Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Ed Steer's Gold & Silver report for December 18 , 2012 - data for Monday December 17th and a motherlode of news and views..... a few items from Silver Doctors as well !

http://www.silverdoctors.com/raid-silver-smashed-to-31-50-reaches-glitch-target-of-31-80/

( following the manipulation trails...... can they push silver to 30 , which seems to open up 28 as a possibility ......for gold , if 1650 is breached - next major support seems to be 1600 , then 1550.... )


RAID! SILVER SMASHED TO $31.25, REACHES GLITCH TARGET OF $31.80

*Update: 2nd wave of smash in progress, silver to $31.25
Last week, we wondered aloud whether the recent chart glitches in gold and silver were in fact the cartel telegraphing upcoming gold and silver raid targets to their friends. 
 At the time, gold had already subsequently achieved the raid target of $1699, but silver was still nearly a dollar north of the glitch raid target of $31.80.
After trading in a tight range with minimal volatility throughout the overnight session and early in Tuesday’s COMEX session, gold & silver have just been sent over the HFT Niagra Falls, with gold smashed to $1675, and silver smashed nearly $1 to $31.50.  Nearly 3 weeks later, the cartel has achieved and surpassed it’s chart glitch telegraphed silver target of $31.80. 
Naturally, today’s gold and silver raids occurred just after the afternoon London fix was set, preventing any physical buyers in London from taking advantage of the manipulative smash.
Silver’s flash crash to $31.25:
*Update: 2nd wave of smash in progress:
And the Nov 26th chart glitch foretelling the upcoming cartel actions:
Gold hammered to $1675:
While they still have a ways to go, it is conceivable that the cartel is attempting to paint a 2nd consecutive negative annual close in silver, and the first negative annual return for gold in the entire bull market.  While it must currently be considered unlikely the cartel achieves these lofty goals, we wouldn’t put it past them to attempt the feat, particularly with minimal volume over the next 2 holiday weeks.

and......

SILVER DECEPTIONS: LARGE SURPLUSES & LOW PRODUCTION COST

SD’s own SRSrocco lets cartel shills Jeffrey Christian and Ned Schmidt have it in his latest MUST READ silver analysis.
By SD Contributor SRSrocco:
There are two misconceptions about the silver market that are still held by many investors in the precious metals community One is the notion that the world produces large annual silver surpluses and the other is the low cost of mining silver.  Some have argued that the investors have been deceived by certain aspects of the silver industry to believe these two fabrications.
If the silver institute determined the annual silver surplus-deficit the same way as the World Gold Council calculates gold, there would be no so-called huge silver surpluses However, the silver industry and investors have been indoctrinated to believe that silver is just a mere slave to fulfill the demands of its industrial masters.  Institutions, individual investors or the public who have the “need” or “use” to acquire silver as investment — need not apply.
Before we get into destroying the myth (once and for all) behind the so-called silver surpluses, here is the definition of surplus: [Read more...]













http://www.caseyresearch.com/gsd/edition/noting-markets-have-been-destroyed-chris-martenson-earns-his-tinfoil-hat


Noting That Markets Have Been Destroyed, Chris Martenson Earns His Tinfoil Hat

Dec
18
"If inflation is what the Fed wants, one of the ways to do that would be to let the precious metals run to the upside"


¤ YESTERDAY IN GOLD AND SILVER

Gold ticked higher on Sunday night in New York at the open...but then got sold off as the trading day advanced in the Far East, with the low of the day coming about fifteen minutes before the London open.
From there, the gold price rallied about five bucks into the 8:20 a.m. Comex open...and then jumped up another five bucks.  But its attempt to move above the $1,700 price mark ran into a willing seller on every attempt.  The high tick of the day, if one wishes to dignify it with that name, was $1,700.30 spot...and that came at 10:30 a.m Eastern.
Gold closed at $1,698.10 spot...up $1.90 from Friday's close.  Volume was very light at only 92,000 contracts.
The silver price path was very similar to gold's right up to and including the rally after the Comex open.  Silver then got sold off after that...and then struggled back to close at a small loss.
Silver finished the day at $32.28 spot...down a whole 3 cents.  Volume was pretty light as well...around 27,000 contracts.
The dollar index price action wasn't very exciting on Monday, either.  It opened at 79.56...rallied to it's 'high' of the day at precisely 3:00 p.m. Hong Kong time...and the slid to its 'low' of the day around 10:20 a.m. in New York.  The index rallied a hair from there...and closed at 79.66
It's a real stretch to say that the gold and silver prices moves yesterday were in response to such tiddling little moves in the dollar index...but stranger things have happened.  It's up to you if you want to read anything into it or not.

*   *   * 

The CME's Daily Delivery Report for Monday drew a blank in both gold and silver, as there no deliveries posted in either for Wednesday.
There was a smallish decline in GLD, as an authorized participant withdrew 29,056 troy ounces of gold.  There were no reported changes in SLV.
The U.S. Mint had a sales report today.  They sold 2,500 ounces of gold eagles...500 one-ounce 24K gold buffaloes...and 232,000 silver eagles.
It was a very quiet Friday over at the Comex-approved depositories, as no silver was deposited...and only 6,034 ounces were reported shipped out.
Well, I fired off an e-mail to ombudsman at Scotiabank of Sunday...and it's my last swing for the fences because, as you'll note in the e-mail below, I've gone as far as I'm prepared to go to get a real answer out of them on this issue.
Dr. Mr. Dougall,
Thank you for your reply of last Monday.
Both Mr. Shearim and yourself have been kind enough to answer a question that I never asked.  I know perfectly well that the "Scotiabank/Scotia Mocatta has no connection with data provided by the CFTC"...but I also know, that as a market-making member of the LBMA, you are required to report COMEX gold and COMEX silver futures and options positions to the CFTC on a weekly basis.
Here's my question one more time as put to Dave Shearim...and now to you, again.
"Part of my reading material includes two reports that are issued by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission...the CFTC.  The most notable of those are the weekly Commitment of Traders Report and the monthly Bank Participation Report.
Here's a chart of the U.S. M3 money supply courtesy of Nick Laird...and it requires no further embellishment from me.
(Click on image to enlarge)
Wesley Legrand sent me the chart below...along with the following commentary..."You can see in the chart above that in the last decade, the relatively 'slow years' of 2004 and 2008 have been followed by big years.  And gold has now had two slow years in a row - so maybe gold is now set for a boomer year in 2013."
And lastly...here's a chart from Washington state reader S.A.  He sent me a tiny jpg version of this graph...and Nick was kind enough to upgrade it to the full-size png chart you see before you now.
(Click on image to enlarge)
It's a Tuesday...and that means I have a lot of stories for you today.  Once again it gives me great pleasure to leave the final edit up to you.


and selected news items......

Jim Rickards: the Fed is Racing to Create Inflation Before the US Economy Implodes!

I'm never happy to start off the 'Critical Read' section with a must watch...but such is the case today.  This is Jim on Russia Today's "Capital Account" program with Lauren Lyster last week.  It begins at the 2:30 mark...and ends around the 18:45 mark.  I thank Brad Robertson for our first story of the day...and the link is here.


Argentina faces expulsion from IMF and economic pariah status

The threat of expulsion comes two months after the International Monetary Fund said that Argentina had "not brought itself into compliance" over the "quality of the official data reported to the Fund" and warned that there could be repercussions.
The IMF set a deadline of Monday for the country to comply. Argentina is yet to respond.
Ejection from the 188-member club could mean the country loses access to vital international credit lines. It will also be the first time a country has been expelled since the former Czechoslovakia was kicked-out in 1954 for "failing to provide required data".
A resolution requiring a country to withdraw from the IMF would need the support of governors representing 85pc of voting rights.
This story was posted on The Telegraph's website yesterday morning GMT...and I thank Roy Stephens for his first offering in today's column.  The link is here.


For Spaniards, Having a Job No Longer Guarantees a Paycheck

Over the past two years, Ana MarĂ­a Molina Cuevas, 36, has worked five shifts a week in a ceramics factory on the outskirts of this city, hand-rolling paint onto tiles. But at the end of the month, she often went unpaid.
Still, she kept showing up, trying to keep her frustration under control. If she quit, she reasoned, she might never get her money. And besides, where was she going to find another job? Last month, she was down to about $130 in her bank account with a mortgage payment due.
“On the days you get paid,” she said at home with her disabled husband and young daughter, “it is like the sun has risen three times. It is a day of joy.”
Mrs. Molina, who is owed about $13,000 by the factory, is hardly alone. Being paid for the work you do is no longer something that can be counted on in Spain, as this country struggles through its fourth year of an economic crisis.
This story showed on The New York Times website on Sunday...and is the second offering in a row from Roy Stephens...and the link is here.


The Road to Shared Liability: Hidden Risks Plague Euro-Zone Bank Oversight Plan

German Chancellor Angela Merkel was full of praise for the euro-zone bank oversight plan passed last week at the EU summit in Brussels. But the deal is not nearly as watertight as she claimed. It lacks a legal foundation and could lead to a conflict of interest at the highest levels of the European Central Bank.
Angela Merkel received recognition from the highest possible level -- herself. The most recent resolutions made by the European Union in its ongoing effort to save the common currency, she said last Thursday, "can't be spoken of highly enough." Her administration had been able to "push through Germany's core demands," she said.
Self praise, of course, is often inaccurate. But in this case, the gap between fiction and reality is particularly wide. The agreement reached by European leaders and their finance ministers during last week's summits in Brussels could ultimately destroy Merkel's reputation as a level-headed and firm savior of the common currency.
Her strategy in the crisis has long been praised for being one focused on a series of systematic small steps. The results of last week's negotiations, however, can best be described as large steps backwards.
This story was posted on the German website spiegel.de yesterday...and it's Roy's third story in a row in today's column.  The link is here.


Japan's Shinzo Abe prepares to print money for the whole world

Japan’s incoming leader Shinzo Abe has vowed to ram through full-blown reflation policies to pull his country out of slump and drive down the yen, warning Japan's central bank not to defy the will of the people.
The profound shift in economic strategy by the world’s top creditor nation could prove a powerful tonic for the global economy, with stimulus leaking into bourses and bond markets - a variant of the "carry trade" earlier this decade but potentially on a larger scale.
"We think this could be the beginning of a fresh reflation cycle for the global system, combining with the US recovery to mark a turning point in the crisis," said Simon Derrick from BNY Mellon.
"It is tremendously important for global growth, and markets are starting to take note," said Lars Christensen from Danske Bank.
This Ambrose Evans-Pritchard story was posted on The Telegraph's website early yesterday evening...and is definitely worth running through.  Casey Research's own David Galland sent it around to all the CR editors yesterday...and I was more than happy to make use of it.  The link is here.


Seven King World News Blogs/Audio Interviews

1. John Embry: "Chinese Demand for Silver has Exploded".  2. James Turk- "The Cartel is Getting Desperate in the Gold & Silver War".  3. Dan Norcini: "Our Path to Collapse Will Impact Everyone Around the World".  4.Robert Fitzwilson: "We are Headed to a Historic Collapse of the Financial System".  5. Richard Russell: "The Ring of Fire, QE Forever & Gold".  6. Audio interview with Nigel Farage.  7.  Audio interview with Rick Rule.


SEC authorizes JPMorgan to use ETF to rig copper market too

A JPMorgan-backed investment vehicle that aims to track the price of copper has won the approval of US regulators in spite of strong opposition from users of the metal and senior politicians.
The Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday approved the exchange traded fund, which is backed by physical buying of copper, opening the door to easy investment in the metal. The regulator's approval comes despite opposition from Carl Levin, chairman of the powerful Senate subcommittee on investigations, on the grounds that the proposed products "would allow speculators to create a squeeze on the market."
Senator Levin said that the SEC's approval of the ETF was "a blow to American businesses and consumers" and that it would "increase copper prices and volatility, and undermine market efforts to produce prices in response to supply and demand by copper users."
This story showed in the Financial Times of London yesterday morning...and is posted in the clear in this GATA release.  The link is here.


Gold fever strikes German retail investors

Despite the relative health of the German economy compared to its beleaguered Mediterranean peer states in the EU, average Germans are investing in physical gold en masse due to concerns over their fiscal well-being.
The Local reports that a new study by the Steinbeis Research Center for Financial Services has discovered that 69% of Germans have invested in gold, with around half of them keeping bullion in their own homes. 48% stash their gold in bank vaults, while 9% sequester their precious metals at the premises of specialized gold traders.
The Teutonic enthusiasm for gold is also increasing, with the number of Germans who have a net monthly income in excess of EUD4,000 and express an interest in gold investment having doubled in the current year.
This very short story appeared on the mining.com Internet site on Sunday...and I thank Ontario reader Richard O'Mara for bringing it to our attention.  The link is here.


Of algorithmic trading and gold and silver price manipulation

Those who follow the day to day developments in the gold and silver markets have typically seen rampant market manipulation by large traders and bullion banks.
Although supposedly against the rules — and even being subjected to an ongoing investigation by the CFTC that now reaches into its fifth year — this market bullying is nevertheless allowed to happen over and over again without effective regulatory intervention.
Some of these big players even employ algorithmic trading systems to move into and out of the market faster than any human can. The transactions initiated by these computerized trading programs happen rapidly and often in huge size.
This commentary by Dr. Jeffrey Lewis showed up on the mineweb.com Internet site on Sunday.  There's nothing in here that Ted Butler hasn't brought up many times in the past, but it's still worth reading..and I thank Paul Laviers for bringing it to our attention.  The link is here.


US Mint Sold Out of Silver Eagle Bullion Coins Until January 7, 2013

Authorized purchasers will be faced with a three week period during which there will be no American Silver Eagle bullion coins available to order from the United States Mint.
The Mint recently informed authorized purchasers that all remaining inventories of 2012-dated Silver Eagle bullion coins had sold out and no additional coins would be struck. Since the 2013-dated coins will not be available to order until January 7, 2013, this leaves a three week void for the Mint's most popular bullion offering.
As with other bullion programs, the US Mint does not sell Silver Eagle bullion coins directly to the public, but distributes them through a network of authorized purchasers. The primary distributors are able to purchase the coins in bulk quantities at a price based on the market price of silver plus a fixed mark up. The coins are then resold to other bullion dealers, coin dealers, and the public.
This story appeared on the coinupdate.com Internet site yesterday...and it's courtesy of reader Elliot Simon once again.  The link is here.


Sudan tightens control of gold refining and exports

The Central Bank of Sudan on Wednesday issued a ban on the exports of gold ore effective January 2013, state media reported.
No reason was given for the decision but the report stated that the bank will focus on developing marketing channels for the gold locally through the establishment of precious-metals exchange in Sudan.
Gold mining firms will be allowed to export in line with bank policies only after refining it in the newly built Khartoum refinery.
This story is from about a week ago.  It was filed from Khartoum and posted on the Sundan Tribune website last Thursday.  I found this piece in a GATA release...and the link is here.


Indian government admits 'gold-backed' means just pretending to have gold

Thanks to the government of India for acknowledging today that the great advantage of "gold-backed financial instruments" is not to their purchasers but rather to the government itself in its campaign to talk Indians out of their gold to reduce the country's current account deficit.
That is, as the Press Trust of India reports in the story appended from The Hindu, replacing the investment of the Indian people in gold with "gold-backed financial instruments" can reduce gold purchases only insofar as those "gold-backed financial instruments" don't actually have all the gold that has been sold in their name.
"In its mid-year economic analysis tabled in Parliament on Monday," the PTI story says, "the government said gold-backed products would help investors enjoy the benefits of investment in the metal without investing in the physical commodity."
Well, dear reader, I certainly hope you know which kind of precious metal to hold.  This story, filed from New Delhi, was posted on thehindu.com Internet site yesterday and is definitely worth reading...but I've posted the GATA link to this story, as it contains an extensive preamble by Chris Powell...andthat's worth reading as well.  The link is here.


Noting that markets have been destroyed, Chris Martenson earns his tinfoil hat

Once upon a time," Martenson writes, perhaps with a weary glance at GATA, "it would have been considered in bad taste to suggest that the world was being centrally managed in secret by a smallish cabal of bankers whose actions served to either prop up the excessive spending habits of the very governments that conferred upon them the power to print money or to bolster the health and profits of the banks they mainly serve. That was then. Today you can just read about it in the Wall Street Journal."
"I don't really think that gold's current market price or recent behavior have anything useful to do with gold's value here. ... [S]ome entity has been selling literally thousands and thousands of gold contracts into the thinly traded overnight markets so rapidly that we have to use millisecond charting to see it for what it is. Again, there is no other legitimate explanation for this activity of which I am aware besides having an intent of pushing the price down.
"Whether there is some motivation for this activity besides 'making money,' I remain convinced that the gold market, like many others, is no longer sending useful price signals.
This commentary by Chris Martenson contains an extensive preamble by Chris Powell, as well as other links.  The GATA release...and Ted Butler's essay above...are your two big must reads of the day.  The link to this GATA release is here.


*   *   *  

¤ THE WRAP

Lost in the weekly observations of COT changes is the enormity of the size of JPMorgan’s COMEX silver short position. It would be impossible for any one entity to hold a short position equaling 23.4% of the world annual production of most food or industrial commodities (like corn or crude oil) because such a position would require a size well in excess of current total open interest levels in most markets. For instance, someone holding 23.4% of world annual oil production would have to hold 7 million NYMEX contracts; a neat trick for a market that has a total open interest of 1.5 million contracts. The record still indicates that JPMorgan added more than 100 million oz of COMEX short positions since the summer, making the bank the only real silver short seller during that time. When there is only one buyer or seller in any market, that market is manipulated. - Silver analyst Ted Butler...15 December 2012
Well, it was another slow start to the week for both gold and silver, as there wasn't a lot of volume...and that allowed anyone with a vested interesting in managing the precious metal prices to so...and it's my belief that they did, as both gold and silver's attempt to move higher shortly after the Comex open ran into the usual not-for-profit sellers.
Today is the cut-off for this Friday's Commitment of Traders Report...and I'll be more than interested in the numbers when they're posted...especially in silver.
I just want to repeat something that I mentioned in this space on either Friday or Saturday...and that is the fact that with all this massive money printing on our doorstep in the coming year, there's no way that JPMorgan et al will be able to keep the price under control.  If inflation is what the Fed wants, one of the ways to do that would be to let the precious metals run to the upside as another sign that inflation was about to rear its ugly head.  We'll just have to wait and see how all of this unfolds in the new year.
In Far East trading on their Tuesday, both metals rallied a bit into the Hong Kong lunch hour...and then didn't do much after that...and aren't doing much now that London has been open for a couple of hours.  Volumes are about average for this time of day...and the dollar index isn't doing much.
That's way too much for one day...but my Tuesday column is like that at times. See you here tomorrow.


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