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The first day of each month sees the reporting of a number of statistics about the London Gold Market by the bullion bank led London Bullion Market Association (LBMA). These statistics focus on clearing data and vault holdings data and are reported in a 1 month lag basis for clearing activity and a 3 month lag basis for vault holdings data. Therefore the latest clearing data just published is for the month of August, while the latest vault holdings data is for the end of June.

While LBMA clearing data has been published for many years now, publication of vault holdings data by the LBMA is a recent phenomenon and only began at the end of July 2017. As the LBMA press release at the time stated:

“The physical holdings of precious metals held in the London vaults underpin the gross daily trading and net clearing in London. The net clearing is undertaken by the members of the London Precious Metals Clearing Limited (LPMCL).”

Although in both cases the data reported lacks any granularity and are just rolled up numbers, the two sets of statistics are useful in that they highlight the clear contradiction that exists between the huge volumes of fractionally-backed paper trading in the London Gold Market, and the relatively small quantities of underlying physical gold that sit in the gold vaults of the same institutions engaged in this ‘gold’ trading, quantities which are even smaller when Bank of England and ETF gold holdings are excluded.

**LBMA gold vaulting data report for end of June 2018: Published 1st October**

Vault Holdings – Underpinning ‘Gold’ trading

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Real Gold and Silver Are Hedges Against the “Stupidity of the Elites” – Kiyosaki

September 3, 2018

Real Gold and Silver Are Hedges Against the “Stupidity of the Elites” – Kiyosaki

Real Gold and Silver – 7 Reasons Robert Kiyosaki Owns Them

In Robert Kiyosaki’s just-released book ‘FAKE – Fake Money, Fake Teachers, Fake Assets’, the best selling ‘Rich Dad’ author and respected personal finance expert details the seven reasons he owns “real gold and silver.”

The book is designed to deliver insights and answers to help the millions of people – many of whom have had little in the way of financial education — determine what is ‘real’ and relevant to their financial future.

Kiyosaki is the inspirational author of “Rich Dad, Poor Dad,” the No. 1 selling personal finance book of all time, and therefore always worth listening to.

Kiyosaki believes in the law of attraction and the principle that ‘like attracts like’ and focusing on the purest forms of wealth – gold and silver – attracts like and brings more wealth into gold owners lives.

He believes that holding real gold coins and bars attracts wealth to gold bullion owners through the law of attraction and is the best way to attract wealth and have a steady income.

In the book, CHAPTER 3 of which was released on Saturday (September 1st), Kioyosaki considers the 7 Reasons I Own Real Gold and Silver and we feature an short extract in our market update today:

REASON #1: Real gold and silver are not investments.

I do not own gold and silver to make money. They are insurance, a hedge against the stupidity of the elites… and myself.

I have insurance on my car, just in case someone hits me, or in case I hit someone else. Gold and silver serve a similar purpose.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

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In Praise of a Genuine Gold (Not Gold-Backed) Bond

August 20, 2018

In Praise of a Genuine Gold (Not Gold-Backed) Bond

Buffet dismissed gold because it pays no interest. But what if there was a genuine gold bond that paid interest in gold?

Keith Weiner at Monetary Metals asks Who Would Invest in a Gold Bond?

Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffet famously dismissed gold. “Gold has two significant shortcomings, being neither of much use nor procreative.”

Nevada now has legislation pending, to enable the state to issue gold bonds. Not gold-backed bonds, which are a way to sink deeper into debt, to borrow more dollars using gold as collateral. True gold bonds, which are denominated in gold, pay interest in gold, and return investors’ principal in gold.

Interest. That is what Warren Buffet declared that gold has not got. And now an AA-rated state government is close to paying interest on gold. That is an interesting development (permit me my little pun). But there is a challenge.

Although there is no downside, and no special interest groups are harmed, the bill might not pass. The Democrat majority who controls the state legislature could perceive the gold bond as a Republican partisan measure. I can say that this assumption is totally wrong. Most mainstream Republicans are not especially fond of gold. For example, it took Arizona five years to pass its gold legislation, with three vetoes by two Republican governors.

Unfortunately, politics has become hyper-partisan. If Nevada Democrats perceive this as a Republican bill, they will vote it down. Since they are in the majority, they will kill the bill. That must not happen! The decay in our monetary system is at an advanced stage. No one can predict how much time remains, but I can say one thing with absolute certainty. We need to begin developing an alternative. We need to begin remonetizing gold, and that means gold bonds.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Sales of Physical Gold Explode as the Currency Wars Continue to Unfold

August 4, 2018

Sales of Physical Gold Explode as the Currency Wars Continue to Unfold

Trade wars are erupting, scandals are unfolding and now the United States is entering into the much prophesied currency wars that many experts have predicted was coming for years.

The United States and China, who continue to hold out against American tariffs, are entering into a quickly accelerating downward spiral.

Already the US government has ordered a massive $34 Billion worth of tariffs on Chinese goods entering into the United States, while at the same time, China has fired back shots of their own, issuing tariffs of their own kind.

As predicted, this would be far from the last that we would see, as now, we are learning today that President Trump plans on increasing tariffs by an additional 25% , up from the previous 10%.

This equates to a stunning $200 Billion worth of tariffs on Chinese goods, attempting to enter the United States marketplace.

This drastic increase in tariffs comes on the heels of a significant decrease in the value of the Yuan, which essentially has circumvented the previous tariffs placed by President Trumps administration .

These actions, and China’s willingness to devalue their currency proves just how serious they are about winning this currency war, while at the same time, so too does Trump’s acceleration in additional tariffs.

Just how low China is willing to take the Yuan is yet to be seen, as are the unintended consequences of taking such a drastic action.

Already, markets, especially those in China, are experiencing significant turbulence, as they corrected sharply lower.

Meanwhile, markets in the West were more optimistic in their ability to see this trade war through, as Apple surged higher, pulling the broader markets up, along with it.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

The Importance Of Gold In 2018 And Beyond

February 13, 2018

The Importance Of Gold In 2018 And Beyond

If you’ve held physical gold for the past five years, you’ve likely been frustrated by its lack of price appreciation. Of course, physical gold always retains its value as sound money and wealth “insurance,” but while prices of paper assets have flourished since 2013, the dollar price of gold has languished. That, it seems, is about to change.

At long last, gold, silver and all commodities appear poised for a price breakout in 2018 (and beyond) as the lower dollar, price inflation and higher interest rates that so many expected in 2010-2011 finally come to pass. In addition to those factors, several gold-specific positives have recently appeared, and they demand your consideration:

Global gold demand is strong, with the only restraining component being western investment demand. Since western investors are typically trend followers, you’d expect low investment demand to appear at price lows. This is exactly what the recent Gold Demand Trends report from the World Gold Council showed when it was published earlier this month: https://www.gold.org/research/gold-demand-trends/g…

Traditional technical and cycle analysis also augurs for a price bottom and trend change. Respected market analyst Tom McClellan recently declared the current cycle to be upward for gold, with the next three years providing some unusually strong price gains. You can read more of his analysis here: https://www.themaven.net/mishtalk/economics/eight-…

In late 2017, many investors began to think of Bitcoin and other “crypto-currencies” as alternatives to gold. But with the recent sharp price correction and looming legislation to regulate (or even ban) crypto trading, the investment world is realizing that cryptos are not a replacement for a sound money strategy of holding precious metal. Instead, they are at best a supplement to a diverse portfolio.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Digital Gold Bitcoin Flight To Physical Gold Coins and Bars

January 18, 2018

Digital Gold Bitcoin Flight To Physical Gold Coins and Bars

‘Digital Gold’ Bitcoin Flight To Safe Haven Physical Gold

– Latest bitcoin, crypto crash causes gold coin and bar demand to surge
– Bitcoin down 40% from high, Ripple down 50% and Ethereum down 30%
– Ripple and ‘Digital gold’ Bitcoin fall past key psychological price levels
– $300bn wiped from cryptocurrency fortunes in just 36 hours
– New research says that there is ‘Price Manipulation in the Bitcoin Ecosystem’
– Savvy crypto buyers converted their short term gains into physical gold bars, coins
– Bitcoin and Ripple sellers bought gold both for delivery and storage from GoldCore
– Gold ETF holdings rise – Assets in iShares Gold soar to $10.7 b, highest in 5 years
– 95% of cryptocurrencies will go to zero …

30% to 50% price drops in a matter of days and the loss of $300 billion in value is quite a knock for a market that was not meant to be in a speculative bubble.

In just 36 hours the cryptocurrency market has managed to make a fair few people feel very nervous as they watched crypto currency prices fall very sharply.

The two most popular cryptocurrencies (as measured by market cap) saw the biggest losses over Tuesday and Wednesday, this week. Digital gold bitcoin dropped below it’s key psychological level of $10,000, whilst ether also made a drop below the all-important level of $1,000.

The crypto market has been on a tear for the last few months. We are frequently asked by people about bitcoin and whether or not they ‘should’ be getting into it.

Gold is the best way to secure value from crypto volatility

Unsurprisingly many cryptocurrency buyers or investors have been looking at how they can secure their gains. Since early December and continuing in recent days, we are seeing numerous existing and new clients who had seen massive gains in bitcoin, ripple etc diversifying into physical gold. They have been buying both gold coins and bars, for both delivery and storage.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Chinese Physical Gold Investment Demand Surges While Americans Pile Into Stock & Crypto Bubbles

January 16, 2018

Chinese Physical Gold Investment Demand Surges While Americans Pile Into Stock & Crypto Bubbles

Chinese demand for physical gold investment surged in the first three-quarters of 2017 while Americans ditched the shiny yellow metal for increased bets in the crypto mania and stock market bubble market. Even though China’s Hang Seng Stock Market outperformed the Dow Jones Index last year, Chinese citizens purchased the most gold bar and coin products Q1-Q3 2017 since the same period in 2013, when they took advantage of huge gold market price selloff.

According to the World Gold Council, Chinese gold bar and coin demand increased to 233 metric tons (mt) in the first three-quarters of 2017 compared to 162 mt in the same period last year. Furthermore, if we include Indian gold bar and coin demand, China and India consumed nearly half of the world’s total:

As we can see, China and India consumed 338 mt of gold bar and coin products which accounted for 47% of the total 715 mt Q1-Q3 2017. German gold bar and coin demand of 81 mt took the third highest spot followed by Thailand (49 mt), Turkey (47 mt), Switzerland (31 mt) and the United States (30 mt). Chinese gold bar and coin demand of 233 mt nearly equaled the total demand by German, Thailand, Turkey, Switzerland and the United States of 238 mt.

If we compare gold bar and coin demand by these countries in the same period last year, we can see some interesting changes:

While the increase in Chinese gold bar and coin demand was the big winner (162 mt to 233 mt), Turkish demand nearly doubled from 24 mt in 2016 to 47 mt this year. However, the biggest loser in the group was in the United States. U.S. Gold bar and coin demand fell substantially to 30 mt Q1-Q3 2017 from 66 mt during the same period last year.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Gold EFPs: Absolute Proof That Paper Gold Is A Fraud

December 22, 2017

Gold EFPs: Absolute Proof That Paper Gold Is A Fraud

IRD’s Note: In the past year, there has been a noticeably substantial increase in the use of the obscurely defined EFPs (Exchange for Physicals) and PNTs (Privately Negotiated Transactions) in the settlement of Comex gold and silver futures contracts. In simple terms, the EFPs and PNTs enable the counterparties a Comex futures contract or LBMA forward to settle the contract in an acceptable form other than the actual physical commodity as required by the contract specifications (e.g. one gold futures contract requires the delivery of a 100 oz. gold bar as qualified by the Comex). As an example, the counterparty that is required to deliver gold under Comex contract terms can deliver a comparable dollar amount of GLD shares if the counterparty standing for delivery agrees to take delivery of the GLD shares.

The EFPs and PNTs plunge the Comex operations into even greater opacity – likely intentionally. In all probability, the EFPs and PNTs are used to bridge the gap between the amount of gold (silver) that needs to be delivered and the amount of gold (silver) that is available to be delivered. The settlement of the contract occurs outside of the Comex. These contract settlement devices further enable the ability of the western Central Banks to execute the successful manipulation of the gold (silver) price.

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In recent months, the issuance of gold Exchange for Physical (EFP) contracts has surged. EFPs convert a physically deliverable Comex gold contract into an LBMA or LME contract supposedly deliverable at a later date ex London and/or Hong Kong. As an incentive for Comex contract holders to accept EFPs, a cash bonus reportedly is paid. EFPs in silver are also being issued in vast quantities, but we will focus on gold for brevity.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Yahoo Hacking Highlights Cyber Risk and Increasing Importance of Physical Gold

October 8, 2017

Yahoo Hacking Highlights Cyber Risk and Increasing Importance of Physical Gold

– Yahoo admits every single one of 3 billion accounts hacked in 2013 data theft
– Equifax hacking and security breach exposes half of the U.S. population
– Some 143 million people vulnerable to identity theft
– Deloitte hack compromised sensitive emails and client data
– JP Morgan hacked and New York Fed hacked and robbed
– International hacking group steals $300 million
– Global digital banking and financial system not secure

Imagine there was a chemical disaster at a factory. The surrounding water and air supply are affected over hundreds of miles. Thousands of people, if not more, are affected.

There would be a national response. Governments would step in to ask why this had happened, how it was going to be dealt with and how it would be prevented.

More importantly, those affected would be notified with immediate effect. The responsible company would not set up a website inviting potential victims to log on with personal details in order to find out if and how badly they have been affected.

And if the company did do this then people and the government wouldn’t stand for it.

Imagine that another disaster happens a few months later, at another company. But it turns out the dangerous chemicals have been leaking into the environment for possibly the previous three months.

No-one knows the extent of the damage.

There would be uproar.

Yet there seems to be little reaction when the equivalent happens in the cyber world. Just this week, less than a month after the Equifax announcement, Yahoo have admitted all 3 billion accounts were compromised four years ago … four years ago …

This is just another example of repeated data breaches that have compromised the personal data and lives of billions of people.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Using Gold To Hedge Korea Nuclear War Risk? This Is How To Do It, According To Goldman

September 5, 2017

Using Gold To Hedge Korea Nuclear War Risk? This Is How To Do It, According To Goldman

In a note on the role of gold as a “geopolitical hedge of last resort“, Goldman chief commodities strategist, Jeff Currie, writes that while it is tempting to blame the rally in gold prices on recent events in North Korea – which have certainly helped create a bid in gold – they only explain a fraction, or ~$15/oz of the more than $100/oz rally since mid-July. Instead, Goldman finds that the events in Washington over the past two months play a far larger role in the recent gold rally coupled by a sharply weaker dollar.

Currie writes that Goldman’s market strategists have found that Trump’s approval rating is a good proxy for this “Washington risk” with a high correlation to both interest rates and gold prices (see Exhibit 1).

The Washington risk premium is highly correlated to Trump’s approval rating

Goldman also notes that the Trump risk premium is reflected in both real interest rates and a weaker US dollar account for 85% of the price movement in gold prices this past year.

The Trump risk premium as reflected in real rates and the US dollar (as reflected in a basket of EM FX) explain 85% of the price movement

So what about the risk, or threat, from a North Korean escalation, potentially culminating with a nuclear exchange? Here Goldman is more skeptical about the causal linkage between the growing risk level and the price of gold.

The view that North Korea is a stable equilibrium is consistent with a lack of a large North Korean risk premium in gold prices and consistent with the history of gold prices.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Marc Faber: In the Age of Cyber-Terrorism, Every Investor Must Own Gold

August 20, 2017

Marc Faber: In the Age of Cyber-Terrorism, Every Investor Must Own Gold

Take it from “Dr. Doom”: own some physical gold and keep it out of the banking system.

Dr. Marc Faber, a legendary investor and the editor/publisher of the Gloom, Boom & Doom Report, is well known for his contrarian investing style.

In a recent Metal Masters interview with the Hard Assets Alliance, he noted that the biggest geopolitical risk for Americans today is not a conventional war but rather cyber-attacks that could take down the US power grid.

In such a scenario, gold would become an irreplaceable medium of exchange. But it’s not the only reason to own gold today.

Diversified Assets Outside the Banking System

Faber grew up in Switzerland right after World War II, a tough time that caused his family to distrust paper money and taught him the importance of precious metals as a safety net.

Faber remembers how his father talked about rich people as millionaires. “That, in the ‘50s and ‘60s and ‘70s, was a lot of money. Today, a million is nothing at all—small change. Unfortunately. When people talk about, ‘Oh, there is no inflation in the system,’ this is nonsense. Compared to assets, money has lost a tremendous amount of purchasing power.”

After working on Wall Street for over two decades, Faber’s assets consisted mainly of bonds, equities, and real estate. He says it was in the 1990s when he realized that “it’s good to have a diversified asset outside the banking system and not financially related” and began to purchase some physical gold every month.

The Fed largely ignores gold as an asset, he says, because “gold is an embarrassment to central banks.”

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

BlackRock Suspends ETF Issuance Due To “Surging Demand For Gold”

March 4, 2016

BlackRock Suspends ETF Issuance Due To “Surging Demand For Gold”

BlackRock’s Gold ETF (IAU) has seen fund inflows every day in 2016 (no outflows at all) and with the stock trading above its NAV for most of the year, the world’s largest asset manager has made a significant decision:

*BLACKROCK SAYS ISSUANCE OF GOLD TRUST SHARES SUSPENDED
*BLACKROCK SAYS SUSPENSION DUE TO DEMAND FOR GOLD

BlackRock Statement:

Issuance of New IAU (Gold Trust) Shares Temporarily Suspended; Existing Shares to Trade Normally for Retail and Institutional Investors on NYSE Arca and Other Venues

Suspension results from surging demand for gold, which requires registration of new shares

iShares Delaware Trust Sponsor LLC, in its capacity as the sponsor of iShares Gold Trust (IAU), has temporarily suspended the creation of new shares of IAU until additional shares are registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

This suspension does not affect the ability of retail and institutional investors to trade on stock exchanges. Retail and institutional investors will continue to be able to buy and sell shares in IAU.

IAU holds gold as a physical asset. IAU is an exchange-traded commodity (ETC), which therefore is not eligible for registration as an investment company under the ’40 Act. IAU may only be registered under the ’33 Act as a grantor trust. Under the ’33 Act, subscriptions for new shares in excess of those registered requires additional filings with the SEC.

Nearly all other U.S. iShares are exchange-traded funds (ETFs), registered as investment companies under the ’40 Act. The ’40 Act provides for the continuous offering of shares and does not require registration of additional shares as the fund grows due to investor demand in connection to new subscriptions.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Lines Around the Block to Buy Gold in London…Banks Placing “Unusually Large Orders for Physical”

February 11, 2016

Lines Around the Block to Buy Gold in London…Banks Placing “Unusually Large Orders for Physical”

First, let’s look at the improved fundamentals. Gold bugs will exasperatingly proclaim that fundamentals have been great for the past four years yet the price plunged anyway, so who cares about fundamentals? To this I would respond with two observations. First, large institutional investors and sovereign wealth funds have been anticipating a rate hike cycle for a very long time now. They didn’t know when, but they expected it. The fact that the gold bugs never believed this is irrelevant; what matters is that big money believed it, and it was perceived to be very gold negative. In their minds, this anticipated rate hike cycle would confirm that things were getting back to normal, and if things are normal you don’t need to own gold, right?

The problem is that this assumption is quickly being called into question. Sure the Fed hiked rates once, but it is starting to look more and more like a policy error. Meanwhile, other major central banks around the world are going in the opposite direction, toward negative rates. I am a huge believer in market psychology, and the psychology dominating the minds of most institutional investors over the past few years has been that things were slowly getting back to normal. This has weighed on institutional demand for gold in a big way, and been a meaningful factor in the bear market (manipulation aside). If this psychology shifts, the shift back into gold could be very meaningful.

While that backdrop is interesting in its own right, what may make the move into gold that much more explosive is the lack of alternative investments…

– From the February 3, 2016 post: GOLD – It’s Time to Pay Attention

What a difference a couple of weeks can make. The Telegraph is reporting the following:

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Something Really Snapped At The Comex

January 26, 2016

Something Really Snapped At The Comex

There had been an eerie silence at the Comex in recent weeks, where after registered gold tumbled to a record 120K ounces in early December nothing much had changed, an in fact the total amount of physical deliverable aka “registered” gold, had stayed practically unchanged at 275K ounces all throughout January.

Until today, when in the latest update from the Comex vault, we learn that a whopping 201,345 ounces of Registered gold had been de-warranted at the owner’s request, and shifted into the Eligible category, reducing the total mount of Comex Registered gold by 73%, from 275K to just 74K overnight.

This took place as a result of adjustments at vaults belonging to Scotia Mocatta (-95K ounces), HSBC (-85K ounces), and Brink’s (-21K ounces).

Meanwhile, the aggregate gold open interest remained largely unchanged, at just about 40 million ounces.

This means that the ratio which we have been carefully tracking since August 2015 when it first blew out, namely the “coverage ratio” that shows the total number of gold claims relative to the physical gold that “backs” such potential delivery requests, – or simply said physical-to-paper gold dilution – just exploded.

As the chart below shows – which is disturbing without any further context – the 40 million ounces of gold open interest and the record low 74 thousand ounces of registered gold imply that as of Monday’s close there was a whopping 542 ounces in potential paper claims to every ounces of physical gold. Call it a 0.2% dilution factor.

To be sure, skeptics have suggested that depending on how one reads the delivery contract, the Comex can simply yank from the pool of eligible gold and use it to satisfy delivery requests despite the explicit permission (or lack thereof) of the gold’s owner.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Interview Willem Middelkoop About The Big Reset

December 18, 2015

Interview Willem Middelkoop About The Big Reset

The very reason I became interested in gold after the financial crisis in 2008 was because of Dutch gold guru, author, journalist, entrepreneur, and fund manager Willem Middelkoop. When I started reading his books I was immediately obsessed with economics and the gold market – along with thousands of others across the world. Who would have thought that I would become a precious metals analyst a few years later?

It was an honor to have contributed to Willem’s latest book The Big Reset with translations from Chinese policy makers that stimulate their citizenry to accumulate physical gold and my initial research into the Shanghai Gold Exchange that revealed Chinese gold demand was approximately twice a large as what was previously thought in the English-speaking world.

When The Big Reset was first released in January 2014 I’ve conducted an interview with its author about the inevitable reset of the international monetary system (the interview was published in two parts on this blog – one, two). Since then a lot has happened in the global realm of economics and at the same time The Big Reset became an international best seller. As we speak The Big Reset has been translated in Dutch, German and Chinese and is expected to appear in Portuguese, Arabic, Polish and Vietnamese.

To keep up with the most recent developments Willem has added 70 pages in the revised edition of The Big Reset. For me a reason to have another chat with him about what he saw has happened in the past two years:

The Big Reset

J: Is it a coincidence that after the financial crisis more tensions between the West and East emerged and is there a financial war played by the US?

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

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