Good evening Ladies and Gentlemen:
We are entering options expiry week.
LMBA options expiry: noon London time July 31.2015
OTC options expiry: midnight July 31.2015
Here are the following closes for gold and silver today:
Gold: $1092.70 down $3.60 cents (comex closing time)
Silver $14.73 up 10 cents.
In the access market 5:15 pm
Gold $1097.40
Silver: $14.81
First, here is an outline of what will be discussed tonight:
At the gold comex today, we had a poor delivery day, registering 4 notices for 400 ounces . Silver saw 115 notices filed for 575,000 oz.
Several months ago the comex had 303 tonnes of total gold. Today, the total inventory rests at 243.94 tonnes for a loss of 59 tonnes over that period.
In silver, the open interest rose by 37 contracts as Tuesday’s price was up by 4 cents (and the gold price down by 20 cents). The total silver OI continues to remain extremely high, with today’s reading at 190,322 contracts now at decade highs despite a record low price. In ounces, the OI is represented by .951 billion oz or 135% of annual global silver production (ex Russia ex China). This dichotomy has been happening now for quite a while and defies logic. There is no doubt that the silver situation is scaring our bankers to no end as they continue to raid as basically they have no other alternative.
In silver we had 115 notices served upon for 575,000 oz.
In gold, the total comex gold OI rests tonight at 438,282 for a loss of 2,268 contracts despite the fact that gold was only down by 20 cents yesterday. We had 4 notices filed for 400 oz today.
We had no withdrawals in gold tonnage at the GLD / thus the inventory rests tonight at 680.15 tonnes. The appetite for gold coming from China is depleting not only gold from the LBMA and GLD but also the comex is bleeding gold. I thought that 700 tonnes is the rock bottom inventory in GLD gold, but I guess I was wrong. However we must be coming pretty close to a level of only paper gold and the GLD being totally void of physical gold. In silver, we had a huge withdrawal of 2.005 million oz in inventory at the SLV / Inventory rests at 326.829 million oz.
We have a few important stories to bring to your attention today…
1. Today, we had the open interest in silver rise by 37 contracts up to 190,322 as silver was up by 4 cents yesterday. We again must have had some shortcovering by the bankers as they feared something was brewing in the silver arena. The OI for gold fell by 2,268 contracts down to 438,282 contracts as the price of gold was down 20 cents in yesterday’s trading.
(report Harvey)
2 Today, 4 important commentaries on Greece
(zero hedge, Bloomberg/)
3. Today, 2 stories on the faltering Chinese economy.
(zero hedge)
4. Gold trading overnight
(Goldcore/Mark O’Byrne/)
5. Graham Summers commentary tonight is titled:
“Is the $100 Trillion Bond Bubble About to Burst?”
(zero hedge)
6 Trading of equities/ New York
(zero hedge)
7. we have one oil related stories
(zero hedge)
8. USA stories:
i)pending home sales plummet
ii) FOMC results in which an interest rate hike may be delayed
(3 commentaries/zero hedge/Jon Hilsenrath/Craig Paul Roberts)
plus other topics…
9. Agnico eagle earns 9 cents per share and produces over 400,000 oz in the quarter, beating expectations of production at 400,000.
They will produce 1.6 million oz this year.
Here are today’s comex results:
The total gold comex open interest fell by 2,268 contracts from 440,550 contracts down to 438, 282 as gold was down by only 20 cents in price with respect to yesterday’s trading (at the comex close).For the past two years, we have strangely witnessed the gold comex collapse in OI as we enter an active delivery month, and today this again is the norm. What is interesting is that the LBMA gold is witnessing a 7.40 premium spot/next nearby month as gold is now in backwardation over there. We are now in the contract month of July and here the OI fell by 49 contracts falling to 4 contracts. We had 21 notices filed on yesterday and thus we lost 28 gold contracts or an additional 2800 oz will not stand in this non active delivery month of July. The next big delivery month is August and here the OI decreased by 38,747 contracts down to 65,080. We have 2 trading days before first day notice for the big August active gold contract (july 31). The estimated volume today (which is just comex sales during regular business hours of 8:20 until 1:30 pm est) was excellent at 259,157. However today’s volume was aided by HFT traders. The confirmed volume yesterday (which includes the volume during regular business hours + access market sales the previous day was excellent at 284,528 contracts. Today we had 4 notices filed for 400 oz.
And now for the wild silver comex results. Silver OI rose by 37 contracts from 190,285 up to 190,322 as the price of silver was up by 4 cents in yesterday’s trading. We continue to have our bankers pulling their hair out with respect to the continued high silver OI as the world senses something is brewing in the silver arena. We are in the delivery month of July and here the OI fell by 5 contracts down to 158. We had 4 notices served upon yesterday and thus we lost 1 contract or an additional 5,000 ounces of silver will not stand for delivery in this active month of July. This is the first time in quite some time that we have not lost any silver ounces standing immediately after first day notice. The August contract month saw it’s OI fall by 18 contracts down to 145. The next major active delivery month is September and here the OI fell by 1731 contracts to 127,. The estimated volume today was fair at 19,510 contracts (just comex sales during regular business hours). The confirmed volume yesterday (regular plus access market) came in at 33,227 contracts which is fair in volume. We had 115 notices filed for 575,000 oz.
What is interesting with respect to comex silver OI, is that the open interest per day is hardly moving. In other words we have considerable silver trading, yet at the end of the day, the OI remains relatively constant as if everybody is standing pat.
July initial standing
July 29.2015
Gold
Ounces
Withdrawals from Dealers Inventory in oz
nil
Withdrawals from Customer Inventory in oz
nil
Deposits to the Dealer Inventory in oz
nil
Deposits to the Customer Inventory, in oz
nil
No of oz served (contracts) today
4 contracts (400 oz)
No of oz to be served (notices)
0 contracts (nil oz)
Total monthly oz gold served (contracts) so far this month
727 contracts(72,700 oz)
Total accumulative withdrawals of gold from the Dealers inventory this month
203.60 oz
Total accumulative withdrawal of gold from the Customer inventory this month
433,472.6 oz
Today, we had 0 dealer transactions
total Dealer withdrawals: nil oz
we had 0 dealer deposits
total dealer deposit: zero
we had 0 customer withdrawals
total customer withdrawal: nilo oz
We had 0 customer deposits:
Total customer deposit: nil oz
We had 2 adjustments
i) Out of Brinks: 1,675/37 oz was adjusted out of the dealer and this landed into the customer account of Brinks
ii) Out of Scotia: 95.01 oz was adjusted out of the dealer and this landed into the customer account at Scotia
JPMorgan has only 3.600 tonnes left in its registered or dealer inventory.
.
Today, 0 notices was issued from JPMorgan dealer account and 0 notices were issued from their client or customer account. The total of all issuance by all participants equates to 4 contracts of which 0 notices were stopped (received) by JPMorgan dealer and 0 notices were stopped (received) by JPMorgan customer account
To calculate the total number of gold ounces standing for the July contract month, we take the total number of notices filed so far for the month (727) x 100 oz or 72,700 oz , to which we add the difference between the open interest for the front month of July (xx) and the number of notices served upon today (4) x 100 oz equals the number of ounces standing.
Thus the initial standings for gold for the July contract month:
No of notices served so far (727) x 100 oz or ounces + {OI for the front month (4) – the number of notices served upon today (4) x 100 oz which equals 72,700 oz standing so far in this month of July (2.261 tonnes of gold).
We lost 28 contracts or an additional 2800 oz will not stand in this non active delivery month of JULY.
Total dealer inventory 376,905.714 or 11.723 tonnes
Total gold inventory (dealer and customer) = 7,842,682.724 oz or 243.94 tonnes
Several months ago the comex had 303 tonnes of total gold. Today the total inventory rests at 243.94 tonnes for a loss of 59 tonnes over that period.
end
And now for silver
July silver initial standings
July 29 2015:
Silver
Ounces
Withdrawals from Dealers Inventory
nil
Withdrawals from Customer Inventory
830,403.76 oz (CNT, Brinks,Scotia)
Deposits to the Dealer Inventory
nil
Deposits to the Customer Inventory
nil
No of oz served (contracts)
115 contracts (575,000 oz)
No of oz to be served (notices)
43 contracts (2155,000 oz)
Total monthly oz silver served (contracts)
3593 contracts (17,965,000 oz)
Total accumulative withdrawal of silver from the Dealers inventory this month
nil
Total accumulative withdrawal of silver from the Customer inventory this month
10,837,972.8 oz
Today, we had 0 deposits into the dealer account:
total dealer deposit: nil oz
we had 0 dealer withdrawal:
total dealer withdrawal: nil oz
We had 0 customer deposits:
total customer deposits: nil oz
We had 3 customer withdrawals:
i)Out of Scotia: 120,147.900 oz
ii) Out of CNT: 109,940.210 oz
iii) Out of Brinks:: 600,315.660 oz
total withdrawals from customer: 830,403.76 oz
we had 1 adjustment
From Scotia:
10,462.172 oz leaves the dealer and this lands into the customer account at Scoti
Total dealer inventory: 57.548 million oz
Total of all silver inventory (dealer and customer) 176.409 million oz
The total number of notices filed today for the July contract month is represented by 115 contracts for 575,000 oz. To calculate the number of silver ounces that will stand for delivery in July, we take the total number of notices filed for the month so far at (3593) x 5,000 oz = 17,965,000 oz to which we add the difference between the open interest for the front month of July (158) and the number of notices served upon today (115) x 5000 oz equals the number of ounces standing.
Thus the initial standings for silver for the July contract month:
3593 (notices served so far) + { OI for front month of July (158) -number of notices served upon today (115} x 5000 oz ,= 18,180,000 oz of silver standing for the July contract month.
We lost 5,000 oz that will not stand for delivery in this non active month of July.
for those wishing to see the rest of data today see:
http://www.harveyorgan.wordpress.comorhttp://www.harveyorganblog.com
end
The two ETF’s that I follow are the GLD and SLV. You must be very careful in trading these vehicles as these funds do not have any beneficial gold or silver behind them. They probably have only paper claims and when the dust settles, on a collapse, there will be countless class action lawsuits trying to recover your lost investment.
There is now evidence that the GLD and SLV are paper settling on the comex.
***I do not think that the GLD will head to zero as we still have some GLD shareholders who think that gold is the right vehicle to be in even though they do not understand the difference between paper gold and physical gold. I can visualize demand coming to the buyers side:
i) demand from paper gold shareholders
ii) demand from the bankers who then redeem for gold to send this gold onto China
vs no sellers of GLD paper.
And now the Gold inventory at the GLD:
July 29/no change in inventory/rests tonight at 680.13 tonnes
July 28/no change in inventory/rests tonight at 680.13 tonnes
July 27/no change in inventory/rests tonight at 680.13 tonnes
July 24.2015/we had another massive withdrawal of 4.48 tonnes of gold form the GLD/Inventory rests at 680.13 tonnes.
July 23.2015: we had another withdrawal of 2.68 tonnes of gold from the GLD/Inventory rests at 684.63 tonnes
july 22/another withdrawal of 2.38 tonnes of gold from the GLD/Inventory rests at 687.31
July 21.2015: a massive withdrawal of 6.56 tonnes of gold from the GLD.
Inventory rests at 689.69 tonnes. China and Russia need their physical gold badly and they are drawing their physical from this facility.
July 2o.2015: no change in inventory
July 17./a massive withdrawal of 11.63 tonnes in gold tonnage tonight from the GLD/Inventory rests at 696.25 tonnes
July 16./we lost 1.19 tonnes of gold tonight/Inventory rests at 707.88 tonnes
July 15/no change in inventory/gold inventory rests tonight at 709.07 tonnes.
July 14.2015:no change in inventory/gold inventory rests at 709.07 tonnes
July 13.2015: a big inventory gain of 1.49 tonnes/Inventory rests tonight at 709.07 tonnes
July 10/ we had a big withdrawal of 2.07 tonnes of gold from the GLD/Inventory rests this weekend at 707.58 tonnes
July 29 GLD : 680.13 tonnes
end
And now for silver (SLV)
July 29/no change in silver inventory/326.829 million oz
July 28/we had a huge withdrawal of 2.005 million oz from the SLV/Inventory rests at 326.829 oz
July 27/no change in silver inventory/inventory rests tonight at 328.834 million oz
July 24/no change in silver inventory/inventory rests tonight at 328.834 million oz
July 23.2015; no change in silver inventory/rests tonight at 328.834 million oz
july 22/no change in silver inventory/inventory rests at 328.834 million oz.
July 21.we had a massive addition of 1.241 million oz into the SLV/Inventory rests tonight at 328.834 million oz.
Please note the difference between gold and silver (GLD and SLV). In GLD gold is being depleted and sent to the east. In silver: no depletions, as I guess this vehicle cannot supply physical metal.
July 20/no change
july 17.2015/no change in silver inventory tonight/inventory at 327.593 million oz
July 16./no change in silver inventory/rests tonight at 327.593 million oz
July 15./no change in silver inventory/rests tonight at 327.593 million oz/
July 14.2015: no change in silver inventory/rests tonight at 327.593 million oz.
July 13./an inventory gain of 1.051 million oz/Inventory rests at 327.593 million oz
july 10/no change in silver inventory at the SLV tonight/inventory 326.542 million oz/
July 9/ a huge increase in inventory at the SLV of 1.337 million oz. Inventory rests tonight at 326.542 million oz
July 29/2015: tonight inventory rests at 326.829 million oz
end
And now for our premiums to NAV for the funds I follow:
Sprott and Central Fund of Canada.
(both of these funds have 100% physical metal behind them and unencumbered and I can vouch for that)
1. Central Fund of Canada: traded at Negative 10.3 percent to NAV usa funds and Negative 9.9% to NAV for Cdn funds!!!!!!!
Percentage of fund in gold 61.9%
Percentage of fund in silver:37.7%
cash .4%
( July 29/2015)
2. Sprott silver fund (PSLV): Premium to NAV rises to -.24%!!!! NAV (July 29/2015) (silver must be in short supply)
3. Sprott gold fund (PHYS): premium to NAV rises to – .56% to NAV(July 29/2015)
Note: Sprott silver trust back into negative territory at- 0.24%
Sprott physical gold trust is back into negative territory at -.56%
Central fund of Canada’s is still in jail.
Sprott formally launches its offer for Central Trust gold and Silver Bullion trust:
SII.CN Sprott formally launches previously announced offers to CentralGoldTrust (GTU.UT.CN) and Silver Bullion Trust (SBT.UT.CN) unitholders (C$2.64)
Sprott Asset Management has formally commenced its offers to acquire all of the outstanding units of Central GoldTrust and Silver Bullion Trust, respectively, on a NAV to NAV exchange basis.
Note company announced its intent to make the offer on 23-Apr-15 Based on the NAV per unit of Sprott Physical Gold Trust $9.98 and Central GoldTrust $44.36 on 22-May, a unitholder would receive 4.45 Sprott Physical Gold Trust units for each Central GoldTrust unit tendered in the Offer.
Based on the NAV per unit of Sprott Physical Silver Trust $6.66 and Silver Bullion Trust $10.00 on 22-May, a unitholder would receive 1.50 Sprott Physical Silver Trust units for each Silver Bullion Trust unit tendered in the Offer.
* * * * *
>end
And now for your overnight trading in gold and silver plus stories
on gold and silver issues:
(courtesy/Mark O’Byrne/Goldcore)
Bail-Ins at “Bad Bank” Unconstitutional Says Austrian Court
By Mark O’ByrneJuly 29, 20150 Comments
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– Austrian decision to renege on guarantees made to junior bondholders overturned
– Court does not overrule bail-ins per se
– Bail-in legislation still in place across Europe
– EU deadline to implement bail-in legislation by end of this month
– Depositors – savers and capital of SMEs exposed to bail-ins
An attempt by Austria to bail-in junior bondholders at the Heta “bad bank” has been overturned by the highest court in the country.
Last year Austria passed legislation which annulled guarantees previously given by the state of Carinthia to bondholders of Heta, effectively writing off €890 million.
Heta was set up to manage the assets of failed lender Hypo Alpe-Adria-Bank. Carinthia state had guaranteed around €10 billion of Heta debt – a figure which dwarfed its own revenue more than four fold, which eventually forced the Federal government to cover the guarantee.
The ruling does not outlaw “bail-ins” per se. It simply ensures that guarantees given to bondholders cannot be retrospectively revoked.
The Austrian government has ploughed €5.5 billion of taxpayers’ money into Heta. When auditors found a €7.6 billion hole in its balance sheet in March the government said it would not pay “one single euro” more to the bad bank which is to be wound down.
A debt moratorium is in place – based on the Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive (BRRD) which makes “bail-ins” the norm across the EU – while the process is worked out. The bondholders who had been burned will now enter that program.
However, court president Gerhardt Holzinger says “he expects to deal with more complaints about…Heta’s debt moratorium,” according to Bloomberg.
Bail-in legislation is still in place across Europe. The European Commission recently threatened to take legal action against those nations who had not yet ratified the BRRD and gave them just two months (until the end of July) to adopt the new EU bail-ins rules. The BRRD purports to protect taxpayers from the need to bail out banks but appears to be again favouring the interests of large banks over those of prudent savers and indeed small and medium size enterprises who could have their savings confiscated.
Under the legislation, government guarantees on bank deposits – usually up to a value of €100,000 – are being quietly disposed of. In their place will be a type of insurance fund paid into by the banks which will be woefully inadequate.
Must read guides on bail-ins:
From Bail-Outs To Bail-Ins: Risks and Ramifications – Includes 60 Safest Banks In World
Protecting Your Savings In The Coming Bail-In Era
MARKET UPDATE
Today’s AM LBMA Gold Price was USD 1,096.75, EUR 991.01 and GBP 701.65 per ounce.
Yesterday’s AM LBMA Gold Price was USD 1,095.60, EUR 990.06 and GBP 702.13 per ounce.
Gold/Euro FX Rate – 2000 to July 2016 (Thomson Reuters)
Gold and silver on the COMEX both rose marginally yesterday – to $1,095.60/oz and $14.68/oz.
Global gold demand fell in the second quarter as China poured funds into equities which had promised better returns according to GFMS. Chinese stocks have collapsed by 30% in recent weeks – a real case of out of the frying pan and into the fire.
Imports by India dropped to the lowest in five quarters, the quarterly report said yesterday.
A plunge in Chinese share prices from mid-June has not helped bullion in the short term according to the report. However, we believe that the plunge in Chinese stocks will be bullish in the long term as the Chinese again realise the importance of gold as a safe haven asset.
GFMS is optimistic that global demand and prices could start to pick up in the final quarter of the year. China and Indiaa are the world’s top gold buyers and demand for the entire year is expected to be elevated and near record levels seen in recent years.
This morning in European trading, silver for immediate delivery is 0.4 percent lower at $14.70 an ounce. Spot platinum rose 0.3% percent to $990 an ounce, while palladium rose 0.5% percent to $626 an ounce.
Learn the importance of owning allocated, segregated gold that you can take delivery of here
Mark O’Byrne
end
(courtesy Bron Suchecki/GATA)
Bron Suchecki: Gold market liquidity and manipulation
Submitted by cpowell on Wed, 2015-07-29 12:35. Section: Daily Dispatches
8:34a ET Wednesday, July 29, 2015
Dear Friend of GATA and Gold:
Perth Mint research director Bron Suchecki today disputes financial letter writer Clif Droke’s assertion yesterday that the gold market is too large to be manipulated. To the contrary, Suchecki writes, the gold market can be moved by strategic trading of just a few tonnes, and, unlike Droke, he cites authority for his assertion. Suchecki’s commentary is headlined “Gold Market Liquidity and Manipulation” and it’s posted at the Perth Mint’s Internet site here:
http://research.perthmint.com.au/2015/07/29/gold-market-liquidity-and-ma…
CHRIS POWELL, Secretary/Treasurer
Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee Inc.
CPowell@GATA.org
end
An interesting story…
Caught On Tape: The Moment Diver Discovers $1 Million In Gold From 300-Year-Old Spanish Shipwreck
Following the latest mass media assault on gold, capped with such trollbait pearls as “Gold is doomed” or the classic “Let’s Be Honest About Gold: It’s a Pet Rock” by the inimitable Jason Zweig (imitable perhaps only by the September 2011 version of Jason Zweig when, days after gold hit its all time high just shy of $2000, he famously said “Is Gold Cheap? Who Knows? But Gold-Mining Stocks Are“… since then gold-mining stocks are down 80%) we were more shocked that someone would actually bother to look for the worthless pet rocks (of which China allegedly just bought 600 tons) than actually finding them during a random dive in the sea.
Which is precisely what happened.
For several weeks the Schmitt family had a million-dollar secret on their hands. Last month, it recovered $1 million worth of sunken Spanish coins and jewels off the Florida coast.
The Schmitts are subcontractors to 1715 Fleet-Queens Jewels LLC which since 2010 has the salvaging rights to a fleet of Spanish ships, aka the “1715 Fleet“, that wrecked off the Florida coast some 300 years ago. While $50 million has been pulled in from the fleet’s resting place so far, this is so far the biggest single haul.
“One of the most amazing recoveries in 1715 Fleet History. Congratulations to the entire Schmitt family and the crew of the Aarrr Booty,” said 1715 Fleet on its Facebook page Monday.
Some more details from the Fleet Society’s website: “Gold and silver in great quantity was homeward bound to Philip V when a hurricane destroyed his fleet along Florida’s coast. Some recovery in the aftermath still left much to be recovered beginning in the 1960’s and ongoing to this day.”
“The treasure was actually found a month ago,” said Brent Brisben of 1715 Fleet-Queens Jewels LLC. Keeping the news under wraps was “particularly hard for the family that found it. They’ve been beside themselves.”
The timing of 1715 Fleet’s announcement coincides with the 300th anniversary of the Spanish treasure fleet’s shipwrecks off the coast of Florida.
Among the precious items recovered:
51 gold coins
40 feet of ornate gold chain
A single coin called a Royal made for the king of Spain, Phillip V. Only a few are known to exist, and the coin — nicknamed “Tricentennial Royal” — is dated 1715. Brisben said the extremely rare silver-dollar-sized coin is worth “probably around half a million dollars itself.”
Queens Jewels owner Brent Brisben told the Daily News this discovery is of the biggest single hauls taken from the ship.
Or, as the WSJ would call it, a whole bunch of pet rocks.
Brisben gives 20% of everything found to the state of Florida and then splits the remaining treasure equally with the contractor that finds it. Brisben said he and his family will keep everything they have and save it for a special collection for the public.
It’s believed there is still $400 million worth of treasure located below, he said.
As the WSJ’s sister publication, MarketWatch adds, “the discovery comes almost 300 years to the day that the fleet wrecked. As for the history, the ships were sent to America to fetch gold and silver and under pressure to get back quickly, as the Spanish crown needed to replenish its coffers to finance wars. Sailing from Havana, Cuba on July 24, 1715, the ships crashed during a hurricane a week later near present-day Vero Beach, Fla. The Spaniards returned a few times, salvaging a great chunk of that treasure.”
Three hundreds years later wars are financed by long strings of 1s and 0s, backed by the full faith of a government whose total unfunded obligations amount toover 5x the total amount of goods and services produced by said government.
Back to the discovery, whose key components are shown below.
Fifty-one gold coins and 40 feet of gold chains were found from a Spanish ship of the 1715 Fleet
The total value of the haul is more than $1 million.
About $50 million worth of treasure has been discovered since the 1960s.
* * *
But the biggest drama was the actual moment when Schmitt discovered the gold, captured conveniently in the video below.
end
(courtesy Chris Powell/GATA)
Dear Bloomberg News: Central banks manipulate gold prices too
For 15 years my organization, the Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee, has been documenting the surreptitious intervention in the gold market by Western central banks. By their own admissions, the central banks are surreptitiously intervening in the gold market every day, or nearly so, to control the gold price to prevent it from becoming an accurate measure of other currency values.This is no mere “conspiracy theory,” though “conspiracy” is fairly applied when central bankers hold secret meetings to determine and implement a course of policy, as they often do. Rather this is the official record of longstanding Western central bank and government policy, a record drawn from government archives and public statements by central bankers themselves.This intervention is easily confirmed journalistically by reviewing the records and putting the right specific questions to central banks, the Bank for International Settlements, and the International Monetary Fund, among others.No analysis of the gold market is worth much if it fails to address these questions:– Are central banks in the gold market surreptitiously or not?— If central banks ARE in the gold market surreptitiously, is it just for fun — for example, to see which central bank’s trading desk can make the most money by cheating the most investors — or is it for policy purposes?
— If central banks ARE in the gold market for policy purposes, are these the traditional purposes of defeating a potentially competitive world reserve currency, or have these purposes expanded?
— If central banks, creators of infinite money, ARE surreptitiously trading a market, how can it be considered a market at all, and how can any country or the world ever enjoy a market economy again?
A summary of the most important documentation developed by GATA over the years, some of it quite recent, complete with links to the documents themselves, is posted at our Internet site here:
http://www.gata.org/node/14839
To correct your commentary’s error today, please review this documentation and pursue it in future commentary. Of course I’ll be glad to provide more information.
I’ll be grateful for an acknowledgment of this note, which I’m copying to your editor, Mary Duenwald, as a request for Bloomberg News to pursue this documentation as a news story. I’ll be hoping to get an acknowledgment from her as well.
With good wishes.
CHRIS POWELL, Secretary/Treasurer
Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee Inc.
CPowell@GATA.org
Submitted by cpowell on Wed, 2015-07-29 17:03. Section: Daily Dispatches
Wednesday, July 29, 2015
Mark Gilbert
Bloomberg News
731 Lexington Ave.
New York City, NY 10022
Dear Mark (if I may):
While your commentary today, “True Gold Bugs Care about Value, Not Price” —
http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2015-07-29/true-gold-bugs-care-abo…
— was excellent for noting that central bank interventions increasingly are determining asset prices, you were in error when you asserted that gold’s value “appears to move freely depending on the whims of its buyers and sellers, rather than on the interventions of policy makers.”
In fact, central bank manipulations encompass gold as well, probably more so than the prices of other assets.
end
(courtesy Bill Gross/CNBC/GATA)
Central banks are manipulating ‘all’ markets, Bill Gross tells CNBC
Submitted by cpowell on Wed, 2015-07-29 19:05. Section: Daily Dispatches
3p ET Wednesday, July 29, 2015
Dear Friend of GATA and Gold:
Zero Hedge this afternoon calls attention to comments made on CNBC today by former PIMCO bond buyer Bill Gross, now working for Janus Capital, who says all markets now are artificial, the products of central bank manipulation, and that real market prices cannot be discovered. By “all” markets, one might assume Gross meant to include the market that in mainstream financial journalism must never be associated by manipulation, the gold market. But somehow Gross wasn’t wearing a tin-foil hat. Zero Hedge’s posting, which includes the CNBC video excerpt, is here:
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-07-29/bill-gross-explains-90-seconds-…
CHRIS POWELL, Secretary/Treasurer
Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee Inc.
CPowell@GATA.org
end
With continual attacks on gold, it is surprising that Agnico Eagle is producing over 1.6 million oz at a profit. These guys are one of the better ones amongst the majors. They reported today:
(courtesy Agnico Eagle)
TORONTO , July 29, 2015 /CNW/ – Agnico Eagle Mines Limited (NYSE:AEM, TSX:AEM) (“Agnico Eagle” or the “Company”) today reported quarterly net income of $10.1 million , or net income of $0.05 per share for the second quarter of 2015. This result includes non-recurring losses of $12.9 million ( $0.06 per share), unrealized gains on financial instruments of $9.4 million ( $0.04 per share), non-cash foreign currency translation losses of $4.8 million ( $0.02 per share), non-cash stock option expense of $4.1 million ( $0.02 per share), a non-cash foreign currency translation gain on deferred tax liabilities of $3.2 million ( $0.01 per share) and various mark-to-market and other adjustment gains of $0.8 million ( $0.01 per share). Excluding these items would result in adjusted net income of $18.5 million or adjusted net income of $0.09 per share for the second quarter of 2015. In the second quarter of 2014, the Company reported net income of $22.2 million or net income of $0.12 per share.
For the first six months of 2015, the Company reported net income of $38.8 million , or $0.18 per share. This compares with the first six months of 2014 when net income was $119.3 million , or $0.66 per share. Financial results in the 2015 period were negatively impacted by lower gold prices (approximately 8% lower) and lower by-product metals revenues.
Second quarter 2015 cash provided by operating activities was $188.3 million ( $152.8 million before changes in non-cash components of working capital). This compares to cash provided by operating activities of $182.7 million in the second quarter of 2014 ( $136.5 million before changes in non-cash components of working capital). The increase in cash provided by operating activities before changes in working capital during the current period was mainly due to an increase of 24% in gold production.
For the first six months of 2015, cash provided by operating activities was $331.8 million ( $329.6 million before changes in non-cash components of working capital), as compared with the first half of 2014 when cash provided by operating activities was $433.1 million ( $343.6 million before changes in non-cash components of working capital). The decrease in cash provided by operating activities before changes in working capital during the period was mainly due to a decrease of 8% in gold prices compared to the 2014 period, which more than offset a 17% increase in gold production.
“With continued strong operating performance, favourable local currency foreign exchange rates, and near-term opportunities to increase production at several of our mines, we remain well-positioned to manage the current price volatility in the gold market”, said Sean Boyd , Agnico Eagle’s Chief Executive Officer. “In these challenging times, we will continue to focus on reducing costs and we will remain measured in our approach to managing and growing our business”, added Mr. Boyd.
Second Quarter 2015 highlights include:
Quarterly gold production – Payable gold production 1 in Q2 2015 was 403,678 ounces of gold at total cash costs 2 per ounce on a by-product basis of $601 and all-in sustaining costs 3 (“AISC”) on a by-product basis of $864 per ounce
Second consecutive record quarter of precious metal production from Mexican operations – In the second quarter of 2015, payable gold and silver production from Mexican operations was 92,056 ounces and 685,869 ounces, respectively. Total cash costs per ounce of gold on a by-product basis averaged $394
2015 production guidance maintained and cost forecasts reduced – Expected gold production for 2015 is maintained at approximately 1.6 million ounces with total cash costs on a by-product basis of $600 to $620 per ounce (previously $610 to $630 ) and AISC of approximately $870 to $890 per ounce (previously $880 to $900 )
Vault Extension and Goldex Deep 1 approved for mining; 2015 capital for both projects increased by a total of approximately $36 million – The Vault extension is expected to reduce the potential production gap between the end of production at Meadowbank and the start of production at Amaruq (not yet approved for construction) by approximately one year. Goldex Deep 1 adds approximately seven years of production at approximately 100,000 ounces of gold per year
Drilling at Amaruq’s Whale Tail deposit confirms grades and thicknesses; mineralization extended to depth – Highlights include: 13.2 grams per tonne (“g/t”) gold over 14.3 metres at 133 metres depth, and 13.9 g/t gold over 11.0 metres at 194 metres depth. The deepest intercept to date on the property yielded 8.8 g/t gold over 6.0 metres at 568 metres depth, almost 200 metres deeper than previous intercepts
Continued focus on debt reduction – In Q2 2015, $25 million was repaid under the Company’s credit facility, C$20 million (reflecting the Company’s 50% interest) was repaid under the Canadian Malartic General Partnership (the “Partnership”) secured loan facility, and the Canadian Malartic senior unsecured convertible debentures ( C$37.5 million , reflecting the Company’s 50% interest) were fully converted by the holders. As a result, the Company’s indebtedness was reduced by approximately $70 million
A quarterly dividend of $0.08 per share was declared
end
And now your overnight trading in bourses, currencies, and interest rates from Europe and Asia:
1 Chinese yuan vs USA dollar/yuan remains constant at 6.2089/Shanghai bourse: green and Hang Sang: green
2 Nikkei down 25.98 or 0.13%
3. Europe stocks mostly in the green /USA dollar index down to 96.63/Euro down to 1.1054
3b Japan 10 year bond yield: rises to 42% !!!!(Japan buying 100% of bond issuance)/Japanese yen vs usa cross now at 123.62
3c Nikkei still just above 20,000
3d USA/Yen rate now just below the 124 barrier this morning
3e WTI 47.70 and Brent: 53.06
3f Gold up (options expiry on LBMA/OTC on Friday) /Yen down
3gJapan is to buy the equivalent of 108 billion uSA dollars worth of bond per month or $1.3 trillion. Japan’s GDP equals 5 trillion usa.
Japan to buy 100% of all new Japanese debt and by 2018 they will have 25% of all Japanese debt. Fifty percent of Japanese budget financed with debt.
3h Oil down for WTI and down for Brent this morning
3i European bond buying continues to push yields lower on all fronts in the EMU. German 10 yr bund slightly rises to .698 per cent. German bunds in negative yields from 4 years out.
Except Greece which sees its 2 year rate rises to 21.30%/Greek stocks this morning: still expect continual bank runs on Greek banks /stock markets not allowed to be open as per ECB
3j Greek 10 year bond yield rises to: 11.99%
3k Gold at $1096.30 /silver $14.65
3l USA vs Russian rouble; (Russian rouble up 4/5 in roubles/dollar) 59.51,
3m oil into the 47 dollar handle for WTI and 53 handle for Brent/Saudi Arabia increases production to drive out competition.
3n Higher foreign deposits out of China sees huge risk of outflows and a currency depreciation. This can spell financial disaster for the rest of the world/China may be forced to do QE!!
30 SNB (Swiss National Bank) still intervening again in the markets driving down the SF. It is not working: USA/SF this morning .9618 as the Swiss Franc is still rising against most currencies. Euro vs SF is 1.0629 well above the floor set by the Swiss Finance Minister. Thomas Jordan, chief of the Swiss National Bank continues to purchase euros trying to lower value of the Swiss Franc.
3p Britain’s serious fraud squad investigating the Bank of England/
3r the 4 year German bund remains in negative territory with the 10 year moving further away from negativity at +.698%
3s The ELA rose another 900 million euros to 90.4 billion euros. The bank withdrawals were causing massive hardship to the Greek bank. the Greek referendum voted overwhelming “NO”. Greece votes again and agrees to more austerity even though 79% of the populace are against.
4. USA 10 year treasury bond at 2.27% early this morning. Thirty year rate below 3% at 2.98% / yield curve flatten/foreshadowing recession.
5. Details Ransquawk, Bloomberg, Deutsche bank/Jim Reid.
(courtesy Jim Reid/Bloomberg/Deutsche bank/zero hedge)
Violent Government Buying Spree Sends Chinese Stocks Soaring At Close Of Trading; Yellen On Deck
China is slowly learning.
On a day when market participants will care about only one thing – how hawkish (or dovish) the FOMC sounds at 2:00 pm (no Yellen press conference today) – Chinese stocks provided the usual dramatic sideshow and traded unchanged or modestly negative for most of the day despite the latest $100 billion injection, the close of trading on Wednesday was a mirror image of what happened in the last hour on Monday, as various Chinese “plunge-protection” mechanism went into a furious buying frenzy and government-backed funds rushed to buy anything that trades in the last 60 minutes of trading in what may be the most glaring example of banging the close yet, something which the Fed and Citadel have shown is the most efficient way of “setting” market expectations and getting the most bang for your manipulating buck.
As a reminder, “banging the close” is illegal if it sends the price lower. When it pushes prices higher, it is perfectly acceptable.
What was the reason for this latest blatant intervention when according to SCMP’s George Chen, about 400 stocks hit 10% daily limit today, “mostly in last 30 mins of trading.” Alas nobody knows such answers in centrally planned markets: “No clear reason to explain why the magical bullish last 30mins trading happened; Rumors say Gov is keen to push index back above 4000 points.” Chen further adds that “many local analysts now believe 3600 points is so-called “policy bottom”. Below that Gov feels like losing face. Next target is 4000 points.”
In other words, after 2 epic crashes in just one month, China is hoping the retail traders will forgive and forget how they lost everything (and more), and just keep putting their hard earned money into a rigged casino. China just may get it.
Other Asian markets traded mostly higher taking the impetus from a positive Wall Street close , as participants focused on upbeat corporate earnings. ASX 200 (+0.9%) outperformed amid gains in miners, following a rebound in commodities. The Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp traded between gains and losses as officials stepped up measures to calm markets, after Chinese press suggested that the government injected USD 100bn in its sovereign fund in order to buy assets abroad. Elsewhere, Nikkei 225 (-0.2%) was the sessions laggard underpinned by index heavyweight Fanuc (-11%) after the Co. lowered its FY profit guidance by 1 7%.
Stocks in Europe failed to hold onto best levels of the session and heading into the North American open are seen mixed, as market participants positioned for the upcoming FOMC release. Gains were led by the health care sector, following earnings by Bayer (+3.9%), with telecommunications sector also performing well following earnings by the likes of KPN (+3.6%) and Telefonica Deutschland (+2.9%).
In spite of the looming risk events, the absence of tier-1 data releases in Europe this morning translated into a somewhat muted price action by fixed income products, while peripheral bond yield spreads tightened, albeit marginally.
Heading into the North American open, EUR/USD and GBP/USD trades marginally higher, with the USD index little changed as market participants sit on the side-lines ahead of the key risk events. In terms of price action overnight, NZD was the session’s biggest mover after RBNZ Governor Wheeler reiterated that further easing is likely and additional NZD depreciation is necessary. However, NZD/USD found support after Wheeler stated that the economy is not weak enough to warrant large cuts in the OCR.
The release of the latest API oil inventories yesterday (-1.9mln vs. Prey. +2.3nnln) failed to boost WTI prices, as expectations for the DOE data due out later today still remain for a build in crude, cushing OK, gasoline and distillate inventories. ING has decreased it Q3 brent crude forecast by USD 10 to USD 60 per bbl from USD 70 per bbl citing oversupply, Co. also cuts its Q4 forecast by USD 5 from USD 80 per bbl to USD 70 per bbl. (BBG/RTRS) Turkish energy minister says the Iraq-Turkey oil pipeline which was closed because of an attack is due to be reopened on Sunday. (RTRS)
Today in the US the key report is pending home sales data from the always entertaining NAR, before the FOMC statement this afternoon. On the earnings front Facebook, Goodyear and Metlife are the notable reporters.
In summary: European shares remain higher with the telco and personal & household sectors outperforming and autos, construction underperforming. Companies including LafargeHolcim, HeidelbergCement, Bayer, Peugeot, KPN, Barclays, BATS, Volkswagen, Total release sales/earnings statements. Brent crude falls for 6th day. Russia ends foreign currency purchases in move which may lay groundwork for 5th interest-rate cut this year on
