ounce line this afternoon and gold prices added $15 to rise to $1,287 in the wake of a Fed statement yesterday that appeared to indicate more inflation was in the works than presently expected and no plans to do anything about it. The degeneration of Iraq into a state of civil war is also pushing oil prices higher which has direct inflationary consequences on transport and industry.

This is exactly the inflationary scenario that author Jim Rickards warns about in his new book ‘The Death of Money’ (click here) though he might already be wishing his portfolio allocation had included more gold and silver. Read More

06.19.14- Fake Money For Fake People
Chris Duane

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06.18.14- Gold up in June, Down Into Summer and a Moon Shot to $2000 Before Year End
Bo Polny

From the New York Kitco Interview, Gold is to 'rise in May/June and make a TOP in June before a final summer low'.

The forecast for a Top in June STANDS UNCHANGED!

Gold needed to touch and get through the Blue Line of Overhead Resistance as illustrated in the June 5, 2014 Gold chart update and also on Page 2 below…it did Friday 6/13/2014!  Continue to expect a MUCH higher price target this month! Read More

06.17.14- PRECIOUS METALS & The Death Of The Business Cycle
Steve St. Angelo

The precious metals will offer one of the best safe havens as the world enters into the next paradigm… “The Death of the Business Cycle.”  Unfortunately, very few analysts, economists or investors realize the darkness that lies ahead.

While science, technology and specialization allowed mankind to advance to levels thought impossible during the 1800′s, it also destroyed of our ability to perceive the FULL PICTURE.  Basically, the left hand knows not what the right hand is doing. Read More

06.16.14- Why Gold's Base Price Should Be North Of $2,000
Steve St. Angelo

Even though present Geo-political events in Iraq have now pushed up the price of gold due to Brent Crude hitting a new high in 2014, the value of the yellow metal relative to oil is still way below its historical average.

Currently, the price of Brent Crude is trading at $113.35, while gold is at $1,275.  This is an embarrassing 11.2 to 1 ratio…. thanks to the manipulation by the Fed and member banks.

If we look at the table below, we can see the average Gold-Oil Ratios for the past 5+ decades. Read More

06.14.14- Silver: The Undercover Super Metal
Scottsdale Bullion and Coin

Silver has a reputation for being gold's less desirable sister, but make no mistake, silver may still be a golden opportunity to invest in.

You might be surprised to know that silver plays a part in many everyday things you use, especially electronics. Silver has the highest electrical and thermal conductivity of all metals. The use of silver is very prevalent in the photography, consumer electronics, medical, and high tech industries. Read More

06.13.14- China's Insatiable Hunger For Gold
Sprout Money

China is the biggest consumer of gold in the world at the moment and the hunger for gold of the Chinese is seemingly insatiable. China keeps buying gold in bulk and is also selling US government bonds. For some market watchers this is a sign that Beijing does not have faith in the dollar anymore.

India bought 97 tons of gold in 2013 and according to official stats China supposedly bought 1,066 tons. That is only the tip of the iceberg, however, because who knows how much gold is in the vaults of the Chinese central bank. The People's Bank of China is not very forward about these figures, ultimately. Read More

06.11.14- Everything About Colloidal Silver
C. Thomas Corriher

Two thousand, three hundred years ago, Alexander The Great was surveying his battlefield and drinking water from silver urns. He knew nothing about bacteria, but he knew that silver containers have a seemingly miraculous way of keeping water fresh. Silver has been used for thousands of years in different forms for its health benefits. Throughout the middle ages, the wealthy gave their children silver spoons to suck upon to stave off illnesses. People have known about the benefits of silver for so long that it is incorporated into legends. Silver is the recommended agent for killing vampires, werewolves, and various forms of the so-called undead. According to ancient legend, a silver dagger was all that a knight needed to vanquish evil. Read More

06.10.14- End Of USA Dominance? Death Of The Dollar Update
Michael Maloney

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06.09.14- "China's 2008″ — Why The Chinese Must Buy Gold To Survive
Dan Amoss

In the eyes of Chinese investors, property is transforming from a wealth creator to a wealth destroyer. Western investors ignore this transformation at their peril. The bursting of China's real estate bubble has huge implications for the global monetary system.

Most areas of China feature a glut of property. Speculators were the driving force behind demand. Now they're watching the smart money sell, and they'll flee the market as prices gain downside momentum.

Momentum works on the downside, too — only two or three times faster. Like the crazy software stocks that fell 50% from March to May, empty Chinese properties, yielding no rental income, could fall very rapidly. Read More

06.07.14- The Platinum Supply Shock
Peter Schiff

Even investors who typically eschew precious metals have been hard-pressed to ignore the platinum industry this year. The longest strike in South African history paired with surging Asian demand is set to push the metal back into a physical deficit in 2014 - and could have repercussions for years to come. While gold remains the most conservative choice for saving, the "industrial precious metal" platinum is a compelling investment for those, like me, who are bullish on global net economic growth.

As with gold and silver, examining platinum demand takes us to the Eastern hemisphere and China's rapidly expanding economy. In particular, the growing Chinese middle class is generating massive demand for new automobiles, which in turn is consuming plenty of platinum. Read More

06.06.14- $500 an ounce silver when gold makes its epic run predicts new book
Peter Cooper

Silver will return to ’something close to its historical ratio to gold’ and pass $500 an ounce when gold makes its epic run from $1,300 to $10,000-plus predicts ‘The Money Bubble’, a new book from GoldMoney.com founder and former head of commodities for the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, James Turk and John Rubino.

The authors explain in great depth how gold prices will grow and grow in a spectacular blow-off as global money printing finally gets out of control. Think of it as the 1970-80 gold price explosion on steroids. The silver price is leveraged against gold, and outperforms on the way up and vice-versa. Read More

06.05.14- Silver ready to recover
Truth in Gold

The silver price, which at £11.205 (US$18.76) is less than half of its high of $48 an ounce set in 2011, could be set for a rebound according to industry players.

A research report out today from ETF Securities, a London-based investment firm focused on exchange-traded funds and commodities, argues that with industrial demand increasing, supply falling and inventories declining, the gold price stable and price volatility at a decade low, conditions are building for a silver price rally.

The report also cites the fact that in the first quarter of 2014 Chinese demand showed a 22% year-on-year increase in silver imports, the largest quarterly gain since the second quarter of 2010. In addition, demand from China was up 17% year-on-year. Read More

06.04.14- And Now, for Something Entirely Different: The World Is Nine Meals From Widespread Revolution
Dave Hodges

The World Bank is boldly proclaiming that extreme food shortages and subsequent food riots will take place in the near future largely due to the rapid increase in food prices.

In their recent report, only released a few days ago, the World Bank cites the disturbing fact that there have been 51 food riots in 37 countries in recent memory due to high food prices and the further escalation of food prices has no end in sight. The World Bank further speculates that the present state of food prices could lead to political instability and this is the kind of stuff that wars are made of. And what is the number one cause of rising food prices according to the World Bank? It is the increasing demand (see attached PDF)  for food from a growing population inside of China. Read More

06.03.14- Gold: Summer Rally Time?
Stewart Thomson

Liquidity flows into or out of the "love trade" (gold jewellery) and the "fear trade" (inflation and financial system risk), are the two main drivers of the price of gold.

The strongest gold jewellery buyers are in India, and the election of Narendra Modi has already unleashed a huge wave of confidence amongst jewellers there. 

'Retailers added that the latest steps by the apex bank of allowing banks to offer gold loans and permitting more entities to import the precious metal were signs of encouragement. This could drive up overall demand by 5% to 7% in 2014 from last year's level of 975 tonnes, said Manish Kedia, bullion retailer.  Manoj Thakkar of bullion retailer Amrapali Industries said, "The premium on gold has gone down from $110 per ounce to $35 per ounce. The prices too have come down after the Reserve Bank of India provided conditional relief in gold imports restrictions by allowing Star trading houses to import gold. We are in for better times now."' –Mineweb News, Mumbai, June 2, 2014. Read More

06.02.14- Wall Street concerned over China's gold hoarding
Huang Shu-rong

A customs officer holds a gold ingot seized at Shahjalal International Airport in Bangladesh. (Photo/Xinhua)

The People's Bank of China, China's central bank, is the world's biggest gold hoarder and the bane of Wall Street traders, reports the Chinese-language financial news website BwChinese, citing a Hong Kong financial analyst.

Leung Hai-ming told the portal that China's central bank took advantage of the US Federal Reserve's quantitative easing program in 2013, when the price of gold fell by 27%. The bank bought in over 1,000 tonnes of gold, representing almost one third of the world's 3,756 tonnes last year. Read More

05.31.14- Central Bank Manipulation Or Chinese Accomodation? Both.
Michael Noonan

It certainly started out as central bank manipulation, doing everything possible to cover their theft and resulting deficiency of replaceable physical gold. Almost all of their unauthorized reselling or hypothecating went unnoticed or without any ability to stop the activity.   China had a lot of its gold stored in the United States that was stolen in the 1990s.  She has since become the world-leading economic powerhouse and is now in a position to force the Rothschild elites to make good  on the theft, which they are doing.

China wants to see the price of gold at the current low levels as she continues to buy up as much of the [not so readily] available supply. The central bank manipulation continues as a means of protecting the last vestiges of the soon-to-fail petro-dollar, and soon-to-fail as the world’s reserve currency upon which almost global trade is based. The Chinese are willing to see gold stagnate at current levels as a better bargain during the final stages of their accumulation. It works for both sides for totally different reasons. Read More

05.30.14- Rumblings In Precious Metals Markets A Sign of Coming Monetary System Collapse
Jeff Berwick

Precious metals headlines have spiced up in recent weeks as continuing evidence of the reverberations of The End Of The Monetary System As We Know It (TEOTMSAWKI). The closing of the London Silver Fix, gold manipulation lawsuits in New York, Austria wanting to audit its gold held by England, Barclays being fined over gold manipulation, and China wanting more of a say over the gold price are all indicative of the coming US dollar and fiat currency collapse.

LONDON SILVER FIX ENDS, CME GROUP LOOKS INTO DAILY PRICE LIMITS ON GOLD & SILVER Read More

05.29.14- Honest Money
Douglas V. Gnazzo

Editors note: Mr. Gnazzo's meticulous research provides the reader with empowering information concerning America's monetary system. This eight part essay explains a dysfunctional system, why it is dysfunctional, and how it got that way. This is, IMO, mandatory reading for every responsible patriot. -JSB Read More

05.28.14- Three Ways the World is Aligning with Gold (and against the dollar)
Birch Gold Group

Big things are in the works right now for gold demand – and when demand heats up, prices usually follow. So fasten your seat belts: Here are the three latest reasons why gold may be headed north in short order.

1. India has relaxed its import restrictions on gold. This is huge. India is the second largest importer for gold already, nearly tied with China for number one. However, her demand has been suppressed and chomping at the bit for over a year now, when the Indian government applied strict import restrictions and export mandates to curb the nation’s current account deficit. Since then, the deficit has eased quite a bit (at least on paper), but it didn’t stop Indians from getting their gold under the table. Consider that in 2012, before these restrictions were in place, India imported 860 tons. With the new rules in place in 2013, she imported a slightly lower 825 tons legally – but an estimated 200 tons illegally! And premiums skyrocketed, as high as $160 an ounce! Read More

05.27.14- Precious Metals 101 with One Obvious Assumption
Bill Holter

It has occurred to me that there have been so many technical and fundamental pieces written, some very good yet complicated pieces written, far out (in reality not so far out) conspiratorial pieces written and even mathematically and logically correct yet difficult to understand pieces written regarding the precious metals.  Without being complicated or technical, I’ll try to write a most basic “primer”…with just one preexisting assumption.  This one “assumption” is that the U.S. government is broke.  Even the average person today knows that this true, if you do not believe or agree with this assumption then there is no point to you reading any further.  I could show you this from multiple angles financial, mathematical and plain old common sense but I won’t because I will assume that this point you already understand. Read More

05.26.14- Dave Kranzler On Gold, Housing, Silver
The Daily Coin.org

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05.23.14- All Along the Silver Demonetization Watchtower
Dr. Jeff Lewis

The particularly ruthless destruction of wealth that disproportionately have an effect on the poor and elderly is a process that slowly, then all at once, destroys the middle class - which has its roots in the debasement of money. 

This is as pervasive today as it was in the days of coin clipping. 

Monetary debasement is an ongoing and fluid process, although Greshem's law allows for some filtering. Yet monetization of monetary metals is alive and well.

Of all the barriers to entry a physical silver investor must face, perhaps none is more egregious as those that have evolved in the United Kingdom silver market. Read More

05.22.14- Precious Metals Market Updade
David Morgan

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05.21.14- Gold – A 40 Year Perspective
Gary Christenson

In broad terms, gold was in a bull market during the late 1960s and 70s, a bear market during the 80s and 90s, and back in a bull market since 2001. The important questions are:

• Did gold reach a generational peak in 2011 and subsequently turn down for a decade or two?

or

• Did gold reach an intermediate top in 2011 based on QE, dollar weakness, and high demand, correct for 2.5 years, and then begin a rally likely to persist through the end of the decade?

My answer is: Gold peaked in 2011, bottomed in June and December of 2013, and should rally for several, and probably many, years into the future. Read More

05.20.14- Gold Shortage Coming, Data Shows
Eric Sprott

Eric Sprott, Founder and Chairman of Sprott Asset Management, said recently that he expects a "significant re-rating of the gold price" due to high physical demand from China and India, coupled with a gold supply shortfall. The effect, which he calls the "Chinese Gold Vortex," is rapidly taking physical gold from West to East. When the West runs out of gold, the price should go much higher, he believes. I recently spoke with him on the phone about his near-term views.

Hello Eric, what do you see happening today in the metals markets? Read More

05.19.15- Gold Forecast Versus Real Estate Forecast
Vronsky

An important question all investors must ask:

Which asset class has performed the best during the past 42 years?

Answer: Gold Price Performance Leaves Other Assets Dead In The Water Since 1972   

This begs the question:  What type of performance might investors expect going forward?  Read More

05.17.14- Future For Gold As Uncertain As It Is Certain. Silver Will Lead/Follow.
Michael Noonan

Based on several thousand years of history, and based on the last 100 years of fiats, gold will continue to rise as a store of value, and almost all fiats will fail, massively. Which fiats will continue?  The Yuan and the Ruble, for two.  The Panama Balboa is another possibility, but Panama will have to do some sorting out to get rid of the fiat US dollar, its paper currency.  The official money of account is the Panama balboa, but it ceased printing around 1941, in favor of the US dollar.  This little Central American country has been making preparations to disassociate from the fiat Federal Reserve Notes.  Read More

05.16.14- Are Silver Prices Set Up for Another Heartbreak?
Dr. Jeff lewis

For long term investors and precious metals observers, the range-bound price action has rubbed salt into the open wound of short price sentiment. That is, if there is anyone left to remember the move up to $50 in 2011. 

How long prices can remain relatively quiet and range-bound (in the face of growing fundamentals, geopolitical tension, and the rising awareness of inflation) is anyone's guess. Read More

05.15.14- Silver fix ends after 120 years
Truth in Gold

It was born in the late 19th century when a handful of London bullion dealers agreed to meet daily under a cloud of cigar smoke to set the price for the "devil's metal". But now, after 117 years of operation, the London silver fix – an integral part of the city's $1.6tn-a-year silver market – is on its deathbed.

The three banks that arrange silver's global benchmark said on Wednesday that prices would be "fixed" for the final time at noon on August 14. The move comes on the heels of increased scrutiny by European and US regulators into precious metals price-setting following the Libor scandal and probe into possible forex market abuse. Read More

05.14.14- Silver Was Not In a Bubble in 2011!
Gary Christenson

Conclusions

• The April 2011 silver price spike was NOT a bubble.

• The January 1980 silver price blow-off was a bubble, and it was materially different from the April 2011 price spike.

• I fully expect a bubble in silver – someday – but that day is months or years into the future.

• Prices for food, energy, silver, and gold are going up – broadly speaking – along with the national debt, money supply, and similar measures of debt and credit. Since we KNOW national debt will increase for the foreseeable future, plan on the prices for food, energy, silver, and gold increasing similarly. Read More

05.12.14- Is Silver Getting Ready To Make A Big Move?
Dave Kranzler

Everyone in the precious metals community is scratching their heads over the recent behavior of the price of silver. At the end of the day, the severely depressed price level can only be attributed to the extreme degree of manipulation and price containment activities of the Federal Reserve and the U.S. Treasury’s Exchange Stabilization Fund team (which is officed in the same building as the NY Fed).

Besides containing the upward price movement of gold and silver in order to support its effort to prop up the dying U.S. dollar, the question is, why is silver being hammered like this with Comex futures?   Ultimately, I believe a severe shortage of unencumbered physical bars for delivery into India and Asia has developed. Read More

05.10.14- Gold And Silver – Rally Or Not? War Or Not? Probably Not For Both.
Michael Noonan

In the past, it was a slam dunk. There was no nation strong enough to oppose the elite’s weapons of mass destruction, aka debt and the US military.   How things have changed. The failed Western banking system is way past its expiration date.  All the elites horses and all the elites men can never put back this broken derivative mess again.

War has always been the go-to tactic for the Rothschild-driven control-the-world- mentality. From the spawned chaos arising from their carefully chosen plan[s] for instigating war[s], not only would they ultimately prevail in their sick objective of manic control, they would make a ton of money and grow their operations even more. Read More

05.09.14- A Real Surprise
Ted Butler

First, here's some background. Two years ago this month, a subscriber (Dr. Jeff Lewis – www.silver-coin-investor.com) had a chance social encounter with an employee of the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and as a result suggested that I contact the agency about the silver manipulation and the CFTC's role in it. Having taken an oath to myself never to pass up any opportunity to help expose and terminate the silver manipulation, I promptly wrote to the GAO on its Fraud Net complaint hotline and just as promptly forgot about it. I admit to having grown weary of waiting for a regulatory remedy in silver. Read More

05.08.14- Gold – Fertile Ground for Sarcastic Analysis
Gary Christenson

I believe gold prices will fall hard between now and the US election in November 2016.

• The US congress has shown remarkable progress in reducing both the annual deficit and the total national debt and may balance the budget in 2016. Consequently, gold prices will fall much further as we approach the election in 2016. Their fiscal accountability and balanced budgets are NOT supportive of higher gold prices. Read More

05.07.14- The Patriotic and Moral Imperative for Owning Gold and Silver
Johnny Silver Bear

(Editors Note: One of the perks of editing "the Bear" allows me to post my own rants. I originally published The Patriotic and Moral Imperative for Owning Gold and Silver in October, 2004.)

I pledge allegiance to the flag...

Remember when you learned those words? It was back when everything was simple. The Pledge of Allegiance was written in 1892 by Francis Bellamy, the circulation manager of the Boston based "The Youth's Companion" magazine. The end of the Nineteenth Century was a much simpler time. The world was a much simpler place. It is not so simple anymore. Read More

05.06.14- Lower Prices To Impact Silver Wheaton
Truth in Gold

Silver Wheaton will announce its first quarter results on May 8 and conduct a conference call with analysts on May 9. Lower silver and gold prices this quarter as compared to the corresponding period a year ago will result in drop in year-over-year profits. Revenues are also likely to be lower because of lower prices, despite marginally higher production and shipments.

Silver Wheaton is a precious metal streaming company. It enters into long-term purchase agreements with mining companies for silver and gold produced as a by-products of mining operations. The company pays an upfront amount for the right to purchase a portion or all of the silver and gold produced for a per ounce cash payment, which is at or below the prevailing market price. Read More

05.05.14- Gold And Silver – Elites Want War. Front Man Obama Pushing Hard.
Michael Noonan

The modus operandi of the elites is to create chaos, preferably in the form of [profitable for them] war.  Their purpose is to create major headaches for governments and people. The next step is to “offer solutions” to end the chaos.  Without fail, the solutions always favor the elite who gain more control as part of the cost for the rescue.

Why war?  A simple diversion used to cover the total insolvency of the entire Western banking system and the failure of all fiat currencies.  The only solution will be financial destruction, and major economic life disruptions, especially in the ill-prepared United States.  Previews of what is in store for the United States are found in Greece, Cyprus, Ireland, Venezuela, Argentina.  The list grows. Read More

05.03.14- Does Silver Deserve Gold's Price Slump?
Truth in Gold

Silver is being undermined by its association with gold.

While makers of everything from jewelry to solar panels are buying the most silver in nine years, prices are languishing. Investors are dismissing industrial demand and instead focusing on the waning appeal of precious metals as a haven, with the Federal Reserve paring economic stimulus measures, inflation muted and equities rallying.

Silver has been dragged down by a yearlong slump in gold, the commodity most widely held by investors in exchange-traded funds, following a decade-long rally that saw prices for both surge more than sixfold. The five most-accurate precious-metals analysts tracked over the past two years predict silver will average $18.80 an ounce in the third quarter, the lowest since 2010, and gold will drop 7.8 percent. Read More

05.02.14- Why Gold and Silver Could Outperform Every Other Asset Class in 2014
Gold and Silver

After almost a three year bear market in gold and silver it's safe to conclude that most of precious metal bears have sold out and moved on.  As gold and silver prices corrected sharply over the past three years, the chorus of bearish sentiment in the mainstream press has become endemic, thus setting the stage for a powerful and unexpected contra rally.

What will set off an explosive rally in precious metals remains to be seen but there are plenty of potential triggers including war in the Ukraine or South Korea as well as the significant financial risk of collapsing asset bubbles engineered by the extremely loose monetary policies of the world's central banks. Read More

05.01.14- Institutions Mislead The Public About Silver Investment Demand
Steve St. Angelo

There’s a lot of shortsighted and incorrect silver analysis out there, so its imperative that you consider the information in this article. CPM Group just announced the release of their 2014 Silver Yearbook.  In their statement they implied that “Net Global Silver Investment” declined in 2013, while fabrication demand increased.

This sounds like a bearish statement for silver investors, but the reality is… silver investment demand actually INCREASED IN 2013, it did not decline.  I will prove why this is true in a minute, but I want to first bring up another piece of silver analysis titled, “Silver $50:  Three Years After The Shortage.”

This article was written by Bullion Vault’s Miguel Perez-Santalla.  In the article he states the following: Read More

04.30.14- The World's Most Undervalued Asset
Ted Butler

First off, it is pretty audacious to label any investment asset as the world's cheapest when you consider the implications of that claim. Most of the world's investors are value oriented, always on the prowl to find undervaluation and if they could identify the single most undervalued investment opportunity, it would only be a matter of time before they descended upon it. Simply put, if you could identify the most undervalued investment asset in the world that would be another way of saying you had identified the world's best investment opportunity.

The next step would be to back up any such claim with straight forward reasoning and facts to substantiate any claim of extreme undervaluation. That's the purpose of this article, namely, to show why I believe silver is the cheapest investment asset to own and that it is likely destined, therefore, to be the best investment opportunity over time. The only caveat is one of time. Read More

04.29.14- Listen, Silver: We Need to Talk
Jeff Clark

I wrote to Silver last week, and she answered back. I’d like to share our correspondence with you…

Dear Silver,

Happy anniversary. It was on April 25, 2011 that you hit $49.80 per ounce in the New York spot market.

Today, three years later, you sell for around $20, nearly 60% less.

Is your bear market almost over—or are these low prices here to stay? Your price has lagged gold this year, so your normal volatility is lacking. How much longer will you be stuck?

Jeff Clark, silver investor Read More

04.28.14- Russian Sanctions Could See Gold Prices 'Explode'
Mark O'Byrne

Gold climbed $9.80 or 0.76% on Friday to $1,302.70/oz. Silver rose $0.04 or 0.2% to $19.71/oz. Gold and silver finished up for the week - up 0.60% and 0.41% respectively.

Gold eked out small gains in European trading, as growing tensions in Ukraine are contributing to higher prices.  On Thursday prices dropped to $1,268.40 per ounce – the lowest since early February, before rallying due to tensions over Ukraine. In the last 3 sessions, gold bullion has rallied nearly 2%, as the crisis in Eastern Europe bolsters safe haven demand.

Today, geopolitical tensions have deepened with President Obama saying that the United States will impose additional sanctions on Russia targeting individuals and companies. Read More

04.26.14- Prospects For Both From A Russian POV
Michael Noonan

One of the biggest problems for the West, the US in particular, is its increasingly parochial perspective from the narrowest of lenses,  fully colored by the elite’s use of its main propaganda machine, the Maintstream Media.  It will not work for people to expect more from their government, rather, people have to demand and expect more from themselves, for in the end, people will discover all they really had to rely upon was themselves and failed to do so.

All of the information one needs to make more enlightened decisions is out there. One has to change their broken habits of spoon-fed expectations from local news and take a more active role in seeking the truth.  In a nation that relies upon a police state, increased militarization, and NSA [STASI] spying on its docile population, one cannot expect to hear truth, only lies, and the Obama administration is certainly delivering them. Read More

04.25.14- "Stuff" Can't Go Out Of Business
Bill Holter

We did a little bit of math yesterday and found that there is barley 1/85th of one ounce of gold produced each year for each inhabitant of the planet. This is a "flow" number as it compares to newly available gold to the population. But what about the "stock" of gold compared to the population?

The estimates are that globally 2,600-2,700 tons of gold per year are produced, this is the "flow." The best estimates that I've seen on "stock" are all in the neighborhood of 170,000 tons unless you include those in "La La" land (Karen Hudes et al) who believe that another 170,000 tons is sitting somewhere in Hawaii that will be used to "make the world right" and save humanity from global poverty…Kumbayah. "Stock" is the total of all gold mined throughout history and could be "available" for trade or delivery. Read More

04.24.14- My Back and Forth
Yesterday With John Embry
Bill Holter

I received a reply to my article and a question yesterday from John Embry of Sprott Asset Management.  He asks, “Where” the silver has come from to supply the excess demand over these past years.  I have reprinted his question and then my response to John.  I will follow my reply at the bottom with some parting comments and a more in depth explanation.

I agree with your premise totally but remain baffled by how the PTB are able to access enough physical silver worldwide to meet demand at such a remarkably depressed price. I was talking to Eric Sprott about it yesterday and he can't understand how they're doing it. The world experts Ted Butler and David Morgan are at a loss also. Any ideas on your part? 

Best,  John Read More

Silver Up & S&P Down
Gary Christenson

Silver has had three bad years while the S&P has had five good years. It is time for both markets to reverse.

Examine the graph below of Silver versus the Silver to S&P ratio. It tells me the ratio has returned to levels seen in 2008 and that the ratio follows the price of silver. This is interesting but not that helpful.

Now examine the second graph in which the same ratio is plotted against the 14 month Relative Strength Index of the ratio. The RSI is a timing indicator that ranges between 0 – 100 and indicates buy zones when the indicator is low and sell zones when the RSI is high.

Currently the RSI of the index is about 23 – quite low and indicating that the silver to S&P ratio should increase from here. Either the silver price should go up or the S&P should come down, or more likely, both will occur. Read More

04.22.14- Silver Continues To Drain From The Shanghai Futures Exchange
Steve St. Angelo

In the past week, the Shanghai Futures Exchange suffered another large withdrawal of silver from its warehouse stocks.

Actually, this is the lowest level of silver inventories since the exchange started building its silver stocks in August, 2012.

In my article, Large Decline Of Shanghai & Comex Silver Stocks, I reported that inventories at both exchanges fell significantly since the beginning of March. Read More

04.21.14- The Secret World of Gold
Stan Malhotra

View Video

04.19.14- Another Weekend Rant:
Your Dollars Are Safe, etc.
Don Stott

Most of us have insurance. Auto insurance, home owners, etc.  Accidents do happen, and one can never predict when some nutty, pimple faced, testosterone soaked, teenage male, will attempt to test GM's differential gears.  Fires do happen, and if you have life insurance, you certainly will eventually die eventually.  Insurance companies are well endowed, and your premiums are invested.  They are private, and make a profit, which is the way the capitalistic system works.  Then there is the Social Security "insurance,' which is not insurance at all, but a giant Ponzi scheme.  FDR started it, and its rates have gone up, up, and up over the years, and it is still bankrupt, just like everything else the federal government operates, such as the postal system, National Parks, and now Obamacare, which promises to be the ultimate disaster.  Read More

04.18.14- David Morgan Interview on Silver Market, Silver Price Manipulation and the Coming Global Monetary Reset
Fabrice Drouin Ristori

Since there is a lot of talk about a potential gold re evaluation following an international monetary reset, I wanted to interview David Morgan, renowned silver market analyst, in order to have his views on a couple of topics, including silver evolution, silver manipulation, and the potential price of silver after a financial reset. Read his answers below :

Fabrice Drouin Ristori : Mr. Morgan, thank you for this interview. You've specialized in analyzing the silver price for a long time, and understanding how and why the price of silver evolves with such volatility takes time and research. Let's start with the basics : Could you give us an idea of the size of the annual worldwide production of physical silver ? Read More

04.17.14- Conspiracy Fact Versus Conspiracy Theory
Dr. Jeff Lewis

"The few who understand the system will either be so interested from its profits, or so dependent on its favors that there will be no opposition from that class." -Rothschild Brothers of London, 1863

The mainstream is on an academically-driven mission to politicize conspiracy theories and lump them all into the same category. While gold and silver manipulation is an ancient conspiracy fact, eyes are wide shut to the general awareness in the face of one revelation after another.

The news cycle is filled with a carefully crafted digestion of tightly controlled sound bites that are presented with no lack of drama, glitter, and spotlights. The mainstream media is perfectly positioned to make theater of the issues that remain esoteric and out of reach. The further the issue is from the majority's perception, the more black and white will be the acceptance. Belief is emotional, politically framed. Read More

04.16.14- US Is an Oligarchy Not a Democracy, says Scientific Study
Eric Zuesse

(Editor's Note: After reading this document, essentially an affirmation of a condition we were already aware of, I decided to post it in the Precious Metals section because it also affirms our need to protect ourselves. - JSB)

In America, money talks... and democracy dies under its crushing weight.

A study, to appear in the Fall 2014 issue of the academic journal Perspectives on Politics, finds that the U.S. is no democracy, but instead an oligarchy, meaning profoundly corrupt, so that the answer to the study’s opening question, "Who governs? Who really rules?" in this country, is:  Read More

04.15.14- Silver Fundamentals from an Historian's Perspective
Gary Christenson

Ryan Jordan, Ph.D., is a professional historian, author, and college professor. He is the author of
Silver – The People’s Metal, which I highly recommend.

He sees silver fundamentals from the perspective of a historian and as an astute observer of present conditions. He studies the drivers of the silver market, supply, demand, mining, inflation, investment sentiment, central bank bond monetization policies, and politics.

What does he think?

• Demand for silver is strong! Read More

04.14.14- Silver being left behind in latest gold price surge – but don't despair!
Lawrence Williams

Silver was left behind as gold surged following the FOMC minutes release. But despite some adverse analytical comment the overall picture may be rather more positive.

Silver investors will have been a little disappointed by the metal’s performance vis-a-vis the gold price following the latter’s gains after the release of the latest U.S. FOMC meeting minutes. The minutes suggested that the low interest rate regime may well continue longer than expected and resulted in a major boost to the stock market and a significant uptick in the gold price. But it had rather less impact on silver which initially remained stuck below the $20 mark, although this morning’s trade has at last see it move up above this mark. Perhaps European investors are less pessimistic about silver’s investment credentials. Read More

04.12.14- 2014 Coud Be A Yawner; Be Prepared For A Weekend Surprise
Michael Noonan

For the past year, we have been saying that the charts for gold and silver are likely bottoming in a normal manner, and it takes time for a this kind of formation to complete itself.  It remains the case, to date.

What is likely to cause a sharp price reversal to the upside for gold and silver?  If both were allowed to simply adjust to inflation, you would see a fairly substantial rally.  Given that will not be the case, what will be a/the catalyst for a precious metal [PM] change in trend?

Could it be enormous purchases of whatever-is-available physical gold by countries like China and India?  No.  That has been in the works and a known fact for a few years now, and gold continues to languish near recent lows. Read More

04.11.14- Prepare For a Bull Market to Shock Even the Most Ardent Goldbugs
Jay Taylor

The gold price rallied about five bucks or so during early trading in the Far East on their Wednesday, but then began to sell off a bit starting around 2 p.m. Hong Kong time---an hour before the London open.

Then, at the noon London silver fix, the gold price got sold down another five bucks or so---and then didn't do much until the Fed minutes were released at 2 p.m. EDT. 

The subsequent price spike ran into a not-for-profit seller within 30 minutes---and that was pretty much it for the remainder of the day. Read More

04.10.14- Real U.S. Silver Money Would Consume Nearly Half Of Total Mine Supply
Steve St. Angelo

The U.S. Treasury would consume nearly half of total mine supply if U.S coins contained silver.  Prior to 1965, the U.S. Mint included silver in its coinage.  The U.S. dime, quarter and half-dollar consisted of 90% silver.  However, today they are nothing more than base metal slugs. If we look at the table below, the U.S. Mint produced 10.6 billion coins in 2013:

The U.S. Mint shipped 1.9 billion dimes and 1.06 billion quarters in 2013.  According to the U.S. Mint Annual Report, it cost $75 million to produce these dimes and $97 million for the quarters (based on Cost of Goods), for a total of $172 million in 2013. Read More

04.09.14- This Past Week in Market Madness -
This is what Passes for Capitalism these days...
Birch Gold Group

Friday’s disappointing jobs report – which yet again fell short of expectations and had unemployment remaining stagnant at 6.7% – adds more fuel to the market’s angst as it continues to lose patience with the so-called recovery. The Dow tumbled three digits on the underwhelming news, which suggests that it has now moved past the phase of merely being disappointed to being outright spooked.

Even Janet Yellen is showing her frustration. In her first public speech as Federal Reserve Chair, she signaled that the Fed will continue to be accommodative for the foreseeable future. Not only is she not backing off the taper, she’ll keep interest rates near zero until unemployment moves down further. So the cheap money and continued illusion of wealth will keep coming until unemployment reaches 5.6% or lower, the level that the Fed currently views as a “healthy”. We’re sure it will work eventually… (What was Einstein’s definition of insanity again?) Read More

04.08.14- Wizardry of the MSM
Dr Jerome

JRR Tolkien wrote The Lord of the Rings during WWII, withholding publication until 1954-55, while he likely sharpened and edited the 2nd best selling novel in history. As with all great works of literature, they are a blend of divine inspiration and good old hard work and study on the part of the author.

No doubt, Tolkein's research was first hand, engaged in the war that surrounded him.  His creative spirit found expression of the unutterable things in his soul. But what did Tolkein wish for his readers to learn? Was his novel simply for entertainment? Read More

04.07.14- Silver - Set for A Shiny Future?
Bodo Albrecht

In the opinion of some, silver has become a troublesome investment metal since the decline of the photographic industry. It is doubted that the new industrial applications are, or will be, of equal relevance to sustain the metal’s price and relevance. But is this really true? Tech Metals Insider spoke Mike DiRienzo, executive director of The Silver Institute, to find out.

 “The future of silver in industrial applications is actually quite bright”, explained DiRienzo. “In fact, if you compare developments since 2003, when the photographic silver market was still at a high, with 2012 you will see that – while the market for photographic silver declined from 193 million ounces to 57.8, the market for industrial uses went up from 368 milion ounces to 465 million ounces. At the same time, the annual average silver price went up from $US 4.87 / oz to $US 31.15 / oz, its second highest average. So, regardless of what happened to photographic silver, the silver price has increased, and industrial applications have increased.” Read More

04.05.14- Power Of Elites More Important Than China's Gold
Michael Noonan

Being successful in trading has a lot to do with finding the developing “story” behind the price structure of a market.  We had good results in February because we keyed into some very important pieces of market information that would lead to a likely result for the direction of price, or what we call “the story of the market.”  We had less success in March because the focus was more on trying to catch up to the story, where being just a step or so behind is not as rewarding, even resulting in loss.

For the past several weeks, we have shifted focus on what we see as the truer “story” of the PMs market, [Precious Metals].  Some may think we have gone off on an unrelated tangent talking about the elites and fiat currency.  The PM community has maintained a relentless focus on how much gold is being imported by China, the diminishing supply of physical gold at COMEX and LBMA, and a host of other popular statistics that support what seems to be important for gold and silver adherents in their beliefs that should ultimately lead to higher prices. Read More

04.04.14- Gold Price Stealth Rally 2014
Truth in Gold

So far, 2014 has been a paradoxical year for gold. Many investors aren’t even aware that it has rallied almost 8%. On the rare occasion that the financial media mentions the yellow metal, it is only in the context of comparing the recent rise to last year’s decline.

In spite of this overwhelming negative sentiment, gold is experiencing a stealth rally as one of the best performing assets of the year. Let’s look at some important metrics of the most under-valued sector in this market. Read More

04.03.14- Debt Makes You Dumb, Japanese Edition
John Rubino

Debt works the same way for countries as for families and individuals. That is, if you borrow too much, your life begins to suck. And actions that in normal times might have seemed unwise, contradictory or downright stupid begin to look better than the (even more disturbing) alternatives.

Pretend, for example, that you are Japan. You borrow huge amounts of money year after year to keep the zombie banks and builders created by an early-1990s asset bubble from imploding and decimating the rest of the economy. Your annual deficits are huge, your accumulated debt, as a percentage of GDP, dwarfs that of any other major country. And your population is aging rapidly, so you have at best a decade to start generating massive surpluses to pay retirees what they’ve been promised. Read More

04.02.14- Gold versus Silver
Steve Saville

We most recently discussed the long-term performance of the gold/silver ratio only two months ago, but the subject is sufficiently important to warrant some repetition. So, without further ado and with reference to the following monthly chart, here are the main points we made in our 4th February commentary:

First, silver tends to perform better than gold -- causing the gold/silver ratio to decline -- during the late stages of intermediate-term precious-metals rallies and especially during the late stages of cyclical precious-metals bull markets. It does so for the same reason that highly-speculative junior gold-mining stocks tend to be much stronger than their larger/lower-risk counterparts during the late stages of multi-year advances. As a rally progresses, speculators are emboldened to take more risk and go further down the food chain in search of the proverbial killing. Read More

04.01.14- Inflation Is Coming, What to Do - NOW
Jeff Clark

Gold had a “bad” week last week - unless you’re new to the sector, or have been sitting on the fence about what to do. If so, and you were wondering just the week before if you’d missed the boat, the current pullback is an excellent opportunity to buy in.

But is this just a correction, or will gold keep dropping from here? In the very near term, no one can say, but Jeff Clark did warn in our dispatch three weeks ago that March tends to be the "worst" month of the year for gold—or, again, the best, if you're buying. We remain convinced that in any other time frame than the immediate future, gold has only one way to go: up.

Why? Many reasons, but worldwide monetary debasement and our projections of coming inflation are primary ones. Read More

03.31.14- The Dollar Cannot Be Devalued and Suicidal Bankers
Hugo Salinas Price

“If the U.S. inflates and devalues the dollar, gold will go much higher in price"  Jim Rickards. (See here).

The last dollar devaluation took place under President Roosevelt in 1934, when from being worth 1/20.67th of an ounce of gold in 1933, the dollar was devalued to 1/35th of an ounce of gold.

The last opportunity for devaluing the dollar took place in August 1971, when the dollar was still pegged at 1/35th of an ounce of gold. Nixon took the advice of Milton Friedman and made the worst mistake in history; Nixon did not devalue the dollar as he should have done, but simply took the US off the gold standard, such as it was, and thence forth the US refused to redeem dollars held by Central Banks around the world at any price. Read More

03.29.14- Why Gold Is Falling & A Gold Forecast You May Not Like
Chris Vermeulen

The bitter truth about what may happen to gold is not all that exciting and likely don't want to know, but you need to understand what is unfolding as we speak…

Long story short, the prices of bonds look as though they are about to rally once again. Mounting fears of a stock market correction has money flowing into bonds which in turn will drive interest yields lower yet gain. But the BIG PICTURE of what he FED said the other week about how they plan to raise rates in 2015 and cut QE down to $55 billion per month hurts the long term outlook for gold.

This news may not sound that important, it actually is and undermines the price of miners, silver and gold in a big way.

Find out why gold is falling and the threat that could trigger a much larger meltdown in the long run with my gold forecast video. Read More

03.28.14- April Fools' Drop Dead Date For The Volcker Rule – What It Might Mean For Gold
Michael Kosares

It could get to be interesting as we move into the end of the month.  The Volcker Rule which limits banks' speculative investments (including gold) goes into effect April 1, 2014.  There has probably already been quite a bit of adjustment to bank portfolios, but those who have held out will need to make their moves before the deadline.

In conjunction with the implementation of the Rule, there has been an exodus of talent from the banks.  The latest heavyweight departure came yesterday when Jamie Dimon's closest aide, James Cavanaugh, left JP Morgan for the Carlyle Group, a private equity firm. Cavanaugh was considered Dimon's heir apparent.  Says this morning's NYTimes, "Mr. Cavanagh's decision to give up a chance at eventually running JPMorgan signals how running a large bank has become less attractive, considering the regulatory hurdles and heightened scrutiny that have dogged Wall Street since the aftermath of the financial crisis." Read More

03.27.14- Should I bet the house on silver?
Bill Rice

A life event recently tested how strong my convictions are on the question of where silver and gold prices are headed in the next 12 or so months.

What happened is I received notice from a tenant of mine informing me he is not renewing his lease when it expires at the end of May.

As a landlord, I now have to decide if I want to try recruit another rental tenant or go ahead and put the house on the market and hopefully sell it.

Finding a buyer might take months and would also require me taking out a small loan to repair a wood rot issue. Read More

03.26.14- Dollar Value Could Suffer Instant Change-David Morgan
Greg Hunter

Silver expert David Morgan is warning of coming financial changes that may be forced on the U.S. during the next G20 meeting.  Morgan says, "The impetus here is the U.S. has had too much financial power backed by the military for far too long, and they (G20) are going to implement change one way or the other.  The IMF is basically an extension of the United States.   Even though it's called the International Monetary Fund, it is really U.S. based.  With what's been proposed here, the IMF is not going to have the clout that it once did because the G-20 is going to be able to overrule the IMF vote.  This is a point in history, monetary history and global economic politics that could set a precedent . . . where it's official that the U.S. dollar has lost its primary status as world reserve currency." Read More

03.25.14- China HK gold imports accelerating
- 109 tonnes in Feb
Lawrence Williams

Gold bulls should be heartened by the latest official figures for Chinese gold imports through Hong Kong for February. Not only were net imports some 30% higher than in the previous month, but fully 79% higher than in February 2013 according to calculations from Bloomberg based on the latest Hong Kong official data. The latest figures out of Hong Kong suggest that far from Chinese gold demand slowing down this year it could even be accelerating. Read More

03.24.14- The truth is out: money is just an IOU, and the banks are rolling in it
David Graeber

The Bank of England's dose of honesty throws the theoretical basis for austerity out the window

Back in the 1930s, Henry Ford is supposed to have remarked that it was a good thing that most Americans didn't know how banking really works, because if they did, "there'd be a revolution before tomorrow morning". Read More

03.22.14- Suing JPMorgan and the COMEX
Ted Butler

This article is based on a commentary of Ted Butler's premium service at www.butlerresearch.com. It contains the highest quality of gold and silver market analysis. Ted Butler is specialized in precious metals markets analysis for 4 decades.

I've had some recent conversations with attorneys who were considering class-action lawsuits regarding a gold price manipulation stemming from reports about the London Gold Fix. I told them that while there is no doubt that gold and, particularly, silver are manipulated in price, I didn't see how the manipulation stemmed from the London Fix. I wished them well and hoped that they may prevail (the enemy of my enemy is my friend), because you never know – if the lawyers dig deep enough they might find the real source of the gold and silver manipulation, namely, the COMEX (owned by the CME Group) and JPMorgan. Read More

03.21.14- Implications of the Ukrainian situation for gold
Alasdair Macleod

There is a fascinating story from Robert Peston, the BBC's business editor about his interview with Hank Paulson, who was the US treasury secretary at the time of the Lehman crisis. Paulson said that he was told by the Chinese that they had a message from the Russians suggesting they club together to drive down the prices of Fannie and Freddie "to maximise the turmoil on Wall Street". The Chinese declined, but in doing so they made sure the Treasury was aware that China and Russia know that between them they have the power to break western capital markets. Read More

03.20.14- SWOT Analysis: We're Headed for a Golden Cross
Frank Holmes

Every week, our investment team reviews a variety of sources to formulate a summary of the top events in the gold, resources, and emerging markets.

The results are categorized in terms of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. We believe this SWOT model helps investors make informed decisions about their gold and gold stock investments.

For the week beginning March 10, here is the SWOT for the gold market. Read More

03.19.14- Is “Dr. Copper” Foreshadowing A Stock Market Crash Just Like It Did In 2008?
Michael Snyder

Is the price of copper trying to tell us something?  Traditionally, "Dr. Copper" has been a very accurate indicator of where the global economy is heading next.  For example, back in 2008 the price of copper dropped from nearly $4.00 to under $1.50 in just a matter of months.  And now it appears that another big decline in the price of copper is starting to happen.  So far this year, the price of copper has dropped from a high of $3.40 back in January to a price of $2.95 as I write this article, and many analysts are warning that this is just the beginning.  By itself, this should be quite alarming to investors, but as you will see below there are a whole host of other signs that a stock market crash may be rapidly approaching. Read More

03. 18.14- Can Gold And Interest Rates Move Higher At The Same Time?
Matt Machaj, PhD

Can the gold price be fundamentally related to some other economic variables? Can we use those variables successfully in trying to predict the future price of gold? Is gold highly correlated with any of those variables?

Last year a very insightful and interesting working paper was published in the webpages of the National Bureau of Economic Research by Claude Erb and Campbell Harvey. The paper is mostly about gold being perceived as either a safe haven or an inflation hedge. After a while it sparked various discussions about gold not being what it is thought of. And rightly so. As we have already mentioned many times in the Market Overviews, gold is not historically an inflation hedge device which will protect you against possible inflation. Of course the special case for the gold price could be a hyperinflationary scenario. Read More

03.17.14- Technical chart shows silver price about to leap towards $100 an ounce
Peter Vogel

If the double bottom established by gold last year is good for the gold price it is outstandingly good news for silver.

The latest technical chart from guru Clive Maund establishes a clear upward bounce towards $100 an ounce silver is in prospect.

He comments: ‘On this chart we see that, despite the severity of the reaction of the past three years, silver never broke down from its long-term uptrend, which now looks set to reassert itself with a vengeance after a fine base pattern has formed at a classic juncture, in a zone of strong support just above the support line of the long-term uptrend. Read More

03.15.14- What's Happening in the Copper Market Should Alarm You…
Sasha Cekerevac

There is something going on right now in the copper market that should alarm you. Over the past week, the price of copper has plunged, recently hitting a four-year low.

Why should this matter?

Most investors and analysts are placing bets that economic growth is about to re-accelerate globally. Never before has the world been so interlinked, so we must pay attention to what is occurring internationally.

Copper is an important part of the potential for economic growth, not just because it is used in building and construction, but because it is also a major factor in the Chinese lending market, which is now showing severe strain leading to a potential debt crisis. Read More

03.13.14- Gold: 14 Years & Three Patterns
GE Christenson

Gold peaked in August of 2011 and fell erratically into December 2013.

Was that the end of the collapse, or is there more downside coming in gold prices?

Bearish Scenario: Listen to the banks who are forecasting weak prices in 2014 and thereafter. "Nothing to see here folks, the dollar has weakened drastically since 1971, gold sells for 30 times its 1971 price, but it's all good. Just move on and pretend… Gold will drop below $1000 before you can say 2016 elections…"

I'm not a fan of:

• The bearish gold scenario when decades of Federal Reserve "printing" and US government budget deficits have all but guaranteed continued destruction of the purchasing power of the dollar. Read More

03.12.14- Where Silver Wheaton Saves Junior Gold Miners & Massively Profits by It
Rich Duprey

Ever since the financial markets collapsed in 2008, the landscape for financing has been upended and the difficulty of navigating through the tumult is seen no better than in the mining industry, where falling commodity prices and China's slowing economy have exacerbated the situation.

Yet mining majors like Barrick Gold (NYSE: ABX  ) and Newmont Mining (NYSE: NEM  ) have a set of tools to work with that are unavailable to lesser operations particularly those of rival junior miners. Barrick was able to target some $2 billion in additional costs and capital expenditure cuts last September and previously cut its dividend by 75% to save money. Newmont lowered its capex budget all throughout 2013 and last month said it expected to reduce this year's budget by another 25%. Read More

03.11.14- Gold is libertarian, cyberspace isn't
Martin Hutchinson

Assessing the sustainability of Bitcoin amid recent controversy.

The disappearance of the Bitcoin trading website Mt. Gox caused consternation among younger libertarians, who had seen cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin as a vital weapon in the struggle against Big Government. For those like myself with almost as much suspicion of the tech sector as I have of Washington, it caused a smile of grim satisfaction. In reality, Bitcoin represents the world of Mikhail Bakunin more than that of Adam Smith; for true libertarians, it fails on a number of criteria that sound money must fulfil.

I wrote about Bitcoin in December in a piece "Mississippi Bitcoin" comparing it to John Law's 1718 Mississippi Scheme (another radical new monetary invention). An open source "crypto-currency" devised in 2009, Bitcoins are created by solving algorithmic problems that get progressively more difficult, with a finite overall all-time limit of 21 million. Read More

03.10.14- Physical Silver Buying Dynamics
Steve St. Angelo

It looks like the official sources grossly underestimated the amount of Indian silver buying in 2013.  When the Indian Government put restrictions on gold imports in 2013, their citizens switched to buying silver.

Thomson Reuters GFMS estimated that total Indian silver imports would be 5,200-5,400 metric tons in 2013.  However, Koos Jansen at InGoldWeTrust, recently published an article stated that the Indians actually imported 6,125 metric tons of silver in 2013.

Koos located the total silver import figures from India's customs department DGCIS.  The 2012 & 2013 figures were taken from Koos Jansen’s site and data for 2007-2011 are from Thomson Reuters GFMS. Read More

03.08.14- Market Activity Will Always Trump News/Events/Fundamentals
Michael Noonan

There is something going on in the gold and silver market, and it is difficult to ascertain exactly what it is.  Perhaps it can best be described as a change in market behavior that may be defining a potential change in trend.  For many, the presumption has been, “Gold and silver are going to go to the moon, for the following reason[s]….”  What followed was then a litany of the same facts that have been widely known for well over a year, and the same types of graphs depicting various aspects, [depleted gold stocks, cost of production v current price, etc], very often nicely colored and reproduced, but to no practical effect, at least in terms of the direction of price for gold and silver which continued lower until the end of 2013. Read More

03.07.14- Intensifying Currency War Consequences
Deepcaster

"When the dollar collapse comes, it will happen in two ways: gradually then suddenly. That formula, famously used by Hemingway to describe how one goes bankrupt, is an apt description of critical state dynamics in complex systems. The gradual part is a snowflake disturbing a small patch of snow, while the sudden part is the avalanche. The snowflake is random yet the avalanche is inevitable. Both ideas are easy to grasp. What is difficult to grasp is the critical state of the system in which the random event occurs." - Jim Rickards, Currency Wars

Major Fiat Currency Printers around the World are devaluing their currencies by "printing" ostensibly in order to bolster their economies. Read More

03.06.14- Of Paper Money, Digital Money And Gold
Hugo Salinas Price

The digital "Bitcoin" has bit the dust at Mt. Gox Bitcoin Exchange; over $400 million US has evaporated, or perhaps moved into someone's pocket. The news is all over the Internet these days.

"Digital money" is accepted world-wide. There exists only a remnant of fiat paper money which is increasingly and deliberately made more difficult to use and transport physically. The reason being, that digital transactions leave a trail of information which governments use to control the behavior of their subjects (we can hardly call them "citizens" any longer) whereas citizens using paper money in their dealings leave no trail. Read More

03.05.14- The True Prices of Gold
Ol' Remus

I've struggled to understand why people ascribe so much value to the metal. Apart from jewellery, it has virtually no use. Gold is only valuable because people say it's valuable. What's more, I'm not keen on assets that never pay an income. - Ed Bowsher at moneyweek.com

It's an old question, why is gold money? Why, in every society, ancient and modern, is gold the default store of wealth? Who are these apparently omnipotent people who say it's valuable and make it stick? And if gold is the "safety" everybody flees to in troubled times, why do so many insiders insist its price is to too low? Read More

03.04.14- "Silver –
The investment of this decade?"
David Morgan

View Video

03.03.14- Negative GOFO and Rising Gold Prices
Turd Ferguson

Have you ever had one of those thoughts tumbling around in your head for days? Usually, it lingers there until you finally try to put the pieces together. This happened to me yesterday and the result is something that needs to be widely shared, thus this public thread.

As most are aware, the LBMA publishes Gold Forward Offered Rates (GOFO) every day. You can find all daily updates and 25 years of GOFO history by clicking this link: http://www.lbma.org.uk/pages/?page_id=55&title=gold_forwards

Our friend, Denver Dave, published a concise, easy-to-understand explanation of GOFO back in July. I encourage you to read it before you go further but, in summary, it goes something like this: Read More

03.01.14- Silver Analog
Peter Vogel

This week two investment firms came out expressing their disbelief that silver has any more upside, so investors may start getting nervous and begin asking the same question. Back on Feb 12, 2014 I wrote an article titled “Coffee to Outperform Precious Metals” and within the article I stated that Coffee looked to reach $1.75 per pound – today it reached $1.78. I had recommended buying the Coffee ETF – JO @ 23.28 and selling it at 32.99 for a 47% profit in 21 days. What I did not mention in that article was the interesting similarities between the charts of Coffee and Silver.

Often times you can get what is called an ‘analog’, which simply means a representation of data that is similar when compared to data of a different origin. Coffee and Silver are the two sets of data of different origin that are being compared in the chart below, from year 2001~2014, with coffee represented by the orange line and silver by the black line. The coffee price scale is on the left side of the chart and silver on the right. Read More

02.28.14- Gold Price Explodes In Ukrainian Currency
Gold Silver Worlds

As we have repeated over and over again, gold should primarily act as an insurance policy which protects your purchasing power during a currency crisis. And despite the fact that most economic pundits want us to believe there is an economic recovery, the truth of the matter is that the recovery is very weak; the economy remains fragile. Apart from that, a global currency crisis is playing out and it will probably hit most of the currencies in the years ahead.

Recently, in the heat of the emerging market crisis, we wrote Gold Price Exploding In Emerging Markets. The charts in the article show the explosive price action in local currencies of the emerging markets that were hit hardest. That’s the insurance policy in action. Read More

02.27.14- Transcript of Anglo Far East's interview with Jim Rickards on January 14, 2014.
Jon Ward

Transcript of AFE's interview with Jim Rickards on Jan. 14, 2013.

Interview with Jim Rickards on Gold during massive deflation, gold is positioned for a huge technical rally, tapering into weakness, the new FED Chairwomans twin pillars of Optimal Control Theory and Communications Policy, the FED's intended role versus what it does now, the incredible leverage employed on the FED's balance sheet, and how most financial models today are completely wrong. Read More

02.25.14- Silver Linings Playbook
Captain Hook

The premise behind the movie (and book) Silver Linings Playbook is certainly a noble one, but not as profound as that of silver itself, which will have quite a playbook of its own in the not too distant future. In the story, the heroes, Pat and Tiffany, overcome adversity by maintaining a positive attitude in attempting to see a 'silver lining' in their uncertain circumstances, ironically, much like silver investors today. And in the end the two lovers find themselves in a 'happy ending', which in the full measure of time, will undoubtedly be the fate for silver (and gold) bulls as well.

Because as you will see below, there's a great deal of 'misplaced inflation' sitting in the stock market just waiting to find a home in silver. Why would this happen? And why silver? At some point in the not too distant future, American's are going to discover that unlike their favorite movie, or any other dream in which they may exist, there is no silver lining for both the economy and the stock market, as their stories are false and flawed, and they will be looking for a new home for their savings, where silver will 'fit this bill' for many. Read More

02.24.14- Silver Pushing To New Highs
Alex Gurr

Silver markets have been explosive over the last few days as the market has gone from trending upwards to literally jumping upwards on the charts, as momentum and volatility kicked in with rampant speculation for the precious metal.

Currently, Silver is just shy of the 22 dollar mark, can it break through and push higher? I certainly think so.

The reason behind this has been the bullish nature of precious metals over the past few weeks. Gold, Silver and Platinum have all seen a breakdown of the bearish trend lines they were stuck in, and we are now seeing a push higher from metals on the back of Dollar weakness. Read More

02.22.14- Peter Schiff: Gold Update, The Dollar Will Collapse First, Janet Yellen Wants More Inflation & More
Greg Hunter

View Video

02.21.14- Watch As Precious Metals & Energy Prices Go Crazy As Things Fall Apart
SRSrocco

As Wall Street and the financial media carry on business as usual, the underlying foundation of the U.S. economy continues to disintegrate.  Very few Americans realize we have past the point of no return.  This holds true for many of the precious metals investors.

Even though precious metal investors are more educated and better prepared than the typical American as it pertains to the upcoming economic collapse, I still believe a good percentage fail to grasp that the energy situation is the root cause of our problems.

I would guarantee that most precious metals investors know the price of the metals are up substantially since the beginning of the year, but how many realize the price of natural gas is up twice as much silver and three times as much as gold? Read More

02.20.14- Silver Has More Potential Than Gold
Mike Maloney

View Video

02.19.14- Silver Stackers: Measure your Stash like a Miner
David Morgan

When attempting to quantify the amount and quality of a possible mineralized deposit on their property, exploration companies and producers generally follow a process which seeks to state, in reasonably accurate and concise terms, just what they have…or might have. Following the Bre-X fiasco, wherein 'highly inaccurate' reserves of a supposed deposit in Borneo were publicized and acted upon by a tidal wave of investors, sophisticated and neophyte alike, a new set of reporting rules was enacted.

Canadian National Instrument 43-101, is a rule developed by the Canadian Securities Administrators governing the process of disclosing to the public, scientific and technical information about mining projects. The NI 43-101 report is presented (usually within the context of a company News Release) by a "Qualified Person" – by a (presumably) competent licensed geoscientist, who often works for the company in question and is assumed to be skilled in analyzing the mineralization under review. Read More

02.18.14- Taking Stock Of Gold Stocks – ANV, NGD, AUY, FCX, NEM, AEX, GDX
Michael Noonan

[Note:  This started as a comparative look at some gold stocks, and it turned into a great exercise in finding trades, if you take the time and go through the steps we outline in each chart.  You can begin to see differences in the quality of  trade selection, based purely on information the market offers each and every day.  Enjoy!]

We often see comments to the effect of interest in gold miner stocks as a play on gold.  Ten days ago, we did an analysis of silver-related stocks, Taking Stock of Silver Stocks, looking at SLW, PAAS, CDE, AG, SSRI, and HL.   While many view mining companies as a proxy for gold, they are not necessarily so.  There are many influences that can affect the performance of a mining stock that are unrelated to the performance of the underlying physical: management, cost of mining, depletion, labor issues, added debt, etc. Read More

02.17.14- Silver Surges By 6% In Shanghai - Longest Run Of Gains Since 1968
Mark O'Byrne

Today’s AM fix was USD 1,326.00, EUR 967.60 and GBP 791.97 per ounce.

Friday’s AM fix was USD 1,308.50, EUR 955.60 and GBP 783.21 per ounce.           

Gold climbed $16.90 or 1.3% Friday to $1,318.60/oz. Silver rose $0.94 or 4.58% at $21.55/oz. Gold and silver were both up for the week at 4.06% and 7.09%.

Silver futures in Shanghai surged by 6% - the  daily exchange limit. Silver for June delivery in Shanghai climbed to 4,440 yuan/kg, highest price for a most active contract since October 31. Read More

02.15.14- Silver And Gold…
Positioning For The Long Side
Jeffrey Lewis

With incredible bullish and widely misunderstood fundamentals generally kept sequestered from the mainstream, it is easy to rationalize higher prices eminent at any point in time. This is certainly why so many analysts and many new investors arrive to the sector with an impatience driven by the accident (surging prices) waiting to happen any minute.

This is fueled, in large part, by the possibility which remains that a short covering rally in silver sparked in the speculative category could and eventually will spill over into the commercial category. This is where JPM and 3 other large bullion banks maintain there outlandish and illegal, though un-prosecutable, net short positions. Read More

02.14.14- Silver Speculators: Keep Your Eyes On The Prize
Ryan Jordan

The reasons for owning physical silver are many. Silver is a real asset that stands outside the banking system and therefore has no counterparty risk. If you lived through 2008 as an investor and don't know what the term counterparty risk is, you aren't doing a very good job diversifying your assets. Likewise, with recent discussions of the bank bail in concept, silver is a private asset, one that you can sell on your own terms. Related to silver being a private asset, the white monetary metal is also an item useful for barter. No one wants to live in a bombed out, destroyed, hollowed out shell of world—but at the same time, what we want in life and what we get in life are two separate things. Being prepared is the motto of anyone watching the horror show that is the global economy of late—and while there are many ways to be prepared, owning one of the oldest and best recognized monetary metals is a good start. Read More

02.13.14- Silver futures contracts soar 354% in January at Dubai Exchange
Shivom Seth

Even as bullion contracts jump at the Dubai Exchange, moves are afoot to hold the Global Gem and Jewellery Fair for the first time in Dubai, in tandem with India's export council.

The Dubai Gold and Commodities Exchange (DGCX) has set its sights on growing its role as a global financial hub and has recorded a thumping start to 2014, with a total of 1,043,200 contracts traded in January, an increase of 36% over December 2013. Read More

02.12.14- Silver to 100 Dollars within 'Reasonable Timeframe:' John Embry
Henry Bonner

I interviewed Sprott's John Embry a few weeks ago. John believes gold and silver will move big as weakness in the economy and financial system comes to light. I got on the phone with Mr. Embry for a follow-up on his ideas and predictions…

Hello again John. The last time we talked, you said gold and silver were at 'historic undervaluation.' What's on your mind now?  

Well, my main concern today is that the economy is really much worse than most people are prepared to admit. And this will have significant ramifications on various markets. Obviously, the one market we are particularly interested in is gold and silver. Both of them, as I said before, are considerably undervalued. Read More

02.11.14- The Birth of the New Third World Dollar
Jim Willie

The United States is fast racking up characteristics of a Third World nation. Its finances are Third World. Its president is Third World. Its banking integrity is Third World. Its absent industry is Third World. Its decaying cities are Third World. It urgently begs for a Third World currency, but that is soon to be remedied. For the last three years, the United States has been living in a fairy tale with bailouts from the vast bond monetization. The Quantitative Easing with its amplified bond purchases and hidden channels to disguise higher volumes has been operating as an historically unprecedented Wall Street bailout and Fannie Mae fraud recycle room. Pressures are building. Read More

02.10.14- Thinking Of Getting Some Silver? (And What To Do With It?)
David Bond

Wallace, Idaho – A well-educated friend approached us the other day. A friend of his had decided to give up cigarettes and put the $250 a month he was saving in to silver, but hadn't a clue how to do it?

At first blush such a question uttered here in North America's greatest silver-mining district might be as silly as someone from Detroit asking what a car is. But perhaps not. Silver-mining isn't taught in our local schools anymore, and probably not a single schoolteacher within 600 miles who could tell you the difference between the Fabian Society and Austrian School thinking on monetary policy. Read More

02.08.14- Interview with Jim Rickards: Gold Set for Massive Rally
Valentin Schmid

The author of the best-selling book 'Currency Wars' talks about his new book and why gold will rally in 2014

Epoch Times: Mr. Rickards, please tell us about your new book, "The Death of Money," coming out in April. 

James Rickards: It's both a prequel and a sequel to "Currency Wars," my first book. It's a prequel in a sense that "Currency Wars" opened with two chapters that describe a financial war game that took place in a top-secret weapons laboratory in 2009.

That was the first time the Pentagon had ever done a war game where the only weapons could be financial instruments—stocks, bonds, derivatives, currencies. Read More

02.07.14- The Farce Is Complete: Blythe Masters Joining CFTC
Tyler Durden

We thought today's newsflow and "market action" ranked pretty high on the absurd surrealism scale. And then we saw this.

BLYTHE MASTERS TO JOIN CFTC GLOBAL MARKETS COMMITTEE

JPMORGAN'S BLYTHE MASTERS TO JOIN CFTC ADVISORY COMMITTEE

CFTC SPOKESMAN COMMENTS ON BLYTHE MASTERS JOINING COMMITTEE

That's right - you read it correct: "Blythe Masters, head of JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s commodities division, is joining an advisory committee of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, said Steve Adamske, a spokesman for the regulator. Masters, 44, was invited by acting Chairman Mark Wetjen to sit on a global markets committee at the Washington-based regulator of futures and swaps. Read More

02.06.14- Gold Gains in New York as Silver Extends Best Run Since August
Nicholas Larkin and Debarati Roy

Gold rose toward the highest in more than a week in New York as investors weighed the outlook for U.S. stimulus amid concern economic growth may slow. Silver gained in the longest advance since August.

Gold advanced and silver reached the highest in more than two weeks yesterday after ADP Research Institute data showed weaker-than-forecast jobs growth in the U.S., fueling speculation government data tomorrow will trail estimates. The dollar was little changed versus a basket of 10 major currencies after falling to a one-week low yesterday. Read More

02.05.14- Jim Bruce: The Siren Song of 'Money For Nothing'
Chris Martenson

View Video

02.04.14- JP Morgan Holds Highest Amount Of Physical Silver In History
Gold Silver Worlds

While everyone is focused on the massive outflows in COMEX registered gold inventories and the gold ETF, GLD, it seems that an important evolution in silver is passing unnoticed. In what follows, Ted Butler, precious metals analyst specialized in COT analysis, reveals a remarkable insight in the physical silver market.

Butler's calculations show that JPMorgan (JPM) has piled up the largest holding of physical silver in modern world. Since the silver price peak in May 2011, the bank has accumulated between 100 and 200 million ounces of physical silver (if not more). The equivalent in metric tonnes is between 3,110 and 6,220 tonnes.

To put that number in perspective, it surpasses the amounts held by the Hunt Brothers or Warren Buffett (in his investment company Berkshire Hathaway). Read More

02.03.14- Now Is the Time to Buy Gold
Bud Conrad

Gold has been in a downturn for more than two years now, resulting in the lowest investor sentiment in many years. Hardcore goldbugs find no explanation in the big picture financial numbers of government deficits and money creation, which should be supportive to gold. I have an explanation for why gold has been down—and why that is about to reverse itself. I'm convinced that now is the best time to invest in gold again.

If you've been a Casey reader for any length of time, you know why gold is a good long-term investment: central banks are expanding paper money to accommodate the deficits of profligate governments—but they can't print gold. Since the beginning of the credit crisis, the world's central banks have "invented" $10 trillion worth of new currencies. They are buying up government debt to drive interest rates down, to keep countries afloat. The best they can do is buy time, however, because creating even more debt does not solve a credit crisis. Read More

02.01.14- Silver's Rally Could Mean Another 1,000% Run
Peter Krauth

Let's face it, 2013 was rough on silver.

The precious metal started out the year at $31, and ended at $19.50, continuing an overall slump dating back roughly to mid-2011.

That, however, obscures a massive run, like gold, that silver embarked on in 2001 when it was near $4, eventually topping out around $49 in April 2011. At its peak it generated a return of 1,091%.

Heading into 2014, I've pinpointed a number of key drivers - some often missed - that say silver may be poised for another spectacular run... Read More

01.31.14- Why is the Fed tapering?
Dr. Paul Craig Roberts

On January 17, 2014, we explained "The Hows and Whys of Gold Price Manipulation." In former times, the rise in the gold price was held down by central banks selling gold or leasing gold to bullion dealers who sold the gold. The supply added in this way to the market absorbed some of the demand, thus holding down the rise in the gold price.

As the supply of physical gold on hand diminished, increasingly recourse was taken to selling gold short in the paper futures market. We illustrated a recent episode in our article. Below we illustrate the uncovered short-selling that took the gold price down today (January 30, 2014). Read More

01.30.14- Gold Stocks Are About To Create A Whole New Class Of Millionaires
Jeff Clark

Bear markets always end. Has this one?

Evidence is mounting that the bottom for gold may be in. While there's still risk, there's a new air of bullishness in the industry, something we haven't seen in over two years.

An ever-growing number of industry insiders and investment analysts believe the downturn has come to a close. If that's true, it has immediate and critical implications for investors.

Doug Casey told me last week: "In my lifetime, the best time to have bought gold was 1971, at $35; it ran to over $800 by 1980. In 2001, gold was $250: in real terms even cheaper than in 1971. It ran to over $1,900 in 2011. Read More

01.29.14- 2014: The Year The U.S. Shale Gas Bubble Bursts & The Boom For Precious Metals?
James Hall

Place your bets wisely because 2014 may turn out to be quite the pivotal year for the markets.  As MSM and Wall Street continue to push the hype regarding the Great U.S. Shale Boom, serious cracks are beginning to appear in the natural gas market.

The forecast by the Shale Energy Industry that the U.S. will be able to grow its natural gas production for a decade at a price below $4.50 MMBtu, seems to be losing credibility as the price of natural gas has already shot above the $5 level.

Here we can see that in the first few weeks of 2014, the price of natural gas reached $5.20 MMBtu (million British thermal units – standard market trading unit). Read More

01.28.14- 3 Friendly Reminders Why I Buy Silver
Quoth the Raven

After a week like last week, people tend to lend a little bit more credence to analysts who recommended buying gold in the midst of a bull market and a gold and silver down trend. I know this as a permanent bull for gold, silver, and other nonrenewable commodity metals - I'm rarely taken seriously as I state my case for buying gold while watching it down over 30% for the year. But, my view on the metal is a view with a long term focus.

My last article on gold came in the face of the Goldman Sachs downgrade, where I advised that the downgrade should be seen as a buying opportunity for those looking to invest long-term. Read More

01.27.14- How Long Can Gold Prices Be Held Down – Supply Factors
Julien Phillips

On the supply side, we note that newly mined gold supply in 2013 was around 2,800 tonnes [final figures yet to be published] and scrap gold was around 1,400 tonnes, before U.S. sales [which were around 1,200 tonnes in 2013]. That totaled 5,400 tonnes.

With prices at $1,200 there is little incentive for scrap sellers to sell for profit. So these supplies in 2014 are expected to drop substantially, until prices rise back to much higher levels.

To sustain supply levels of gold miners need to continuously explore and start up new ventures. From discovery to production takes in excess of 5 years. What is the condition of future supplies? Read More

01.25.14- Gold Bottoming
Adam Hamilton

Gold is bottoming, showing incredible resilience over the past 7 months.  After suffering an epic plunge in last year’s second quarter, gold has held its ground ever since.  This is despite still facing the same howling headwinds that forced that extraordinary selloff.  Gold has found strong support and carved a massive double bottom.  Thus 2013’s gold super-storm has passed, and a mighty new upleg is dawning.

Obviously last year was exceedingly miserable for gold.  This metal plunged 27.9%, its worst calendar-year performance in 32 years!  When something hasn’t been witnessed for a third of a century, there is no doubt it is rare and extreme.  But the whole year masks the real story, the second quarter.  The gold price plummeted an astounding 22.8% in 2013’s Q2.  That was its worst calendar quarter in 93 years! Read More

01.24.14- Billionaire Hugo Salinas Price: Everything in Our Modern World is a Lie
Guillermo Barba

The Inteligencia Financiera Global blog (Global Financial Intelligence Blog) is honored to present an exclusive interview with billionaire entrepreneur Hugo Salinas Price. We are sure our readers from around the world will enjoy it.

Mr. Salinas, thank you for accepting this interview.

As many people know, you have been an advocate for liberty, free markets and honest money among other topics. You are started the project-proposal of monetizing the pure silver coin in Mexico but, can your proposal be implemented in any country? What does it take to do that? Could gold be monetized the same way? Read More

01.23.14- Why You Must Research Silver Miners Carefully
Ben Kramer-Miller

Now is an excellent time to consider purchasing shares in quality silver mining companies. The price of silver is down nearly 60 percent from its 2011 peak of $48/ounce, and silver mining shares are down as much if not more. Many silver mining stocks are pricing in a disaster because these companies simply cannot turn a profit at $20/ounce silver. But because of this, the price of silver has to rise or else there will be no profit incentive to produce this vital commodity.

However, before buying shares in a company because it calls itself a silver miner or has the word "silver" in its name, do some research first — you may not be getting as much exposure to silver as you expect! The fact of the matter is that silver is, more often than not, mined as a by-product of other metals (e.g. copper, nickel, gold, zinc, and lead), and "primary" silver mines can often get just 60 percent to 70 percent of their revenues from silver. Read More

01.22.14- Sprott CIS: "This Might Be One of the Great Trades of All Time"
Henry Bonner

John Embry is an investment strategist at Sprott Asset Management LP and works alongside Rick Rule and Eric Sprott. Mr. Embry oversaw $5 billion in funds at RBC Global Investment Management before Sprott, and he is a well-known gold and silver bull and considered an influential thought leader on precious metals.

Hello John, what's on your mind when it comes to gold and silver right now?

Embry: Well, I am really fascinated with the gold and silver markets for a simple reason: I believe that the fundamentals that should be driving the price couldn't be better. At the same time, because the price of both gold and silver have been driven down relentlessly—going on two and a half years now for gold—the degree of undervaluation against any method that I look at is approaching historic records. Read More

01.21.14- Precious Metals Are About To Swap Trends With The Stock Market
Chris Vermeulen

The two trend reversals everyone has been waiting a year for are about to take place, but they have not yet started.

While I do think 2014 is the year we see gold, silver, miners and many other commodities rally, it is important to follow the trend and wait for a reversal to form before getting overly excited and long commodities.

Each time we see the daily chart form some type of bullish pattern gold market traders become instantly bullish. And each time this happens they get another reality check about their trading technique of trying to pick a bottom. Read More

01.20.14- U.S. Gold Gone
Dr. Paul Craig Roberts

View Video

01.18.14- Gold – Disconnect Between Fundamentals And Price. Perception Rules.
Michael Noonan

What will it take to turn the gold market around?  One would think it would be obvious that fundamentals are not the answer, while so many believe that fundamentals rule. We are reminded of the fundamentalists, especially “value investors” whose financial world was literally turned upside down when the stock market crashed in 2008.  While “value” and “fundamentals” were considered the economic bedrock of the stock market, it turns out that everything is really steeped in perception, for they changed dramatically. Read More

01.17.14- Silver Prices When Monetary Demand Trumps Industrial Demand
Jeff Lewis

It is crystal clear to anyone willing to go a few steps beyond the headlines that massive intervention and ignorance of risk act as massive governors to progress, real economic growth and natural capital formation. Nevertheless, what is less clear is how these failures will manifest in precious metals - especially the silver market.  

The catalyst for much higher prices will be of a monetary, rather than an industrial, demand-led series of events. Read More

01.16.14- ETF Chart of the Day:
Super Silver Miners
Paul Weisbruch

We have spoken about the sometimes extreme intraday volatility that the Precious Metals as well as related Mining companies have experienced thus far in 2014, with very choppy charts in benchmark ETFs like SLV (iShares Silver, Expense Ratio 0.50%) and GLD (SPDR Gold Trust, Expense Ratio 0.40%) in the past few weeks.

SLV actually saw an uptick in options activity yesterday which caught our eye, but today we would like to focus on Silver Miners as opposed to the physical metal itself. SIL (Global X Silver Miners, Expense Ratio 0.65%) is the largest ETF in this space with about $203 million in assets under management, averaging about 163,000 shares a day, as the other two funds in the space are considerably smaller in size (SLVP (iShares MSCI Global Silver Miners, Expense Ratio 0.39%, has $7.79 million in assets under management while the fledgling SILJ (PureFunds ISE Junior Silver (Small Cap Miners/Explorers), Expense Ratio 0.69%) only has $1.5 million in AUM, which looks like it may be seed capital. Read More

01.15.14- Gold And Silver Outlook 2014
David Morgan

This is an excerpt from David Morgan’s latest update to his subscribers. In it, he describes his gold 2014 forecast. David Morgan is the editor of the highly respected The Morgan Report which offers 16 specialized reports for free for new subscribers, as well as a free trial of one month (more info here).

It is always difficult to forecast a year out what we expect from gold, silver and especially the mining shares. As many of our more recent interviews have discussed we do think the bottom has been obtained in silver (June 28th 2013) and gold may test the $1179 level but for all practical purposes gold has made its bottom as well.

We certainly are aware that many of the major banks are forecasting gold to continue to move down in 2014 and reach levels of one-thousand dollars per ounce or even lower. In our view this is fear mongering and designed to keep the majority of investors away from the precious metals but additionally shake out the last of the weak hands by giving up their positions. Read More

01.14.14- Is Now The Time To
'Back Up The Truck'
Peter Degraaf

According to a famous trader of the past, W. D. Gann: "Time is more important (in markets), than price; when time is up, price will reverse."

It has now been 29 months since gold last reached a new high in its current bull market cycle. The downtrend lasted 22 months (top to bottom), having bottomed on June 28th 2013 at $1180.  Confirmation of the bottom came on Dec 31 when gold briefly touched $1182, and left behind a double bottom, see chart #3.

There have been two other corrections that lasted 6 months or more, from top to bottom: In 2006 gold declined for 6 months, and in 2008 the pullback took 8 months to bottom.

Thus a 22 month down-cycle qualifies under the Gann definition as 'time is up'. Read More

01.13.14- Goldcorp Offers To Buy Osisko Mining: The Bottom Is In
Dave in Denver

Goldcorp offered Osisko shareholders $2.4 billion in stock and cash to buy the shares of Osisko Mining (OSK).  In terms of proven and potential gold in the ground, OSK is one of the best ways to play a big recovery in the price of gold and the precious metals mining industry.  Goldcorp has always been the most likely buyer of Osisko so it was just a matter of time before this deal happened.

Without going into the details of actual offer put on the table (I leave that for the super-anal analysts who give themselves brain damage scrutinizing every detail of shares vs. cash etc), I will say that in the context of where the scant number of mine acquisitions have occurred in the last 18 months, the deal appears to "fair."  I also believe that Goldcorp will be forced to raise their offer if they really want to own OSK.   OSK is sitting on one the newest and largest actively mined gold deposits in the world (10 million ozs proven and probable) and it is developing a second "elephant" deposit. Although the latter is still classified as "measured and indicated," it represents 7.5 million ozs that are most likely eventually going to be elevated to "proven and probable." Read More

01.11.14- Bah, Goldbug!
Laurynas Vegys

It's been one of the worst years for gold in a generation. A flood of outflows from gold ETFs, endless tax increases on gold imports in India, and the mirage (albeit a convincing one in the eyes of many) of a supposedly improving economy in the US have all contributed to the constant hammering gold has taken in 2013.

Perhaps worse has been the onslaught of negative press our favorite metal has suffered. It's felt overwhelming at times and has pushed even some die-hard goldbugs to question their beliefs… not a bad thing, by the way.

To me, a lot of it felt like piling on, especially as the negative rhetoric ratcheted up. This year's winner was probably Goldman Sachs, calling gold a "slam-dunk sale" for 2014 (this, of course, after it's already fallen by nearly a third over a period of more than two and a half years—how daring they are). Read More

01.10.14- It's Not (Just) About the Gold
David Morgan

Since the beginning of recorded history, the lure of gold has drawn men and women to it like a moth to flame. A Greek traitor told the Persian King Xerxes about a secret goat trail that would enable his personal bodyguard, The Ten Thousand Immortals, to outflank and defeat King Leonidas and the 300 Spartans in the mountain pass at Thermopylae. The asking price was his weight in gold, which the Persians granted to him and then buried him with it.

Legend speaks of Midas, whose fascination with gold was so intense that he wished for – and received – the ability to turn everything he touched into this shiny metal. Seeing his own daughter turn into a gold statue did not faze him. He was only brought to his senses, when the very food he tried to eat choked him as it too became gold. Read More

01.09.14- Gold And Silver Will Be the Last Man Standing
David Schectman

I have commented on the $30 drop in gold when 4200 contracts hit the market in 100-milliseconds on January 6^th.  Well, guess what – Market data provider Nanex iproduces proof that Monday’s smash down in the gold futures market was not a mistaken “fat finger” trade.  It was the product of a high-frequency algorithm trading program deliberately designed to take the market down. Nanex’s report, with great charts, is here:

Zero Hedge also commented on this obvious market rigging.  The real question is where are the regulators?  This would be funny if it weren't so sad.

In case you are wondering why we live in Miami for half the year, check out this YouTube video.  Living in Minnesota all of my life, I have personally experienced all of this! Read More

01.08.14- The coming move and mania in silver will be breathtaking
AGXIIK

Silver might take 10 months to peak and 2 months or less to retrace much of its price increase. It might be a $100 billion market in the US.
The market will be completely overrun and choked with silver, yielding an inventory that might not bleed off for years. The price rise will be fast; the drop will be fast was well.  That's the way this always happens when smart money gets in first and dumb money comes in last.

Getting out at that inflection point will be a doozy; the ride heady. Nearly everyone will be sucked in with dreams of becoming silver millionaires. Those who bought at $30-40 will be vindicated. Read More

01.07.14- Why Does It Even Matter?
Bill Holter

Some have asked the question, “Why does it even matter?” when it comes to whether we still have the gold in Ft. Knox or not.  They say, “Who cares, nobody uses gold to settle trade anymore.”  Even Ben Bernanke has testified (perjured himself) in front of Congress and said, “Gold is not money, it is an asset.”  Based on this (il) logic it then goes that even if the vaults are empty it “doesn’t matter.”

Let me take you back to where this all started and to how we got here in the first place.  It used to be (before the Federal Reserve was created) that banks could issue “currency” based on how much gold they had to back it.  Then the Federal Reserve came along and played the same game, they issued dollars based on how many ounces they had stored.  1934 came along and the Fed couldn’t issue any more dollars because they didn’t have enough gold. Read More

01.06.14- THE BIG QUESTION: Where Is The Price Of Silver Headed In 2014?
Steve St. Angelo

Many precious metal investors would like to know where the price of silver is headed in 2014.  After the huge take-down of the price of gold and silver in 2013, investors want to know if silver has finally put in a bottom and is getting ready for a new move higher this year

If investors are banking on much higher silver prices in 2014, then the typical Bank & Brokerage House forecasts are not going to provide any guidance or comfort for that trend.

Here are the 2014 silver forecasts from the Top Orthodox Analysts: Read More

01.04.14- Gold And Silver – In East vs. West Gold War, Both Are Still Winning.
Michael Noonan

China represents the East, as its insatiable demand for buying physical gold continues unabated, while in the West, the elite’s central banks have pretty much depleted their physical holdings.  In the war for gold, both are still winning, but for vastly different reasons.

China and every other BRICS nation importing gold have been doing so at cheaper and cheaper price levels, as the Western central bankers have been conducting a clearance sale.  Even the fixtures are being sold, like JP Morgan’s fire sale of 1 Chase Plaza for $750 million, about half of its value.  The building also happens to house the world’s largest gold vault, and it also located across the street from the Federal Reserve gold vault.  This gives China a “two-fer.”.  Now it can store the gold in Manhattan and save shipping costs, and should the NY central bank have any left, it just gets rolled across the underground tunnel. Read More

01.03.14- The Historic Gold-Oil Ratio Forecasts A Much Higher Price For Gold
Steve St. Angelo

While many analysts on Wall Street forecast gold to head lower in 2014, they fail to realize that its historic ratio to oil points to a much higher price.  It seems like everything today is based on financial wizardry rather than fundamentals of a physical economy.

The economy has moved so far away from the fundamentals that it no longer has any idea how to function without total market rigging.  The Fed and central banks believe they can continue to control the markets, however the weight of all that paper crap will overwhelm them at some point in time. Read More

01.02.14- Silver jumps 3.7%, gold up 1.9% and global stocks fall, welcome to the New Year!
Peter Cooper

Silver moved out of the shadows as the New Year started with a spectacular rebound of more than three per cent and gold gained 1.5 per cent as investors rejigged their portfolios for 2014. Stocks mostly fell on military tensions between Japan and China, falling GDP in Singapore and poor Christmas sales for retailers in the US and UK.

Could this be the ‘new normal’ for 2014? Sometimes the pattern of trading for the New Year emerges very quickly in the first few days. Read More

01.01.14- Precious Metals in 2014
Alasdair Macleod

Yes folks, it's that time of year again; but unlike old Khayyam who reflected bucolically on the continuing availability of wine, we must turn our thoughts to the dangers and opportunities of the coming year. They are considerable and multi-faceted, but instead of being drawn into the futility of making forecasts I will only offer readers the barest of basics and focus on the corruption of currencies. My conclusion is the overwhelming danger is of currency destruction and that gold is central to their downfall.

As we enter 2014 mainstream economists relying on inaccurate statistics, many of which are not even relevant to a true understanding of our economic condition, seem convinced that the crises of recent years are now laid to rest. They swallow the line that unemployment is dropping to six or seven per cent, and that price inflation is subdued; but a deeper examination, unsubtly exposed by the work of John Williams of Shadowstats.com, shows these statistics to be false. If we objectively assess the state of the labour markets in most welfare-driven economies the truth conforms to a continuing slump; and if we take a realistic view of price increases, including capital assets, price inflation may even be in double figures.  Read More

12.31.13- J.P. Morgan Sees Golden Opportunities for Huge Gains in 2014 With Gold and Silver
Lee Jackson

With serious inflation still only a gleam in the eyes of the ardent gold bugs, 2014 looks like a tough year for gold miners. The metals analysts at J.P. Morgan think it is easy to look at the cost of new mines and conclude that current prices are unsustainable. But new mine projects may not be needed for several years if more of investors’ above-ground gold horde is unwound. Here is where the story gets more interesting.

For many on Wall Street the question of future inflation is a when, and not if, proposition. Central backs around the world are printing money at a furious pace, debasing the value of their local currency. So whether it is a question of gold and silver as a hedge, an industrial commodity or simply a straight contrarian stock trade, the J.P. Morgan team thinks now is the time to look hard at the top names. They also think the downturn in prices has created a golden opportunity.  Read More

12.30.13- Gold And Silver – Sharply Higher Prices? Be Careful What You Wish For.
Michael Noonan

2013 comes to an end, and with it all those calls for gold and silver to be at much higher price levels.  What will 2014 bring?  More and more renewed calls for much higher price levels.  Will 2014 be the year?

It is a possibility, but as the expression goes, “Be careful of what you wish for.” So many who expect gold to exceed $3,000, even $10, 000, while for silver $100 and higher, but what are the expectations for how circumstances will be with PM at the higher end?

Do you believe your 100 ounces or 1,000 ounces of gold, and/or your 1,000 ounces or 10,000 ounces of silver will have increased your wealth, as you have been anticipating during the accumulation process, and everything else will be relatively the same, except your increased good fortune? Read More

12.28.13- Silver Stocks 5
Scott Wright

2013 has been a brutal year for silver. And a brutal year for a metal obviously doesn't bode well for its mining stocks. Companies that have been exploring for deposits, developing mines, and producing silver have sadly become the pariahs of the markets. But if silver's fortunes change in 2014, as they ought to, then right now could be one of the best buying opportunities of this entire secular bull market.

Unfortunately silver is currently in a sentiment wasteland. Even contemplating a foray into this metal, let alone its stocks, is a fool's errand to the majority of mainstream investors. Their mindset is why bother wasting even a cent of precious capital investing in a sector led by an asset that's down 36% on the year. It's much more prudent to throw money at the ever-rising stock markets, right? Read More

12.27.13- Lessons from the World's Second Largest Gold Field
Matt Insley

It was a long flight back. No meal service. But no turbulence, either.

"Long flight" is a relative term, of course. 7 hours in a plane beats the 16 it takes to get to South Africa, that's for sure!

I guess you and I are lucky we're rather close to the world's second largest gold field. Today we'll explore what this area has to offer. We'll start by outlining just where it is!

Much to the surprise of many, the world's second largest gold field is right here in the U.S., in the mining-friendly state of Nevada. (My 7hr trip was thanks to a "stay on the plane" layover in California.) Read More

12.26.13- Rob Kirby-When China Doesn't Get Their Gold-That's When This Ends
Greg Hunter

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12.25.13- Money, Gold And Liberty – What Has Changed In 2013?
Claudio Grass

The last year has been an interesting year in many respects, especially for precious metals. We saw strange fluctuations in the gold price, mainly because of the paper market, and also "creative" ideas by governments on how to control their citizens and their wealth. It seems that on a daily basis more and more is uncovered on how the US is spying on its citizens through the NSA. Also FATCA, which will be implemented shortly, will make all financial assets of US persons transparent to the IRS. What about: Privacy? Democracy? And above all: Liberty? Sadly, we think that these principles have been thrown overboard and it is unlikely that the infringements of natural rights will end any time soon. Read More

12.24.13- Where are we in the Gold Cycle
Michael Maloney

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12.23.13- Gold – A Supressed Market Remains Suppressed, But For How Long?
Michael Noonan

Part of the reasoning for the price of gold to attain levels that are multiples of the current price, sometime into the future, [too late for those who have been calling for much higher gold prices in 2013], is the Federal Reserve central bank creating trillions and trillions of digital currency to support every underwater bank in existence.  None of the newly created imaginary computer entries, aka currency, has made it into the hands of the business community, nor into the hands of the people, aka financial serfs, as far as bankers are concerned.

The elites use central banks as their ATM machines to pay all the huge bonuses bankers are paid, in return for financially destroying capitalism and maintaining control of the Western world. Read More

12.21.13- Jim Rickards: Gold, Bitcoin, Stimulus & Stocks
Leide Smits

Transcription of Finance News Network interview with Tangent Capital Senior Managing Director, Jim Rickards
 
Lelde Smits: Hello I’m Lelde Smits for Australia’s Finance News Network and joining me today is the Senior Managing Director from New York-based investment bank Tangent Capital, Jim Rickards. Jim, welcome to Mines and Money here in London.
 
Jim Rickards: Thank you Lelde.
 
Lelde Smits: Jim, one of the most striking developments since we last spoke on Sydney’s harbor in October last year [2012] is the gold price, which has since shed about 30 per cent. What do you believe prompted the plunge? Read More

12.20.13- Why the selling of gold by ETPs this year is the key to the next big hike in the gold price
Peter Cooper

At first sight the huge amounts of gold being sold by Western gold exchange traded products this year sounds a disaster for gold and indeed it has greatly contributed to the recent slump in gold prices. However, there is a nasty sting in the tail of this selling that will come back to haunt the gold ETPs.

Because most of this gold has ultimately been exported to China it has gone on a one-way journey. Gold exports from China are banned. They want it for their national reserves. When the gold investors now massively shorting gold want to cover their shorts then the gold will not be there, except of course if they are prepared to pay a very, very much higher price. Read More

12.19.13- Refueling A Bull Market
Justin Smyth

All markets go through cycles. Secular or long term bull markets are often interrupted by cyclical or short term bear markets. These short term bear markets often feel like they will never end, but they serve to refuel the bull market. The reason is bull markets are powered by new buyers. Any market that goes up too far, too fast, runs out of new buyers, and thus becomes more vulnerable as buyers are exhausted. Everyone gets excited that the market is going to the moon. But in reality too much buying has been pulled forward in time because too many people rushed in at the top. This is how markets fake out the majority of participants at the extremes. Too many people do the wrong thing at the top, leaving not enough people to keep the market going higher. The balance of power shifts to the sellers, which drives the market back down. Read More

12.18.13- David Morgan: 2014 Gold and Silver Forecast - $30 Silver and
$1,700 Gold by End of 2014
Greg Hunter

View Video

12.17.13- Gold-Starved Indians
Still Soaking-Up Silver
Jeff Nielson

Informed precious metals investors are well aware of the tremendous "squeeze" placed upon gold demand in India, via the draconian suppression of imports. Regular readers of my work understand that this gold-squeeze was, in fact, instigated by the One Bank – through placing enormous pressure on India's government.

This economic blackmail took the form of attacking India's currency, the rupee, in global currency markets, and driving its value to record-lows, until the government of India capitulated. With the global rigging of currency markets (by these same Banksters) now being fully-exposed; this is nothing more than "business as usual" for the One Bank. Read More

12.16.13- Silver – A Rigged Market Coming To An End
Michael Noonan

No one can question the fact that the demand for silver has grown exponentially in the past few years, record sales for American Eagle coins being one small example, record buying in India, another larger example. Demand has never been greater. Supply, on the other hand, keeps diminishing.

Global mining production is at its lowest in the past decade. The annual Consumption/ Production ratio is indicative of acute deficits. Whenever there is a situation where demand rises sharply, while supply commensurately declines, it is a recipe for higher prices, and usually, much higher prices. This is true, unless one is talking about the silver market. Under the conditions of record rising demand and considerably less supply, the price of silver is at its lowest levels in the past three years. Read More

12.14.13- Silver Volatility…and No Trip This Week
Bix Weir

Jack Lew and friends are really doing a job on the price of paper silver lately jamming it below $20/oz again. Will it ever stop? Someday, yes…but I have long warned that “they” can place the price of COMEX Silver at $0/oz or $1M/oz with a click of a mouse.

100% controlled – 100% of the time.

For those of you who are Private Road Members I talked about this expected Silver price volatility coming by the end of the year in the Timeline Article. For those who are not paid members here was my expectation for silver (released on September 2013)… Read More

12.13.13- Gold Drops $20, "I'd Rather Buy Silver," Says Jim Rogers
Adrian Ash

Wholesale London gold tumbled more than $20 per ounce in quiet trade Thursday morning, falling with world stock markets after the week's "three-day rally [in gold] prompted some profit-taking" according to one dealing desk.

"The fact that India," said investor, fund manager and best-selling author Jim Rogers to BullionVault overnight, "which has been the largest buyer, has reduced its buying a lot is one of the main factors that's causing gold prices to go down." Read More

12.12.13- SILVER: Inflation Hedge, Store of Value or Great Investment
Steve St. Angelo

One of the greatest difficulties for the precious metal investor is to understand the true value of gold and silver.  There is a huge range of analysis on the internet on what the real price of gold or silver should be.  While this debate will continue, there still seems to be one factor this is totally overlooked.

Recently, Don Harrold came out with a YouTube video on how silver has been a poor inflation hedge since 1914 as it has underperformed its expected price for most of the time.

In this part of his video he brings back an interview of what he said about silver in 2011, when silver had shot up to $43 on ounce.  Basically, Harrold was saying that he was not a buyer of silver at time because the current price had shot way above its expected price based on the inflation rate. Read More

12.11.13- Silver – Letting The Market Speak
Michael Noonan

We are not a source for or fans of endless statistics, like the number of ounces purchased from one period over another, how many ounces are available at the Comex, how many ounces have been mined, the demand for v the production of silver, etc, etc, etc.  Too boring.

It may satisfy many to know this information, but we are more interested in what translates into results, where can a market turn be determined, where price is likely to go, etc, etc, etc?  This is where the challenge lies, for it comes down to timing in order to enter or exit a market, seeking profit opportunity in the process. Read More

12.10.13- Silver Set to Double,
According to… Apple?
Peter Krauth

We all have our reasons for following Apple. I track it because this tech behemoth is a massive global consumer of metals - base, rare earth, and precious.

And right now, Apple is giving us some surprising indications that the demand for silver is much higher than its current price would have us believe.

Actually, the first "sign" came to us back in January when Apple had to delay new 27-inch iMac deliveries by up to four weeks.

Of course, the company never specified exactly what was causing the delay... but the rumors flew. Read More

12.09.13- Alex Stanczyk: Physical Supply Never Been Tighter
Koos Jansen

Wednesday I had the privilege again to interview Alex Stanczyk, Chief Market Strategist for the Anglo Far- East group of companies, who just returned from a trip to Switzerland. Alex confirmed to me the distribution of gold from west to east is not slowing down whatsoever. Refineries in Switzerland are still working 24 hour a day to cast bars for China, sometimes having difficulties sourcing the gold..

Koos Jansen: What was the purpose of your trip to Switzerland?

Alex Stanczyk: The purpose was two fold. We go to Switzerland once a year as part of our governance, we’re required to have an annual inspection of the gold, that was the main purpose of the trip. But in addition to that we also liked to talk to the refineries. Read More

12.07.13- There Is Too Little Gold in the West
Alasdair Macleod

Western central banks have tried to shake off the constraints of gold for a long time, which has created enormous difficulties for them. They have generally succeeded in managing opinion in the developed nations but been demonstrably unsuccessful in the lesser-developed world, particularly in Asia. It is the growing wealth earned by these nations that has fuelled demand for gold since the late 1960s. There is precious little bullion left in the West today to supply rapidly increasing Asian demand. It is important to understand how little there is and the dangers this poses for financial stability.

An examination of the facts shows that central banks have been on the back foot with respect to Asian gold demand since the emergence of the petrodollar. In the late 1960s, demand for oil began to expand rapidly, with oil pegged at $1.80 per barrel. By 1971, the average price had increased to $2.24, and there is little doubt that the appetite for gold from Middle-Eastern oil exporters was growing. Read More

12.06.13- Gold And Silver – Reverse Bubble.
Huge Rally When Broken. Note Bitcoin Results.
Michael Noonan

Gold and silver are in reverse bubbles, if you will, where price has been both severely distorted and suppressed by central banks, the visible tools of the otherwise hidden moneychangers, those on the top of the population pyramid who want to control and enslave the entire world in a totalitarian state of existence.  Ironically, the best and only hope for the [not so] free world comes from China and Russia.  It is a twisted world in which we live.

There are so many pieces to the entire puzzle, and for all the known ones, those which are most important are unknown to the great majority.  All one can do is to continually monitor events and prepare accordingly.  The best predictor of the future has always been past behavior.  For centuries, the most reliable preparation has been the ownership of gold. Read More

12.05.13- Silver and Gold as Currency Commodities
Dr. Jeffrey Lewis

Gold and silver have a 6000 year history for their use as a currency, and until the last century, the price of gold and silver maintained a healthy valuation ratio of 1 ounce of gold to every 15 ounces of silver.

This purchasing power ratio is strengthened by the fact that there are 17 ounces of silver for every 1 ounce of gold in the earth's crust, although physical silver stocks have dwindled as the metal is used in a wide variety of industrial applications.

Historic Purchasing Power

It has long been said that an ounce of gold will buy a custom tailored men's suit. In the 1930s, an ounce of gold cost $35, and a suit was nearly the same price. Read More

12.04.13- Ron Paul: Bitcoin Could
'Destroy the Dollar'
Jose Pagliery

The digital currency Bitcoin promises all these things. And while it's far from achieving any of them -- its value is unstable and it's rarely used -- some have high hopes.

"There will be alternatives to the dollar, and this might be one of them," said former U.S. congressman Ron Paul. If people start using bitcoins en masse, "it'll go down in history as the destroyer of the dollar," Paul added. Read More

12.03.13- Gold Drops Below Cash Cost, Approaches Marginal Production Costs
Tyler Durden

As we showed back in April [7], the marginal cost of production of gold (90% percentile) in 2013 was estimated at between $1250 and $1300 including capex. Which means that as of a few days ago, gold is now trading well below not only the cash cost, but is rapidly approaching the marginal cash cost of $1125... Of course, should the central banks of the world succeed in driving the price of gold to or below its costs of production (repressing yet another asset class into stocks) then we fear the repercussions will backfire from a combination of bankruptcies, unemployment, and as we have already seen in Africa - severe social unrest (especially notable as China piles FDI into that region). Read More

12.02.13- Gold & Silver – Reverse Bubble. Huge Rally When Broken
Michael Noonan

Gold and silver are in reverse bubbles, if you will, where price has been both severely distorted and suppressed by central banks, the visible tools of the otherwise hidden moneychangers, those on the top of the population pyramid who want to control and enslave the entire world in a totalitarian state of existence.  Ironically, the best and only hope for the [not so] free world comes from China and Russia.  It is a twisted world in which we live.

There are so many pieces to the entire puzzle, and for all the known ones, those which are most important are unknown to the great majority.  All one can do is to continually monitor events and prepare accordingly.  The best predictor of the future has always been past behavior.  For centuries, the most reliable preparation has been the ownership of gold. Read More