Precious Metals

Federal Reserve rethinks 2003 move allowing banks to trade physical commodities

"The U.S. Federal Reserve is 'reviewing' a landmark 2003 decision that first allowed regulated banks to trade in physical commodity markets, it said on Friday, a move that may send new shockwaves through Wall Street. While it is well known that the Fed is considering whether or not to allow banks including Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan to continue owning trading assets like oil storage tanks or metals warehouses, Friday's one-sentence statement suggests that it is also reconsidering the full scope of banks' activities in physical markets, which help generate billions in profits." Continue reading →

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Dubai offers gold to fight obesity epidemic

"Dubai's government will pay residents in gold for losing those extra pounds as part of a government campaign to fight growing obesity in the Gulf Arab emirate. The 30-day weight-loss challenge was launched on Friday to coincide with the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, when the faithful refrain from eating and drinking during daylight hours. For every kilogram dropped by Aug. 16, contestants who register from Friday can walk away with a gram of gold, currently worth about $42, Dubai's civic authority announced as part of its 'Your Weight in Gold' initiative." Continue reading →

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Indians urged to recycle stashed gold

"The All India Gem & Jewellery Trade Federation, representing about 300 000 gold manufacturers and retailers, was asking members to offer incentives to lure holders to recycle their old jewellery, chairman Haresh Soni said yesterday. Using more scrap and hoarded metal may further reduce Indian imports of gold, which are forecast to tumble 22 percent in the second half. Jewellers have suspended sales of coins and bars to retail buyers until the current account deficit has stabilised. On Tuesday Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram appealed to Indians to moderate their demand for the metal, while ruling out a complete ban on imports." Continue reading →

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Gold exports in June slump 70% in India

"According to Vipul Shah, chairman of the Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council, 'Exports declined drastically in June as there was a shortage of raw material for jewellery manufacturing. Our main demand is that we should be provided gold on easy terms.' He added that if the current situation prevailed, it would be disastrous for the entire industry and bring in large scale unemployment. According to M Ahamed of the Kerala Jewellery Federation, exporters had initially gained from the rupee depreciation in the country, as the value of their exports in rupee terms had gone up. However, that gain has now petered off, he added." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGold exports in June slump 70% in India

Chris Becker on South Africa, Gold and the Ludwig von Mises Institute

"We've seen huge growth in private education, private security and private medical industries in recent years, without which we would have seen rapidly declining living standards of South Africans. In a micro sense this inefficient and disorganized state leaves the space for quite a lot of personal liberty and allows people to get on with things outside of government control. With this strong central planning and regulatory ethos, if the government could actually follow through with its grand plans, South Africa would be a very unfree place. I call it 'dangerous efficiency.'" Continue reading →

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With Gold, Don’t Miss the Top

"Zero Hour is the moment the price of physical gold starts to run away from the ‘paper price’ you see on CNBC’s ticker. The most likely catalyst is a chain of events that goes like this: Western central banks have leased their gold to commercial banks like JPMorgan Chase at an interest rate of less than 1%. The commercial banks have sold that metal and ploughed the proceeds into assets that earn more than 1%. The chain of custody on gold bars has become so cloudy that a major exchange like the Comex in New York is liable to ‘default’ on a gold contract – settling in cash, instead of metal. A rush for real metal would then be underway." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWith Gold, Don’t Miss the Top

The Bull Within the Bear

"The reason it's important to look at the entire picture of investment demand is because an investor might draw an erroneous conclusion if they read just the headlines. For example, China and other Asian nations represent well over half of all global investment demand, while North America is just 9%. Is this bigger source of demand experiencing a lot of selling, too? Let's look at the bigger picture of investment demand for gold this year. In the following chart, we compare GLD outflows to Chinese imports through Hong Kong, as well as other sources of demand for physical metal. Here are the data through last month." Continue reading →

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Jeffrey Tucker: Bitcoin Thwarts America’s Roman Decline

"As the dollar continues to shed its value, and to lose credibility as the world's reserve currency, countless people -- including governments, investors, and common citizens -- are looking to alternatives. These include gold and silver, which are time-honored as stores of value -- but there are other candidates as well. What are some of the alternatives to the fiat dollar? Is the dollar doomed? If it is, what will replace it? And why does government have to be involved in money at all? We'll discuss these questions with economist and historian Jeffrey Tucker, the executive editor of Laissez Faire Books and a Distinguished Fellow for the Foundation for Economic Education." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingJeffrey Tucker: Bitcoin Thwarts America’s Roman Decline

Bernanke: I’m Clueless About Gold

"Chmn. Bernanke: When we buy securities from a private citizen, we create a deposit in their bank, and it shows up as reserves. So if you look up our balance sheet, our balance sheet balances. We have Treasury securities on the asset side. On the liability side we have either cash or reserves at banks, and on the margin that’s what has been building up as excess reserves at banks. Rep. Rothfus: You create the reserves? Chmn. Bernanke: Yes. Rep. Rothfus: Is that printing money? Chmn. Bernanke: Not literally." Continue reading →

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Commodities Dealer Accepting Bitcoin for Gold

"Agora Commodities is the first gold, silver, platinum, and palladium dealer accepting Bitcoin for bullion. By taking Bitcoin as payment for a physical commodity, Agora is giving high-risk speculative traders one more way to play the market. And the added bonus is that the transaction can be 100% anonymous. But the company is going even deeper into anti-spying territory than that. They are offering their customers encrypted service for all their digital correspondence." Continue reading →

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