http://www.caseyresearch.com/gsd/edition/chris-powell-will-the-gold-and-silver-mining-industry-ever-stand-up-for-its/
¤ YESTERDAY IN GOLD & SILVER
It was, without doubt, the quietest trading day since the last week of trading in 2012. The price did nothing worth mentioning...the highs and lows aren't worth posting...and the volume, net of roll-overs, was a miniscule 71,000 contracts.
The silver price activity was somewhat more interesting...but just barely.
Silver's tiny foray above the $29 spot price in Far East trading on their Monday lasted until just before the London open at 8:00 a.m. GMT. From there, it was all down hill until silver's low price tick...$29.64 spot...which came twenty minutes after the Comex open.
From that low, the price chopped slowly higher, with every tiny rally attempt getting sold off before it could develop any momentum at all. But shortly after the 1:30 p.m. Eastern time close, silver popped back up to the $29 spot price mark, but every attempt to break through it, quickly got sold off as well.
Silver closed at $28.99 spot...down a penny from Friday's close. Volume was a microscopic 21,000 contracts.
Here's the New York Spot Silver [Bid] action on its own. Every rally, no matter how small, that looked like it was going to end above the $29 spot price mark got sold off. Is someone micro-managing the silver price? Beats me, but the Comex chart for gold from yesterday looks pretty much the same as the Comex silver chart.
Platinum and palladium were very quiet as well.
The dollar index opened in Far East trading on their Monday at 82.75...and by the time New York was done a bit over twenty-three hours later, the index had declined by 13 whole basis points...and finished the Monday session at 82.62. Nothing to see here, folks...please move along.
* * *
Well, the CME's Daily Delivery Report yesterday was a bit of a surprise, as 1,079 gold and 146 silver contracts were posted for delivery within the Comex-approved depositories tomorrow. In gold, the only short/issuer was JPMorgan Chase, with 903 contracts out of their proprietary [in house] trading account, along with 176 contracts out of their client account. The only long/stopper of note was Canada's Bank of Nova Scotia with 1,062 contracts.
In silver, the only short/issuer of note was Jefferies with 131 contracts. What is it with this company, as they always seem to be on the short side of this metal...and hardly ever on the long side. There were a small handful of long/stoppers, but JPMorgan Chase are set to receive the most...102 contracts. Yesterday's Issuers and Stoppers Report is worth a quick peek...and the link is here.
The GLD ETF continues to shed metal. Yesterday an authorized participant withdrew another 96,762 troy ounces...almost precisely three tonnes of the stuff. And, once again, there were no reported changes in SLV.
The U.S. Mint had a sales report. They only sold 1,000 ounces of gold eagles...but reported selling a rather chunky 665,500 silver eagles. Month-to-date [7 business days] the mint has sold 1,562,500 silver eagles...which is north of 220,000 silver eagles per day. That's amazing...and it will be interesting to see if they can keep up this level of production. I don't think they can, but who really knows.
Over at the Comex-approved depositories on Friday, they reported receiving 431,946 troy ounces of silver...and shipped 795,793 troy ounces of the stuff out the door. The link to this activity is here.
Here are charts that show all the visible gold, silver, platinum and palladium held by all the repositories, Mutual Funds and ETFs in Ounces. Each metal is broken out separately so you can see how each precious metal is doing on its own.
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One thing you should take away from these charts is the infinitesimally small holdings of all the platinum and palladium ETFs. The silver market is a tiny market in the grand scheme of things, hardly a rounding error...so these other two precious metals don't even register when it come to total ounces produced, consumed...or held by the public.
It wasn't a big news day yesterday, so I really took an axe to the list of stories that were sent to me yesterday, as I'm never a happy camper when this column gets too long.
selected news and views - non redundant from other posts....
Sputtering global economy belies stock market boom
Asia's economic recovery is losing momentum and Europe's slump is proving deeper than expected, raising concerns that soaring stock markets globally have jumped ahead of economic reality.
Officials at key central banks and the International Monetary Fund doubt the world economy has reached "escape velocity", worried over the debt overhang and chronic lack of demand.
Albert Edwards from Société Générale said: "Financial markets can ignore weak data for a long time so long as it is not catastrophic but reality catches up with them eventually." He said the latest phase of Wall Street's blow-off has been driven by companies raising debt to buy back their own stocks despite poor earnings, as they did during the Greenspan boom.
"It feels eerily similar to the prior mid-2007 peak. Buying shares when they are expensive in the wake of a huge rally seems designed to destroy value," he said.
This must read Ambrose Evans-Pritchard offering was posted on thetelegraph.co.uk Internet site late yesterday evening...and I thank Manitoba reader Ulrike Marx for sharing it with us.
Paul Craig Roberts: Staring Armageddon In The Face But Hiding It With Official Lies
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the U.S. economy created 236,000 new jobs in February. If you believe that, I have a bridge in Brooklyn that I’ll let you have at a good price.
Where are these alleged jobs? The BLS says 48,000 were created in construction. That is possible, considering that revenue-starved real estate developers are misreading the housing situation.
Then there are 23,700 new jobs in retail trade, which is hard to believe considering the absence of consumer income growth and the empty parking lots at shopping malls.
The real puzzle is 20,800 jobs in motion picture and sound recording industries. This is the first time in the years that I have been following the jobs reports that there has been enough employment for me to even notice this category.
This must read story contains several paragraphs on the gold price management scheme towards the end of the article...but the whole commentary is worth your time regardless. I thank reader Rob Bentley for sending it our way.
Norway Fund Flees Currencies Tainted by Stimulus Addiction
Norway’s $713 billion sovereign wealth fund is turning away from the world’s biggest currencies and their debt-laden governments as policy makers undermine their exchange rates through unprecedented stimulus measures.
The Government Pension Fund Global, the world’s largest wealth fund, cut its holdings in French and U.K. government bonds by almost half last year as it raised its share of government bonds in emerging-market currencies to 10 percent of its fixed-income holdings by adding investments in Turkey, Russia and Taiwan.
“It’s what we perceive as a risk-reducing investment strategy,” Yngve Slyngstad, chief executive officer of Norges Bank Investment Management, said in a March 8 interview in Oslo. Cutting dollar, yen, euro and pound investments is a “prudent” move, he said. “These four major currencies all have structural issues, with regards to government debt, to private sector debt, to unconventional monetary policy, and to growth and the demographic profile of the countries.”
This fund will really make news if they "go for gold"...but the fact that they haven't already means that they're not likely to.
This Bloomberg story article was posted on their website early yesterday morning Mountain Time...and I thank Ulrike Marx for her third and final offering in today's column.
Made Poor by the Crisis: Millions of Europeans Require Red Cross Food Aid
Needy families and individuals in the European Union are becoming increasingly reliant on charity organizations like the Red Cross for basic needs like food, water and shelter. While Germany is relatively unaffected, unemployment and austerity in countries like Spain are making the problem even more severe.
Two-thirds of national Red Cross societies within the European Union have begun distributing food aid, according to the head of the aid groups' international organization -- a sign that the economic crisis in Europe is having an alarming effect on poverty.
Yves D'accord, Director-General of the International Committee of the Red Cross, said on a visit to New Delhi on Monday that the scope of food distribution had not been at its current level since the end of World War II
This very short story was posted on the German website spiegel.de early yesterday evening...and I thank Roy Stephens for sharing it with us.
Constitutional Reforms: Hungary Steps Away from European Democracy
As expected, the Hungarian parliament on Monday evening passed a package of constitutional amendments that legal experts say are an affront to democracy. Berlin, Brussels and Washington all voiced their concern in the run up to the vote. Leaders in Budapest, however, were un-phased.
Hungarian President János Áder arrived in Berlin on Monday for what might look merely like a standard bilateral meeting between two EU leaders. But the relationship between the European Union and Hungary is anything but normal these days. Budapest, after all, bid farewell on Monday to many of the values that define the 27-member club.
Prime Minster Viktor Orbán, like Áder a member of the conservative Fidesz party, has expanded his power dramatically. While the head of state was in Berlin, the prime minister moved ahead with a highly controversial package of amendments to the country's constitution. The amendments weaken the country's constitutional court, the last defender of Hungary's constitutional state, and they limit the independence of the entire judiciary branch.
In other words, a country at the center of the European Union is moving away from the principles of freedom, democracy and the rule of law.
This is another story from the spiegel.de Internet site early yesterday evening...and Roy Stephens second offering in a row.
Cyprus report 'not enough' to convince German opposition
The German Social-Democrats say one report on anti-money-laundering measures in Cyprus will not be enough to convince them to approve a bailout for the troubled island.
"As long as there is an economic model in Cyprus based on black money, Serbian mafia income and tax dumping, I cannot imagine that we will allow German taxpayers' money to be used for the preservation of this model," German Social Democrat leader Sigmar Gabriel said on Monday (11 March) in Berlin during a press conference.
"We will need more than a single report to convince us," he added.
This story, filed from Berlin, was posted on the euobserver.com Internet site late yesterday afternoon Europe time...and is Roy Stephens final offering in today's column.
Seven King World News Blogs/Audio Interviews
1. John Embry: "I Believe Global Silver Stockpiles Are Now Exhausted". 2.Robert Fitzwilson: "The Case For Gold, Silver and Energy Has Never Been Stronger". 3. Michael Pento: "Gold and Silver Keys to Currency Depreciation and Economic Chaos". 4. Jim Sinclair: "Shorts Are About to Get Mauled in the Gold Market". 5. Richard Russell: "Gold Action, Market Melt-Up and When to Exit". 6. The first audio interview is with Jim Sinclair...and the second audio interview is with James Turk
Addison Wiggin: "Sorry, No Gold Today...we sent it to China"
“The central banks’ gold is likely gone, and the bullion banks that sold it have no realistic chance of getting it back” Eric Sprott tells us.
He also says that these “bullion bank” intermediaries are probably turning around and selling their gold to China.
China, by the way, is the mostly likely catalyst to set off the “zero hour” scenario we told you about on Friday…
We’ve chronicled China’s ongoing gold grab here at Agora Financial — going all the way back to April 24, 2009, when the People’s Bank of China announced its gold reserves had grown to 1,054 tonnes — up from 600 in 2003. And that’s the last official word.
This must read essay was posted on The Daily Reckoning website yesterday...and my thanks go out to West Virginia reader Elliot Simon for bringing it to my attention...and now to yours.
Will the gold and silver mining industry ever stand up for itself?
Amid the worst despair in the gold and silver sector since GATA was founded in 1999 and the precious metals began their sensational rise remonetizing themselves, your secretary/treasurer will depart next week for Hong Kong, where he is to speak at the Mines and Money conference, do some interviews with financial journalists, and try to persuade gold and silver mining company executives that their competition isn't so much each other as it is central banks, since the product of gold and silver mining companies, whether they realize it or not, is most of all money.
Your secretary/treasurer won't be alone in these efforts. The conference's keynote speaker will be Sprott Asset Management CEO Eric Sprott, whose theme, according to the conference's Internet site, will be "Mania, Manipulation, Meltdown." And of course Asia itself doesn't require much persuading about the monetary characteristics of the precious metals.
This commentary by Chris Powell is another must read...and he echoes what I've been saying in this column for years...when are the mining companies going to do what's right by their real owners...us...and bell this cat. I'm not holding my breath, as these guys have no real interest in you, the shareholder. It was posted on the gata.org Internet site on Saturday.
¤ THE WRAP
I'm prepared to make a bet. You keep your U.S. dollars...and I'll keep my gold. We'll see which one goes to zero first. - Dr. Marc Faber
If there ever was a Valium moment in the precious metals market, it was yesterday. Such as it was, yesterday's price 'action' meant nothing in the grand scheme of things, so I shan't dwell on it further.
Before I forget, I want to remind you that if you didn't read Paul Craig Robert's gold comments in the last few paragraphs of his article posted in the "Critical Reads" section above, you can make amends now. Here's the link. Paul used to be the Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Treasury for Economic Policy, so I would guess he knows of what he speaks.
In Far East trading on their Tuesday, not much happened there...nor is much going on now that London has been open for a couple of hours. Volume is light once again...and I can tell that it's all of the high-frequency trading variety, as it's all in the front months for both metals...and there are virtually no roll-overs in gold, which is always a sure sign the HFT boys are out and about. As I hit the 'send' button at 5:10 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time, both gold and silver are flat...and the dollar index is up about 12 basis points.
It will be interesting to see if there is any price action worthy of the name once trading begins in New York this morning.
See you tomorrow.
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