Precious Metals

Rick Rule: This Is Fun

"Let's face it, I'm 60 years old. This is probably my last major market cycle. I'm going to make the most of it. I can tell you that I'm having the most fun I've had in my career for 13 years. I have spent all my life honing my skills, building up the capital, building up the client base – this is tailor-made for me. I realize this period is unpleasant for some people, but the market doesn't care if it's unpleasant. The market doesn't care if it's inconvenient. You take what the market gives you – and this market is giving me a gigantic sale on assets I want to own." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingRick Rule: This Is Fun

Gold Bears Pull $20.8 Billion as BlackRock Says Buy

"Hedge funds increased bets on lower gold prices after investors pulled a record $20.8 billion from bullion funds this year while BlackRock Inc. (BLK), the world’s biggest money manager, said it’s still bullish. Speculators held 67,374 so-called short contracts on May 7, 6.4 percent more than a week earlier, U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission data show. The net-long position dropped 10 percent to 49,260 futures and options. BlackRock’s President Robert Kapito said May 9 he would still buy the metal, echoing billionaire John Paulson, who’s sticking with a bullish view even after losing 27 percent in his Gold Fund last month." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGold Bears Pull $20.8 Billion as BlackRock Says Buy

India Trade Deficit Deteriorates As Gold Imports Soar 138%

"India's economic boogeyman, the monthly trade deficit, continues to rear its ugly head, this and every time, driven be the country's insatiable desire for gold which is so powerful, the country took full advantage of the plunge in gold prices, and saw business imports of gold soar by 138% y/y in April, forcing the trade deficit to hit a 3 month high of $17.8 billion as more fiat left the country in return for bringing in more of the 'barbarous relic.' Gold imports more than doubled on both a Y/Y and sequential basis, with gold accounting for $7.5 billion, or 18% of total imports, compared to $3.1 billion in March." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIndia Trade Deficit Deteriorates As Gold Imports Soar 138%

The Enduring Glow of Gold

"The use of monetary stimulus, in the hopes that a demand kick will snowball into a virtuous cycle in each national economy, hasn't worked to achieve its main objective for the past five years. But it has created big fluctuations in asset markets, giving speculative capital a golden opportunity to engage in the biggest wealth redistribution in modern history. Despite its recent setback, gold remains a big beneficiary of the current macro environment. It could make a new high in the current year and rise much higher in 2014. The gold bull market will end when an inflation crisis pushes central bankers around the world to tighten aggressively." Continue reading →

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Texas U. Sold $375 Million in Gold Bars

"The University of Texas Investment Management Co., the third-largest U.S. academic endowment, sold $375 million in gold bars from holdings of about $1.4 billion and reinvested the proceeds in gold futures and equities. The fund, which manages $29.2 billion, started taking delivery of gold through futures starting in 2008 as a hedge against inflation, Zimmerman said. While fund managers and directors remain concerned global consumer prices may increase, the fund wanted to increase investments in equities, he said. 'Our idea was to buy and hold gold, and when the world’s central banks begin tightening, we’ll sell,' Zimmerman said." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingTexas U. Sold $375 Million in Gold Bars

Chris Martenson: Official Gold Numbers Don’t Add Up

"If a lot of gold has been leased out, someday it will have to be rebought, and difficulties may emerge if the gold cannot be rebought in sufficient quantities without creating mayhem within the financial system by causing a very large hike in the price of gold. The amounts of gold leased by central banks is a very closely guarded secret, and we do not have direct information on them, which means we have to try and back-calculate these amounts by other means. After accounting for all known flows of gold into and out of the US over the past 22 years, the Sprott team arrived at a figure of nearly 4,500 tonnes of gold that cannot be accounted for." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingChris Martenson: Official Gold Numbers Don’t Add Up

Chinese Women Aren’t Taking Buffett’s Advice on Gold

"In China, where gold has long been a national obsession, a mid-April record crash in global gold prices has been seen as an unprecedented buying opportunity. According to reports in China, Chinese have purchased 300 tons of gold worth more than $16 billion since the crash. Photos of crowds packing jewelry shops and emptying their shelves are now regular features in the news media. China’s voracious appetite for gold is long-standing. At Chinese jewelry stores, the spot price for gold is always prominently displayed. Calculators and scales are never out of a customer’s reach." Continue reading →

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Woman scams metal buyers out of thousands with fake silver bars

"Police are looking for a woman who they say sold several hundred fake silver bars to local metal buyers under the guise that it was real silver. According to police, a 40-year-old white woman came to the Traverse City area in late April and sold these metal bars to at least three different precious metal buyers in the area. On April 27th, the woman walked into Bay West Antiques and sold 100 silver bars to store owners, Holly Dalley and her husband Pete. Real silvers bars are currently worth just over $24.00 each. Police say the suspect was paid over $6,500 from three different local businesses and has now left the area." Continue reading →

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Gold to play major role in Italy economic recovery

"According to a WGC survey, only 4% of citizens and business leaders would support the sale of Italy's gold reserves, while 52% of citizens and 61% of business leaders would endorse using, but not selling, national gold reserves. The study revealed that Italian business leaders (92%) and citizens (85%) overwhelmingly agree that the nation's gold reserves have an important and positive role to play in the country's economic recovery." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGold to play major role in Italy economic recovery