investment

Gold rush as Lao prices drop

"The recent drop in gold prices on the Lao market has brought buyers out in droves to purchase gold jewellery while it remains cheap. According to gold shops in Vientiane, sale prices yesterday were at 5,060,000 kip (US$655) per baht-weight for gold jewellery - down about 500,000 kip per baht-weight on previous months. According to gold traders, large numbers of buyers have visited gold shops in Vientiane to purchase gold jewellery and bars as an investment. Some shops at the Talatsao Mall were stripped bare of all of their wares as a result of the gold rush." Continue reading →

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Silver Demand Surges In India While Gold Premiums at $35/oz In China

"Attempts to prevent Indians from buying gold are contributing to them buying poor man’s gold, or silver. There has been a massive increase in silver demand in India in recent months and the government's meddling and controls in the gold market will likely led to even more demand for silver. While India imported 1,900 tonnes of silver in 2012, in the first five months of 2013 alone, imports have touched 2,400 tonnes. According to industry estimates, silver imports during the January-March quarter stood at 760 tonnes. Imports shot up 720 tonnes in April alone, and in May, they further swelled by 920 tonnes." Continue reading →

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Gold rush 2013 style has Dubai scrambling

"There is not enough space on airlines flying in to Dubai to meet the rapidly rising demand for physical gold in the emirate since the price plunged to record lows this week. The price drop led to a rush of buyers for Dubai gold from the Middle East, South East Asia, the Balkans, Turkey and parts of Europe according to Tarek El Mdaka, the managing director of Kaloti Gold in Dubai. 'I cannot find a place for transporting gold on Emirates, on BA on Swiss Airlines this weekend,' Mr El Mdaka said. 'I am shipping in one-and-a-half to two tonnes of gold every day and it is going straight out.' Gold is in such short supply in Dubai that he is able to charge a US$3 premium per ounce." Continue reading →

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Bill Bonner: No Real Recovery Without “Hitting Bottom” First…

"The fireworks in the gold market are still, probably, far ahead. You'll hear the explosions when consumer prices begin to rise. And that won't happen for a while. And here is where the story gets interesting... and hard to follow. The bond market has turned. This could push the economy into a deeper funk unless growth starts to pick up. But it could be years before the new trend is firmly established. We remember the last turn... in the early 1980s. Paul Volcker announced it in 1979. But it was almost four years before investors fully absorbed the news." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBill Bonner: No Real Recovery Without “Hitting Bottom” First…

Gold in them bits: Inside the world’s most mysterious Bitcoin mining company

"This is the first in a two-part series exploring Butterfly Labs and its lineup of dedicated Bitcoin-mining hardware. In part one, we look at the company and the experiences customers have had with it. In part two, to be published on June 29, we share our experiences running a Bitcoin miner for a couple weeks. Spoiler alert: we made money." Continue reading →

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How to Survive When Prices Double Every Day and a Half

"At a 2011 Casey Research Summit, I met and heard the firsthand accounts of three gentlemen from Zimbabwe, Argentina, and Yugoslavia, who had survived hyperinflation in their home countries. Although these may sound like exotic locales with foreign problems, their terrifying histories have a lesson to teach us. Hyperinflation is like fire. We all install smoke alarms, keep fire extinguishers handy, and buy insurance to protect our homes, but most of us will never fall victim to an unplanned fire. However, when a fire does ignite, it can be catastrophic – which is why prudent people simply plan ahead." Continue reading →

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‘Don’t Follow the Fed’ Will Be the Smart Money’s New Slogan

"Wall Street has an old saying: 'Don’t fight the Fed.' That means if your investment strategy isn’t in synch with the central bank’s policies, you’re going to lose money. I have an update: 'Don’t follow the Fed.' That’s because the Federal Reserve, under Chairman Ben Bernanke, is about to torpedo the $39 trillion bond market. My thesis is simple: The Fed has lost control of the bond market. The bubble has gotten so big because it was allowed to inflate for so long, a fiasco is a done deal no matter what the Fed says or does." Continue reading →

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Bill Bonner: Why the Sell-Off in Gold is Good News

"Gold is giving us another good opportunity to buy a life vest before the boat sinks. No market goes up without a correction. Speculators typically get ahead of themselves. They need to be slapped around a bit... tested... and tempered. Like a steel blade, they need to be hammered before they are ready for the final battle. In the last major bull market in gold the gold price rose from $40 to over $800 an ounce. This was one of the greatest bull markets of all time. But it wasn't without its challenges. The price of gold moved up fast. It needed to be knocked down at least once before it finally reached its top. Gold fell by 47% before rising eight times to its peak in 1980." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBill Bonner: Why the Sell-Off in Gold is Good News

Stock Market Guru Cody Willard Is Buying Precious Metals Coins.

"We can’t control when or where opportunity arises. And as you know with gold having crashed some 30% from its highs, I started rebuilding my own physical gold and silver assets in April, looking to take about 1-2 years to build up those assets to about 10%-15% of my portfolio to own/hedge/protect my family with forever. Which leads us to a little more on why I’m so bullish right now on gold and silver coins and bullion and why I am so against gold and silver exchange-traded funds and other precious metal ETFs. It’s my belief that the big banks who control the paper ETF and spot prices have less gold per promise than they’ve ever had in our lifetimes." Continue reading →

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U.S. boss held captive by angry Chinese employees, released

"Chinese factory workers on Thursday released their U.S. boss, held captive for a week, after a compensation dispute was resolved. Chip Starnes, president of Specialty Medical Supplies, in the Beijing suburb of Huairou, was allowed to leave the factory and was resting in a hotel, the company official said. The workers had demanded severance packages identical to those offered to 30 employees who were recently laid off, even though the firm planned no further layoffs. The workers’ demands followed rumors that the entire plant was being closed after the company’s plastic injection molding division began a move to India to lower production costs." Continue reading →

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