Precious Metals

Is sentiment toward gold shifting again?

"Gold has staged a big comeback in the recent weeks, rebounding over 13 percent since hitting a near three-year low late June, raising the question of whether investor sentiment toward the embattled precious metal is about to shift yet again. The metal, which traded close to a three-week high of $1,336 on Tuesday, has been supported by short covering and robust physical buying especially from China. Latest data from the China Gold Association (CGA) on Monday showed that the country's gold consumption rose 54 percent in the first half of the year, compared with the year-ago period." Continue reading →

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What Happens When You Tell Indians to Stop Buying Gold

"India’s culture is very different from that of many Western countries. I’ve been to many Indian weddings and have witnessed this special and unique celebration as well as a very tight bond among families. However, the record gold buying we are seeing today isn’t only out of love. I believe Indians are also buying out of fear due to its infamously poor and corrupt government policies. Good policies can drive economic growth and markets respond positively. Bad policies can have the opposite effect. At the same time Indians buy gold out of love for their family and close friends, they are also buying gold out of protection." Continue reading →

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India’s Worst Economic Crisis Since 1991 When It Had To Airlift 67 Tons Of Its Gold

"At the time, the country had secured a $2.2bn loan, backed by 67 tons of gold reserves. To satisfy the IMF's concerns about access to the collateral, the RBI had to airlift 47 tons of gold to be deposited offshore with the Bank of England and 20 tons of gold with UBS. While such action is unlikely this time around, if the crisis continues to escalate, Asia's third largest economy will struggle to grow. Even though economists still do not expect a contraction, it is now a real possibility. Some weakening of the rupee may have been desirable for exporters, but losing control of the exchange rate was not what the RBI had in mind." Continue reading →

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Gold Investors Seek Alpine Haven in Swiss Army Bunkers

"At Pro Aurum, movement and vibration detectors add protection to the former Zuercher Kantonalbank branch in Kilchberg, a lakeside suburb of Zurich. Cameras hang from the ceiling to film employees as they fulfill orders from customers who can store valuables in one of the 700 safe deposit boxes or buy up to 100,000 francs ($107,000) of gold with cash over the counter without proof of funds such as a bank statement. About half of Buchwalder’s customers are Swiss, with Europeans making up most of the remaining clients. Pro Aurum, which also has units in Austria and Germany, trades 'over a billion francs' of gold per year." Continue reading →

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Prospectors pan Indiana creeks in quest for gold

"In the shallow streams and creek beds of Brown County, a new gold rush is going on. Outdoorsy types have taken to the water in search of flakes of natural gold left behind millions of years ago. No one is hitting the mother lode or striking it rich. But for modern-day Indiana prospectors, panning for gold is a chance to be outside, gather with like-minded friends and experience the thrill of finding buried treasure. Dozens of members of the Gold Prospectors Association of America gathered in the bends of Salt Creek, hunched over the water. Some of them used hand-held pans to sift through the bed of the stream." Continue reading →

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Wis. Restaurant Gives 1965 Prices to Customers Who Pay With Pre-1965 Coins

"How about a hamburger for 12 cents, or 10 of them for $1. Like fries? 10 cents. Chicken? 100 pieces for $4.55. And you can nab a Perch sandwich for 20 cents. The sign went up about three months ago. So far, Tikalsky says they’ve made a 'couple dozen' sales with the special. 'You know, it’s the older clientele that come in here,' he explained. 'They think that’s pretty neat, you know, older coins.' He added later, 'We get a lot of older clientele here in the morning who drink coffee for a couple hours at a time and that gave them something to talk about for a week or two.'" Continue reading →

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Gold Gone? Germany baffled as Fed bars access to bullion

"The world is losing trust in the dollar as a safe haven. A major blow came after Germany's Bundesbank demanded the repatriation of a big chunk of its gold being held in the US. Because as RT's Gayane Chichakyan reports, some are concerned the assets of foreign nations in the Federal Reserve are not secure or even there. The Germans were infuriated when the US Federal reserve didn't even let them examine their own assets properly. Peter Boehringer, the founder and chairman of 'German Precious Metal Association', says that's a bad sign." Continue reading →

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Gold & silver sales jump during Ramadan and Eid in India

"Mohammed Kazi said the past week had seen a big rush of customers. 'Though we serve a large number of people regularly at this time of the year, a silver tinge has been added on to the gift giving this year,' said Kazi. Silver bars and notes with a print of 786, the holy number, with photos of the religious Mecca and Medina, and silver artifacts of Mecca and Medina, silver sandals and silver armbands are doing the rounds as gifting articles across households, said Kazi. Gold and silver sales tend to surge during Ramadan and Eid due to the purchase of gifts. For the devout, mass prayers end with greeting their brethren and handing over small gifts." Continue reading →

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Gold Smuggling to Climb in India on Tax Increase, Festivals

"The third increase in import taxes on gold this year by India, the world’s biggest user, is set to boost smuggling ahead of the festival and wedding seasons as official imports halt on central bank curbs, a trade group said. Poor Indian laborers working in the Middle East are acting as couriers for organized gangs in return for a ticket home and a few thousand rupees, according to Rishi Yadav, assistant commissioner at the Mumbai customs department’s Air Intelligence Unit. The gangs seek to benefit by selling that smuggled bullion to traders and mom-and-pop jewelry stores, who benefit from cheaper supplies." Continue reading →

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Bitcoins are a buy at $50, says equity fund VP

"Bitcoins aren’t going to crash and burn, and could be be a good investment at $50. So says famed banking analyst Richard Bove, vice president of equity research at Rafferty Capital Markets. What’s more, Bove wouldn’t mind buying bitcoins at the right price. 'If I could buy them at a low enough price, like $50, then I think it would be worthwhile speculating with a few of them,' he said in a phone interview. Bove decided to write about bitcoins after a top New York bank regulator issued subpoenas to several major bitcoin companies and issued a memo on virtual currencies." Continue reading →

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