http://truthingold.blogspot.com/2012/11/got-gold-central-banks-are-getting.html
Gold and silver have been unusually resilient in the face of one of the more overt attempts by the U.S. bullion banks to trigger a COT open interest liquidation sell-off. For those of us who have been trading and researching the metals market for the past 11 years of the bull market, the attempted manipulation has never been more transparent, nor has the ability of the market to withstand this big bank flagrancy.Here's the Bloomberg report of the October Central Bank buying spree: LINK Without bloviating on the significance of this aggressive and rampant CB accumulation of bullion, please note that several countries besides Germany are now making noise about repatriating their gold being "safekept" by the Fed, BOE and Bank of France. Switzerland has proposed legislation being introduced in order to force the issue, The Ecuadorian Government has called on its banks to repatriate 1/3 of their foreign-held gold and the Netherlands is starting to make noise about doing the same.
The name of the game is "accumulate physical - not paper (GLD, CEF, GTU, etc) and make sure you have trustworthy custodian." That would be either a private domestic depository or under lock and key in your own house, with Smith and Wesson are your guard dogs.
and....
http://www.tfmetalsreport.com/blog/4327/guest-post-price-suppression-mecanics-gld-and-slv-andrew-maguire
http://www.caseyresearch.com/gsd/edition/soros-buying-gold-record-prices-seen-stimulus
http://harveyorgan.blogspot.com/2012/11/soros-increases-his-gld-holdings-by.html
gold: $1729.00
silver: $33.19
as both metals rebounded with the Hail Mary advance of the Dow at the end of the trading session today.
Today we learned that George Soros increased his purchases of GLD by 49%. I wish him all the luck in the world when he finds that his gold is compromised.
We have a report showing South African mining companies may have to downsize due to higher wage costs
awarded to the miners after lengthy disruptions due to the strikes. Already, global production of gold in 2012 will be down. South Africa will also produce less gold this year than last year's 220 tonnes.
A cease fire was attentively arranged today in the Middle east but that will not last . We have a Statfor report on this powderkeg.
Japan's opposition party the LDP is expected to win the next election. These guys are all for pumping boatloads of yen into the system
* * *
and....
http://www.caseyresearch.com/gsd/edition/russia-todays-max-keiser-and-stacy-herbert-celebrate-2nd-anniversary-crash-jpmorgan-buy-silv
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2012
Got Gold? Central Banks Are Getting Large Quantities
With investing, if you are not early you are late - Hal, long time friend and colleagueBrazil's Central Bank announced the purchase of over 17 tonnes of gold in October. Here's the commentary on this from UBS precious metals strategist Ed Tully:
There may be a flutter of excitement in the market today with news that Brazil's official reserves of gold rose 17.2 tonnes in October, according to IMF statistics. This follows on from the 1.7 tonnes of buying in September and brings total Brazilian gold reserves to 52.52 tonnes. This is a chunky purchase by a central bank, and the gold market will likely sit up and pay attention to today's news, not just because of its size but because this is a central bank that has not been active in the market for some time. Gold struggled in October, and without this official sector buying the move below $1700 would likely have been much more severe than the short lived dips transpired to be. Today's news confirms much of the market chatter at the time that official sector buying was taking place and was one of the key factors that gave prices a reasonable floor last month.In fact, several non-Fed/BOE Central Banks increased their gold holdings by over 40 tonnes in October. We know that China, in addition to retaining 100% of the 25 tonnes per month it produces, has been importing bullion hand over fist.
Gold and silver have been unusually resilient in the face of one of the more overt attempts by the U.S. bullion banks to trigger a COT open interest liquidation sell-off. For those of us who have been trading and researching the metals market for the past 11 years of the bull market, the attempted manipulation has never been more transparent, nor has the ability of the market to withstand this big bank flagrancy.Here's the Bloomberg report of the October Central Bank buying spree: LINK Without bloviating on the significance of this aggressive and rampant CB accumulation of bullion, please note that several countries besides Germany are now making noise about repatriating their gold being "safekept" by the Fed, BOE and Bank of France. Switzerland has proposed legislation being introduced in order to force the issue, The Ecuadorian Government has called on its banks to repatriate 1/3 of their foreign-held gold and the Netherlands is starting to make noise about doing the same.
The name of the game is "accumulate physical - not paper (GLD, CEF, GTU, etc) and make sure you have trustworthy custodian." That would be either a private domestic depository or under lock and key in your own house, with Smith and Wesson are your guard dogs.
and....
http://www.tfmetalsreport.com/blog/4327/guest-post-price-suppression-mecanics-gld-and-slv-andrew-maguire
Most of us have been baffled over the years by the almost daily withdrawals and additions to the primary metal ETFs, GLD and SLV. There are seemingly no correlations to price movements, just additions and subtractions of inventory without basis in fundamentals. Today, we attempt to solve this riddle.
The daily metal movements into and out of the funds is only a small part of the much larger trend. Do you recall these charts from the HardAssetsAlliance and Casey Research? They show that, even while prices have increased dramatically over the past three years, net additions have fallen precipitously.
The key word above is "NET". While there is clearly some metal flowing into the funds over time, there is also a tremendous amount that is being withdrawn. The question then becomes: Which firms make withdrawals and why?
I posed this question to our friend, Andrew Maguire, and asked him for an explanation. Are these withdrawals a normal part of the day-to-day operations of an ETF or is there something more nefarious going on? Are the Custodians and Authorized Participants simply managing the funds and their own risks or are they using these stores of metal as a vehicle to suppress price and meet the ever-increasing demand for physical metal?
What follows below is Andy's answer. He laid this out for "Army" members a couple of weeks ago and he has generously offered to share it with you today. The hope is that by gaining an understanding of the inner workings of this process, you will have a greater appreciation of the true depth of metals markets manipulation and price suppression. The Bullion Banks are currently playing every possible angle in their increasingly desperate attempt to maintain power and preserve the current Comex/LBMA system. Though simple supply and demand dynamics dictate that they will ultimately lose this fight, they are certainly "going down swinging" and may even bring about a permanent change in the global financial system as a result.
THE PRICE SUPPRESSION MECHANICS OF GLD & SLV
The bullion banks finance their ‘physical inventory’ by leasing it or selling it to GLD and SLV shareholders/investors, then the bullion banks in turn use these ETF’s inventories as a ‘flywheel’ to both manage and leverage their physical reserves. For this walk-through, I will use GLD as an example. (One can substitute SLV for all that is described below relating to GLD except the basket sizes are smaller, constituting 50,000 shares).
Baskets of GLD shares are bought and sold through a limited number of Authorised Participants. The authorised participants, (AP’s), are JPMorgan, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, Newedge (a joint venture between Société Générale and Credit Agricole CIB), RBC, Scotia Mocatta, UBS and Virtu Financial. This is how it is supposed to work. The size of each GLD basket comprises of 100,000 shares, each share representing just less than 1 troy oz. The AP’s, transferALLOCATED physical gold to the trustee who in turn creates the required number of new baskets of shares and then transfers these newly created shares back to the AP. To redeem the shares for physical gold or silver, the AP’s transfer any number of the baskets of 100,000 shares back to the trustee who then redeems these shares and transfers allocated gold back to the AP.
This is all well and good on the face of it, but there are a number of ways this ‘allocated’ gold backing the shares in the ETF can be diluted /hypothecated in order for the bullion banks to ‘manage’ their physical reserves.
If, as is often the case, there is insufficient allocated inventory available to the bullion bank at the current Comex driven & discounted spot fix price to create the necessary new GLD shares backed by allocated gold, then it is possible for a bullion bank to borrow short these GLD shares from the ETF instead of providing the required Allocated physical to the trustee to meet this obligation thereby ‘fly wheeling’ this physical demand in order to meet obligations elsewhere, likely at the day’s gold fix. This obviously has the effect of manipulating price lower vs. the true immediate supply demand fundamentals as no allocated physical metal has to be bought on the open market at that days fix to meet this new share demand as should be the case.
This is now the point where transparency evaporates. The AP claims to be Short GLD while concurrently claiming to be backing it with an equal size long ‘UNALLOCATED’ spot gold position. However, LBMA unallocated gold accounts are run upon a fractional reserve requirement and leveraged around 100/1 so there is very little need to back this transaction with any real physical at this point; this is left until later as explained below. To unwind this short GLD position, the bullion bank has to ALLOCATE the required amount of unallocated gold and then transfer this gold back to the trustee thereby receiving back the required # of shares in order to repay the original GLD shares sold short.
However, in conjunction with concurrent concentrated short futures positions, the sole object of this entire charade is to assist in depressing the price of gold at times of strong physical demand so that the futures price can be capped, usually at key inflection points where the price would break out and also swamp the very large concentrated Comex short positions. If this were not the case, the bullion bank would simply bid up that days fix price until it reflected that days true supply demand price levels for that fix and provide allocated gold to meet this real demand at that higher price.
The resulting distortion now created between the real and paper market price is exacerbated through the use of heavy position concentration and leverage in the futures and derivatives markets, where these very same bullion banks then seek to profitably repay the shorted GLD shares at a lower price at the point at or below where the lines cross profitably. This then puts these bullion banks in a position to finally spot index UNALLOCATED gold against this naked short position only then moving to buy the now discounted unallocated gold into the Comex contrived dips. These discounted unallocated long spot index positions are then ALLOCATED at the upcoming fix, enabling both the repayment of the GLD short position at a profit but most importantly controlling the rise in price against much larger derivative positions elsewhere.
Conversely, as evidenced by the steady 12-year stair step rise in prices easily observed in the daily and weekly charts, despite this many-year capping, we have also seen an ever larger and untenable LBMA unallocated short positions grow to what I now consider to be extreme danger levels. The reason is as follows: When the Bullion bank needs to make good on the unplanned/unanticipated CB and sovereign physical allocations at the fixes, they have regularly achieved this by going long GLD vs. short/selling UNALLOCATED gold. They then immediately turn around and transfer the required number of baskets of GLD shares to the trustee and receive ALLOCATED gold in return. Instead of settling/covering the short UNALLOCATED leg with this ALLOCATED gold, they are forced to satisfy these CB and Sovereign allocations by providing them this metal instead. The longer term price charts reveal this stair step higher, whereas we see no reduction, in fact from 2008 an increase, in the naked short Comex, (and unallocated OTC), bullion bank positions.
I hope this has been helpful in providing an insight into the internal dynamics of the ETFs and how the bullion banks continue to operate in the shadows.
http://www.caseyresearch.com/gsd/edition/soros-buying-gold-record-prices-seen-stimulus
Soros Buying Gold as Record Prices Seen on Stimulus
Nov
21
"All in all, it was just another day off the calendar on Tuesday, as the clock winds down on the December contract."
¤ YESTERDAY IN GOLD AND SILVER
After the excitement on Monday, there was no sign of any follow-through anywhere on Planet Earth yesterday...and gold traded quietly within a five dollar price range right up until noon in New York on Tuesday. Then, between that time and the 1:30 p.m. Comex close, a thoughtful not-for-profit seller peeled about ten bucks off the price.
The low, which came minutes after the Comex close, was $1,721.30 spot...but from there it recovered somewhat into the close, finishing at $1,728.10 spot...down $3.80 from Monday.
The first chart is "Total Weight vs. Total Value". It shows a bit over thirty years of data.
The low, which came minutes after the Comex close, was $1,721.30 spot...but from there it recovered somewhat into the close, finishing at $1,728.10 spot...down $3.80 from Monday.
Net volume was very quiet. Once all the roll-overs were subtracted out, the remaining volume was only in the neighbourhood of 103,000 contracts.
It was more or less the same story in silver, except for the fact that the low price tick [$32.80 spot] came shortly before the Comex close. From its low, silver managed to recover all of its loses...and actually closed up eight cents on the day. The closing price was $33.19 spot. Net volume was pretty low...around 29,000 contracts.
The dollar index closed on Monday evening in New York at 81.03...and then spent the Tuesday trading session chopping around just under the 81.00 mark...closing at 80.995...virtually unchanged. Nothing to see here.
* * *
The CME's Daily Delivery Report showed that 33 gold and 1 silver contract were posted for delivery within the Comex-approved depositories on Thursday. The link to what little activity there was, is here.
There were no reported changed in GLD yesterday...but over at SLV, an authorized participant withdrew 484,013 troy ounces of silver. Beginning on November 12th, about 6.3 million ounces of silver have been withdrawn from SLV.
Over at Switzerland's Zürcher Kantonalbank for the period ending November 19th...they reported that 11,019 troy ounces of gold, along with 213,160 troy ounces of silver, were added to their respective gold and silver ETFs.
The U.S. Mint had another sales report. They sold 5,500 ounces of gold eagles...1,000 one-ounce 24K gold buffaloes...and 62,000 silver eagles.
Over at the Comex-approved depositories on Monday, they reported receiving 400,615 troy ounces of silver...and shipped 675,165 ounces of the stuff out the door. Of the amount shipped out...495,126 troy ounces came from the JPMorgan Chase depository. The link to all this activity is here.
The Central Bank of the Russian Federation updated their website yesterday with their October data. It showed that their gold bullion holdings for the month increased by 100,000 troy ounces to 30.1 million ounces. Here's what it looks like in Nick Laird's most excellent chart.
There were no reported changed in GLD yesterday...but over at SLV, an authorized participant withdrew 484,013 troy ounces of silver. Beginning on November 12th, about 6.3 million ounces of silver have been withdrawn from SLV.
Over at Switzerland's Zürcher Kantonalbank for the period ending November 19th...they reported that 11,019 troy ounces of gold, along with 213,160 troy ounces of silver, were added to their respective gold and silver ETFs.
The U.S. Mint had another sales report. They sold 5,500 ounces of gold eagles...1,000 one-ounce 24K gold buffaloes...and 62,000 silver eagles.
Over at the Comex-approved depositories on Monday, they reported receiving 400,615 troy ounces of silver...and shipped 675,165 ounces of the stuff out the door. Of the amount shipped out...495,126 troy ounces came from the JPMorgan Chase depository. The link to all this activity is here.
The Central Bank of the Russian Federation updated their website yesterday with their October data. It showed that their gold bullion holdings for the month increased by 100,000 troy ounces to 30.1 million ounces. Here's what it looks like in Nick Laird's most excellent chart.
(Click on image to enlarge)
Reader Randall Reinwasser sent me an article about record silver holdings in all the world's silver ETFs...so I thought I'd check this data against what Nick Laird had...and these are two of the charts he sent me.The first chart is "Total Weight vs. Total Value". It shows a bit over thirty years of data.
(Click on image to enlarge)
Here are the transparent silver holdings in "Total Ounces by Source". It's basically the same as the chart on the left just above, except it's divided up into separate depositories. The chart has almost eleven years of data...and note that up until SLV showed up, the 50-year old Central Fund of Canada was the only physical silver game in town for investors. Since SLV, the number of silver funds has exploded.
(Click on image to enlarge)
There are plenty of reputable silver funds in the world, so why anyone would own SLV is a mystery to me.
* * *
Selected news items.....
CME's eurodollar futures contract was central to LIBOR rigging
In late 1996, Marcy Engel, then a lawyer for Wall Street heavyweight Salomon Brothers Inc., fired off a warning letter to U.S. regulators: If they approved a Chicago Mercantile Exchange plan to change how a popular futures contract was priced, they would put at risk the integrity of a key interest rate in the global financial system.
The CME was already doing big business in its Eurodollar futures contract -- a derivative product that lets traders bet on the direction of short-term interest rates -- and it had long set the price for these contracts using a benchmark rate it tabulated itself. Now it wanted to adopt a more commonly used rate published by the British Bankers' Association, known as the London interbank offered rate, or Libor. Using this benchmark, the CME said at the time, "will make our Eurodollar futures an even more attractive risk management tool."
The problem with the CME's plan, as Engel saw it: The banks that set the rates in London daily were also able to take positions in the CME's Eurodollar contract. In her letter to the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, she said tethering the futures contract to Libor "might provide an opportunity for manipulation" of the interest rate. A "bank might be tempted to adjust its bids and offers ... to benefit its own positions."
I hate to make my first story of the day a must read...but that's what it is. It's a Reuters piece that I plucked from a GATA release yesterday. The headline reads "How Gaming LIBOR Became Business as Usual". The link ishere.
The CME was already doing big business in its Eurodollar futures contract -- a derivative product that lets traders bet on the direction of short-term interest rates -- and it had long set the price for these contracts using a benchmark rate it tabulated itself. Now it wanted to adopt a more commonly used rate published by the British Bankers' Association, known as the London interbank offered rate, or Libor. Using this benchmark, the CME said at the time, "will make our Eurodollar futures an even more attractive risk management tool."
The problem with the CME's plan, as Engel saw it: The banks that set the rates in London daily were also able to take positions in the CME's Eurodollar contract. In her letter to the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, she said tethering the futures contract to Libor "might provide an opportunity for manipulation" of the interest rate. A "bank might be tempted to adjust its bids and offers ... to benefit its own positions."
I hate to make my first story of the day a must read...but that's what it is. It's a Reuters piece that I plucked from a GATA release yesterday. The headline reads "How Gaming LIBOR Became Business as Usual". The link ishere.
Matt Taibbi: SEC Rocked By Lurid Sex-and-Corruption Lawsuit
Move over, adulterous generals. It might be time to make way for a new sexual rat's nest – at America's top financial police agency, the SEC.
In a salacious 77-page complaint that reads like Penthouse Forum meets The Insider meets the Keystone Kops, one David Weber, the former chief investigator for the SEC Inspector General's office, accuses the SEC of retaliating against Weber for coming forward as a whistleblower. According to this lawsuit, Weber was made a target of intramural intrigues at the agency (which has a history of such retaliation) after he came forward with concerns that his bosses may have been spending more time copulating than they were investigating the SEC.
Weber claims that in recent years, while the SEC Inspector General's office has been attempting to investigate the agency's seemingly-negligent responses in such matters as the Bernie Madoff case and the less-well-known (but nearly as disturbing) Stanford Financial Ponzi scandal, two of the IG office's senior officials – former Inspector General David Kotz and his successor, Noelle Maloney – were sleeping together.
You can't make this stuff up. The Adults Only warning flag is flying...as Matt uses rather 'pithy prose' at times. It was posted over at the rollingstone.comInternet site yesterday...and it's Roy Stephens first offering of the day. The link is here.
In a salacious 77-page complaint that reads like Penthouse Forum meets The Insider meets the Keystone Kops, one David Weber, the former chief investigator for the SEC Inspector General's office, accuses the SEC of retaliating against Weber for coming forward as a whistleblower. According to this lawsuit, Weber was made a target of intramural intrigues at the agency (which has a history of such retaliation) after he came forward with concerns that his bosses may have been spending more time copulating than they were investigating the SEC.
Weber claims that in recent years, while the SEC Inspector General's office has been attempting to investigate the agency's seemingly-negligent responses in such matters as the Bernie Madoff case and the less-well-known (but nearly as disturbing) Stanford Financial Ponzi scandal, two of the IG office's senior officials – former Inspector General David Kotz and his successor, Noelle Maloney – were sleeping together.
You can't make this stuff up. The Adults Only warning flag is flying...as Matt uses rather 'pithy prose' at times. It was posted over at the rollingstone.comInternet site yesterday...and it's Roy Stephens first offering of the day. The link is here.
As Europe Plots Closer Ties, Britain Mulls Split
Goodbye Britain?
For the European Union, a once-unthinkable question is looking more like a real possibility with each new grinding week of economic crisis. The reason is that bad times are forcing the 17 EU nations that use the euro currency to move ever closer toward some kind of United States of Europe — one that could make decisions about how much member countries spend and how much tax they collect.
If ever Britain had a nightmare, that's it.
The British public shows no interest in moving closer to the rest of Europe, and most can't even seem to stomach the status quo. The real question these days appears to be whether to drift away or break away abruptly.
This AP story was posted on The New York Times website early yesterday morning...and I thank Phil Barlett for sending it our way. The link is here.
Van Rompuy: financial tax to form part of EU budget
The much vaunted EU financial transaction tax (FTT) is set to be hard-wired into the EU budget, with most of its revenue going directly to the EU.
A paper prepared by EU Council President Herman Van Rompuy and sent to European capitals ahead of next week's EU budget summit, where leaders aim to agree a mandate on the budget framework for 2014-2020, would deduct FTT revenues from national contributions to the annual EU pot.
Van Rompuy put forward his ideas after private talks with EU countries' budget sherpas over the past 10 days.
This story, filed from Brussels, was posted on the euobserver.com Internet site...and it's almost a week old. I thank Roy Stephens for his second offering in today's column. The link is here.
A paper prepared by EU Council President Herman Van Rompuy and sent to European capitals ahead of next week's EU budget summit, where leaders aim to agree a mandate on the budget framework for 2014-2020, would deduct FTT revenues from national contributions to the annual EU pot.
Van Rompuy put forward his ideas after private talks with EU countries' budget sherpas over the past 10 days.
This story, filed from Brussels, was posted on the euobserver.com Internet site...and it's almost a week old. I thank Roy Stephens for his second offering in today's column. The link is here.
The World from Berlin: Turkish Call for Help Puts Germany in a Tough Spot
Turkey wants its NATO partners to provide Patriot missiles after mortar rounds were fired onto its territory from Syria. The request has triggered a political row in Germany, with the opposition concerned about being dragged into the Syrian conflict. Media commentators say Germany must help.
Military deployments are always a political minefield in Germany, for obvious and good reasons, given its history. So it's no surprise that Turkey's request for Patriot missiles from its NATO partners to help secure its 900-kilometer border with Syria led to a political row in Berlin, where opposition politicians have warned that a deployment could end up pushing Germany into the Syrian civil war.
"The deployment of hundreds of German soldiers with Patriot missiles would put us onto a very slippery slope into a Syrian mission." Omid Nouripour, security expert for the opposition Greens, said on Saturday.
This very interesting story showed up on the German website spiegel.deyesterday...and I thank Donald Sinclair for sharing it with us. The link is here.
Military deployments are always a political minefield in Germany, for obvious and good reasons, given its history. So it's no surprise that Turkey's request for Patriot missiles from its NATO partners to help secure its 900-kilometer border with Syria led to a political row in Berlin, where opposition politicians have warned that a deployment could end up pushing Germany into the Syrian civil war.
"The deployment of hundreds of German soldiers with Patriot missiles would put us onto a very slippery slope into a Syrian mission." Omid Nouripour, security expert for the opposition Greens, said on Saturday.
This very interesting story showed up on the German website spiegel.deyesterday...and I thank Donald Sinclair for sharing it with us. The link is here.
How Mexican silver made it into English coins
Chemical studies of old English coins are helping unravel a centuries-old mystery: What happened to all the silver that Spaniards dug out of the New World?
Silver from Mexican mines started being incorporated into English coins around the mid-1550s, a new study shows. But silver from the legendary Potosí mines, in what is now Bolivia, didn’t show up until nearly a century later, researchers report online November 6 in Geology.
The new study adds hard data to theories linking the transatlantic influx of silver to price inflation across Europe from about 1515 to 1650.
Wow! The things we don't know. This very interesting story showed up on the sciencenews.org Internet site yesterday...and I thank West Virginia reader Elliot Simon for sending it along. The link is here.
Silver from Mexican mines started being incorporated into English coins around the mid-1550s, a new study shows. But silver from the legendary Potosí mines, in what is now Bolivia, didn’t show up until nearly a century later, researchers report online November 6 in Geology.
The new study adds hard data to theories linking the transatlantic influx of silver to price inflation across Europe from about 1515 to 1650.
Wow! The things we don't know. This very interesting story showed up on the sciencenews.org Internet site yesterday...and I thank West Virginia reader Elliot Simon for sending it along. The link is here.
Soros Buying Gold as Record Prices Seen on Stimulus
Gold’s 12-year rally, the longest in at least nine decades, is poised to continue in 2013 as central bank stimulus spurs investors from John Paulson to George Soros to accumulate the highest combined bullion holdings ever.
The metal will rise every quarter next year and average $1,925 an ounce in the final three months, or 11 percent more than now, according to the median of 16 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Paulson & Co. has a $3.66 billion bet through the SPDR Gold Trust, the biggest gold-backed exchange- traded product, and Soros Fund Management LLC increased its holdings by 49 percent in the third quarter, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filings show.
This longish Bloomberg story was posted on their website early yesterday afternoon Mountain time...and I thank Washington state reader S.A. for my last story in today's column. It's a must read, of course...and the link is here.
The metal will rise every quarter next year and average $1,925 an ounce in the final three months, or 11 percent more than now, according to the median of 16 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Paulson & Co. has a $3.66 billion bet through the SPDR Gold Trust, the biggest gold-backed exchange- traded product, and Soros Fund Management LLC increased its holdings by 49 percent in the third quarter, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filings show.
This longish Bloomberg story was posted on their website early yesterday afternoon Mountain time...and I thank Washington state reader S.A. for my last story in today's column. It's a must read, of course...and the link is here.
* * *
¤ THE WRAP
I wouldn't read much into Tuesday's price activity...although both Ted Butler and I were somewhat surprised that there was no price follow-through from Monday...and we're both at a bit of a loss to figure out what happened on that day.
But one thing that we did notice, which I commented on in yesterday's column, was that the open interest jumped quite a bit, so it appears that JPMorgan et al were active in that rally to prevent it from getting out of hand to the upside. I was thinking that Monday's activity was a bit of a short covering rally, but in hindsight, it was anything but...although it could have been "da boyz" themselves going long...but I wouldn't bet the ranch on that scenario.
Yesterday was the cut-off for this Friday's Commitment of Traders Report...and whatever happened on Monday will certainly be in it.
All in all, it was just another day off the calendar on Tuesday, as the clock winds down on the December contract. There are still about 220,000 gold and around 48,000 December silver contracts still open...and a week left to sell, roll, or stand for delivery.
For a change there was some excitement during the Far East trading day on their Wednesday. Gold took a ten dollar header...along with about a 40 cent drop in silver. Some [but not all] of that came on the back of a spike up in the dollar index. However, once the dollar index rally ended about 12:15 p.m. in Hong Kong trading, both gold and silver rallied back...and that trend has continued into the first hour or so of London trading as well. Surprisingly enough, volumes aren't overly heavy...and the roll-over activity isn't really worth mentioning. The dollar index is up about 25 basis points...and off its high tick by a decent amount already.
And as I hit the 'send' button at 5:20 a.m. Eastern time...now a bit over two hours after the London open...both gold and silver almost made it back to their New York closes from Tuesday afternoon at one point, but have since rolled over a bit. Volumes have increased marginally since I wrote the previous paragraph...and the dollar index has given up almost of its gains from earlier in the Wednesday trading session.
But one thing that we did notice, which I commented on in yesterday's column, was that the open interest jumped quite a bit, so it appears that JPMorgan et al were active in that rally to prevent it from getting out of hand to the upside. I was thinking that Monday's activity was a bit of a short covering rally, but in hindsight, it was anything but...although it could have been "da boyz" themselves going long...but I wouldn't bet the ranch on that scenario.
Yesterday was the cut-off for this Friday's Commitment of Traders Report...and whatever happened on Monday will certainly be in it.
All in all, it was just another day off the calendar on Tuesday, as the clock winds down on the December contract. There are still about 220,000 gold and around 48,000 December silver contracts still open...and a week left to sell, roll, or stand for delivery.
For a change there was some excitement during the Far East trading day on their Wednesday. Gold took a ten dollar header...along with about a 40 cent drop in silver. Some [but not all] of that came on the back of a spike up in the dollar index. However, once the dollar index rally ended about 12:15 p.m. in Hong Kong trading, both gold and silver rallied back...and that trend has continued into the first hour or so of London trading as well. Surprisingly enough, volumes aren't overly heavy...and the roll-over activity isn't really worth mentioning. The dollar index is up about 25 basis points...and off its high tick by a decent amount already.
And as I hit the 'send' button at 5:20 a.m. Eastern time...now a bit over two hours after the London open...both gold and silver almost made it back to their New York closes from Tuesday afternoon at one point, but have since rolled over a bit. Volumes have increased marginally since I wrote the previous paragraph...and the dollar index has given up almost of its gains from earlier in the Wednesday trading session.
As we wait for the roll out of the December contract to wind down, we must never take our eyes off of the fact that hanging over all of this is still the obscene and grotesque short positions of JPMorgan Chase/Scotia Mocatta et al. They are still very much in control at the moment...and Monday's volume and open interest numbers confirmed that. And as I said further up, I suppose it's possible that they were the ones going long and driving up the open interest on Monday, but I wouldn't bet any money on that event.
That's all I have for today. I'll have a column on Thursday, but because of the American Thanksgiving holiday, it won't be posted on this webpage until a bit later than normal...not at its usual time. Because most markets in North America are closed on Thursday, I won't have a column on Friday, but will on Saturday.
I wish all my American readers a safe and happy Thanksgiving holiday. Eat lots and drink lots...and I'll see you here sometime tomorrow.
That's all I have for today. I'll have a column on Thursday, but because of the American Thanksgiving holiday, it won't be posted on this webpage until a bit later than normal...not at its usual time. Because most markets in North America are closed on Thursday, I won't have a column on Friday, but will on Saturday.
I wish all my American readers a safe and happy Thanksgiving holiday. Eat lots and drink lots...and I'll see you here sometime tomorrow.
http://harveyorgan.blogspot.com/2012/11/soros-increases-his-gld-holdings-by.html
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2012
Soros increases his GLD holdings by 49%/South African mining companies may have to downsize /Japan's LDP ready to press the button on money release/silver the stand out today/OI in silver at multi year levels/
Good evening Ladies and Gentlemen:
Gold closed down $10.50 to finish the comex session at $1723.50. The object of interest to our bankers is silver as eyes become fixated on the high OI for the silver complex and the elevated level of OI for the upcoming December delivery month. Silver closed the comex session at $32.92 down only 6 cents as another attempted raid fell by the wayside.However in the access market gold and silver closed at these levels:
Gold closed down $10.50 to finish the comex session at $1723.50. The object of interest to our bankers is silver as eyes become fixated on the high OI for the silver complex and the elevated level of OI for the upcoming December delivery month. Silver closed the comex session at $32.92 down only 6 cents as another attempted raid fell by the wayside.However in the access market gold and silver closed at these levels:
gold: $1729.00
silver: $33.19
as both metals rebounded with the Hail Mary advance of the Dow at the end of the trading session today.
Today we learned that George Soros increased his purchases of GLD by 49%. I wish him all the luck in the world when he finds that his gold is compromised.
We have a report showing South African mining companies may have to downsize due to higher wage costs
awarded to the miners after lengthy disruptions due to the strikes. Already, global production of gold in 2012 will be down. South Africa will also produce less gold this year than last year's 220 tonnes.
A cease fire was attentively arranged today in the Middle east but that will not last . We have a Statfor report on this powderkeg.
Japan's opposition party the LDP is expected to win the next election. These guys are all for pumping boatloads of yen into the system
* * *
Let us now head over to the comex and assess the damage today.
The total comex gold open interest rose an astonishing 15,286 contracts from 455,569 up to 470,855. Remember gold rose sharply yesterday to the tune of $19.70. So the increase in OI is justifiable as newbie longs entered the fray and the bankers supplied the necessary non backed paper. The non active contract month of November saw it's OI rise by 1 contract from 25 up to 26. We had one delivery notice yesterday so we again gained 2 contracts or an additional 200 oz of gold will stand for November. We are a little over a week to go before first day notice. We also have the Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday which means very few trading days ahead. The December OI in gold actually rose by 1,075 contracts from 224,491 up to 225,566. The estimated volume today was on the light side at 131,439. The confirmed volume yesterday was also tepid at 142,585.
The total silver comex open interest rose by a humongous 3,806 contracts, from 144,908 up to 148,714 which is a multi year high. If memory serves me correctly, when silver hit $49.00, the OI was around 148,000. Therefore this must be alarming to our bankers to see a much lower price in silver with a very high OI. They are desperately trying to remove as many silver longs as possible through raids but fail constantly. We will assuredly have another of our midnight oil meetings tonight as they try to sort out the mess that they themselves have created. The non active November contract saw it's OI remain constant at 9. We had no delivery notices yesterday so we neither gained nor lost any silver ounces standing for November.
The big December silver contract month surprisingly saw it's OI advance by a rather large 616 contracts from 50,225 up to 50,841. Generally we see a big contraction as we head into December but lo and behold it rose. Our bankers are very nervous about this as well. It seems we have a very determined buyer of silver coming in contact with a very determined silver. Stay tuned on Nov 30.2012 to see the outcome. The estimated volume today at the silver comex came in at 54,497 which is very good. The confirmed volume yesterday was also high at 64,789. Again the bankers supplied the necessary non backed paper.
The total comex gold open interest rose an astonishing 15,286 contracts from 455,569 up to 470,855. Remember gold rose sharply yesterday to the tune of $19.70. So the increase in OI is justifiable as newbie longs entered the fray and the bankers supplied the necessary non backed paper. The non active contract month of November saw it's OI rise by 1 contract from 25 up to 26. We had one delivery notice yesterday so we again gained 2 contracts or an additional 200 oz of gold will stand for November. We are a little over a week to go before first day notice. We also have the Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday which means very few trading days ahead. The December OI in gold actually rose by 1,075 contracts from 224,491 up to 225,566. The estimated volume today was on the light side at 131,439. The confirmed volume yesterday was also tepid at 142,585.
The total silver comex open interest rose by a humongous 3,806 contracts, from 144,908 up to 148,714 which is a multi year high. If memory serves me correctly, when silver hit $49.00, the OI was around 148,000. Therefore this must be alarming to our bankers to see a much lower price in silver with a very high OI. They are desperately trying to remove as many silver longs as possible through raids but fail constantly. We will assuredly have another of our midnight oil meetings tonight as they try to sort out the mess that they themselves have created. The non active November contract saw it's OI remain constant at 9. We had no delivery notices yesterday so we neither gained nor lost any silver ounces standing for November.
The big December silver contract month surprisingly saw it's OI advance by a rather large 616 contracts from 50,225 up to 50,841. Generally we see a big contraction as we head into December but lo and behold it rose. Our bankers are very nervous about this as well. It seems we have a very determined buyer of silver coming in contact with a very determined silver. Stay tuned on Nov 30.2012 to see the outcome. The estimated volume today at the silver comex came in at 54,497 which is very good. The confirmed volume yesterday was also high at 64,789. Again the bankers supplied the necessary non backed paper.
Comex gold figures
Nov 20-.2012
(first day notice for the December contract will be Nov 30.2012)
Nov 20-.2012
(first day notice for the December contract will be Nov 30.2012)
Today, we had no activity inside the gold vaults.
The dealer had no deposits and no withdrawals.
The customer had no deposits
total customer deposit: nil
we had 0 customer withdrawals:
Adjustments: none
total customer deposit: nil
we had 0 customer withdrawals:
Adjustments: none
Thus the dealer inventory rests tonight at 2.524 million oz (78.50) tonnes of gold.
The CME reported that we had 0 notices filed for zero oz of gold. The total number of notices filed so far this month is thus 322 notices or 32,200 oz of gold.
To determine what is left to be served upon, I take the OI standing for November (26) and subtract out today's notices (0) which leaves us with 26 notices or 2600 oz left to be served upon our longs.
Thus the total number of gold ounces standing for delivery in November is as follows:
32,200 oz (served) + 2600 oz (to be served upon) = 34,800 oz (1.082 tonnes of gold). We gained 200 gold ounces standing at the gold comex today
To determine what is left to be served upon, I take the OI standing for November (26) and subtract out today's notices (0) which leaves us with 26 notices or 2600 oz left to be served upon our longs.
Thus the total number of gold ounces standing for delivery in November is as follows:
32,200 oz (served) + 2600 oz (to be served upon) = 34,800 oz (1.082 tonnes of gold). We gained 200 gold ounces standing at the gold comex today
Silver:
Nov 20.2012:
first day notice for the December contract will be Nov 30.2012:
first day notice for the December contract will be Nov 30.2012:
Today, we had huge activity inside the silver vaults.
we had no dealer deposit and no dealer withdrawals
The customer had 1 deposit :
i) Into CNT we had another of those perfectly round deposits:
400,615.000 oz
If I am not mistaken, I believe that most of the transactions inside the CNT vaults have been perfectly round numbers. Since the comex is strictly a physical venue this is getting awfully strange.
i) Into CNT we had another of those perfectly round deposits:
400,615.000 oz
If I am not mistaken, I believe that most of the transactions inside the CNT vaults have been perfectly round numbers. Since the comex is strictly a physical venue this is getting awfully strange.
total deposit; 400,615.000 oz
we had the following customer withdrawals:
1. Out of CNT: 21,048.000 oz (another perfectly round number withdrawal)
2. Out of Delaware: 3,007.000 oz
3. Out of HSBC 155,039.43 oz
4. Out of JPMorgan: 495,126.45 oz
5. Out of Scotia: 944.36 oz
2. Out of Delaware: 3,007.000 oz
3. Out of HSBC 155,039.43 oz
4. Out of JPMorgan: 495,126.45 oz
5. Out of Scotia: 944.36 oz
total customer withdrawal: 675,165.24
we had 2 adjustments:
i) Out of the CNT vaults: 35,929.000 oz removed from the customer and enter the dealer..again an exact round number
ii Out of Delaware: 15,499.881 oz removed from the customer and enter the dealer account at Delaware
iii) 4.74 oz added as a counting error.
ii Out of Delaware: 15,499.881 oz removed from the customer and enter the dealer account at Delaware
iii) 4.74 oz added as a counting error.
Registered silver remains tonight at a very low : 35.917 million oz
total of all silver: 142.331 million oz.
The CME reported that we had 0 notice filed for nil oz . The total number of silver notices filed this month remains at 63 contracts or 315,000 oz of silver.
To determine the number of silver ounces standing for November, I take the OI standing for November (9) and subtract out today's notices (0) which leaves us with 9 notices or 45,000 oz ready to be served upon.
* * *
Soros Buying Gold as Record Prices Seen on Stimulus
* * *
Soros increased his investment in the trust to 1.32 million shares in the third quarter, the most since 2010, a Nov. 14 SEC filing showed. The stake, with each share representing about a 10th of an ounce, is valued at $221.7 million. Prices advanced 60 percent since January 2010, when Soros called gold the “ultimate asset bubble.” Michael Vachon, a spokesman for the 82-year-old who made $1 billion breaking the Bank of England’s defense of the pound in 1992, declined to comment.
* * *
Paulson, who became a billionaire in 2007 by wagering against the subprime mortgage market, owns 21.8 million shares in the SPDR Gold Trust, making him the biggest shareholder, a Nov. 15 SEC filing showed. The 56-year-old raised his stake by 26 percent in the second quarter and his holding of about 66 tons exceeds the official reserves of nations from Brazil to Bulgaria to Bolivia.
* * *
Paul Touradji’s Touradji Capital Management LP sold all of its 82,000 shares in the SPDR Gold Trust in the third quarter, according to an SEC filing. Lone Pine Capital LLC, the hedge fund run by Stephen Mandel Jr., cut its stake by 31 percent to 2.6 million shares, and Dan Loeb’s Third Point LLC lowered its bet by 10 percent to 130,000 shares, filings showed last week. Officials from all three companies declined to comment.
* * *
and....
news.goldseek.com / By Frank Holmes / November 20, 2012
Indian Gold Demand Picks Up
The love for gold has been reignited in India, according to the World Gold Council (WGC) in its Gold Demand Trends for the third quarter of 2012. India regained its title as the strongest performing market, overtaking the greater China area, as the country experienced a bounceback in demand due to improved sentiment during the festival season.
Compared to the third quarter of last year, Indian gold jewelry demand grew by 7 percent while gold bar and coin demand rose 12 percent. Total consumer demand was 223 tons, compared to 205 tons this time last year. The second largest market was Greater China, which consumed 185 tons in the third quarter of 2012. This was less than the 201 tons consumed in the third quarter of last year.
Together these markets in the east made up 55 percent of the world’s jewelry and investment demand, according to the WGC.
Bill Murphy of GATA discusses:
(1) The short term price for gold + silver.
(2) Whether Max Keiser is right about how people can buy silver to Crash JP Morgan.
(3) How the strong dollar policy operated in the 1990′s (by manipulating gold).
http://www.caseyresearch.com/gsd/edition/russia-todays-max-keiser-and-stacy-herbert-celebrate-2nd-anniversary-crash-jpmorgan-buy-silv
Russia Today's Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert Celebrate the 2nd Anniversary of the "Crash JPMorgan, Buy Silver" Campaign
Nov
20
¤ YESTERDAY IN GOLD AND SILVER
The gold price was on the rise as soon as trading began in the Far East on their Monday morning...and was up eight bucks or so by shortly after 10:00 a.m. Hong Kong time. From there, it more or less traded flat into the Comex open...and that point jumped another five dollars or so before trading sideways until about 10:35 a.m. in New York.
At that point there was another sharp spike that took gold up to its high tick of the day...$1,736.80 spot..about ten minutes before the London close. From that point it traded sideways once again before getting sold off a few dollars in electronic trading.
Gold closed the Monday session at $1,731.90 spot...up $18.20 on the day. Net volume was very light...around 109,000 contracts.
At that point there was another sharp spike that took gold up to its high tick of the day...$1,736.80 spot..about ten minutes before the London close. From that point it traded sideways once again before getting sold off a few dollars in electronic trading.
Gold closed the Monday session at $1,731.90 spot...up $18.20 on the day. Net volume was very light...around 109,000 contracts.
As usual, the silver price was more 'volatile'. The price traded flat until just about 9:00 a.m. Hong Kong time...and at the point the price jumped almost 30 cents.
From there, the price traded flat until about ten minutes before the Comex open. Then, the silver price began to rally...and jumped up the moment that trading began in New York. The 'big' rally only lasted about ten minutes...and then, like gold, traded flat until 10:35 a.m. Eastern before renewing its rally...albeit at a much slower pace. It appeared that the high tick of the day [$33.35 spot] came around 2:15 p.m. in electronic trading...and from there got sold off a bit into the 5:15 p.m. close in New York.
Silver finished the day at $33.11 spot...up 80 cents. Net volume wasn't overly heavy...around 34,000 contracts.
From there, the price traded flat until about ten minutes before the Comex open. Then, the silver price began to rally...and jumped up the moment that trading began in New York. The 'big' rally only lasted about ten minutes...and then, like gold, traded flat until 10:35 a.m. Eastern before renewing its rally...albeit at a much slower pace. It appeared that the high tick of the day [$33.35 spot] came around 2:15 p.m. in electronic trading...and from there got sold off a bit into the 5:15 p.m. close in New York.
Silver finished the day at $33.11 spot...up 80 cents. Net volume wasn't overly heavy...around 34,000 contracts.
The price patterns in platinum and palladium were more or less the same as gold and silver's.
The dollar index hit its 81.44 zenith on Friday morning at 11:30 in New York...and was in decline for the rest of that day. This trend continued right into the Monday trading session. There was a bit of a bounce at the 81.00 level around 11:30 a.m. in London, but the decline resumed at precisely 8:00 a.m. Eastern time...and three hours later, the index had fallen 27 basis points from its 8:00 a.m. peak.
From that point the dollar index didn't do a lot until 5:00 p.m. Eastern when the dollar spiked up into the New York close. The index, which had closed on Friday at 81.20...finished the Monday session at 81.03...down only 17 basis points...but had a bit of a wild ride between those times.
I suppose the co-relation between the dollar index and the precious metal prices was more apparent on Monday...but the moves in the metals themselves was out of all proportions to the tiny moves in the currency index. Here's the chart showing last Friday's high...and all of Monday's action.
The dollar index hit its 81.44 zenith on Friday morning at 11:30 in New York...and was in decline for the rest of that day. This trend continued right into the Monday trading session. There was a bit of a bounce at the 81.00 level around 11:30 a.m. in London, but the decline resumed at precisely 8:00 a.m. Eastern time...and three hours later, the index had fallen 27 basis points from its 8:00 a.m. peak.
From that point the dollar index didn't do a lot until 5:00 p.m. Eastern when the dollar spiked up into the New York close. The index, which had closed on Friday at 81.20...finished the Monday session at 81.03...down only 17 basis points...but had a bit of a wild ride between those times.
I suppose the co-relation between the dollar index and the precious metal prices was more apparent on Monday...but the moves in the metals themselves was out of all proportions to the tiny moves in the currency index. Here's the chart showing last Friday's high...and all of Monday's action.
* * *
The CME's Daily Delivery Report was a blank page yesterday. There were no contracts of any metal posted for delivery on Wednesday.
The GLD ETF showed a smallish withdrawal of 13,891 troy ounces, which may have been a fee payment of some kind. And, for the third day in a row, an authorized participant withdrew about 1.5 million ounces of silver from SLV. This time it was 1,452,093 troy ounces. All withdrawals for the last three days have been within 50 troy ounces of the above number. On Thursday it was 1,452,135 troy ounces...and on Friday it was 1,452,117 troy ounces. Does it mean anything? Beats me!
There was a smallish sales report from the U.S. Mint yesterday. They sold 1,500 ounces of gold eagles...along with 32,000 silver eagles.
Over at the Comex-approved depositories on Friday, they reported receiving 623,635 troy ounces of silver...all of it went into the JPMorgan Chase depository, which now sits at 25,654,294 troy ounces. Nothing was shipped out. I'd sure love to know who the owners are. Is it JPM itself, or does it belong to its customers? The link to Friday's activity ishere.
Here's a nifty chart that Washington state reader S.A. stole from somewhere yesterday. It shows a 'cup and handle' technical formation. If you can believe T.A. in a rigged market, it may mean something...or not!
The GLD ETF showed a smallish withdrawal of 13,891 troy ounces, which may have been a fee payment of some kind. And, for the third day in a row, an authorized participant withdrew about 1.5 million ounces of silver from SLV. This time it was 1,452,093 troy ounces. All withdrawals for the last three days have been within 50 troy ounces of the above number. On Thursday it was 1,452,135 troy ounces...and on Friday it was 1,452,117 troy ounces. Does it mean anything? Beats me!
There was a smallish sales report from the U.S. Mint yesterday. They sold 1,500 ounces of gold eagles...along with 32,000 silver eagles.
Over at the Comex-approved depositories on Friday, they reported receiving 623,635 troy ounces of silver...all of it went into the JPMorgan Chase depository, which now sits at 25,654,294 troy ounces. Nothing was shipped out. I'd sure love to know who the owners are. Is it JPM itself, or does it belong to its customers? The link to Friday's activity ishere.
Here's a nifty chart that Washington state reader S.A. stole from somewhere yesterday. It shows a 'cup and handle' technical formation. If you can believe T.A. in a rigged market, it may mean something...or not!
* * *
selected news items.....
Billions in bearer bonds in NY vault could be lost to hurricane water damage
Hurricane Sandy floodwaters inundated a 10,000-square-foot underground vault downtown, soaking 1.3 million bond and stock certificates -- including bearer bonds that function like cash -- and putting them in danger of turning to mush.
A contractor working for the vault owner, the Depository Trust and Clearing Corp., is feverishly working to restore the paper.
But the value of the threatened notes under 55 Water St. remains unknown to all but the innermost circle of Wall Street bankers.
One source said $70 billion in bearer bonds were in jeopardy.
The rest of this very interesting story was in the New York Post on Sunday...and I found it in a GATA release. The link is here.
A contractor working for the vault owner, the Depository Trust and Clearing Corp., is feverishly working to restore the paper.
But the value of the threatened notes under 55 Water St. remains unknown to all but the innermost circle of Wall Street bankers.
One source said $70 billion in bearer bonds were in jeopardy.
The rest of this very interesting story was in the New York Post on Sunday...and I found it in a GATA release. The link is here.
Wal-Mart Strike: Why the Black Friday Protests Matter to the Future of US Jobs
Wal-Mart is notorious for treating its workers terribly, but this year employees are fighting back by hitting the retailer where it hurts: on Black Friday, the biggest shopping day of the year. Walkouts and protests at locations around the country have already started, and a strike is scheduled for Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving and the start of the Christmas shopping season.
Wal-Mart employees have reported that if they complain about their schedules, wages, or benefits, the company either docks their hours or fires them. But during the holiday shopping rush, Wal-Mart will need all hands on deck, giving the striking employees the most leverage they’re going to get. Not to mention that, as if striking employees were ever good for business, a picket line is sure to put a damper on the holiday cheer that spurs big spending this time of year.
With 1.4 million U.S. workers, Wal-Mart is the country’s largest private employer, and one of the top 20 largest companies in the world. Clearly a force to be reckoned with, Wal-Mart has managed to quash previous attempts at organization among employees. This strike, backed by Making Change at Wal-Mart, a coalition of Wal-Mart employees, union leaders, and other supporters, will be the first in the company’s history.
This story showed up on the policymic.com Internet site on Saturday...and I thank Federico Schiavio for bringing it to our attention. The link is here.
Wal-Mart employees have reported that if they complain about their schedules, wages, or benefits, the company either docks their hours or fires them. But during the holiday shopping rush, Wal-Mart will need all hands on deck, giving the striking employees the most leverage they’re going to get. Not to mention that, as if striking employees were ever good for business, a picket line is sure to put a damper on the holiday cheer that spurs big spending this time of year.
With 1.4 million U.S. workers, Wal-Mart is the country’s largest private employer, and one of the top 20 largest companies in the world. Clearly a force to be reckoned with, Wal-Mart has managed to quash previous attempts at organization among employees. This strike, backed by Making Change at Wal-Mart, a coalition of Wal-Mart employees, union leaders, and other supporters, will be the first in the company’s history.
This story showed up on the policymic.com Internet site on Saturday...and I thank Federico Schiavio for bringing it to our attention. The link is here.
Hostess, Union Agree to Mediation
Iconic snack-maker Hostess Brands on Monday agreed to mediate its differences with striking union members before a bankruptcy judge.
The mediation session will occur Tuesday afternoon in federal bankruptcy court in White Plains, N.Y., where liquidation hearings are underway.
Hostess released a brief statement Monday afternoon confirming the mediation session.
U.S. bankruptcy judge Robert Drain sought the mediation in an effort to save Hostess from liquidation and to save the more than 18,000 jobs at stake if the company collapses.
Twinkie lovers can cut back on their medications for at least one day. This story was posted on the foxbusiness.com website yesterday...and I thank Marshall Angeles for his second offering in today's column. The link is here.
The mediation session will occur Tuesday afternoon in federal bankruptcy court in White Plains, N.Y., where liquidation hearings are underway.
Hostess released a brief statement Monday afternoon confirming the mediation session.
U.S. bankruptcy judge Robert Drain sought the mediation in an effort to save Hostess from liquidation and to save the more than 18,000 jobs at stake if the company collapses.
Twinkie lovers can cut back on their medications for at least one day. This story was posted on the foxbusiness.com website yesterday...and I thank Marshall Angeles for his second offering in today's column. The link is here.
Aussie, Canada dollars termed reserve currencies
The Australian and Canadian dollars, the world’s leading commodity-rich currencies, are being formally classified as official reserve assets by the International Monetary Fund, marking the onset of a multi-currency reserve system and a new era in world money.
In a seemingly innocuous yet highly portentous move, the IMF is asking member countries from next year to include the Australian and Canadian dollars in statistics supplied by reserve-holding nations on the make-up of their central banks’ foreign exchange reserves. The technical-sounding measure, reflecting growing diversification of the world’s $10.5 trillion of reserves, is likely over time to exert wide-ranging impact on world bond and equity markets.
Expanding by two the list of officially recognized reserve assets from the present five — the dollar, euro, sterling, yen and Swiss franc — signals a new phase in the development of reserve money. For most of the past 150 years, the world has had just two reserve currencies, with sterling in the lead until the First World War, and the dollar taking over as the prime asset during the past 100 years.
As a Canadian...I'm underwhelmed. The most important currency of all has not yet been included...and that is gold. Once that happens, then we'll really have something to celebrate. This marketwatch.com story was filed from London...and posted on their Internet site in the wee hours of yesterday morning. I thank Manitoba reader Ulrike Marx for finding it for us...and the link is here.
In a seemingly innocuous yet highly portentous move, the IMF is asking member countries from next year to include the Australian and Canadian dollars in statistics supplied by reserve-holding nations on the make-up of their central banks’ foreign exchange reserves. The technical-sounding measure, reflecting growing diversification of the world’s $10.5 trillion of reserves, is likely over time to exert wide-ranging impact on world bond and equity markets.
Expanding by two the list of officially recognized reserve assets from the present five — the dollar, euro, sterling, yen and Swiss franc — signals a new phase in the development of reserve money. For most of the past 150 years, the world has had just two reserve currencies, with sterling in the lead until the First World War, and the dollar taking over as the prime asset during the past 100 years.
As a Canadian...I'm underwhelmed. The most important currency of all has not yet been included...and that is gold. Once that happens, then we'll really have something to celebrate. This marketwatch.com story was filed from London...and posted on their Internet site in the wee hours of yesterday morning. I thank Manitoba reader Ulrike Marx for finding it for us...and the link is here.
Portugal opposition says austerity has failed
Portugal's experiment with austerity has failed, and the economy is in a worse state than the government or the country's lenders realize, the head of its main opposition party said on Friday.
Socialist party leader Antonio Jose Seguro also said he did not think the country would meet its budget goals, rejecting a planned 4 billion euros of spending cuts in 2013-14 as an attack on the country's welfare state.
"The country is in a more serious situation than the government and 'troika' (of lenders) realize," Seguro told journalists. "There is a consensus in Portuguese society that the austerity recipe has failed."
This Reuters story was filed from Lisbon early Friday morning Eastern time...and is another item I borrowed from Monday's edition of the King Report. The link is here.
Socialist party leader Antonio Jose Seguro also said he did not think the country would meet its budget goals, rejecting a planned 4 billion euros of spending cuts in 2013-14 as an attack on the country's welfare state.
"The country is in a more serious situation than the government and 'troika' (of lenders) realize," Seguro told journalists. "There is a consensus in Portuguese society that the austerity recipe has failed."
This Reuters story was filed from Lisbon early Friday morning Eastern time...and is another item I borrowed from Monday's edition of the King Report. The link is here.
Protesting Spanish Cops: "Forgive Us For Not Arresting Those Truly Responsible For This Crisis: Bankers & Politicians"
Yesterday, several thousand Spanish policemen took the streets of Madrid protesting the latest round of austerity, which included frozen pensions and the elimination of the Christmas bonus (they will have many more opportunities to protest not only the loss of any future upside, but the eventual cut of existing wages and entitlements).
As Russian Today reports, protesters blew whistles, shouted slogans, and carried anti-austerity banners as they marched through the city centre to the interior ministry. But perhaps the most telling message read on one of the slogans, was the following: "Citizens! Forgive us for not arresting those truly responsible for this crisis: bankers and politicians."
I hope someone in Spain puts a medal on this guy. There isn't a soul out there that doesn't feel precisely the same sentiment no matter what country they live in. This Zero Hedge story from Sunday was sent to me by Marshall Angeles...and the link is here.
As Russian Today reports, protesters blew whistles, shouted slogans, and carried anti-austerity banners as they marched through the city centre to the interior ministry. But perhaps the most telling message read on one of the slogans, was the following: "Citizens! Forgive us for not arresting those truly responsible for this crisis: bankers and politicians."
I hope someone in Spain puts a medal on this guy. There isn't a soul out there that doesn't feel precisely the same sentiment no matter what country they live in. This Zero Hedge story from Sunday was sent to me by Marshall Angeles...and the link is here.
Merkel's day of reckoning as taxpayer haircut on Greece looms
Germany, Holland, and the creditor states of northern Europe have not lost a single cent on eurozone rescue packages, so far...but Greece needs €100bn of debt forgiveness to get back on its feet, and a lot of this is coming Germany’s way.
They have lent money, at a theoretical profit. They have issued a fistful of guarantees to Europe’s twin bail-out funds, covering Greece, Ireland, Portugal, Spain, and soon Cyprus. They have taken on opaque and potentially huge liabilities through the European Central Bank.
Yet little has disturbed the illusion that the euro is a free lunch for the surplus powers. An assumption persists that the creditors will - and should - be spared the consequences of flooding Southern Europe with excess capital.
The International Monetary Fund says the country cannot claw its way back to viability unless EU governments and bodies take their punishment. The Fund’s Board and the powers behind it - the US, China, Japan, Brazil - will withdraw if the current farce goes on.
This must read Ambrose Evans-Pritchard offering was posted on The Telegraph's website on Sunday afternoon GMT...and I thank reader "h c" for bringing it to our attention. The link is here.
They have lent money, at a theoretical profit. They have issued a fistful of guarantees to Europe’s twin bail-out funds, covering Greece, Ireland, Portugal, Spain, and soon Cyprus. They have taken on opaque and potentially huge liabilities through the European Central Bank.
Yet little has disturbed the illusion that the euro is a free lunch for the surplus powers. An assumption persists that the creditors will - and should - be spared the consequences of flooding Southern Europe with excess capital.
The International Monetary Fund says the country cannot claw its way back to viability unless EU governments and bodies take their punishment. The Fund’s Board and the powers behind it - the US, China, Japan, Brazil - will withdraw if the current farce goes on.
This must read Ambrose Evans-Pritchard offering was posted on The Telegraph's website on Sunday afternoon GMT...and I thank reader "h c" for bringing it to our attention. The link is here.
Liberated Iraq calls on Arab states to use oil as 'weapon' against U.S.
A top Iraqi diplomat urged Arab states to “use the weapon of oil” against the United States because of its alliance with Israel, raising more questions about the Middle Eastern nation's allegiance to the country that freed it from a ruthless dictatorship.
The shocking statement from a democratic government in power only after the U.S. and allies ousted murderous dictator Saddam Hussein in a costly and bloody war laid bare the Middle Eastern nation’s true allegiance.
"Iraq will invite (Arab) ministers to use the weapon of oil, with the aim of asserting real pressure on the United States and whoever stands with Israel," Qais al-Azzawy told reporters in Cairo on Friday.
"The economic weapon is the strongest one to be put into effect now, to assure of standing by the Palestinian people, in light of there being no military power that can stand in the face of Israel at the present time,” he added.
This Fox News story from last Thursday was also from yesterday's edition of the King Report...and the link is here.
The shocking statement from a democratic government in power only after the U.S. and allies ousted murderous dictator Saddam Hussein in a costly and bloody war laid bare the Middle Eastern nation’s true allegiance.
"Iraq will invite (Arab) ministers to use the weapon of oil, with the aim of asserting real pressure on the United States and whoever stands with Israel," Qais al-Azzawy told reporters in Cairo on Friday.
"The economic weapon is the strongest one to be put into effect now, to assure of standing by the Palestinian people, in light of there being no military power that can stand in the face of Israel at the present time,” he added.
This Fox News story from last Thursday was also from yesterday's edition of the King Report...and the link is here.
In Pictures: Bitter dispute over Kyrgyzstan's gold
I found this 10-photo essay posted on the bbc.co.uk Internet site...and it was embedded in a Zero Hedge story on Sunday. The photos...and associated captions...are well worth looking at. I thank West Virginia reader Elliot Simon for sending them along...and the link is here.
‘We would not be surprised to see gold prices reach $2,200/oz’—ScotiaMocatta
In their analysis, ScotiaMocatta acknowledged, “There remain a multitude of factors influencing the gold price, but one of the main reasons we are still bullish is because of the mess the Western world is in.”
“Europe has a debt problem that is proving all but impossible to solve and all efforts to date have revolved around throwing more money at the problem to avoid the monetary system from breaking down,” ScotiaMocatta observed. “That should be reason enough to be bullish for gold and we think the latest move higher in gold prices shows that it is.”
“It is hard to have much confidence in the economic outlook and in governments’ ability to get a grip with all the interlinked problems.”
Considering Scotia Mocatta is one of the largest precious metal shorts on the Comex, this is quite a comment. But they also predict that gold will fall to $1,100/$1,200 once the bull market runs its course. What are these idiots smoking, because we'll never see these prices again...ever. The story was posted on the mineweb.com Internet site on Monday...and I thank Ulrike Marx for her second offering in today's column. The link is here.
“Europe has a debt problem that is proving all but impossible to solve and all efforts to date have revolved around throwing more money at the problem to avoid the monetary system from breaking down,” ScotiaMocatta observed. “That should be reason enough to be bullish for gold and we think the latest move higher in gold prices shows that it is.”
“It is hard to have much confidence in the economic outlook and in governments’ ability to get a grip with all the interlinked problems.”
Considering Scotia Mocatta is one of the largest precious metal shorts on the Comex, this is quite a comment. But they also predict that gold will fall to $1,100/$1,200 once the bull market runs its course. What are these idiots smoking, because we'll never see these prices again...ever. The story was posted on the mineweb.com Internet site on Monday...and I thank Ulrike Marx for her second offering in today's column. The link is here.
Reserve Bank of India forbids bank loans for gold purchases
On Monday, the Reserve Bank of India directed banks not to give loans for purchase of gold in any form, including primary gold, bullion, and jewellery, to dissuade people from indulging in speculative activity.
"It is advised that no advances should be granted by banks for purchase of gold in any form, including primary gold, gold bullion, gold jewellery, gold coins, units of gold exchange-traded funds, and units of gold mutual funds," the RBI said in a notification.
No advances should be granted by banks against gold bullion to dealers or traders in gold if, in their assessment, such advances are likely to be used for purposes of financing gold purchase at auctions or speculative holding of stocks and bullion, it said.
I found this story embedded in a GATA release yesterday. It was posted on the indianexpress.com Internet site yesterday...and I consider it a must read. The link is here.
"It is advised that no advances should be granted by banks for purchase of gold in any form, including primary gold, gold bullion, gold jewellery, gold coins, units of gold exchange-traded funds, and units of gold mutual funds," the RBI said in a notification.
No advances should be granted by banks against gold bullion to dealers or traders in gold if, in their assessment, such advances are likely to be used for purposes of financing gold purchase at auctions or speculative holding of stocks and bullion, it said.
I found this story embedded in a GATA release yesterday. It was posted on the indianexpress.com Internet site yesterday...and I consider it a must read. The link is here.
GATA consultants Kirby and Turk appear on 'Keiser Report'
GATA consultants Rob Kirby of Kirby Analytics in Toronto and GoldMoney founder James Turk appeared this week on Max Keiser's program on theRussia Today network, "The Keiser Report," to discuss manipulation of the gold and silver markets. GATA figures heavily in the discussion.
Max is on an outrageous rampage here...as it's the two year anniversary special of their Crash JPM, Buy Silver campaign and, as you are already beginning to suspect, he has nothing nice to say about JPMorgan Chase...and he isn't afraid to say so, either. Until I heard this youtube.com video, I had no idea thatRussia Today is as widely viewed as it is. Of course it's not distributed in the USA, except on youtube.com...but elsewhere on Planet Earth, it's a different story entirely.
The show runs 25 minutes...and is a must watch. It was posted on Saturday...and it already had 30,000+ hits by the time I posted it at 2:52 a.m. Eastern time this morning. I found it in a GATA release...and the link ishere.
Max is on an outrageous rampage here...as it's the two year anniversary special of their Crash JPM, Buy Silver campaign and, as you are already beginning to suspect, he has nothing nice to say about JPMorgan Chase...and he isn't afraid to say so, either. Until I heard this youtube.com video, I had no idea thatRussia Today is as widely viewed as it is. Of course it's not distributed in the USA, except on youtube.com...but elsewhere on Planet Earth, it's a different story entirely.
The show runs 25 minutes...and is a must watch. It was posted on Saturday...and it already had 30,000+ hits by the time I posted it at 2:52 a.m. Eastern time this morning. I found it in a GATA release...and the link ishere.
* * *
¤ THE WRAP
I would calculate JPMorgan’s concentrated short position in COMEX silver futures to now be 33,000 contracts, only 1,000 contracts below their recent peak. After removing spread positions from the new data, JPM’s silver position is 32.9% of the true net total market. This is so off the charts as to defy comprehension. Nothing else comes close to being the critical factor in silver. If we all live long enough to see any legitimate position limit regime in silver, JPMorgan’s current dominant position would not be allowed. That position is more than six times larger than the loose-as-a-goose limits proposed by the CFTC...and more than twenty times the 1,500 contract position limit proposed by thousands of public comments. - Silver Analyst Ted Butler...17 November 2012
It was nice to see all the precious metals pop up in price yesterday. I'm sure some of it was currency related but, considering the low volume, I'd guess that there may have been a bit of short covering during the Comex trading session in New York as well. Whatever it was, we may or may not find out in Friday's Commitment of Traders Report.
The preliminary volume and open interest numbers from the CME that were posted on their website in the wee hours of this morning, indicates otherwise...and I'll be very interested in what they show when the finals are posted later this a.m. New York time.
I have nothing to add to what I've been saying for the last ten days or so. Nothing would surprise me...up or down. I'd love to be a fly on the wall at JPMorgan Chase or Scotia Moccata...as I get the impression that there are big changes going on under the surface that we have hints about...but we're certainly not privy to.
But one thing that did come as a big surprise, was how just how far the story of JPMorgan Chase and the silver price management scheme has spread world-wide. The reach that Russia Today has is truly astounding. GATA in gold...and Ted Butler in silver...can only get so far even with the Internet helping out. Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert carry a very big stick...and I wouldn't bet much on JPMorgan and Scotia Mocatta being able to keep up this price management scheme much longer with this kind of public exposure...which is getting bigger with each passing day.
It was nice to see all the precious metals pop up in price yesterday. I'm sure some of it was currency related but, considering the low volume, I'd guess that there may have been a bit of short covering during the Comex trading session in New York as well. Whatever it was, we may or may not find out in Friday's Commitment of Traders Report.
The preliminary volume and open interest numbers from the CME that were posted on their website in the wee hours of this morning, indicates otherwise...and I'll be very interested in what they show when the finals are posted later this a.m. New York time.
I have nothing to add to what I've been saying for the last ten days or so. Nothing would surprise me...up or down. I'd love to be a fly on the wall at JPMorgan Chase or Scotia Moccata...as I get the impression that there are big changes going on under the surface that we have hints about...but we're certainly not privy to.
But one thing that did come as a big surprise, was how just how far the story of JPMorgan Chase and the silver price management scheme has spread world-wide. The reach that Russia Today has is truly astounding. GATA in gold...and Ted Butler in silver...can only get so far even with the Internet helping out. Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert carry a very big stick...and I wouldn't bet much on JPMorgan and Scotia Mocatta being able to keep up this price management scheme much longer with this kind of public exposure...which is getting bigger with each passing day.
But when the end finally comes, it won't be because of anything that the gold and silver mining companies did on our behalf...and the same holds true for the World Gold Council and the Silver Institute. Any person who works, or has worked for either of these organizations, is not the slightest bit interested in finding the truth...even though they all know full well what's going on. By their very silence, the silver and gold mining companies are co-conspirators against all of their shareholders...us.
All we can do is wait it out and be prepared emotionally for whatever happens. The only thing I can add at this point is that price activity is going to get more volatile as the year winds down...and I shan't hazard a guess as to which direction it might take.
Very little happened in Far East trading on their Tuesday...and the same can be said for the first two hours of London trading as well. Volume is light in both metals, with very few roll-overs...and the dollar index is not doing a lot, either.
As is usually the case, I would expect that things will change once New York begins trading. If you subtract the American Thanksgiving holiday from the equation, there aren't a lot of days for the remaining December contract holders to decide on what they're going to do with their current positions. And the longer they wait, the more frantic the trading activity will become as the month winds down.
For that reason alone, the rest of the month could be full of surprises...and I await the 8:20 a.m. Comex open this morning with great interest.
See you on Wednesday.
All we can do is wait it out and be prepared emotionally for whatever happens. The only thing I can add at this point is that price activity is going to get more volatile as the year winds down...and I shan't hazard a guess as to which direction it might take.
Very little happened in Far East trading on their Tuesday...and the same can be said for the first two hours of London trading as well. Volume is light in both metals, with very few roll-overs...and the dollar index is not doing a lot, either.
As is usually the case, I would expect that things will change once New York begins trading. If you subtract the American Thanksgiving holiday from the equation, there aren't a lot of days for the remaining December contract holders to decide on what they're going to do with their current positions. And the longer they wait, the more frantic the trading activity will become as the month winds down.
For that reason alone, the rest of the month could be full of surprises...and I await the 8:20 a.m. Comex open this morning with great interest.
See you on Wednesday.
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