Barron notes unavailability of German gold, possibility of Swiss purchases
Submitted by cpowell on Thu, 2013-04-18 14:27. Section: Daily Dispatches
10:24a ET Thursday, April 18, 2013
Dear Friend of GATA and Gold:
Mining entrepreneur Keith Barron, interviewed by King World News, notes the unavailability of most German gold for return from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, likely because of its impairment by leases, as well as the political movement in Switzerland to require the Swiss National Bank to buy 1,000 tonnes of the monetary metal:
CHRIS POWELL, Secretary/Treasurer
Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee Inc.
Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee Inc.
THURSDAY, APRIL 18, 2013
The Law Of Unintended Consequences
Gold has worked down from Alexander's time... When something holds good for two thousand years I do not believe it can be so because of prejudice or mistaken theory. - Bernard M. BaruchSomething most unusual happened yesterday - in the aftermath of the one of the most brutal one-day price drops in gold that I've ever witnessed - a paper/futures driven sell-off, mind you - U.S. retail buyers bought 63,500 ozs of gold American eagles from the U.S. mint. This is by far a one-day record. This is nearly 2 tonnes of gold purchased in one day by retail buyers. A staggering amount. That's 20% of the amount the falsely-reported gold sale from the Cyprus Central Bank. What's most stunning about this is that historically, gold/silver buyers have scattered like frightened deer when gold undergoes a big price drop. But this time was different.
While the widely reported price drop in gold has made great media "shock and awe" headlines, quietly the nationwide coin dealer supply of 1 oz. silver eagles and maple leafs has been rapidly depleted. Dealers two weeks ago were selling silver eagles for spot +$2.50 +/-. Yesterday I spoke with a very large owner of silver eagle mint boxes (500 ozs/box) who was offered (bid) spot +$3.75 by two large coin dealers for everything he owned.
In fact, if you can find dealers with silver eagles to offer, you'll pay spot + $7.50-8.50 plus shipping. So, in fact, despite the big sell-off in the price silver - again, driven by the paper/futures Comex - the true price of 1 oz. of real, physical silver that gets delivered to your possession has not declined at all (large buyers might be able to find silver eagles in quantity at more like spot +$4.50-5.00).
If you see offers from your bank or insurance company-employed financial advisor to invest in an account that has gold/silver in it, run the other way. ABN/Amro - the large Dutch bank - recently defaulted on investors who invested in a gold "account" and who wanted delivery of that gold: LINK If you had invested in that account and called to have the account liquidated and the gold sent to you, you got a letter back with a check in it. This is exactly what gold market professionals have been warning about for years. Coming soon to a fractional, paper precious metals account near you.
And don't think that can't happen in this country - like many Americans are delusionally wont to believe. But it already has. Morgan Stanley settled a big lawsuit several years ago because it defaulted on a silver investment account product. When enough investors went to redeem their account and have the silver delivered, Morgan Stanley didn't have the silver. The account was a Ponzi scheme:
The lawsuit, filed in August 2005, alleged that Morgan Stanley had told clients it was selling them precious metals that they would own in full and that the company would store. But Morgan Stanley was actually making either no investment specifically on behalf of those clients or making an entirely different investment of lesser value and security, according to the complaint. LINKThe unintended consequence of all this banking system and corporate fraud that is going unprosecuted by the Obama Administration - contrary to what he promised to do in 2008 when he was campaigning - is that a larger cross-section of the American public are starting to catch on to the game being played by the banking and political elite. Yesterday's gold sales by the mint is proof.
A paper currency that has no wealth-backing in the form of real, substantiated economic growth - or stored wealth created in the form of gold and silver (see Bernard Baruch's quote above) - is illegitimate. Any Government that issues and prints such a currency is illegitimate. The U.S. Government is illegitimate and the massive and growing amount of unpayable Treasury debt and unpayable future liabilities is the proof.
That more Americans are understanding the necessity of converting illegitimate paper dollars into physical gold and silver - especially when given the gift of a big price correction - is the unintended consequence of the past week's attempt to discredit the legitimacy of gold and silver by the banking/political elite.
http://www.caseyresearch.com/gsd/edition/bill-bonner-this-gold-bug-aint-for-turning/
¤ YESTERDAY IN GOLD & SILVER
After getting blasted by about forty bucks at 9:00 a.m. Hong Kong time, gold spent the rest of the Thursday Far East and London trading sessions recovering from that engineered price decline. This choppy rally ended at the Comex open in New York yesterday morning, just as it was about to break through $1,400 spot for the third day in a row.
The gold price sold off until shortly after the equity market opened in North America...and then made another attempt to rally through the $1,400 price level...meeting the same fate that it did at the Comex open. From there it didn't do much into the close of electronic trading.
The low tick yesterday was a bit below the $1,340 spot mark in Hong Kong...and the high tick [$1,403 spot] came just minutes after the Comex open...an intraday price move of over sixty bucks.
Gold closed the Thursday trading session in New York at $1,392.10 spot, up at even $15.00 from Wednesday. Gross volume was around 261,000 contracts...down only a little from Wednesday.
The price activity in silver [complete with the engineered price decline in Hong Kong] was very similar to gold's, right up to and including the low tick in New York, which came just minutes after the equity markets began to trade. Silver recovered a bit from there, but that smallish rally didn't get far.
The low tick at 9:00 a.m. in Hong Kong was slightly below $22.40 spot...and the high tick in New York printed $23.79 spot...an intraday move of over $1.40.
Silver closed at $23.28 spot...down 3 cents from Wednesday's close...and down 6 cents from Tuesday's close. What are the chances that this was accidental? I wonder if someone got a prize for it? Volume, net of roll-overs out of the May delivery month, was around 47,500 contracts.
Here are the platinum and palladium charts for comparison purposes...
The dollar index closed on Wednesday evening in New York at 82.63...and once it opened in the Far East less than an hour later, drifted gently lower for the rest of the Thursday session, closing in New York at 82.55...down 8 basis points on the day. Nothing to see here, folks...please move along.
The gold stocks gapped up at the open in New York yesterday morning...and then spent the rest of the day in positive territory. The HUI finished up 2.75%...about a percent off its high of the day.
The silver stocks had a pretty decent day as well...and Nick Laird's Intraday Silver Sentiment Index closed up 2.13%.
(Click on image to enlarge)
The CME Daily Delivery Report, for the second day in a row, is hardly worth the effort to write a paragraph about, as zero gold and one lonely silver contract were posted for delivery on Monday. According to today's volume and open interest report, there are still about 620 gold and 30 or so silver contracts of open interest left in the April delivery month, so we aren't done with deliveries just yet...and there's still room for some out-of-the-blue delivery surprises if someone shows up to buy Comex silver because they can't source it from anywhere else. We'll see what happens as the month winds down.
It was another day of withdrawals from GLD yesterday...but this time it was 'only' 58,031 troy ounces. And as of 10:10 p.m. Eastern time yesterday evening, there were [once again] no reported changes in SLV. When you consider that the silver price got hammered by almost six bucks in just over 48 hours by JPMorgan et al...that's an amazing development. But as Ted Butler mentioned, it's highly likely that any and all shares/physical metal that's being dumped by the investing public in SLV, are being purchased by the bullion banks trying to cover their short positions. Hopefully we'll know more as time goes on.
While on the subject of SLV, Joshua Gibbons, the Guru of SLV's Silver Bar List, has updated his website with the internal changes in SLV for the week ending on Wednesday. Here's the first sentence of his remarks..."Analysis of the 17 April 2013 bar list, and comparison to the previous week's list: 5,000,356.3 oz. were added (all to JPM New York)...and 6,497,780.2 oz. were removed (4 million oz. from Brinks London...and 2.5 million oz. from Brinks London A), and none had a serial number change." The rest of his very short commentary is definitely worth the read...and it's posted on the about.ag/SLV/ Internet site here.
The U.S. Mint had another sales report yesterday. They sold 6,000 ounces of gold eagles...and 1,000 one-ounce 24K gold buffaloes.
There was more activity over at the Comex-approved depositories on Wednesday. They reported receiving 599,490 troy ounces of silver...and shipped 677,633 troy ounces out the door. The link to that activity is here. There was a withdrawal in gold as well...another 64,108 troy ounces out of JPMorgan's depository on Wednesday...and the link to that action is here.
It was a little quieter at the store yesterday, because we had little to sell over-the-counter, but what we lacked in quantity of buyers, was made up for the quantities they ordered for future delivery...which was only silver maple leafs, 100 oz. bars...and some gold products...with all delivery schedules subject to change without notice. Nobody is taking orders for anything else that we know of.
Here's a Bloomberg chart that was sent my way by Elliot Simon late last night...and it's one I'm sure you've seen before, but with the latest data posted on it, it's amazing/depressing to look at.
(Click on image to enlarge)
* * *
Canadian deposits safe under bail-in, but no guarantee: Carney
Mark Carney says policy-makers are working diligently to devise an international “bail-in” regime to prevent big bank failures, but he offered no guarantee that individual deposits would be protected.
The Canadian central banker, who is a few months away from heading the Bank of England, says banks must have a set of buffers in place to draw on in an emergency.
Speaking during a televised interview in Washington, Carney appeared to disagree with the approach taken in Cyprus last month that involved taxing deposits, but would not state his personal position because he said it might be misinterpreted.
He notes the Canadian government has pledged not to dip into individual deposits.
This story showed up in the Saturday edition of Canada's National Post...and is amust read for all residents of Canada. I thank Manitoba reader Ulrike Marx for sending it our way. Ulrike sent me a second story on this as well. This one is a CP article posted in yesterday's edition of the Winnipeg Free Press...and the link to that is here.
Cyprus bail-out vote stirs fresh jitters as slump fears grow in Europe
Cyprus has stunned EU officials by ordering a vote in its parliament on the terms of the EU-IMF Troika bailout for the country, risking a rejection by angry lawmakers and a fresh eruption of the crisis.
Attorney general Petros Clerides said the assembly must have a say on the accord, which will inflict huge losses on depositors at Laika and Bank of Cyprus. The Orthodox Church of Cyprus expects to lose €100m, crippling its charities.
It is unclear whether the government can muster a majority as popular fury erupts. The Communists and Socialists have been vehement critics of the deal.
Green MP George Perdikis told the Cyprus Mail that he would vote against it to uphold the “freedom” of his country. “It is a crime to deliver Cyprus into the hands of the troika and allow it to become a colony.”
This Ambrose Evans-Pritchard commentary was posted on The Telegraph's website yesterday evening as well.
Five King World News Blogs/Audio Interviews
1. Rick Rule: "More Evidence of a Massive Run on Physical Gold". 2. Nigel Farage [#1]: "New Government Confiscation and Gold Turbulence". 3.Michael Pento: "Gold Reveals Global Markets on Thin Ice". 4. Nigel Farage [#2]: "People Are Lined Up Around the Block To Buy Gold". 5. Theaudio interview is with Gerald Celente
CBC's Brian McKenna Explores 'The Secret World of Gold'
Brian McKenna didn't predict the recent nosedive in gold prices, but he knows someone who did.
"Andy sent me an email early Friday morning," recounted the Montreal director. "He said, 'There's a big event happening. Someone's dumping 500 tons of gold into the market.' That ended up driving the price down by $78 an ounce. And 500 tons is 16 million ounces -- we're talking about a serious intervention here. Who's got that kind of money?"
"Andy" is Andrew Maguire, a key source in McKenna's fascinating new film "The Secret World of Gold," which premieres Thursday at 9 p.m. on CBC-TV. The hour-long documentary plunges into the dramatically rich narrative of gold, unveiling some shocking facts along the way.
"I was just going to do a history piece, until I stumbled over a whistleblower," McKenna said.
I had a brain freeze yesterday, as I though Wednesday night was Thursday night, so I got my dates wrong for the show...which ran last night. More than one reader was kind enough to point out the error of my ways. This Montreal Gazette story from Wednesday, is a must read in my opinion...and I'm hoping that the program will be posted in the clear real soon. In case you missed it from yesterday's column, here's a link to the preview. Readers who do not live in Canada will probably not be able to watch the preview because [I've been told] it's restricted to Canada only.
Chris Martenson: The unintended consequences of the gold and silver smash
Market analyst Chris Martenson notes that the smashing of gold and silver prices has unleashed frenzied demand around the world for the real stuff. Martenson also notes "numerous oddities" in the timing of the smash. His commentary is headlined "Unintended Consequences Are Increasing World Demand for Gold" and it's posted at his Internet site, Peak Prosperity.
There are also a couple of absolutely stunning photos of the wall collapse at the Bingham Canyon mine embedded in this story...and that alone makes this commentary essential reading. I found 'all of the above' in a GATA release yesterday...and I thank Chris Powell for writing the preamble for us.
Jeff Nielson: Paper gold holders flee to real metal
Jeff Nielson of Bullion Bulls Canada writes that there is no flight from gold but rather a flight from paper gold and other paper assets in the banking system into real gold outside the banking system, a flight likely prompted by the euro zone's confiscation of bank deposits in Cyprus.
This commentary was posted on the bullionbullscanada.com Internet site yesterday...and is another item I found in a GATA release.
Bloomberg News inadvertently explains the gold smash
Without trying to, the Bloomberg News story from Tuesday appended here explains exactly what has happened with gold this month:
Western central banks needed to create the impression that there's no inflation so they could continue monetizing debt and buying junk assets. Gold is an indicator of inflation and so had to be smashed to clear the way for more money creation.
Bloomberg reporters were assigned to query all the usual establishment types to fill in the blanks while the actual mechanism of the gold plunge -- the unprecedented dumping by a single entity to create panic amid enormous off-take of real metal from commodities exchanges, threatening the general rigging of the currency markets -- was never examined. Nor was any dissenting voice quoted.
This isn't journalism but propaganda in the style of the totalitarian house organs Pravda, Volkischer Beobachter, and Granma. Even China Daily isn't this subservient to its masters in the Communist Party.
Chris Powell did all of the heavy lifting on our behalf...and the Bloomberg story is definitely worth reading.
Gold plunge was 'orchestrated,' likely by Fed, Brimelow says
Gold market letter writer John Brimelow, a longtime GATA supporter, tells Kevin Michael Grace at Resources Wire that the recent plunge in the gold price was "orchestrated" by a single entity to panic the market. Brimelow adds that the Federal Reserve may have decided to attack the gold market because it competes for investment with the stock market.
This article is another that I extracted from a GATA release yesterday...and it, too, is worth the read.
Ignore COMEX Pricing – Silver Eagles Sold Out at Dealers, $33 on Ebay
The silver price has taken a beating over the past week, dropping 18% from $28 to $23. Or at least that is what the COMEX is telling us. In reality, the price of silver is nowhere close to $23. Don’t believe me? Try to find silver coins for sale anywhere in the free market at that price.
Most major bullion dealers are once again sold out of silver eagles, including my local dealer and some of the main online dealers that I use. The following is a screenshot from Tulving.com, which often has the lowest premiums over spot price for gold and silver coins. Notice that Tulving is completely sold out of silver eagles, 90% silver half dollars and even generic silver rounds. The only silver coins from this page that are still in stock are 90% junk silver dimes and quarters. Just a few short months ago, they used to sell at or near the spot price, but now sell for a premium of $4.49 per ounce!
Supply shortages and rising premiums for silver coins are not isolated to just one dealer. APMEX is another large online bullion dealer that has sold out of monster boxes of 2013 silver eagles. They only list individual rolls for sale at around $630, which comes out to $31.50 per ounce.
This excellent article, posted at Kitco yesterday morning, pretty much sums up the state of the retail precious metal markets in North America at the moment...and I'm speaking as an industry insider. It's a must read for sure...and I thank Texas reader Dena Kline for sliding it into me in-box in the wee hours of this morning.
¤ THE WRAP
The right of the citizens to keep and bear arms has justly been considered as the palladium of the liberties of a republic; since it offers a strong moral check against usurpation and arbitrary power of rulers; and will generally, even if these are successful in the first instance, enable the people to resist and triumph over them. -- Supreme Court Justice Joseph Story of the John Marshall Court
For the third day in a row, the gold price was turned back at the $1,400 spot price mark. The vicious engineered sell-off at 9:00 a.m. in Hong Kong trading on Thursday morning certainly tripped the sell stops of any new longs that may have had the audacity to place their bets after the bottom was in about the same time on Tuesday morning in Hong Kong.
It feels like the precious metals are being held in place, but for what reason, I'm not sure. Whatever it is, I'm sure we'll find out in the fullness of time...and not that much time, either.
Today we get the latest Commitment of Traders Report for positions held at the 1:30 p.m. close of Comex trading on Tuesday...and as both Ted Butler and I have already stated, it will be one for the record books.
With the expected beyond wildly bullish set-up expected in today's COT Report, the four precious metals...plus copper and crude oil...are on the launch pad for an epic run to the upside, if that's what the 'powers that be' have in mind. If that's in the cards, there's not much we can do except wait it out...and try to scour up some more physical metal, if any can be found, that is.
It was pretty quiet in both gold and silver in early Far East trading on their Friday, but there was a sudden pop in the prices of all four precious metals that started just before 2:00 p.m. Hong Kong time...and as I write this paragraph at 3:22 a.m. Eastern time, most of those gains are holding now that London has begun to trade. Gold volume is already north of 52,000 contracts...and silver's net volume is closing in on 9,000 contracts. I can tell by looking at the numbers, that most of it is of the high-frequency trading variety. The dollar index isn't doing a thing...not that it matters.
And as I hit the 'send' button at 5:20 a.m. Eastern time, both gold and silver are still well into positive territory, but are jumping around in price quite a bit. Gold is up about twenty-five bucks...and silver is up 40 cents. Gold volume is north of 72,000 contracts now...and silver's net volume is approaching the 11,000 contract mark.
Since today is Friday, nothing will surprise me when I switch my computer on later this morning. Last Friday was the start of the big engineered price decline in the six Comex-traded commodities that I just mentioned above, so I'll be very interesting in seeing what JPMorgan Chase et al have in store for us during the Comex trading session today.
Enjoy your weekend, or what's left of it...and I'll see you here tomorrow.
No comments:
Post a Comment