Precious Metals

Mongolia at a crossroad as boom brings challenges

"Dozens of office buildings are being erected at quick pace, while residential developments featuring fancy colours and rococo terraces are rising just across the road. Ulan Bator’s construction boom is adding new momentum to the country’s economic growth. Mongolia’s vast, largely untapped deposits of gold, copper, coal and uranium might be worth as much as US $3 trillion. In a country of only 2.8 million people, that represents a huge opportunity. 'By 2030, Mongolia will become one of the three richest countries in Asia by GDP per capita after Singapore and Japan,' Alisher Ali, founder of the investment group Silk Road Finance, said earlier this year in an interview." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMongolia at a crossroad as boom brings challenges

SNB Sees $10 Billion Loss for 2013 as Gold Price Plummets

"Switzerland’s central bank will scrap its annual payment to the government for 2013 after a gold-price decline caused a loss of 9 billion francs ($10 billion). Switzerland’s 26 cantons are the central bank’s biggest shareholders. Together with the government, they receive an annual payment of 1 billion francs if the distribution reserve isn’t negative after appropriation of profit. The SNB’s gold holdings are the target of a popular initiative that demands that at least 20 percent of the central bank’s assets be in the form of gold. The measure would also block the sale of such holdings and require all SNB gold to be located in Switzerland. The SNB is listed on the Zurich stock exchange." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSNB Sees $10 Billion Loss for 2013 as Gold Price Plummets

India may ease gold import curbs later this month

"Indian officials are in discussions to cut a record high import duty on gold and relax rules on exports, government sources said, after the measures helped narrow the country's trade deficit and now threaten to encourage smuggling. With three duty hikes last year to a record 10 percent and onerous restrictions tying purchases to exports, official arrivals shrank almost 90 percent in the six months to November, helping China displace India as the world's top gold buyer. The decision to cut the import duty is likely to be taken anytime this month, said one of the government sources, who has direct knowledge of the deliberations but did not want to be named because of the sensitivity of the issue." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIndia may ease gold import curbs later this month

India may ease gold import curbs later this month

"Indian officials are in discussions to cut a record high import duty on gold and relax rules on exports, government sources said, after the measures helped narrow the country's trade deficit and now threaten to encourage smuggling. With three duty hikes last year to a record 10 percent and onerous restrictions tying purchases to exports, official arrivals shrank almost 90 percent in the six months to November, helping China displace India as the world's top gold buyer. The decision to cut the import duty is likely to be taken anytime this month, said one of the government sources, who has direct knowledge of the deliberations but did not want to be named because of the sensitivity of the issue." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIndia may ease gold import curbs later this month

Keiser Report: Pickpockets Rule UK?

"In this episode of the Keiser Report, Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert discuss the beggar economy in which the biggest pickpockets rule. They look at the London Gold Fix, in particular, where every day for the past more than twenty years, pockets were picked every single day, according to the data. In the second half, Max interviews precious metals expert, James Turk, about his new book, 'The Money Bubble,' and about the dollar, gold and Bitcoin." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingKeiser Report: Pickpockets Rule UK?

Insatiable appetite for gold fuels India’s smuggling industry

"Indian gold smugglers are adopting the methods of drug couriers to sidestep a government crackdown on imports of the precious metal, stashing gold in imported vehicles and even using mules who swallow nuggets to try to get them past airport security. Stung by rules imposed this year to cut a high trade deficit and a record duty on imports, dealers and individual customers are fanning out across Asia to buy gold and sneak it back into the country. Sri Lanka, Thailand and Singapore are the latest hotspots as authorities crack down on travellers from Dubai, the traditional source of smuggled gold." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingInsatiable appetite for gold fuels India’s smuggling industry

Paul Craig Roberts: Manipulations Rule The Markets

"Until a whistleblower speaks, we cannot know for certain, but my conclusion is that the Fed understands that it must protect the dollar from being driven down by QE and that the orchestrated takedowns of gold are part of protecting the dollar’s value, and perhaps also the cutback in QE is a part of the protection by signaling an end of money creation. The Fed also understands that it cannot forever drive down the gold price and that it cannot forever pour liquidity into stock and bond markets. To retreat from this policy without crashing the edifice requires successful orchestrations. Therefore, we are likely to experience more of them in the days to come." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPaul Craig Roberts: Manipulations Rule The Markets

Even more smuggled gold enters India

"In the biggest ever catch at the Hyderabad airport, customs officials have seized 18 kilograms of gold and arrested three people. The trio had arrived from Singapore and were hiding the gold bars in their trousers and shoes. In another incident, officials of the customs department recovered gold hidden in dates from a man who landed at the Pune International Airport. Investigation revealed that the seeds of these dates had been replaced with gold beads wrapped in black packets. Gold seizures have almost doubled for the period 2013-2014. Whistleblowers who help bust illegal gold shipments can get a bigger reward in India than those who help catch cocaine and heroin smugglers." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingEven more smuggled gold enters India

Why Gordon Brown sold Britain’s gold at a knock-down price [2012]

"When Brown decided to dispose of almost 400 tonnes of gold between 1999 and 2002, he did two distinctly odd things. First, he broke with convention and announced the sale well in advance, giving the market notice that it was shortly to be flooded and forcing down the spot price. This was apparently done in the interests of 'open government', but had the effect of sending the spot price of gold to a 20-year low, as implied by basic supply and demand theory. Second, the Treasury elected to sell its gold via auction, which frequently achieved a lower price than the equivalent fix price. It seemed almost as if the Treasury was trying to achieve the lowest price possible for the public’s gold. It was." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWhy Gordon Brown sold Britain’s gold at a knock-down price [2012]

Jim Rickards: Decline of the Petrodollar System is Good for Gold

"The petrodollar system is collapsing for two reasons. The US has abused its privileged reserve currency position by printing trillions of dollars in an effort to create inflation. More recently, President Obama has taken steps to anoint Iran as the regional hegemon of the Middle East, and to ease the way, in stages, toward Iran's possession of nuclear weapons capability. This is viewed as a stab-in-the-back by the Saudis and the Israelis and will lead quickly to Saudi Arabia obtaining nuclear weapons from Pakistan. There is also a newly emerging alliance among Saudi Arabia, Israel, Egypt, and Russia. The new alignment will have no particular use for US dollars and no reason to support them." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingJim Rickards: Decline of the Petrodollar System is Good for Gold