Precious Metals

‘Way Harder’ For Goldman And Morgan Stanley To Get Out Of Commodities Than JP Morgan

"Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley two decades ago became known as the 'Wall Street Refiners' for their mastery of both financial and physical commodities. But since 2012 Morgan Stanley has looked at selling its commodity arm and Goldman has made moves to scale back its physical operations. Letters between the banks and the Federal Reserve, received by Reuters under the Freedom of Information Act, show both banks are in discussions on conforming or divesting activities that fall outside the normal scope of commercial banks." Continue reading →

Continue Reading‘Way Harder’ For Goldman And Morgan Stanley To Get Out Of Commodities Than JP Morgan

Silver Vault for 200 Tons Starts in Singapore as Wealthy Buy

"The new facility is 30 percent booked at the opening, said Joshua Rotbart, precious-metals general manager at owner Malca-Amit Global Ltd. The storage will add to the firm’s five vaults at the Singapore FreePort, which are fully reserved for gold, he said in an interview. The repository can hold $128 million of silver at today’s prices. The number of individuals with $1 million or more in investible assets climbed to 3.68 million in the Asia-Pacific region in 2012. The Singapore government has been promoting the country as a bullion-trading hub, removing a 7 percent sales tax on investment-grade precious metals in 2012. " Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSilver Vault for 200 Tons Starts in Singapore as Wealthy Buy

Bullish at the Bottom: Why Now is the Time to Buy Commodities

"At first glance, the correction seems to support naysayers who believe the supercycle in commodities has ended, such as Credit Suisse analysts who had declared that the 'era is over' in its digital magazine The Financialist. We disagree. Instead, we see severe price declines as possible buying opportunities during this ongoing commodity supercycle. Consider the extreme pessimism on gold. As one measure of how bears have ganged up against the yellow metal, take a look at the spike in the level of short positions on the precious metal since the beginning of the year. As of the beginning of July, the number of outstanding gold short contracts was close to 140,000!" Continue reading →

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Peter Schiff: Buy Gold and Silver Now, Money Printing Until We Have A Currency Crisis & More

"Fed Chief Ben Bernanke is going to be replaced by the end of this year. CEO of Euro Pacific Precious Metals, Peter Schiff, speculates on his replacement by saying, 'If it's solely based on which Fed Chairman is the most bullish for gold and silver, I would say that would be Janet Yellen. No matter who's put in at the Fed, they are going to keep printing because that's all they can do.' Schiff warns, 'They're going to keep printing until we have a currency crisis . . . and that is the most bullish environment for gold. Don't wait for the crisis to buy because you are not going to like the price.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPeter Schiff: Buy Gold and Silver Now, Money Printing Until We Have A Currency Crisis & More

Taiwanese gang caught smuggling $3m worth of gold into South Korea

"South Korean custom officials caught Wednesday nine Taiwanese nationals who were allegedly smuggling 134 pounds (60.75 kilograms) worth of gold, hidden in their rectal cavities. According to China Post, the suspects are accused of transforming US$3 million worth of gold bars into small beads and smuggling them into South Korea 11 times since May last year. The group allegedly entered the country through Gimpo International Airport in western Seoul as Korea’s main gateway, the Incheon International Airport, has recently tighten controls." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingTaiwanese gang caught smuggling $3m worth of gold into South Korea

A (Photovoltaic) Silver Bull in China

"Early this month, big news came out of China. It may have gone unnoticed by some investors—and there's really no reason why it would have been covered extensively by mainstream media—but it's important if you're a silver investor. China raised its target for solar generating capacity to more than 35 gigawatts (GW) by 2015, a stunning increase of 67% above the previous target. In addition to China, India plans to increase its solar output to 20 GW by 2020, starting essentially from the scratch. On a worldwide basis, solar power generating capacity is projected to be 20 to 40 times the amount of current capacity by 2020." Continue reading →

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India seizure of smuggled gold zooms 365% in Q1

"After a two-decade lull, gold smugglers seem to be back in business in India, thanks to recent hikes in import duty on gold — from about one per cent to eight per cent in 18 months. In the April-June quarter of this financial year, seizure of smuggled gold hit Rs 59.82 crore — an increase of 365 per cent over Rs 12.86 crore in the same period a year ago. In volume terms, the increase would be even higher, because the average gold price in the quarter came down 6.6 per cent from that in the same quarter last year. According to rough estimates, only 5-10 per cent of smuggled gold is caught by authorities, while the rest manages to get into the country unnoticed." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIndia seizure of smuggled gold zooms 365% in Q1

JPMorgan Chase stops trading ‘non-financial’ commodities amid federal pressure

"JPMorgan Chase & Co is exiting physical commodities trading, the bank said in a surprise statement on Friday, as Wall Street’s role in the trading of raw materials comes under unprecedented political and regulatory pressure. After spending billions of dollars and five years building the banking world’s biggest commodity desk, JPMorgan said it would pursue 'strategic alternatives' for its trading assets that stretch from Baltimore to Johor, and a global team dealing in everything from African crude oil to Chilean copper. The bank said it will continue to trade in financial commodities such as derivatives and precious metals." Continue reading →

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Have gold miners missed the hedging boat?

"With many gold shafts underwater at current prices on the back of seemingly inexorable cost inflation, there are likely to be a few CEOs that will be secretly wishing they had done some hedging at $1,900. Banks still rather like it because it provides certainty when it come to project finance and, as a result, hedging continues but, for the most part it hasn’t really worked in gold companies’ favour over the course of the 13 year bull run – and, as a result it isn’t really considered a serious option. This view continues to predominate, as is evident in the latest figures on the global gold hedgebook for Q1 2013, released today by Thompson Reuters GFMS and Societe Generale." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingHave gold miners missed the hedging boat?