JP Morgan's Eligible ( Commercial ) gold plummets 65 percent in 24 hours to an all - time low - does the remainder - a mere 141.6 thousand ounces go bye bye Friday ? ....... Comex gold continues to fall as does physical gold at the GLD ETF ...... News and views for the PMs including Harvey Organ's daily report......Panic run to retrieve gold on full gallop !

http://www.tfmetalsreport.com/blog/4673/if

(  Between demand soaring and supply issues - a set up for rising silver and gold also seems to be reflected in the positioning of Commercials in today's Commitment of Traders.... But we shall see.... )

IF

Friday, April 26, 2013 at 5:36 pm

If the CoT is true and accurate...and I have always thought it to be...then there can be no doubt that we are on the verge of major fiat-conversion price rallies in both metals, perhaps even something more dramatic.

(By "on the verge", I DO NOT mean "starting Monday". That is not what CoT analysis is all about. CoT analysis simply tells us how the sides are aligning and preparing for the next major move.)

I simply cannot stress enough how unusual and extraordinary this data is, particularly in silver. I gasped when I saw it. It is breathtaking...and you know I try very hard to avoid hyperbole. Let's get to it.

GOLD

For the reporting week of 4/17 thru 4/23, gold was up about $21. Total open interest increased by 2,000 contracts. Sounds nice and simple...perhaps even mundane and boring. WRONG!

This week, AFTER gold had already fallen over $200, we saw these changes:

• The Large Specs sold 7,500 longs and initiated 17,100 new shorts for a net long reduction of 24,600 contracts. They are now net long at a ratio of just 2.12:1.
• The Small Specs sold 5,900 of heir longs and began 7,000 new shorts. This net long reduction of 12,900 contracts leaves them flat. Long 39,868 and short 39,735.
• The Gold Cartel utilized all of this Spec selling to buy 11,600 new longs and cover an amazing 25,900 existing shorts. This is a net short reduction of 37,500 contracts and leaves their net short ratio at a must-be-seen-to-be-believed 1.67:1.

Clearly, The Gold Cartel Bullion Banks have used the occasion of the $240 selloff in paper price to aggressively cover shorts and add longs. Which side do you think will profit from these changes? The Specs now nearly crowded into the short side (the SmallSpecs are net neutral, for Pete's sake!) OR The Cartel?

SILVER

Oh my goodness gracious, I really don't know what to say about the CoT picture in silver. There is now NO DOUBT that the oft-mentioned "Civil War" in silver, where the entire commercial category rises up and takes on JPM, is ON! It's happening right now, in real time.

I was amazed last week that the silver commercials, who had openly challenged JPM by building a gross long position in excess of 60,000 contracts, had not been forced out of the long side by the $5 drop and the attendant margin hikes. You'll recall that last week, the Comm longs added contracts, instead. Not a lot but who cares? Just the simple fact that they didn't capitulate was HUGE. And now get a load of the action from this week:

• The Large Specs sold 884 longs and added 1,713 new shorts for a net long reduction of 2,597 and a new net long ratio of just 1.63:1.
• The Small Specs did the same. They dumped 1,895 longs and added 842 new shorts. Just like the gold Small Specs, the silver Small Specs are nearly neutral at long 20,782 and short 18,619.
• Now, hold onto your hat. The Commercials in silver...this is the everybody but JPM crowd...added 6,617 new longs this week. Yes, that's right. After the brutal and malicious beatdown, not only didn't the CommLongs sell, they increased their gross position by over 10%! They are now long a could-it-be-a-misprint 68,258 contracts. This is unbelievable and, literally, twice the size of their historical average position. Because the other commercials were such heavy buyers, JPM and their two pals actually had to add shorts this week. ADD! At $23! The shorts now total 85,422 and the all-important Silver Cartel net short ratio has fallen all the way to a preposterously bullish 1.25:1.

Look. I don't want to be over-dramatic here. However, I simply can't overstate how remarkable this is. There are some VERY COMMITTED, VERY DEEP POCKETS who are directly challenging the long-standing status quo in the silver pit. The questions are:

• Why now?
• What do they know? AND
• What are they expecting next?

Chew on that over the weekend and come back Monday with your game face on. Things are about to get very, very interesting.

TF

Next week should be interesting...............








http://www.gata.org/node/12513

11:47a ET Friday, April 26, 2013

Dear Friend of GATA and Gold:

Here's something you seldom see: a gold mining company taking note of suspicions of manipulation of the gold market. Until the gold mining industry is prepared to defend itself against market manipulation, it will remain the helpful patsy of the Western central banks and the enemy of its own investors.

CHRIS POWELL, Secretary/Treasurer
Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee Inc.

* * *

Discovery Gold Comments on Gold Price Drop and Strategic Geologic Location

Company Press Release
via PR Newswire
Tuesday, April 23, 2013

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/discovery-gold-comments-gold-price-1131009...

DENVER -- On April 2nd, 2013, Discovery Gold Corp.(OTCQB-DCGD) (the "Company") commented in a press release about its geologic similarity (per its recent 43-101 report) to gold deposits being mined nearby in Ghana's prolific Ashanti Gold Belt; and the company's president, Steve Flechner, noted his belief "that gold prices will remain strong."

Ten days later, the price of gold plunged 4.7% on Friday and another 9.6% on Monday. This press release, therefore, is to briefly summarize a few of the reported apparent reasons for the historic price drop, and for continued confidence in the future for gold prices and for the potentially significantly underpriced stocks of strategically located gold exploration companies.

Widely followed and highly accomplished gold-bulls like Jim Sinclair (CEO of Tanzanian Royalty Exploration & former advisor to the Hunt family), Eric Sprott (Sprott Asset Management), Frank Holmes (President of US Global Investors), and others suggest literal market manipulation beginning with the US Federal Reserve which arguably wants to support the value of the dollar and reduce the value of gold reserves such as those that it recently was asked to return to the German Bundesbank, and agreed to do so over seven years, raising speculation that some of their physical gold inventory has perhaps been leased, loaned, or used as collateral for other leveraged financial transactions.

Former Assistant of the US Treasury, Dr. Paul C. Roberts was quoted by The European Gold Center (EGC) on April 12th saying, "The exchange value of the dollar is threatened and if that collapses the Fed loses control over interest rates…they've got to establish in people's mind that the dollar is the only safe place…not gold."

Meanwhile, the EGC reported that a major investment bank turned negative on gold and recommended that their clients go "short" gold, which is selling future contract paper. The investment bank cited US growth and further rises in the stock market expected later in 2013 as rational. Then, according to EGC and London monetary metals trader, Andrew Maguire, another major investment bank "stunned the markets right at the opening by selling massive gold futures contracts." This steam rolled as highly leveraged gold futures investors faced margin calls requiring more cash collateral or gold sells, until the price reached down to $1550, which had been commonly established as a basic support level, triggering an avalanche of automatic "stop loss" selling.

Adam Hamilton of the acclaimed Zeal Intelligence Newsletter explained on April 19th that this "gold panic was a forced selling phenomenon driven by a support break crushing over-leveraged futures players ... traders got scared…bullish fundamentals for gold did not change one bit…central banks didn't suddenly drop their vast gold hoards…and no massive new gold mines suddenly came on line…And after panics even in the stock markets, prices always double over the subsequent two or three years. ... Global central banks are drastically ramping up their paper money supplies, leading to overbought stock markets. ... Once these inevitably turn, demand for alternative investments will soar…And investors are woefully underinvested in gold, it is still on the order of only 0.5% of Americans' total portfolios…The bargains among dirt cheap hyper-oversold gold stocks are truly epic."

Discovery Gold's president, Steve Flechner, concluded that "I believe that our company's stock could be one of these bargains. Since January 2013, Discovery Gold has been pleased to report that; (i) its Edum Banso mineral concession Option rights were formally approved by the Ghana Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources; (ii) that independent geologists from CME & Co visited Edum Banso, collected gold bearing rock samples, and completed a 43-101 compliant Assessment Report now posted on the Company's website; and (iii) that the Assessment Report includes trenching and initial drilling work program recommendations for exploring high priority gold targets that have similar geology to gold deposits being produced nearby on an adjacent property."

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-04-26/jpmorgan-receives-no-new-comex-gold-today-converts-registered-eligible

JPMorgan Receives No New COMEX Gold Today, Converts Registered Into Eligible

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 04/26/2013 17:24 -0400

Anyone waiting with bated breath for the moment when cell H25 in the daily Comex gold inventory update (the one showing JPM's total holdings of Eligible gold) shows 0.000 will have to wait at least one more day. According to today's update, as of Thursday (so excluding today's post-Europe close gold shenannigans) JPM's eligible for delivery gold inventory did not receive any new gold, which started the day at yesterday's record low (for the firm) level of 141,581.5 troy ounces, and would have ended flat, had it not been for the reclassification of 17.5k ounces of registered gold into eligible.

The tiny move barely registered on the long-term chart, however, which still remains just a hair's width away from record lows, and from zero.

To find out what happens with JPM's gold after today's volatile gold session, check back same time, same place on Monday.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-04-26/jpmorgan-accounts-993-comex-gold-sales-last-three-months

JPMorgan Accounts For 99.3% Of The COMEX Gold Sales In The Last Three Months

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 04/26/2013 14:28 -0400

• Ben Bernanke
 
• Citigroup
 
• Exchange Traded Fund
• Fortress Balance Sheet
 
• Jamie Dimon
 
• Lloyd Blankfein
• President Obama
 
• Testimony

Submitted by Mark McHugh from Across The Street

Jamie Dimon Has Issues

When just one firm accounts for 99.3% of the physical gold sales at the COMEX in the last three months it’s not what most of us on this side of the rainbow would consider “broad-based” selling.  Of course discovering this kind of relevant information requires an internet connection, 2nd grade math and reading skills, and the desire to do a teeny-weeny bit of reporting.  Sadly they’ve wandered so far down the rabbit hole that the concept of “physical demand” (i.e. people actually wanting to take possession of the stuff) is puzzling to them because the vast majority of the world’s so-called “gold-trading” takes place in the realm of make believe (which is their natural habitat).  It’s all fun and games until somebody loses their metal and “somebody” has lost one hell of a lot of metal in the last 90 days.

This is the CME Group’s COMEX metals issues and stops year-to-date report, which can be found here everyday for free.  It chronicles the physical delivery notices of various metals, including gold.  Let’s have a look:

“I” is for “Idiot”
That’s how I remember it, anyway. “I” actually stands for “issues,” meaning the firm parted with its metal (@ 100 troy ounces a shot), and “S” stands for “stops,” meaning the firm took delivery of gold. “C” is for customer accounts, “H” is house accounts.  The first thing you should notice is that most transaction net out to zero in a given month (blue boxes), meaning the firm’s gold holdings didn’t change. What they delivered one day they got back the next, or vice versa.  The green boxes show firms who received more than they delivered and the red boxes indicate firms who coughed up gold for Bernanke bucks (aka idiots). Note that Deutsche Bank’s massive take in February more than offsets its deliveries in December and April.

Notice one more thing before we move on: Despite Goldman’s much ballyhooed “Gold Sucks!” call a few weeks ago, the squid has not parted with any yellow metal whatsoever in 2013.  Hmmm.

Now for the main event:

J P Morgan has fumbled ownership of 1,966,000 Troy ounces of gold since February 1.  That’s 74% more gold than the US mint delivered through the US mint’s American Eagle program in all of 2012.  I mention this because there’s little doubt in my mind that the US government is one of JPM’s gold “customers.”  So (if I am correct) the same US government who just let the Morgue dump its gold on the COMEX floor will once again be suspending gold sales to peasants.

Maybe Jamie Dimon figures he’ll buy back all that gold on the cheap when the rest of the world realizes how smart he is.  Or maybe he’s once again displaying that his firm doesn’t have the slightest idea what “hedging” is and is teetering on the brink of collapse.  That would explain the April 11th meeting between President Obama and the Pig 5 bank CEOs, wouldn’t it?  And you just have to get a little misty that Lloyd Blankfein was nice enough to provide some hot-air cover for his competitor, don’t you?

One thing’s very clear: When it comes to selling physical gold, J P Morgan is acting alone.  The 130 contracts NOT delivered by JPM in the last three months (of which  110 were fromABN AMRO) are but a footnote.  If Jamie’s right, he’ll look like a genius in a few months, if not he should be able to recycle his quote regarding the infamous “London Whale” losses: “Just because we’re stupid, doesn’t mean everybody else was.”  Time will tell.

100 years ago John Pierpont Morgan famously testified to Congress, “Money is gold, and nothing else.” (Note: That is the exact quote, the full testimony can be foundhere).  One has to wonder what the big guy would think of his legacy’s disregard for sound money, $70 Trillion derivatives book, and "House of Cards" "Fortress" balance sheet.

One more very, very important thing.
Anybody who says there’s been gold selling in the GLD is a freaking moron (Bob Pistrami, I’m looking in your direction).   The GLD works much like a coat check.  Unless you think checking your coat constitutes a real transaction of some kind you shouldn’t think of changes in the GLD’s gold holdings as sales. They’re not. When you check your gold into the GLD you get shares (like a claim check). Where it gets wierd is you can sell these claim checks to nimrods who seem to think they’ve bought your coat, but aren’t actually allowed to wear it.

What nobody seems to appreciate is that every share of GLD is allowed to be sold TWICE (long and short, and it’s really important to understand that).  If you’re foolish enough to doubt me (and foolish enough to short gold), go short GLD shares and see if anyone knocks on your door demanding gold.  Saying the GLD is 100% backed by gold is a bold face lie because they’re can be twice as many shares in play as gold backing them, which means GLD shares may be only 50% backed by gold before any rules are broken.

When GLD (or any ETF for that matter) shares sold exceed the existing shares PLUS all the shortable (double-sold) shares, legitimate shares can not be found for settlement and that must be reported to the SEC’s “Fails to Deliver” list, which is published twice a month with about a four-week delay (here).

April 15, 2013 was this biggest volume day ever for GLD (93.7mm) and I’ll guarantee you right now that record fails to deliver will be reported on or around that date, which should have required more gold to be deposited with the GLD (but that didn’t happen).  So instead of the half-assed explanation Pistrami offered (here) of how he thinks the GLD works, he should have raised the question of whether or not there were enough legitimate shares of GLD to facilitate trading (I say no way in hell).

Gold continues to be pulled from the GLD (which really means people want their coats back) and still no one’s concerned about the number doubled-owned shares.  Worse yet, the responsibility for sorting this unholy mess out falls to SEC chief Mary Jo White who is celebrating her 16th day in office.

I can’t wait to see what happens next….

Notes for Nerds:  This piece is not intended to describe the inner workings of the COMEX or GLD in detail, so don’t bust my balls with minutiae, unless it is relevant to the discussion of JPM’s massive gold sales or the double-ownership of ETF shares. Double-owned ETF shares are huge problem with ETFs in general, but the misrepresentation (by omission) of this fact by ETFs supposedly backed by tangible assets like gold and silver seems more egregious to me.  

In addition to the YTD CME Group metals report, you can track the hilarity on a day-by-day basis here.

The February 1 to April 25 delivered gold contracts info referenced included only transactions between firms.   For that reason Morgan Stanley’s 307 contracts transferred from  house account to customer account was excluded from the calculations.

Total Net gold deliveries Feb 1 to April 25:

Vision Financial – 1 contract
R J O’Brien – 2
ADM Investor Services INC – 2
Marex – 5
Citigroup Global Markets – 10
ABN AMRO – 110
JP Morgan – 19,660

and......


http://silverdoctors.com/jim-sinclair-the-big-dirty-secret-is-out-there-is-no-gold/#more-25764

JIM SINCLAIR: THE BIG DIRTY SECRET IS OUT: THERE IS NO GOLD!

APRIL 26, 2013 BY THE DOC 10 COMMENTS

Legendary gold trader Jim Sinclair sent an email alert to subscribers last night, stating that the rig (gold manipulation) is up, and that the big dirty secret is out that there is no physical gold in volume. 

Sinclair states that the biggest moves on a percentage basis for gold and gold stocks has just begun, and provides a formula for profits in the gold sector here and now:

From Jim Sinclair:

Thanks to the revelation brought to the world regarding the paper gold fraud, certain gold shares will now advance by many hundred percents. Some are likely ten baggers like in the 1980s.

Good growing intermediate tier producing gold shares will lead gold majors, gold and all equities now to new highs in its own unprecedented bull market as the successful short of gold share hedge funds sitting with huge shorts have become complacent. There is a new definition to the right gold companies. They are the holders of the real physical supply.

The biggest move in gold shares in the 1968 to 1980 gold market was after gold broke from $887.50 to $449. The recovery from $449 to $750 witnessed the gold shares moving up by many hundreds of percents. The same is going to happen now because there is no significant above ground supply of gold. It has been stolen or purchased over the past many years.

The big dirty secret is out. There is no gold.

The formula for profits in gold shares in order of significance are:

1. Mid tier producers or those moving into that position.
2. Located out of the reach of North America or Euroland.
3. Strict control of overhead.
4. Huge comfortable short positions.

If true as David C says, the RIG IS UP.

Keep in mind that the repository of physical gold is the intermediate sized producer with low production costs and run tight ships overhead wise. Something other than the way colonialist majors are run with no attention to the shareholder or their host countries.

Physical gold unimpeded by the paper scam can trade at prices that will set your hair on fire.

Sincerely,
Jim

THE RIG IS UP!!!!

In gold there were more withdrawals from the Comex-approved depositories on Tuesday. They reported receiving 852 troy ounces and shipped 238,716 troy ounces out the door. You have to ask yourself where this gold is headed and why.  The link to that activity is here.

http://www.caseyresearch.com/gsd/edition/alasdair-macleod-physical-vs.-paper-gold-waiting-for-the-dam-to-break/

Alasdair Macleod: Physical vs. Paper Gold—Waiting For the Dam to Break

Apr
26

• Yesterday in Gold and Silver
• Critical Reads
• The Funnies
• The Wrap

RetweetShare

"It remains to be seen how these rallies develops in the days and weeks ahead."

¤ YESTERDAY IN GOLD & SILVER

Gold added about seven or eight bucks to its price in the hours leading up to lunch time in Hong Kong on their Thursday morning...and then traded more or less flat into the London p.m. gold fix...10:00 a.m. in New York.  From there, the gold price rallied another ten bucks up until 2:00 p.m. Eastern time...and then traded flat into the 5:15 p.m. electronic close.

Gold closed at $1,468.20 spot...up $36.70 spot... and virtually on its high of the day, which was $1,470.50 spot.  Volume was way up there...around 209,000 contracts, so it's obvious that this rally did not go unopposed.

Silver also rallied in early Far East trading...and then wandered around either side of $23.25 spot right up until 1:00 p.m. in London...twenty minutes before the Comex open in New York.  Then the price popped for about 60 cents in the next thirty minutes of trading...and rallied at a much slower pace from there.

Silver closed at $24.40 spot...up $1.24 from Wednesday's close...and virtually on its high tick of the day as well.  Net volume was a chunky 40,000 contracts.

The dollar index closed on Wednesday at 82.94...and then began to head south shortly after it opened in the Far East on their Thursday morning.  By the time the low of the day was in 8:20 a.m. in New York...the Comex open...the index was down to 82.42.  From there it rallied back to virtually unchanged on the day by 10:30 a.m. Eastern time...but then slid a hair into the close...finishing the Thursday session at 82.78...down 16 basis points on the day.

For the day, gold finished up 2.56%...and silver closed up 5.35%...so compared to the metals themselves, the shares did lousy.  I'd be prepared to bet that there was a not-for-profit seller lurking about to make sure that the shares didn't have a blow-out day to the upside.  But if that was the case, would someone please explain the share price action on Wednesday.

The CME's Daily Delivery Report showed that 202 gold and 10 silver contracts were posted for delivery on Monday.  JPMorgan Chase was the short/issuer on all 202 contracts out of its client account...and Barclays and Canada's Bank of Nova Scotia were the long/stoppers on 133 and 67 contracts respectively.  The link to yesterday's Issuers and Stoppers Report is here.

GLD's inventory levels continue to slide, as an authorized participant withdrew 87,041 troy ounces yesterday.  But the big surprise was in SLV...as an authorized participant deposited 1,545,392 troy ounces!

There was another sales report from the U.S. Mint yesterday.  They sold 7,000 ounces of gold eagles, along with 1,500 one-ounce 24K gold buffaloes.  For the second day in a row they didn't report any silver eagles sales.

It was another busy day over at the Comex-approved depositories on Wednesday.  They reported receiving 598,041 troy ounces of silver...and shipped 1,296,767 troy ounces of the stuff out the door.  The link to that activity is here.

In gold, the Comex-approved depositories reported receiving 1,286 troy ounces on Wednesday...and shipped 355,996 troy ounces out the door.  The link to that activity is here.

I'd love to be a fly on wall at these depositories and know for sure what this 'metal in motion' is all about.

It was another busy day at the store yesterday...and I was a tired puppy by the time I left for the day.  It's not wall-to-wall people anymore, but the traffic just never stops for more than a few minutes at a time.  There always seems to be someone in the store at any given moment...and we have little time to do anything else.  I don't think the mints of the world could even keep up with this demand level. One thing that is worth noting, is that we went from two week delivery on gold maple leafs and bars last week, to two months...maybe...on Wednesday.  This delivery delay in gold is unprecedented in this country!  One can only imagine what it will be like when the gold price begins to rise in earnest once again.

Here's a group of photos sent to me by Hong Kong reader Frank Lin yesterday.  He comments that "These pictures were taken from one of the largest gold jewelers in Hong Kong [on Tuesday].  I was told only expensive pieces are left."  The photos of the empty cases certainly confirms that.  Having spent some time in Hong Kong myself...and knowing how many jewellery stores there are just in the Kowloon area alone, one has to wonder just how long it will take all of them to restock when they've been wiped out to that extent...and that doesn't include replacing the bullion they've sold as well.

As I noted in a story posted in the 'Critical Reads' section yesterday, there's a new U.S. $100 bill coming out in October...and it's already been redesigned by someone on the Internet.  It's rather fetching, isn't it?

While on the subject of money, I received the chart posted below from Casey Research's own Jeff Clark around 2:00 a.m. Eastern time this morning.  According to the St. Louis Fed, the adjusted monetary base has just exceeded 3.0 trillion for the first time.  That happened on April 17th.

*   *   * 

Selected news and views.....

Fed Debate Moves From Tapering to Extending Bond Buying

Debate among Federal Reserve policy makers is shifting away from the timing of a reduction in bond buying to the need to extend record stimulus as inflation cools and 11.7 million Americans remain jobless.

At their meeting last month, several members of the Federal Open Market Committee advocated slowing purchases and stopping them by year-end. Since then, seven have voiced support for maintaining the current pace, including five who vote on the policy making panel: Governor Daniel Tarullo, New York Fed President William C. Dudley, James Bullard of St. Louis, Chicago’s Charles Evans and Boston’s Eric Rosengren.

“We heard a lot of discussion earlier in the year on the timing of tapering,”Ward McCarthy, chief financial economist at Jefferies Group LLC. in New York and a former Richmond Fed economist, said in a Bloomberg Radio interview yesterday. “Some of the more recent developments -- the slowdown in the economy, the somewhat disquieting inflation data -- has taken that off the table for now.”

It's 'print, or die'.  Nothing has changed.  This Bloomberg piece was posted on their website early yesterday morning Mountain Daylight Time...and I thank Manitoba reader Ulrike Marx for finding this for us.

CBOE Trading System Knocked Out in Latest Trading Black Eye

preventing investors from trading two key products used mainly by institutions to hedge the broader stock market and volatility.

The CBOE said the problem was "an internal systems issue" caused by a software problem and "not the result of any outside influence" or cyber-attack.

Trading resumed in the S&P 500 options contracts at 12:50 p.m. ET, and trading in all other equity and ETF options were opened by 1 p.m. Traders speculated about multiple causes but said they heard that the glitch was due to a software upgrade and a problem purging data from Wednesday's trading that affected prices.

"Customers were mad. Brokers were mad. Market makers that need to hedge their positions were mad. It wasn't good for anybody," said Brian Stutland of Stutland Equities and CNBC contributor.

This CNBC piece from very early yesterday morning is thanks to Elliot Simon once again.

E.U. against austerity: Spaniards and Portuguese take to the streets as unemployment skyrockets

The Iberian Peninsula has once again been engulfed in protest, as police used brute force to disperse thousands in front of the Spanish Parliament in Madrid while in Portugal citizens climbed on top of a tank to make themselves heard.

Police detained at least 15 in Madrid, including one minor, as they used force to quell an angry mob of protesters near the Spanish parliament, united under a“Besiege Congress” slogan calling for the government to quit.

The riots come as Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy is set to announce a raft of measures on Friday aimed at tackling the country's recession.

An estimated 1,400 policemen were deployed around the chamber as politicians cancelled the session for the day.

This Russia Today story from yesterday also has a 1:34 minute video clip embedded...and I thank Roy Stephens for his second offering in today's column.

Japan's 'wall of money' proves elusive for global markets

Japanese investors are repatriating funds from around the world at an accelerating pace, dashing hopes that stimulus from the Bank of Japan will flood global asset markets with newly-printed money.

Fresh data from Japan's finance ministry showed that large banks, insurers, and pension funds sold a net $8.7bn in foreign bonds and stocks last week, bringing the total to $35bn over the last six weeks.

Analysts had expected the big institutions to start chasing global assets in a revival of the "yen carry trade" after dramatic policy shift by the Bank of Japan's new team under Haruhiko Kuroda, but the fondly-awaited "wall of money" has yet to materialise.

Instead, Tokyo's behemoth funds are cashing windfall gains abroad generated by the 20pc slide in the yen since July, rotating the profits into assets at home.

This Ambrose Evans-Pritchard commentary was posted on thetelegraph.co.uk Internet site early yesterday afternoon BST...and I thank Ulrike Marx for sharing it with us.

Three King World News Blogs

The first interview is with Dr. Stephen Leeb...and it's headlined "The Fed's Big Lie, Gold, Silver and the Reality of Inflation".  Next comes Keith Barron.  It's entitled "Stunning and Massive Run on Physical Gold and Silver Continues".  And lastly is this blog with Jim Sinclair.  It bears the title "The Gold War and Unprecedented Financial Destruction".

Shortages of physical gold now a global phenomenon

Those who precipitated the recent fall in the gold price may have unleashed a beast that will put future efforts at market manipulation way out of their control.  Physical metal is now seemingly becoming key in investors’ minds.

They are no longer putting any faith in paper gold and this is being seen in all quarters with reports from virtually all continents of demand exceeding supply of physical metal, and some hefty premiums being applied on sales of gold bullion.

Add to this particularly strong demand from Asia - reports have put the volume of deliveries into the Shanghai exchange so far this year of over 1,000 tonnes as actually exceeding estimated new mine production over the period.

There's nothing much that's really new in this commentary by Lawrie Williams over at the mineweb.com, but he's such a good writer that his take on things has a freshness about it that makes it worth the read.

Bitcoin Dealers Are Running Into Problems In Canada

Two Canadian businessmen recently got some bad news from their banks.

James Grant, owner of Canadian Bitcoins, got a letter.

Melvin Ng, proprietor of CADBitcoin, got a phone call.

Both men run online exchanges where you can purchase Bitcoins for Canadian dollars.  

And both were informed their businesses’ accounts frozen by Canada’s largest banks.

“It’s a weird situation,” Ng told us by phone recently. “We’re a normal Canadian business, we’re registered with the government, and a Canadian bank can just block it off.”

Grant was more blunt: “They just don’t like Bitcoins.”

This story was filed from Australia and posted on the au.businessinsider.comInternet site early Friday morning  'down under'.  I thank Michael Cheverton for bringing it to my attention...and now to yours.

Alasdair Macleod: Physical vs. paper gold -- waiting for the dam to break

GoldMoney research director Alasdair Macleod provides what is probably the most comprehensive and yet concise description of the world gold market, concluding most soberly that the recent gold price smash was likely engineered by Western central banks and that it may cost them not only control of the gold market but control of all markets.

Macleod writes: "We can only speculate about day-to-day interventions by Western central banks in gold markets. In this regard it seems that the slide in prices on the 12th and 15th April was triggered by a very large seller of paper gold; if this market story and the amount mentioned are correct, it can be only central bank intervention, acting to deliberately drive prices lower.

"Given the market position, with money managers in the futures markets already short and highly vulnerable to a bear squeeze, the story seems credible. The objective would be to persuade holders of physical exchange-traded funds and allocated gold accounts to sell and supply the market, on the assumption that they would behave as investors convinced the bull market is over."

This very long essay was posted on the goldmoney.com Internet site yesterday...and it's certainly worth reading if you can find the time.

¤ THE WRAP

The issue which has swept down through the centuries...and which will have to be fought sooner or later...is the people vs. the banks. - Lord Acton, Historian, 1834-1902

I was happy to see the rally in all four precious metals yesterday...including copper and crude oil.  It certainly didn't look like short-covering to me...and looking at the volume numbers I would guess that the bullion banks were going short against all comers in all six markets.  Unfortunately, what happened yesterday won't be in today's Commitment of Traders Report.

It remains to be seen how these rallies develops in the days and weeks ahead.  Here's the 6-month gold chart showing the 20 and 50-day moving averages.  We should start to see some signs of short covering by the technical funds once the 20-day moving average is pierced to the upside.  How the bullion banks and small traders [Ted Butler's raptors] react once that event happens will be interesting to watch.  Will they allow the technical funds out on the cheap, or will they inflict some pain by refusing to sell their longs positions to them until we are much higher in price?  That, as Ted Butler has stated on many occasions in the past, is the key to how this rally unfolds.  So we wait.

(Click on image to enlarge)

If you had time to run through Matt Taibbi's essay at the beginning of the 'Critical Reads' section further up, you will have discovered what GATA has known for almost a decade...and that is that the banks control everything.  However, British economist Peter Warburton wrote about it long before we at GATA cottoned on to this fact.  I discovered his essay on the Prudent Bear website about a decade ago...and what I call the 'three most important paragraphs in the world' embedded in that essay, have been the lens that I have looked at the financial system through ever since.

I've posted them many times in this space...but they bear repeating at this point in time.  Needless to say they are a must read.  Keep in mind while you're reading that this was written in 2001...twelve years ago to the month.

"What we see at present is a battle between the central banks and the collapse of the financial system fought on two fronts. On one front, the central banks preside over the creation of additional liquidity for the financial system in order to hold back the tide of debt defaults that would otherwise occur. On the other, they incite investment banks and other willing parties to bet against a rise in the prices of gold, oil, base metals, soft commodities or anything else that might be deemed an indicator of inherent value. Their objective is to deprive the independent observer of any reliable benchmark against which to measure the eroding value, not only of the US dollar, but of all fiat currencies. Equally, their actions seek to deny the investor the opportunity to hedge against the fragility of the financial system by switching into a freely traded market for non-financial assets."

"It is important to recognize that the central banks have found the battle on the second front much easier to fight than the first. In November [of 2000], I estimated the size of the gross stock of global debt instruments at $90 trillion for mid-2000. How much capital would it take to control the combined gold, oil and commodity markets? Probably, no more than $200bn, using derivatives. Moreover, it is not necessary for the central banks to fight the battle themselves, although central bank gold sales and gold leasing have certainly contributed to the cause. Most of the world’s large investment banks have over-traded their capital [bases] so flagrantly that if the central banks were to lose the fight on the first front, then their stock would be worthless. Because their fate is intertwined with that of the central banks, investment banks are willing participants in the battle against rising gold, oil and commodity prices."

"Central banks, and particularly the US Federal Reserve, are deploying their heavy artillery in the battle against a systemic collapse. This has been their primary concern for at least seven years. [Emphasis is mine. - Ed] Their immediate objectives are to prevent the private sector bond market from closing its doors to new or refinancing borrowers and to forestall a technical break in the Dow Jones Industrials. Keeping the bond markets open is absolutely vital at a time when corporate profitability is on the ropes. Keeping the equity index on an even keel is essential to protect the wealth of the household sector and to maintain the expectation of future gains. For as long as these objectives can be achieved, the value of the US dollar can also be stabilized in relation to other currencies, despite the extraordinary imbalances in external trade."

Warburton's essay is headlined "The debasement of world currency: it is inflation, but not as we know it".  It was written on April 9, 2011...and this copy of it is posted at the gold-eagle.comInternet site.  The link is here.

Today we get the latest Commitment of Traders Report for positions held at the close of Comex trading on Tuesday, April 23rd.  As I've mentioned several times in this space during the last week, it's my opinion that the latest data in the Commercial and Non-Commercial category is totally compromised...and I will be more than interested to see if they have made amends in this report when it shows up on the CFTC's website at 3:30 p.m. Eastern time.  I'll let you know tomorrow.

Both gold and silver were rallying nicely in early Far East trading on their Friday, but got sold down the moment they got too frisky...and both metals are down a bit now that London has been open about thirty minutes.  Volume in gold is already very chunky...over 45,000 contracts...most of which is of the high-frequency trading variety.  Silver's volume is getting up there too, but roll-overs out of the May delivery month are very heavy as well, so net volume is very light. Monday should be the last big day for roll-overs out of the May contract in silver.  The dollar index is down about 15 basis points.

And as I hit the 'send' button at 5:10 a.m. Eastern time, both gold and silver are a bit lower now that London has been open for two hours and change.  Gold is down about seven bucks...and silver is down 28 cents.  Gold volume is now over 70,000 contracts...and silver's net volume is very light...around 4,800 contracts.  The dollar index is still down 15 basis points.

Since today is Friday, I'll be ready for any possible price scenario when I switch my computer on later this morning.

Enjoy your weekend, or what's left of it...and I'll see here tomorrow. 

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Gold and silver evening wrap report......

Next gold / silver  smash down looming  - 4/29 through 5/1 ?    China national holidays would remove buying support , just something to watch for next week !  Hong Kong , Malaysia , Philippines , Singapore , Thailand also closed on 5/1 for Labor Day ! FWIW.....

http://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/china/

Monday	Apr 29	Labour Day Holiday	National holiday
Tuesday	Apr 30	Labour Day Holiday	National holiday
Wednesday	May 1	Labor Day / May Day	National holiday

[KR346] Keiser Report: Stalinism of NYSE

( Maguire interview start around 12:45.... ) 

127 Replies

We discuss the season for CRASH as algos reading Twitter cause a hack crash in New York; ghost traders in the shadow banking system cause gold ‘slaughters’ in the precious metals markets and Joe Weisenthal seeks smoke signals from the Pope of Fraud, Ben Bernanke. In the second half of the show Max talks to Andrew Maguire about precious metals markets, manipulation and failures to deliver.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-04-25/jpmorgans-eligible-gold-plummets-65-24-hours-all-time-low

JPMorgan's Eligible Gold Plummets 65% In 24 Hours To All Time Low

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 04/25/2013 17:30 -0400

We are confident that in the aftermath of our article from last night "Just What Is Going On With The Gold In JPMorgan's Vault?" in which we showed the absolute devastation of "eligible" (aka commercial) gold warehoused in JPM's vault just over the Manhattan bedrock at 1 Chase Manhattan Place (and also in the entire Comex vault network in the past month), we were not the only ones checking every five minutes for the Comex gold depository update for April 25. Moments ago we finally got it, and it's a doozy. Because in just the past 24 hours, from April 24 to April 25, according to the Comex, JPM's eligible gold plunged from 402.4K ounces to just 141.6K ounces, a drop of 65% in 24 hours,and  the lowest amount of eligible gold held at the vault on record, since its reopening in October 2010!

Everyone has seen what a run on the bank looks like. Below is perhaps the best chart of what a "run on the vault" is.

The absolute collapse in JPM's eligible gold inventory, means total Comex eligible gold has fallen to just 5.8 million ounces, half of what it was in early 2011, and back to levels last seen in March 2009.

So, once again, just like last night, we ask the same questions which are even more critical today than they were 24 hours ago:

1. What happened to the commercial gold vaulted with JPM, and what was the reason for the historic drawdown?
2. Gold, unlike fiat, is not created out of thin air, nor can it be shred or deleted. Where did the gold leaving the JPM warehouse end up (especially sinceregistered JPM and total Comex goldhas been relatively flat over the same period)?
3. Did any of this gold make its way across the street, and end up at the vault of the building located at 33 Liberty street?
4. What happens if and/or when the JPM vault is empty of commercial gold, and JPM receives a delivery notice?

Incidentally, JPM now has just under a paltry 5 tons of eligible gold left in storage. We hope this is also the maximum exposure it faces for imminent delivery requests, because if tomorrow it receives withdrawal requests for 141,581.5 ounces +1, then things get really interesting.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-04-25/silver-having-its-best-day-15-months

Silver Is Having Its Best Day in 15 Months

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 04/25/2013 14:25 -0400

• Fibonacci

In all the excitement over gold, silver has been largely ignored or forgotten. Today, it was the"poor man's gold"'s turn to stae a dramatic comeback posting its biggest single-day jump in 15 months. Having now retraced the Fibonacci 38.2% level of the record plunge, it appears $25 is th enext target - which is around 50% retracement levels.

Best day in Silver in 15 months...

with a target for 50% retracement at around $25...

Charts: Bloomberg

http://silverdoctors.com/texas-university-sells-375-million-in-gold-bars-to-re-invest-in-gold-futures/

TEXAS UNIVERSITY SELLS $375 MILLION IN GOLD BARS…TO RE-INVEST IN GOLD FUTURES!

APRIL 25, 2013 BY THE DOC 27 COMMENTS

Two years ago, Texas University shocked the gold community by taking delivery of $1 billion in physical gold from the COMEX, under the guidance of Texan hedge fund titan Kyle Bass.
Bloomberg reports this morning that the University’s Endowment fund has just liquidated $375 million of its physical gold position over the past 3 months, and will plow the proceeds…back into the PAPER GOLD FUTURES MARKET (along with general equities).
Nothing like identifying a coming trend and getting out of Dodge in time…just to come running back and jump into the fire when the game actually starts heating up!
Somehow we suspect that Mr. Bass was not consulted on the University’s latest financial decision…

As Bloomberg reports:

The University of Texas Investment Management Co., the third-largest U.S. academic endowment, sold $375 million in gold bars from holdings of about $1.4 billion andreinvested the proceeds in gold futures and equities.

In the three months that ended Feb. 28, the Austin, Texas- based fund bought $75 million in gold futures, $225 million in developed-market equities and $75 million in emerging-market equity futures, Bruce Zimmerman, the chief executive officer, said yesterday in a telephone interview.
The fund, which manages $29.2 billion, started taking delivery of gold through futures starting in 2008 as a hedge against inflation, Zimmerman said. While fund managers and directors remain concerned global consumer prices may increase, the fund wanted to increase investments in equities, he said.

At least the fund sold their bullion holdings prior to the last month’s take-down in gold:

The fund hasn’t bought or sold gold since February, he said. Its gold holdings are now valued at about $1.1 billion, while its cost basis is $967 million, he said.

We are sure our bullion banking friends were more than happy to get their hands on $375 million of Texas’ PHYSICAL gold and immediately re-hypothecated it into several $billion in “gold”.

http://www.gata.org/node/12508

Physical demand is cleaning up the 'orchestrated takedown,' Barron says

Submitted by cpowell on Thu, 2013-04-25 19:51. Section: Daily Dispatches

3:46p ET Thursday, April 25, 2013

Dear Friend of GATA and Gold:

Geologist, mining entrepreneur, and consultant Keith Barron today tells King World News that demand for real metal is cleaning up the "mess" made by the "orchestrated takedown" of the paper gold price. Barron says gold and silver coin inventories are being cleaned out around the world, particularly in Japan. An excerpt from the interview is posted at the King World News blog here:

http://kingworldnews.com/kingworldnews/KWN_DailyWeb/Entries/2013/4/25_St...

CHRIS POWELL, Secretary/Treasurer
Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee Inc.

http://www.gata.org/node/12507

Alasdair Macleod: Physical vs. paper gold -- waiting for the dam to break

Submitted by cpowell on Thu, 2013-04-25 15:36. Section: Daily Dispatches

11:34a ET Thursday, April 25, 2013

Dear Friend of GATA and Gold:

GoldMoney research director Alasdair Macleod today provides what is probably the most comprehensive and yet concise description of the world gold market, concluding most soberly that the recent gold price smash was likely engineered by Western central banks and that it may cost them not only control of the gold market but control of all markets.

Macleod writes: "We can only speculate about day-to-day interventions by Western central banks in gold markets. In this regard it seems that the slide in prices on the 12th and 15th April was triggered by a very large seller of paper gold; if this market story and the amount mentioned are correct, it can be only central bank intervention, acting to deliberately drive prices lower.

"Given the market position, with money managers in the futures markets already short and highly vulnerable to a bear squeeze, the story seems credible. The objective would be to persuade holders of physical exchange-traded funds and allocated gold accounts to sell and supply the market, on the assumption that they would behave as investors convinced the bull market is over."

Macleod's analysis is headlined "Physical Gold Vs. Paper Gold: Waiting for the Dam to Break" and it's posted at GoldMoney's Internet site here:

http://www.goldmoney.com/gold-research/alasdair-macleod/physical-gold-vs...

CHRIS POWELL, Secretary/Treasurer
Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee Inc.

http://www.gata.org/node/12506

Metal drained away, Comex will move to cash settlement, Sinclair says

Submitted by cpowell on Thu, 2013-04-25 12:17. Section: Daily Dispatches

8:16a ET Thursday, April 25, 2013

Dear Friend of GATA and Gold:

Jim Sinclair today tells King World News that the New York Commodities Exchange's gold warehouses will be drained as long as the price of paper gold is so much lower than the price of real metal around the world and that he expects the exchange to stop metal delivery and convert to cash settlement or settlement in shares of exchange-traded funds. "This is the beginning of the end of the paper gold market being the superior price-setting mechanism," Sinclair says. An excerpt from his interview is posted at the King World News blog here:

http://kingworldnews.com/kingworldnews/KWN_DailyWeb/Entries/2013/4/25_Si...

CHRIS POWELL, Secretary/Treasurer

Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee Inc.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/04/25/chile-barrick-resignations-idUSL2N0DC37Z20130425?feedType=RSS&feedName=marketsNews&rpc=43

Barrick South America head resigns amid overhaul of suspended Pascua-Lama

Thu Apr 25, 2013 7:18pm EDT

* Pascua-Lama suspended by Chile court this month
    * Barrick said Wednesday it could stop spending on
Pascua-Lama
    * Pascua-Lama accused of harming water supply, glaciers

    SANTIAGO, April 25 (Reuters) - Barrick Gold Corp said on
Thursday the head of its South American operations has resigned,
adding the company is shaking up its troubled Pascua-Lama mine
with the aim of meeting Chilean regulatory requirements to
unfreeze the project.
    Argentine Guillermo Calo, who was named Barrick's president
for South America in July, has resigned, the company said.
Robert Mayne-Nicholls, the general director of operations, and
Rodrigo Jimenez, the regional vice-president for corporate
affairs, have also resigned at the unit, Barrick added.
    A local court earlier this month suspended construction of
Barrick's up to $8.5 billion investment, which
straddles the border of Chile and Argentina, in a major blow to
the world's top gold miner. The unpopular gold and silver mine
is facing steep legal challenges and potentially the
cancellation of its permit on grounds it destroys pristine
glaciers and harms water supply.
    The Toronto-based miner had warned on Wednesday it could
stop spending on Pascua-Lama if the timetable for resolving
regulatory issues remains unclear. 
    "The company is already taking all the possible steps to
demonstrate its commitment, which includes updating engineering
studies, elaborating performance plans and naming a new
management team," Barrick said in a statement on Thursday.
"Pascua-Lama's main priority is to re-start construction
activity with the approval of Chilean authorities."
    The miner faces tough legal obstacles to complete the
project, and even the possibility that its Chilean environmental
permit might be canceled.
    Mining industry sources have pointed to poor management of
the tricky, high-altitude project, with one source blasting it
as "chaos." 
    Barrick earlier this month tapped two high-profile mining
executives to work on the project. 
    

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases-test/silver-wheaton-acquires-25-of-life-of-mine-silver-production-from-barricks-pascua-lama-project-62088937.html

VANCOUVER, Canada, September 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ --

- Also Acquires Current Silver Production From Three Additional Barrick Mines, Providing Immediate Cash Flow

Silver Wheaton Corp. ("Silver Wheaton" or the "Company") (TSX, NYSE: SLW) is pleased to announce that it has agreed to acquire from Barrick Gold Corporation ("Barrick") 25% of the life of mine silver production from its Pascua-Lama project, as well as 100% of the silver production from its Lagunas Norte, Pierina and Veladero mines until the end of 2013. Silver Wheaton will pay Barrick total cash consideration of US$625 million over three years, as well as ongoing payments of the lesser of US$3.90(subject to an annual inflation adjustment) and the prevailing market price, for each ounce of silver delivered under the agreement.

    Transaction Highlights

    - Provides Immediate Cash Flow

    - Silver Wheaton will receive 100% of the silver production from three of
      Barrick's currently producing mines, effective September 1, 2009, until
      the end of 2013;

    - This immediately enhances Silver Wheaton's production and cash flow
      profile, by adding average annualized silver production of
      approximately 2.4 million ounces until Pascua-Lama commences
      production.

    - Significantly Increases Long Term Growth Profile

    - Silver Wheaton will receive 25% of the life of mine silver production
      from Barrick's Pascua-Lama project, expected to be one of the largest
      and lowest cost gold mines in the world;

    - Pascua-Lama is a key Barrick growth asset and is the third largest
      silver deposit in the world, with an estimated mine life of over 25
      years;

    - Silver Wheaton's 25% share of the estimated average annual silver
      production for the first five years (2013 to 2017) is 9 million ounces,
      boosting overall silver sales by 30% to approximately 40 million ounces
      per annum;

    - Barrick has provided a completion guarantee, requiring them to complete
      Pascua-Lama to at least 75% of design capacity by December 31, 2015. If
      Barrick does not meet completion by December 31, 2013, Silver Wheaton
      will continue to receive silver production in 2014 and 2015 from the
      currently producing mines, until Barrick satisfies the requirements of
      the completion guarantee.

"This is a transformational acquisition that propels Silver Wheaton to the next level in terms of size and growth profile," saidPeter Barnes, President and Chief Executive Officer of Silver Wheaton. "We are extremely excited to be partnering with Barrick, the world's largest gold mining company, on what is expected to be one of the biggest and lowest cost gold mines in the world. Coupled with our interest in Goldcorp's world-class Penasquito mine in Mexico, which is currently ramping up production on schedule, Silver Wheaton now has a significant stake in three of the top five silver deposits in the world, of which Penasquito and Pascua-Lama are cornerstone growth assets not just for Silver Wheaton, but also for our operating partners."

"This acquisition confirms Silver Wheaton as the largest of all royalty and metals streaming companies in the world, with an unparalleled growth profile. It is very accretive on all key metrics, increasing attributable silver reserves by 43% and cash flow by 35%, once Pascua-Lama is in production. The acquisition is structured so that Silver Wheaton receives immediate cash flow, even prior to Pascua-Lama being in production, maintaining our strong balance sheet and preserving our ability to continue growing the Company in an accretive manner for shareholders."

"We are very proud that, since we created this business model just five years ago, we have demonstrated an unrivalled record of high quality acquisitions, and now have a significant stake in nine of the top 35 silver deposits in the world."

Transaction Terms

To acquire 25% of the life of mine silver production from Barrick's Pascua-Lama project, as well as 100% of the silver production from its Lagunas Norte, Pierina and Veladero mines until the end of 2013, Silver Wheaton will make total upfront cash payments of US$625 million over three years, of which US$212.5 million is payable on closing and three further payments of US$137.5 million are due on the first, second and third anniversaries. Silver Wheaton will also make ongoing payments of the lesser ofUS$3.90 (subject to a one percent annual adjustment starting in the fourth year after the achievement of specific operating targets) and the prevailing market price, for each ounce of silver delivered under the agreement. Silver Wheaton will not share in any ongoing capital or exploration expenditures at the various mines.

Barrick has provided Silver Wheaton with a completion guarantee, requiring them to complete Pascua-Lama to at least 75% of design capacity by December 31, 2015. During 2014 and 2015, Silver Wheaton will be entitled to the silver production from the currently producing mines to the extent of any production shortfall at Pascua-Lama, until Barrick satisfies the completion guarantee. If Barrick fails to satisfy the requirements of the completion guarantee, the agreement may be terminated by Silver Wheaton. In such an event, Silver Wheaton would be entitled to the return of the upfront cash consideration of US$625 millionless a credit for silver delivered up to the date of that event.

Barrick has granted Silver Wheaton a five year right of first refusal on any further metal stream sales in connection with Pascua-Lama, where more than 50% of the value is from silver.

The transaction is expected to close September 22, 2009. Silver Wheaton's financial advisor is Genuity Capital Markets and its legal counsel is Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP.

Financing the acquisition

To pay the initial upfront cash payment of US$212.5 million, Silver Wheaton intends to use cash on hand (US$70 million) and for the balance may use amounts borrowed under its revolving credit facility or the proceeds of offerings of securities issued in the public and/or private equity capital markets. Remaining upfront cash payments of US$137.5 million per annum, for the next three years, are expected to be financed by operating cash flows with no debt drawdown anticipated.

About Pascua-Lama

Pascua-Lama straddles the border of Chile and Argentina and is one of the largest silver deposits in the world. It hosts 718 million ounces of silver in proven and probable reserves, with additional measured and indicated silver resources of 88 million ounces. As reported in a Barrick press release dated May 7, 2009, expected average annual silver production in the first full five years is approximately 35 million ounces. Anticipated total cash costs over this period are US$20-$50 per ounce of gold which would make Pascua-Lama one of the lowest cost gold mines in the world. Pascua-Lama is a long-life asset with an expected mine life in excess of 25 years. Key construction permits and environmental approvals have been received and construction is underway. Commissioning of the mine is expected in late 2012 with production commencing in early 2013.

http://harveyorgan.blogspot.com/2013/04/gold-rises-by-3840-to-146180silver-has.html

Gold rises by $38.40 to $1461.80./Silver has best day in 15 months by rising $1.31. Comex gold continues to leave comex vaults.

Good evening  Ladies and Gentlemen:

 
Gold closed up $38.40 to $1461.80 (comex closing time).  Silver rose by $1.31   to $24.14 (comex closing time). This was the best showing for silver in 15 months.

In the access market at 5 pm gold and silver continue on in full force and rose :

gold: $1466.0
silver: $23.34


At the comex, the open interest in silver fell  by a smallish 1,567 contracts to 157,403 contracts (short covering by the bankers) as it is still  holding firm at elevated levels . The open interest on the gold contract fell by 3972 contracts to 411,102. The total amount of gold ounces standing for April rose slightly to 34.46 tonnes as silver remained relatively constant at 3,765,000 oz.

Over at the gold comex inventories we witnessed another huge withdrawal. Tonight the dealer (registered gold) rests at 2.174 million oz or 67.6 tonnes.  I cannot recall this level being so low.  The total of all gold at the comex drops below 8 million oz at 7.990 million oz or 248.5 tonnes. 

The big news comes from Toronto, were Barrick may have to write off the entire Pascua Lama project.  This will put a huge crimp into future gold supplies entering the market place.

we have a report from India which shows that Indian dealers have been cleaned out.

We also have commentaries on the physical gold metal from Eric King, John Embry, Jim Sinclair Aladair MacLeod, Keith Barron and Dave Kranzler from the GoldenTruth.


In paper stories the only significant one was the huge rise in Spanish unemployment to over 27%.

We also have lots of chatter of an invasion in Syria.


 We will go over these and other stories but first.........................

Let us now head over to the comex and assess trading over there today:


The total gold comex open interest fell by 3972 contracts today  from  415,074 down to 411,102,  with gold rising by $14.80 on Wednesday.It looks like we had massive short covering yesterday.  The front April OI fell by 239 contracts from  548 down to 309. We had 271 notices filed on Wednesday so we gained 32 contracts or 3200   oz of additional gold which will  be standing for the April gold contract month. The next non active contract month is May and here the OI fell by 616 contracts to 855. The next big contract month is June and here the OI fell by  5,994 contracts from 251,249 down to 245,255.  The estimated volume today was very good at 197,313.   The confirmed volume on Wednesday was good at 153,871 contracts.


The total silver comex OI fell slightly by 1567  contracts from 158,970 down to 157,403  despite silver's rise yesterday. It still looks like we still have some  stoic longs who seem impervious to pain as the OI in silver continues to remain elevated despite the constant whacking of this metal. The front non active delivery month of April saw its OI fall by 1 contracts from 15  down to 14 . We had 0 delivery notices filed on Wednesday, so in essence we  lost  1 silver contract standing for delivery in April or 5,000 oz.  The next big delivery month for silver is May and here the OI fell by 4581 contracts to stand at 30,754. We are less than 1  week away from first day notice for the May silver delivery month  (Tuesday April 30/2013).   The estimated volume today was huge, coming in at 108,026 contracts which equates close to 540 million oz of silver. The world produces 700 million oz per year ex China ex Russia so in essence today's volume equates to 77% of annual silver production. We had confirmed volume on Tuesday at 107,502 contracts which is a huge volume day . (.537 billion oz or 76.7% of annual silver production)

Comex gold/April contract month:

April 25.2013      April gold.

Gold	Ounces
Withdrawals from Dealers Inventory in oz	70,767.144  (Scotia)
Withdrawals from Customer Inventory in oz	167,948.938 (HSBC,JPM, Scotia)
Deposits to the Dealer Inventory in oz	nil
Deposits to the Customer Inventory, in oz	852.17 (Brinks)
No of oz served (contracts) today	98  (9,800  oz)
No of oz to be served (notices)	211  (21,100)  oz
Total monthly oz gold served (contracts) so far this month	10,868  (1,086,800 oz)
Total accumulative withdrawal of gold from the Dealers inventory this month	168,018.42  oz
Total accumulative withdrawal of gold from the Customer inventory this month	943,780.96  oz  (29 tonnes)

We had huge activity at the gold vaults.

The dealer had 0 deposits and 1 major dealer withdrawal.

i) Out of the Scotia warehouse another huge 36,646.06 ounces of gold was withdrawn from the dealer and out of all registered comex vaults.

We had 1 tiny   customer deposits:

i) Into Brinks:  1286.000 oz  (another of those perfectly round deposits)

total customer deposit:  1286.000 oz



We had 3 customer withdrawals two of which were huge :


i) Out of JPM*:   260,792.233 oz  (see commentary on JPM gold removals below)
ii) Out of HSBC:  5,409.659 oz
iii) Out of Scotia:  53,148.413


*a monstrous 65% drop in eligible inventories in 24 hours

total customer withdrawal: 319,350.29   oz  (9.9 tonnes of gold removed) 

We had 0  adjustments:


The following is very scary!!!

Thus the dealer inventory  rests tonight at 2.174 million oz (67.6) tonnes of gold.
The total of all gold declines again at the comex and this time breaking below 8 million oz as it rests at 7.990 million oz or 248.5 tonnes.

I cannot recall seeing the registered or dealer inventory in gold this low.
The comex is slowly losing all of its gold.

The CME reported that we had 98 notices filed for 9,800 oz of gold today.   The total number of notices so far this month is thus 10,868 contracts x 100 oz per contract or 1,086,800 oz of gold. In order to establish what will be the total number of gold ounces standing, I take the OI for April (309) and subtract out Thursday's delivery notices (98) which leaves us with 211 contracts or 21,100 oz left to be served upon our longs. 

Thus  we have the following gold ounces standing for metal:

1,086,800 (served)  + 21,100 oz (left to be served upon )  =  1,107,900 oz or

34.46 tonnes of gold.

we gained 3200 oz  of  gold standing for the April gold contract. This is turning out to be a very big delivery month!1

*Mark Lundeen…


COMEX Gold Inventory Continues to get the Hell out of Dodge City

Gold continues to exit from the COMEX storage facilities with no sign of slowing down. In the last five days 5% of the gold held at the COMEX has moved on to new locations. Let’s face it, it hasn’t been shipped to mints for fabrication into coins and bars to satisfy the public’s demand for gold. This could become the biggest story in the gold market if this continues.

Mark

April 25.2013:  April silver: 

Silver	Ounces
Withdrawals from Dealers Inventory	633,866.43 (CNT)
Withdrawals from Customer Inventory	662,901.23 ( Delaware)
Deposits to the Dealer Inventory	nil
Deposits to the Customer Inventory	598,041.900  (CNT,)
No of oz served (contracts)	3 contracts  (15,000 oz)
No of oz to be served (notices)	14  (70,000 oz)
Total monthly oz silver served (contracts)	742  (3,710,000 oz)
Total accumulative withdrawal of silver from the Dealers inventory this month	3,116,454.8 oz
Total accumulative withdrawal of silver from the Customer inventory this month	5,384,669.5  oz

Today, we  had huge activity  inside the silver vaults.

 we had 0 dealer deposits and 1  dealer withdrawals.

Out of CNT:  663,866.43 oz leaves this registered vault. 


We had 1 customer deposits:

i) Into CNT: 598,041.900 oz 

Total deposits:  598,041.90  oz

We had 2 customer withdrawals:

i) Into  Delaware:  993.95 oz
ii) Out of our famous JPM:  661,907.28 oz




total customer withdrawal:  662,901.23 oz

we had 1  adjustments:

Out of the Delaware vault:  383,834.566 oz was adjusted out of the dealer and back into the customer account

Registered silver  at :  38.11 million oz

total of all silver:  166.61 million oz.

The CME reported that we had 3 notices filed for 15,000 oz of silver  for the non active contract month of April. In order to calculate the number of silver ounces that will stand, I take the OI for April silver (14) and subtract out Thursday's notices (3) which leaves us with 11 notices or 55,000 oz left to be served upon our longs.

Thus the total number of silver ounces standing in this non active delivery month of April is as follows:

3,710,000 oz served  +   55,000 oz to be served  =  3,765,000 oz

we  lost 5,000 silver ounces standing in the April contract month.

This is also turning out to be a very good delivery schedule for what is usually a quiet month as April is a non active month for silver.

April 25.2013

Tonnes1,090.27

Ounces35,053,272.79

Value US$50.841   billion

april 24.2013:

Tonnes1,092.98

Ounces35,140,313.66

Value US$50.177   billion

Selected news and views.......

THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 2013

Is Your Gold Missing?

When it becomes widely known that all of the people who think they own gold in fact don’t own gold, that it’s been hypothecated and re-hypothecated so many times that there are 100 claims for every single ounce of physical gold, that is when the prices of gold and silver will really go berserk to the upside, and at that point the shorts will have serious problems  - John Embry on King World News

 The press pounced all over the massive smack down on gold/silver last week.  Headlines were thrust in everyone's face.  Gold dropped  $200 dollars in two days and the media wanted to make sure everyone knew about it.  Well, guess what?  As I write this, gold has gained back over $100 that drop. But is this being broadcast in flashing marquee lights the way the sell-off was?  Of course not.

In the aftermath of that sell down, a lot of facts have come to light.  But first, the bounce we're seeing is illustrative of the fact that you need to hold on tight in this sector in order to truly benefit from the wealth benefits of investing in physical gold/silver and good mining stocks.  As an example, since late 1999, the mining stocks have suffered two periods in which the mining stocks had severe sell-offs of this magnitude - late 1999 to early 2001 and mid-2008 - Oct 2008 - in response to large manipulated drops in the metals.  But after the sell-off ended, it literally took less than 3 months for the HUI/XAU indexes to double from their bottom and then head to new all-time highs a few years after that.  I feel bad for anyone who was shaken out this time around, but I guarantee you that Wall Street does not harbor the same sympathies...

At any rate, what's been exposed from this market price correction is that fact that 1) more people now understand why it is important to own physical gold and silver, as evidenced by the fact that U.S. quickly sold out of silver eagles and is on a track to sell a record monthly amount of gold eagles; and 2)  there is a serious problem globally with amount of gold that is available for physical delivery to the buyers who are demand actual delivery.

I thought I would go over some statistics from the Comex to illustrate why we know this is the case.  The total gold held on the Comex is 8.5mm ozs, of which 6.3mm is not available for delivery - i.e. it's investor gold being held in Comex vaults.  Stunningly, over 2 million ounces of gold -  roughly 60 tonnes - has been removed from the Comex vaults in the last three months.  Most of it has come from investor accounts.  You have to wonder why all of a sudden big investors have removed their gold from the Comex.

Investor gold is not "eligible" for delivery on futures contracts.  The gold that can be delivered is sitting in "registered"accounts. The amount of registered gold currently is 2.28 million ozs.  The total open interest in futures contracts for gold is 416k contracts, or contracts representing 41.6 million ozs.  Essentially there's 18x more paper gold in the form of futures open interest than there is gold that can be delivered.  The June front month for gold has 255k open contracts, or 25.5mm ozs open.  That's 11x the amount of gold available for delivery.  If even 10% of June gold contract longs held for delivery, the Comex would be completely wiped out of its gold and would have to default on the delivery of some.  But the Comex has a "force majeur" clause in its contract that allows cash settlement.  We won't see that happen in the near future most likely, but it will eventually happen.

In silver the total open interest represents 786.3 million ozs.  That's about 3/4 of global annual production, which includes 257mm ozs of recycled silver.  So, the total open interest on the Comex is about equal the total annual amount of silver mined globally.  There's 39mm ozs of silver available for delivery.  In other words the amount of paper silver on the Comex is 20x the amount of silver the Comex has for delivery.

I think that explains why big investors are removing their gold from the Comex.  The Comex is one giant Ponzi scheme.  Anyone who is going to rely on the Comex as a source of silver, either industrial or investment, is going to be left holding a giant, empty paper bag.  That explains why we are seeing a such frenetic activity - not just in this country but globally - by investors looking to get their hands on gold/silver that can physically delivered to their possession.  A long-time colleague of mine prepared this caption, which sums up the situation perfectly:

As the severity of the physical gold/silver shortage vs. the paper claims issued (futures, LBMA forwards, OTC derivatives and Central Bank leases and swaps) against that actual amount physically available - as demonstrated by my Comex example, which is only part of the global problem - the price of gold and silver are going to start to go parabolic.  Although most of you are not aware, but from 1974-1976, the price of gold dropped 47%.  But from 1976 to 1980 the price of gold went up 800%.  Given what we know about the massive, unsolvable global financial problems, and the enormous amount of money that will need to be printed to keep the system from collapsing outright, it's a good bet the next extended move in the metals will dwarf the move gold made in the late 1970's.