Good evening Ladies and Gentlemen:
Here are the following closes for gold and silver today:
Gold: $1104.70 up $10.10 (comex closing time)
Silver $15.29 up 47 cents.
In the access market 5:15 pm
Gold $1104.50
Silver: $15.28
First, here is an outline of what will be discussed tonight:
At the gold comex today, we had a poor delivery day, registering 18 notices for 1800 ounces Silver saw 0 notices for nil oz
Several months ago the comex had 303 tonnes of total gold. Today, the total inventory rests at 232.45 tonnes for a loss of 70 tonnes over that period.
In silver, the open interest fell by 3,877 contracts despite the fact that silver was up 15 cents in price on Friday. The total silver OI continues to remain extremely high, with today’s reading at 179,186 contracts In ounces, the OI is represented by .8968 billion oz or 128% 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 0 notices served upon for nil oz.
In gold, the total comex gold OI rests tonight at 426,096. We had 18 notices filed for 1800 oz today.
We had no change in gold leaving the GLD today / thus the inventory rests tonight at 667.93 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 no changes in silver inventory at the SLV, / Inventory rests at 326.209 million oz.
We have a few important stories to bring to your attention today…
1. Today, we had the open interest in silver fell by 3,877 contracts down to 179,186 even though silver was up 15 cents in price on Friday. Again, we must have had some short covering. The OI for gold fell by 3,773 contracts to 426,096 contracts despite the fact that gold was up by $3.90 on Friday. We still have a little over 21 tonnes of gold standing with only 15.206 tonnes of registered gold in the dealer vaults ready to satisfy that which stands.
(report Harvey)
2.Gold trading overnight, Goldcore
(/Mark OByrne)
3. Two stories today on Greece
(zero hedge/Patrick Barron (Mises Institute)
4. Another hedge fund implicated in Libor scandal
(zero hedge)
5 Trading of equities/ New York
(zero hedge)
6. Two oil related stories
(zero hedge/William Engdahl)
7. USA commentary:
i) Craig Roberts on the USA economy.
ii) Household spending drops like a stone
(zero hedge)
8. Physical commentaries:
i) Greg Hunter interviews Bill Holter
ii) Lars Schall inverviews Peter Boeringher on the non repatriation of gold back to Germany.
iii/ Craig Hemke reports on an increase in gold reserves into China this month: a rise of 24 tonnes to 1683 tonnes
(TF Metals/Craig Hemke/(Turd Ferguson)
iv) Avery Goodman writes on the 7.1 tonnes of physical gold purchased by HSBC and Goldman Sachs after they tell their clients to sell gold
(Avery Goodman/Seekingalpha)
v) Dave Kranzler on the default of supplying 10 z silver bars by Provident
(3 commentaries/Dave Kranzler/IRD)
plus other commentaries….
The total gold comex open interest fell from 429,869 down to 426,096 for a loss of 3773 contracts despite the fact that gold was up $3.90 on Friday. For the past two years, we have strangely witnessed two interesting developments with respect to the gold open interest: 1) total gold comex collapse in OI as we enter an active delivery month, and 2) a continual drop in the amount of gold standing in an active month, and today the latter basically stopped its decline. 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 August and here the OI fell by 195 contracts falling to 3643 contracts. We had 4 notices filed upon on Friday and thus we lost a tiny 191 contracts or 19,100 additional ounces will not stand for delivery. The next delivery month is September and here the OI fell by 350 contracts down to 2292. The next active delivery month if October and here the OI fell by 699 contracts down to 25,819. The estimated volume on today (which is just comex sales during regular business hours of 8:20 until 1:30 pm est) was poor at 92,328. The confirmed volume on yesterday (which includes the volume during regular business hours + access market sales the previous day was fair at 184,589 contracts. Today we had 18 notices filed for 400 oz.
And now for the wild silver comex results. Silver OI fell by 3877 contracts from 183,063 down to 179,186 despite the fact that silver was up in price by 15 cents on Friday . We continue to have some short covering as 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 August and here the OI fell by 2 contracts falling to 31. We had 0 delivery notice filed yesterday and thus we lost 2 contracts or an additional 10,000 ounces will not stand for delivery in this non active August contract month. The next major active delivery month is September and here the OI fell by 8,331 contracts to 101,515. The estimated volume today was fair at 31,229 contracts (just comex sales during regular business hours). The confirmed volume on Friday (regular plus access market) came in at 75,406 contracts which is excellent in volume. We had 0 notices filed for nil oz.
August contract month: initial standing
August 10.2015
Gold
Ounces
Withdrawals from Dealers Inventory in oz
nil
Withdrawals from Customer Inventory in oz
32,352,217. oz (JPMorgan,Delaware)
Deposits to the Dealer Inventory in oz
nil
Deposits to the Customer Inventory, in oz
417.95 oz (Delaware)
No of oz served (contracts) today
18 contracts (1800 oz)
No of oz to be served (notices)
3635 contracts (363,500 oz)
Total monthly oz gold served (contracts) so far this month
3201 contracts(320,100 oz)
Total accumulative withdrawals of gold from the Dealers inventory this month
nil
Total accumulative withdrawal of gold from the Customer inventory this month
397,457.0 oz
Today, we had 0 dealer transactions
total Dealer withdrawals: nil oz
we had 0 dealer deposits
total dealer deposit: zero
we had 2 customer withdrawals
i) Out of JPMorgan: another 32,150.000 oz ( 1,000 kilobars) * in 2 days over 3,000 kilobars have left JPMorgan.
ii) Out Delaware: 302.217 oz
total customer withdrawal: 32,452.217 oz
We had 1 customer deposits:
i) Into Delaware: 417.95 oz (13 kilobars)
Total customer deposit: 417.95 oz
We had 2 adjustment
i) out of Delaware: 1,383.800 oz was adjusted out of the customer and this landed into the dealer account of Delaware.
ii) Out of Scotia: 295.84 oz was adjusted out of the dealer and this landed into the customer account of Scotia
JPMorgan has 7.1966 tonnes left in its registered or dealer inventory.
(231,469.56 oz)
.
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 18 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 August contract month, we take the total number of notices filed so far for the month (3201) x 100 oz or 320,100 oz , to which we add the difference between the open interest for the front month of August (3643) and the number of notices served upon today (18) x 100 oz equals the number of ounces standing
Thus the initial standings for gold for the August contract month:
No of notices served so far (3201) x 100 oz or ounces + {OI for the front month (3643) – the number of notices served upon today (18) x 100 oz which equals 683,600 oz standing so far in this month of August (21.26 tonnes of gold).
Thus we have 21.26 tonnes of gold standing and only 15.206 tonnes of registered or dealer gold to service it.
We lost a tiny 19,100 ounces that will not stand for delivery in this active month of August.
Total dealer inventory 489,964.93 or 15.239 tonnes
Total gold inventory (dealer and customer) = 7,473,539.587
Several months ago the comex had 303 tonnes of total gold. Today the total inventory rests at 232.45 tonnes for a loss of 70 tonnes over that period. The gold comex is bleeding gold.
end
And now for silver
August silver initial standings
August 10 2015:
Silver
Ounces
Withdrawals from Dealers Inventory
nil
Withdrawals from Customer Inventory
281,553.580 oz (Delaware, Scotia)
Deposits to the Dealer Inventory
nil
Deposits to the Customer Inventory
nil
No of oz served (contracts)
0 contracts (nil oz)
No of oz to be served (notices)
31 contracts (155,000 oz)
Total monthly oz silver served (contracts)
45 contracts (225,000 oz)
Total accumulative withdrawal of silver from the Dealers inventory this month
85,818.47 oz
Total accumulative withdrawal of silver from the Customer inventory this month
5,000,237.3 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 2 customer withdrawals:
i) Out of Delaware: 1003.82 oz
iii) Out of Scotia: 280,549.76 oz
total withdrawals from customer: 281,553.58 oz
we had 0 adjustments
Total dealer inventory: 55.829 million oz
Total of all silver inventory (dealer and customer) 172.100 million oz
The comex has been bleeding both gold and silver.
The total number of notices filed today for the August contract month is represented by 0 contracts for nil oz. To calculate the number of silver ounces that will stand for delivery in August, we take the total number of notices filed for the month so far at (45) x 5,000 oz = 225,000 oz to which we add the difference between the open interest for the front month of August (31) and the number of notices served upon today (0) x 5000 oz equals the number of ounces standing.
Thus the initial standings for silver for the August contract month:
45 (notices served so far)x 5000 oz + { OI for front month of August (31) -number of notices served upon today (0} x 5000 oz ,= 380,000 oz of silver standing for the August contract month.
we lost 2 contracts or an additional 10,000 ounces will not stand in this non active delivery month of August.
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:
August 10/no change in gold inventory at the GLD/Inventory rests at 667.93 tonnes
August 7./no change in gold inventory at the GLD/Inventory rests at 667.93 tonnes
August 6/no change in gold inventory at the GLD/Inventory rests at 667.93 tonnes
August 5.we had a huge withdrawal of 4.77 tonnes from the GLD tonight/Inventory rests at 667.93 tonnes
August 4.2015: no change in inventory/rests tonight at 672.70 tonnes
August 3.2015: no change in inventory at the GLD./Inventory remains at 672.70 tonnes
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.
August 10 GLD : 667.93 tonnes
end
And now SLV:
August 10: no changes in SLV inventory/rests tonight at 326.209 million oz.
August 7.no changes in SLV/Inventory rests this weekend at 326.209 million oz
August 6/no changes in SLV/inventory rests at 326.209 million oz
August 5/ a small withdrawal of 142,000 oz of inventory leaves the SLV/Inventory rests tonight at 326.209 million oz
August 4.2015: a small withdrawal of 476,000 oz of inventory at the SLV/Inventory rests at 326.351 million oz
August 3.2015; no change in inventory at the SLV/inventory remains at 326.829 million oz
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.
August 10/2015: tonight inventory rests at 326.209 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 10.6% to NAV for Cdn funds!!!!!!!
Percentage of fund in gold 61.7%
Percentage of fund in silver:38.0%
cash .3%
( August 10/2015)
2. Sprott silver fund (PSLV): Premium to NAV rises to -0.75%!!!! NAV (August 10/2015) (silver must be in short supply)
3. Sprott gold fund (PHYS): premium to NAV rises to – .76% to NAV(July August10/2015)
Note: Sprott silver trust back into negative territory at- 0.84%
Sprott physical gold trust is back into negative territory at -.75%
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)
Gold’s Artificial Lows – Price Surge Coming
By Mark O’ByrneAugust 10, 20150 Comments
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DAILY PRICES
Today’s Gold prices were USD 1,094.80, EUR 998.50 & GBP 707.74 per ounce.
Friday’s Gold prices were USD 1,091.35, EUR 998.99 & GBP 703.01 per ounce.
[LBMA AM prices]
Last week, gold and silver were mixed with gold marginally lower for the week – down 0.28% to $1,092.10 and silver up 0.4% to $14.77 per ounce.
Gold in USD – 1 Year
This morning, gold is 0.1% higher to $1,096 per ounce. Silver is up 0.74% to $15.02 per ounce.
Platinum and palladium are 0.74% and 0.5% higher to $973 and $607 per ounce respectively.
Gold’s Artificial Lows – Price Surge Coming
With gold languishing near deep secular lows, its technicals look hopelessly broken
Sentiment is off-the-charts bearish, with traders universally convinced gold is doomed to spiral lower indefinitely
But gold’s weakness this year is very deceiving, as it wasn’t the product of global fundamental supply-and-demand forces.
Extreme record shorting by American futures speculators spawned these artificial lows.
Gold’s imminent short-covering rally should be the largest ever, coming from record extremes.
Continue reading about Gold’s Artificial Lows
end
Do you expect anything less from these criminals?
a very important read
(courtesy Avery Goodman/seeking alpha)
Avery Goodman
The ‘Big Long’ – Goldman Sachs And HSBC Buy 7.1 Tons Of Physical Gold
Aug. 10, 2015 3:40 AM ET | 47 comments | Includes: GLD, GS, HSBC, IAU
Disclosure: I/we have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours. (More…)
Summary
On August 6, 2015, Goldman Sachs, which has issued very bearish forecasts on long-term gold prices, took delivery of a 3.2-ton purchase of physical gold.
On August 6, 2015, HSBC which also claims to be bearish, took delivery of a 3.9-ton purchase of physical gold.
In both cases, the purchases are registered as being for the benefit of the bank’s own house account, rather than the accounts of customers.
Investors should do as the banks do, not as they say.
On August 6, 2015, Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) and HSBC (NYSE:HSBC) took delivery of a sum total of 7.1 tons of physical gold. No, I have not made any typographical errors. And no, I am not talking about electronic paper claims. I am talking about shiny yellow metal stuff that you can touch and feel.
The gold bars were not purchased for bank clients. They were purchased for the banks themselves. How do I know this? They are designated by the exchange as being for delivery to the bank’s “house” accounts at COMEX, notto client accounts.
Goldman Sachs, alone, took 3.2 tons worth of physical gold bars. Yet, even as the firm builds its stockpile, Goldman tells clients not to do it. According to Goldman’s Jeffrey Currie, the long-term outlook for gold is bleak.
“In longer term, we definitely like playing this market on the short side. We think we are in a structural bear market, not only in gold, but across the commodity complex, as the individual commodity stories are reinforcing to one another, creating a negative feedback loop.”
In spite of the antics in the paper-gold market, we know the physical market is on fire. Demand will exceed known supplies by at least 1,350 tons in 2015. More in 2016. But, that won’t stop someone from setting up the paper market in order to buy from the physical market very cheaply. This is because the mysterious gold “supplier of last resort” will fill COMEX physical delivery demand, for the moment at least, no matter how high it rises, and no matter how low other supplies may be.
According to HSBC strategists, there has been a:
“drift towards Fed tightening and the associated USD strength, low global inflationary pressure, weak gold demand from India and China and market positioning and momentum.”
This statement was made a few days before we all learned about the 61% increase in gold importsto India in the period, April to May. As one of the biggest players in the import market in India, how could have HSBC strategists not known about that? HSBC executives were certainly savvy enough to authorize this huge purchase of physical gold for the bank.
They bought 3.9 metric tons at COMEX, no doubt at rock bottom prices, and it was just delivered into the bank’s house account. Note that we are NOT talking about paper-gold. Both bought physical gold bars! Apparently, top Goldman and HSBC executives are “gold bugs.” They do not, apparently, believe in the promises made by the gold trust (NYSEARCA:GLD), or at least they are not willing to use the trust’s shares as a substitute for hard metal bars.
Like Indian newlyweds, the banks buy gold trinkets hand over fist even as their “strategists” tell everyone it is a bad investment. Reports do indicate that the London market is caught in a historic backwardation, the likes of which have never been seen before in history. Arbitragers won’t sell gold now, in exchange for a forward or futures promise of delivery. That illustrates an extreme level of market tightness.
My previous articles covered the situation in London. The use of logic, reason, common sense, and newly released transcripts, previously classified, caused me to conclude that the US government is currently the gold “supplier of last resort.” You can find those articles here and here.
To summarize, COMEX is designated by the US Financial Stability Council as a “Financial Market Utility” (FMU). The Council was set up by the Dodd-Frank Act, and views any failure of this “too-big-to-fail” entity as likely to lead to widespread contagion in multiple markets. Thus, logically, the US Treasury is willing to, and is draining physical gold from the US gold reserve to bail it out.
Still, regardless of what the US government is doing, why would these two banks make such a huge long-term investment in physical gold bullion bars? Perhaps, we are seeing a “Big Long,” similar to the “Big Short” Goldman Sachs is known to have taken in 2006/07. There are many who believe that we are soon going to see the collapse of a worldwide bond bubble, just as we saw a worldwide collapse of real estate values back then.
Maybe, these banks know something. Top bank executives don’t appear to trust counter-party promises. For example, why not buy an equivalent amount of gold in the form of shares in a highly liquid, easily traded gold trust? HSBC is actually the custodian of the alleged gold bars inside GLD, so you would think they would view it just as good as gold? Apparently not…
Perhaps, then, the banks are filled with tinfoil-hat-wearing goldbugs? You have to wonder what they’re worried about, because they’re not buying paper-gold shares of (NYSEARCA:IAU) either. They are buying hard metal bars that they can fondle. Whatever is going on, it is a big deal because absolutely no onewho really believes long-term gold prices will stagnant or decline would buy 7.1 tons of physical metal.
Physical gold is a long-term investment, everywhere and always. They are not particularly hard to sell, especially now, but short-term trading would be much easier with paper-gold products like GLD or gold futures. Remember, vaults cost money, as do big men with big guns and the knowledge of how to use them. The banks are choosing to accumulate and hoard physical gold bars for a reason.
Senator Carl Levin, writing in a Congressional Report, used Goldman Sachs as an example of everything that went wrong in the banking system. According to him, before the subprime crisis, Goldman Sachs secretly built up a massive short position in credit default swaps, convincing customers to take the other side of the trade. The bank ended up paying a record fine of $500 million for one instance of the trade. However, overall, they profited to the tune of tens of billions of dollars.
Are Goldman and HSBC now creating a “Big Long” in gold. If not, what are they doing? But, if so, why are they taking delivery on a regulated exchange? By using a public exchange, the banks opened their activities to advance scrutiny. Why not buy physical gold the way they bought credit default swaps? Why not use secretive two-party transactions?
The answer is simple. It is impossible. Backwardation in London shows that arbitragers are ignoring potential profits. They don’t believe that a forward contract is reliable enough to return their metal. In contrast, COMEX now has an appearance of being backstopped by the US gold reserve, the “supplier of last resort” in the gold market. COMEX is designated as an FMU whose failure would lead to intermarket contagion.
The last place you want to be, when things “hit the fan,” is on the opposite side of a “Big Long” trade. That’s why, if you are now holding short positions, take your profits before it is too late. I discussed the details and various methods by which you can take a long-term position in gold here. To confirm the timing and size of Goldman Sachs’ and HSBC’s recent gold purchases, download this COMEX delivery report.
end
(courtesy Chris Powell/GATA)
If gold is just a ‘pet rock,’ why are central banks so secretive about it?
Submitted by cpowell on Sat, 2015-08-08 02:33. Section: Documentation
10:47p ET Friday, August 7, 2015
Dear Friend of GATA and Gold:
“Let’s be honest about gold,” read the headline in The Wall Street Journal on Jason Zweig’s column July 17. “It’s a pet rock”:
http://blogs.wsj.com/moneybeat/2015/07/17/lets-be-honest-about-gold-its-…
Zweig wrote: “It is time to call owning gold what it is: an act of faith.”
And yet, as gold researcher and GATA consultant Ronan Manly pointed out today in a note to your secretary/treasurer, authorities even higher than The Wall Street Journal seem to have a different opinion.
Manly, who is always examining documentation about gold rather than merely pontificating about it as mainstream financial journalists do, called attention to contrary assertions on the Internet site of London Precious Metals Clearing Ltd. —
http://www.lpmcl.com/
— which manages the over-the-counter gold market in London, the largest in the world (at least for the time being).
In the “About Clearing” section of its Internet site, London Precious Metals Clearing Ltd. says:
“The six London bullion clearing members each maintain confidential secure vaulting facilities within central London locations, using either their own premises or those of a secure storage agent, which are used to process and store precious metals (mostly gold and silver), for both the member and those clients who require custodial storage (including some central banks). …
“[T]hese vaulting facilities enable the depositories to process large physical transactions with a high degree of confidentiality (essential given the sensitivity many governments and central banks place on gold transactions); also, these vaults provide the potential of some modest income from client storage requirements.
“There are close ties between the vault operations and the precious metal trading and sales team on physical movements, particularly when scheduling consignment stock deliveries, but also where key government or central bank physical transactions are being undertaken, which require sensitive and confidential handling, and often involve taking high-security precautions.”
The clearing association’s assertions raise a couple of questions:
1) Why are central banks and governments so sensitive and secretive about what are supposedly only pet rocks?
2) Are there any circumstances under which Zweig and The Wall Street Journal (and, for that matter, the rest of the mainstream financial news media) would be honest about gold?
Though readers of these dispatches must be tiring of hearing it, still it must be said and may have to be said for decades to come:
No analysis of the gold market is worth anything 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?
Documentation responsive to these questions can be found here —
http://www.gata.org/node/14839
— but of course not yet in Zweig’s column or elsewhere in The Wall Street Journal, though the documentation has been delivered to the newspaper many times over many years, once even in person by your secretary/treasurer by appointment at the paper’s headquarters in New York. A few years before that, GATA even spent $264,000 to place a full-page advertisement in the newspaper to alert it and the nation to the rigging of the gold market:
http://www.gata.org/node/wallstreetjournal
(Boy, would your secretary/treasurer like to have that money back.)
So The Wall Street Journal knows very well what’s going on. Ironically the American newspaper that most purports to advocate free markets is a crucial accomplice to their subversion.
CHRIS POWELL, Secretary/Treasurer
Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee Inc.
CPowell@GATA.org
end
(courtesy bron Suchecki/Perth Mint/GATA)
Bron Suchecki: A very silly think to think about Comex
Submitted by cpowell on Sat, 2015-08-08 18:20. Section: Daily Dispatches
2:20p ET Saturday, August 8, 2015
Dear Friend of GATA and Gold:
Perth Mint research director Bron Suchecki today aims to clarify some assertions in this week’s report by Zero Hedge about gold available for delivery on the New York Commodities Exchange. Suchecki writes that the operator of the exchange, CME Group, isn’t bailing anyone out when gold is reclassified for delivery purposes in gold warehouses. Suchecki’s commentary is headlined “A Very Silly Thing to Think about Comex” and it’s posted at the Perth Mint’s Internet site here:
http://research.perthmint.com.au/2015/08/07/a-very-silly-thing-to-think-…
CHRIS POWELL, Secretary/Treasurer
Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee Inc.
end
We were waiting for this to happen:
(courtesy Kathmandu Post/Nepal/GATA)
Banks obstruct supply as gold demand soars in Nepal
Submitted by cpowell on Mon, 2015-08-10 10:34. Section: Daily Dispatches
Gold in Short Supply as Buying Rush Continues
From the Kathmandu Post
Kathmandu, Nepal
Sunday, August 9, 2015
KATHMANDU — With bullion prices sliding to record lows, customers have been queuing up in front of dealers to buy gold to make jewellery. Traders said that although banks had started issuing gold from the last few days, demand outstrips supply. Falling prices and the onset of the festive season has fuelled the rush, said traders.
“Demand has soared three to four times compared to last month as prices have dropped significantly, but banks have not been issuing as much gold as is required,” said Nirmal Krishna Shrestha, proprietor of Gems Ornament Emporium at Bishal Bazaar, New Road. Only banks are authorized to import gold with the quota fixed at 15 kilograms daily. …
… For the remainder of the report:
http://www.ekantipur.com/the-kathmandu-post/2015/08/09/money/gold-in-sho…
end
(courtesy Peter Boehringer/Lars Schall/GATA)
Bundesbank hasn’t secured Germany’s gold, repatriation campaign leader says
Submitted by cpowell on Sun, 2015-08-09 23:38. Section: Daily Dispatches
7:38p ET Sunday, August 9, 2015
Dear Friend of GATA and Gold:
On behalf of Matterhorn Asset Management, freelance journalist Lars Schall interviews the leader of Germany’s gold reserves repatriation campaign, Peter Boehringer, about gold’s role in the international financial system and the failure of Germany’s central bank, the Bundesbank, to secure and account for the nation’s gold reserves. The interview is 14 minutes long and is posted at Matterhorn Asset Management’s Internet site, Gold Switzerland, here:
https://goldswitzerland.com/peter-boeringer-bundesbank-argues-the-wrong-…
CHRIS POWELL, Secretary/Treasurer
Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee Inc.
end
Alasdair Macleod…
(courtesy Alasdair Macleod)
Alasdair Macleod: Gibson’s paradox — the consequences
Submitted by cpowell on Sun, 2015-08-09 15:49. Section: Daily Dispatches
11:51a Sunday, August 9, 2015
Dear Friend of GATA and Gold:
GoldMoney research director Alasdair Macleod has revisited the old correlation in economics between the general price level and interest rates, “Gibson’s paradox,” which economists long debated, or at least did before it seemed to break down in recent decades.
Macleod argues that the correlation would remain valid in free markets but has been nullified by the destruction by central banks of free markets for money, the seizure by central banks of control over interest rates, which are no longer set by savers and borrowers. This seizure, as might have been suggested to readers of these dispatches over the years, combined with surreptitious intervention by central banks in the gold market to suppress the price of the monetary metal, has distorted or destroyed all markets.
Macleod writes that central banks “have turned the principal objective of entrepreneurs from patient wealth creation through the accumulation of profits into ephemeral wealth creation through the accumulation of debt.”
Macleod’s study is headlined “Gibson’s Paradox: The Consequences” and is posted at GoldMoney’s Internet site here:
https://www.goldmoney.com/research/analysis/gibsons-paradox-the-conseque…
CHRIS POWELL, Secretary/Treasurer
Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee Inc.
end
Today, gold and silver are surging on huge volume. Zero hedge discusses how the hedge funds are trapped:
(courtesy zero hedge)
Gold & Silver Are Surging On Heavy Volume
Hedgies are the most short ever… and Commercials are the least hedged in 14 years… and it appears rumors of PBOC buying along with dismal data from around the world has sparked a renewed awareness of another looming QE sending gold well north of $1100 and silver back above $15.
hedge funds aggregate net position has been short for the first time in history.
Commercial Hedgers are holding the lowest net short position in gold futures since the launch of the gold bull market in 2001.
And this happened… Silver looking for $15.44 (50DMA) as next test
As Bonner & Partners recently noted, the next silver bull market may have already started…
Silver is down 7.1% this year.
Will this weakness persist? To find out, let’s look at the key factors in the silver market this year.
Like gold, silver fell as the U.S. dollar rose on the back of expectations that the Fed will hike rates.
World demand for physical silver fell 4% in 2014, largely due to a record 19.5% drop in investment demand.
Silver exchange-traded funds (ETFs) did not see big liquidations in 2014. ETF holdings grew by 1.4 million ounces and recorded their highest year-end level at 636 million ounces.
The first two factors helped push silver 19.9% lower last year. That’s more than gold or any other precious metal fell. Despite this, silver production rose 5% in 2014. That added to the pressure on prices.
Why did miners produce more silver when prices were falling? Because of:
By-product metal. Around 75% of the silver mined is a by-product at gold or base metal mines. These producers will keep mining silver, almost regardless of price.
Reduced cash costs. The primary silver producers have cut costs since they peaked in 2012. The main way miners do that is by boosting production to achieve economies of scale.
Bull market hangover. Precious metals were in a major bull market from 2001 to 2011. Producers built a lot of mines in response. Nobody wants to pull the plug on a new mine that’s losing money if they think prices will go higher.
That’s the backdrop. Now let’s look at this year’s fundamentals.
Supply and Demand Are Moving in the Right Direction
Silver mine output has risen for 12 consecutive years (silver mine supply is a little different, due to hedging, but also trending upward). This year could break this trend. Industry experts at GFMS forecast up to a 4% decline in silver output in 2015.Why? It’s not rocket science. There are now fewer major new mines under construction due to lower metals prices.
That leaves scrap supply. But scrap comes from jewelry, and sellers are price sensitive. People like to sell granny’s silver tea set when prices are up. We expect subdued scrap supply until silver heads much higher.
Investment demand – that’s us – is a big chunk of total silver demand: 18.4% as of the latest figures.
There was a big drop in investment demand last year: 19.5%. This tells us that most short-term investors and sellers have left the market. We don’t know any “silver bugs” who were selling. That means that today’s bullion is in stronger hands. And that means that any new buying will have a strong impact on prices.
But will there be buyers?
The Silver Institute expects more silver demand from investors this year. They say that the first half of 2015 sales of silver bars were the fifth highest on record.
Photovoltaics (PV) is another source of silver demand that many analysts expect to rise in 2015 and beyond. Global PV demand is set to increase by 30% in 2015, according to IHS analysts. China alone has plans to install 17 gigawatts of solar capacity by the end of the year.
The solar industry consumes a small amount of silver compared to jewelry and other electronics. Yet, if PV demand delivers in 2015, it will become the third-largest source of fabrication demand for silver.
Wild card: Tesla plans to put batteries big enough to power a house in every home. What happens if that takes root is anyone’s guess… but it will be big. Really big. And the impact on demand for silver would be just as huge.
Time to Get Bullish on Silver
Silver supply went into deficit during much of the big run-up from 2001 to 2011. That may happen again. The Silver Institute expects the silver supply deficit to grow to 57.7 million ounces in 2015. (Note that even if physical mine supply is up, net supply can be down if a lot of the mine supply was forward sold as hedges.) If the institute is right, it’ll be bullish for silver prices.
We believe the dollar is grossly overvalued, and we are not alone. HSBC thinks the greenback’s rise since 2014 could be in its final stage. For the three months between April and June, the U.S. dollar fell against every developed-market currency (save for the yen and the New Zealand dollar).
Many investors seem convinced that the Fed will raise interest rates as soon as September. We view this as unlikely at this stage. Yes, tightening U.S. monetary policy would propel the dollar to new highs. But an even stronger dollar would mean slicing billions off the U.S. GDP, not exactly a desirable situation from the standpoint of the Fed given the sluggish growth of the economy. We think the Fed could delay raising rates until 2016. It might even stop talking about rate hikes indefinitely. Each delay, the dollar will get whacked, and that