18 support shown..... next level would be 15.....
Wed Feb 20 20:19:04 2013
Note that from the time of the margin cuts ( announced 2/7 - effective as of 2/12 ) , the downward pressure increased for both gold and silver - suckers drawn in for the kill ?
CME Cuts Gold, Silver Margins
Any trader of paper gold and silver will likely never forget the endless and certainly parabolic barrage of margin hikes that the CME imposed in the spring and summer of 2011 which had only one purpose: to break the back of the relentless anti-fiat rally in the precious metals (and which culminated with the historic May 1 take down of silver when the metal plunged some 15% in the span of seconds). Since then, perhaps as a result of initial and maintenance margins still at residual levels indicative of when the S&P was some 30% lower and some $4 trillion less in slushing global central bank liquidity, the upside euphoria in gold and silver has been decidedly hobbled, perhaps so much that the CME is now scrambling to find a whole new set of gullible investors who will obediently put their money in the paper trap, only to see a surge followed by yet another mauling from soaring margin demands. After all, the CME needs trading volume to keep the cash flow flowing - killing the paper market in any one product suits nobody. Sure enough, moments ago, the CME once again cut margins in a slew of products, most notably gold and silver, by some 10% and 14%.
Good luck CME with finding people gullible enough to trust you this time around.
http://www.silverdoctors.com/eric-sprott-the-cartel-will-be-taken-to-their-knees/
ERIC SPROTT: THE CARTEL WILL BE TAKEN TO THEIR KNEES!
and....
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-02-20/strange-case-golds-regular-morning-mugging
In The Strange Case Of Gold's Regular Morning Mugging
Submitted by Adam Taggart of Peak Prosperity blog,
Not everyone is a morning person. And few people like Mondays.
But if you're a precious metals investor, mornings – especially Mondays – are brutal.
The Evidence
The precious metals are routinely sold off at or soon after the 8:20am EST morning open of the New York NYMEX exchange.
Below are the daily gold price charts (source:Kitco) for each Monday (or Tuesday, if Monday was a holiday) since early this year. The current day's gold price is noted by the bright green line. The morning takedown is highlighted by the orange oval.
Monday, January 7
Gold is taken down $10 immediately after the 8am NYMEX open
Monday, January 14
A late breaking rally begun on the London exchange is quickly contained at the NYMEX open, and then beaten down nearly $10. Notice that the previous Friday's gold price action (the bright blue line) also showed the same behavior at the same time, but with an even more severe response once the NYMEX opened.
Monday, January 21
The 8am sell-off is smaller here (only a few $), but still noticeable.
Monday, January 28
Again, a sell-off happens after the 8am open. Note again how the previous Friday's action was similar, but even more severe.
Monday, February 4
Finally, an outlier. While there was an initial dip in the first hour of the NYMEX, the price took off soon after. So let's not count this one.
Monday, February 11
An immediate $14 drop at the 8am open. The downward momentum started in London, but the vertical downdraft once the NYMEX opened is unmistakable.
Tuesday, February 19
While less sharp, the steady selling clearly begins at 8am, beating gold down $12 to the technically significant $1,600 threshold.
Volume & Timing
Running the above data by Chris, he noted two additional observations.
The first is that the price suppression is commencing increasingly in advance of the start of the NYMEX's open outcry process at8:20am EST (i.e., how trading happens at the NYMEX). This suggests that it's being done on behalf of powerful players granted permission to circumvent the rules.
The second is that the volume levels in this pre-open trading is similar to that seen during active hours. That is very unusual in markets, and exceptionally high.
Silver
For those wondering, the daily price charts for silver indicate measurably similar action during these gold takedowns. Not in exact lockstep, but directionally similar both in degree and timing.
[Update: after initially writing this, I noticedZero Hedge posted a related analysis today of the takedowns in silver for the month of February so far. Like gold, the selling is concentrated in the first few hours of the day on the NYMEX]
...they appear to be strangely collected in a brief four hour window at the start of the day... the black line is the average of the day's performance in February across the dates selected.Charts: Bloomberg
The Conundrum
It's hard to swallow that these charts are evidence of a free and efficient market. Otherwise, a pattern this predictable would be quickly removed as traders and HFT algos piled in to a "sure" bet.Instead, this is behavior one would expect to see if powerful interests wanted to suppress the price of gold: hit the price hard and early at the start of the trading week to prevent the price from building upward momentum, as well as to make capital think twice before entering the gold market.Who is doing this selling at the market open? Is it TBTF ("too big to fail") banks making profit on large short positions? Is it the Fed, through proxies, keeping the gold price contained so as not to signal how badly QE is devaluing the dollar? Allegations swarm across the Internet that it's one of these – or both. But we don't know for certain. The exchanges don't make that information available to the public.But while these charts above are not enough evidence to prove that the gold price is being manipulated, they sure exhibit the symptoms one would expect to see if it is.
So, the big question is: if the precious metals market is being manipulated, is it wise to be in it?History is littered with the bodies of investors whose investment thesis was right, but whose timing was wrong. Even though precious metals investors may be correct in their fundamental rationale for buying gold, can the precious metals markets remain held in check (or driven further down) for long enough that it's not worth the risk of owning the metals at all right now?* * *
and.....
http://www.silverdoctors.com/2-epic-long-term-charts-depicting-todays-cartel-silver-raid/
( Still think 1550 for gold and 27.50 is important support - let's see when the next raid comes how support holds up or whether see see a close below those levels.....)
2 EPIC LONG TERM CHARTS DEPICTING TODAY’S CARTEL SILVER RAID
From SD reader Battle Beagle:
The beatdown in the gold and silver markets continued overnight and early in COMEX trading Wednesday ahead of this afternoon’s release of the latest Fed meeting minutes at 2pm EST. http://www.caseyresearch.com/gsd/edition/peter-grandich-laments-mining-industrys-obtuseness-face-price-suppression
Peter Grandich Laments Mining Industry's Obtuseness in Face of Price Suppression
Feb
20
"Will JPMorgan et al go short the subsequent rallies in the precious metals whenever they commence?"
¤ YESTERDAY IN GOLD AND SILVER
With the U.S. shut tight for President's Day on Monday, there wasn't much price activity in gold that day...and that sideways price activity continued into Tuesday in the Far East.
The engineered sell-off began in London trading on their Tuesday morning, about twenty minutes before the Comex opened, and the low price tick of $1,599.90 spot came about 12:10 p.m. in New York.
The subsequent rally wasn't allowed to get far...and got sold off a bit going into the 1:30 p.m. Eastern time Comex close, before trading sideways for the rest of the electronic session.
The gold price finished the Tuesday session at $1,604.60 spot...down $5.20 on the day. The CME's gross volume figures for Monday and Tuesday combined were reported as 243,133 contracts, which was pretty chunky.
The engineered sell-off began in London trading on their Tuesday morning, about twenty minutes before the Comex opened, and the low price tick of $1,599.90 spot came about 12:10 p.m. in New York.
The subsequent rally wasn't allowed to get far...and got sold off a bit going into the 1:30 p.m. Eastern time Comex close, before trading sideways for the rest of the electronic session.
The gold price finished the Tuesday session at $1,604.60 spot...down $5.20 on the day. The CME's gross volume figures for Monday and Tuesday combined were reported as 243,133 contracts, which was pretty chunky.
It should be obvious to anyone with two synapse to rub together that JPMorgan et al were after silver yesterday...as it had another dollar plus intraday price move.
Silver traded mostly unchanged during Monday trading...and much the same can be said for Tuesday. The high tick in London appeared to come at an early silver fix...just before noon GMT...and the sell-off began minutes after 1:00 p.m. in London...and about twenty minutes before the Comex opened.
When the engineered price decline was done for the day at 12:10 p.m. in New York, silver's low price tick checked in at $29.13 spot. The high tick was recorded as $30.16 spot.
Then, like gold, silver rallied a bit going into the Comex close before trading sideways for the rest of the day.
Silver closed at $29.44 spot...down 54 cents. Silver's gross volume for Monday and Tuesday was 97,975 contracts...but with the roll-overs out of the March contract netted out, the volume dropped down to 53,667 which is still pretty huge.
Silver traded mostly unchanged during Monday trading...and much the same can be said for Tuesday. The high tick in London appeared to come at an early silver fix...just before noon GMT...and the sell-off began minutes after 1:00 p.m. in London...and about twenty minutes before the Comex opened.
When the engineered price decline was done for the day at 12:10 p.m. in New York, silver's low price tick checked in at $29.13 spot. The high tick was recorded as $30.16 spot.
Then, like gold, silver rallied a bit going into the Comex close before trading sideways for the rest of the day.
Silver closed at $29.44 spot...down 54 cents. Silver's gross volume for Monday and Tuesday was 97,975 contracts...but with the roll-overs out of the March contract netted out, the volume dropped down to 53,667 which is still pretty huge.
The platinum and palladium price action looked like they were on a different planet.
The dollar index closed on Friday at 80.48...and rallied to around 80.72 in early Far East trading on their Monday morning, before chopping around the 80.65 mark throughout the rest of the day. This state of affairs lasted until 1:00 p.m. in London...8:00 a.m. in New York on Tuesday morning...about the same time as the sell-offs began in gold and silver. The low, such as it was, came around 1:10 p.m. Eastern time...and then didn't do much after that, closing on Tuesday at 80.51...virtually unchanged from Friday's close.
Once again there was no correlation between the currencies and the precious metal price action.
Once again there was no correlation between the currencies and the precious metal price action.
* * *
The CME's Daily Delivery Report showed that 41 gold and 57 silver contracts were posted for delivery tomorrow within the Comex-approved depositories. JPMorgan was the only short/issuer in gold..and the two long/stoppers were Deutsche Bank and HSBC USA. In silver, Jefferies was the short/issuer again on all 57 contracts...and Canada's own Bank of Nova Scotia stopped 55 of those contracts.
So far this month, there have been 11,268 gold contracts posted for delivery, along with a rather impressive 440 silver contracts, which is quite high for a non-delivery month...and the month is only half over. The link to yesterday's Issuers and Stoppers Report is here.
GLD showed another decline, as an authorized participant withdrew 96,784 troy ounces of gold...and as of 9:53 p.m. on Tuesday evening, there were no reported changes in SLV.
The U.S. Mint had a decent sales report yesterday. They sold 9,000 ounces of gold eagles...4,500 one-ounce 24K gold buffaloes...and 454,500 silver eagles.
Friday was a big day over at the Comex-approved depositories, as they reported receiving 1,551,167 troy ounces of silver...and shipped only 278,003 troy ounces of the stuff out the door. the link to that activity is here.
Nick Laird and I were discussing Russia's gold reserves vs. their production over the last ten years or so...and although I haven't seen a chart yet, what Nick had to say was rather interesting.
"Checking the numbers on Russia's production - since 1930 - they have produced 505 million ounces of gold."
"Yet their central bank is only holding 30 million ounces or 1/17th of their countries production."
"In the last twelve years they have produced 59 million ounces...and the Gov't has kept 17.3 million ounces."
So far this month, there have been 11,268 gold contracts posted for delivery, along with a rather impressive 440 silver contracts, which is quite high for a non-delivery month...and the month is only half over. The link to yesterday's Issuers and Stoppers Report is here.
GLD showed another decline, as an authorized participant withdrew 96,784 troy ounces of gold...and as of 9:53 p.m. on Tuesday evening, there were no reported changes in SLV.
The U.S. Mint had a decent sales report yesterday. They sold 9,000 ounces of gold eagles...4,500 one-ounce 24K gold buffaloes...and 454,500 silver eagles.
Friday was a big day over at the Comex-approved depositories, as they reported receiving 1,551,167 troy ounces of silver...and shipped only 278,003 troy ounces of the stuff out the door. the link to that activity is here.
Nick Laird and I were discussing Russia's gold reserves vs. their production over the last ten years or so...and although I haven't seen a chart yet, what Nick had to say was rather interesting.
"Checking the numbers on Russia's production - since 1930 - they have produced 505 million ounces of gold."
"Yet their central bank is only holding 30 million ounces or 1/17th of their countries production."
"In the last twelve years they have produced 59 million ounces...and the Gov't has kept 17.3 million ounces."
"So the Russian Government is not as hungry as the Chinese Government."
My comment to Nick was that maybe the Russian government wasn't reporting everything that they were puting into reserves, just like the Chinese weren't. We'll find out in the fullness of time, I supposed.
Here are a couple of charts that I received from Washington state reader S.A. over the last couple of days...and neither require any further emellishment from me...
My comment to Nick was that maybe the Russian government wasn't reporting everything that they were puting into reserves, just like the Chinese weren't. We'll find out in the fullness of time, I supposed.
Here are a couple of charts that I received from Washington state reader S.A. over the last couple of days...and neither require any further emellishment from me...
(Click on image to enlarge)
Here's a chart that I stole out of a Frank Holmes commentary that someone sent me on the weekend, but I can't remember who.
* * *
news items of note....
Left in the Dark: Copper Thieves Rob Detroit Freeways of Light
Department of Transportation says one-fifth of the lights along freeways in Metro Detroit aren’t working — and copper thieves are mainly to blame.
MDOT spokesman Rob Morosi said roughly 20 percent of the lights on poles and beneath overpasses on freeways in Wayne, Oakland, Macomb and St. Clair counties are dark.
“We are responsible for about 5,500 light poles and also about 5,000 individual lights that are installed beneath overpasses,” Morosi told The Detroit News. “Right now we’re estimating 1,100 outages to those poles for a number of reasons.”
The main reason for many of the outages, according to Morosi, is copper thieves – who are stripping metal from the transformer cabinets.
This article was posted on the detroit.cbslocal.com Internet site early Friday morning local time...and I thank West Virignia reader Elliot Simon for sending it. The link is here.
MDOT spokesman Rob Morosi said roughly 20 percent of the lights on poles and beneath overpasses on freeways in Wayne, Oakland, Macomb and St. Clair counties are dark.
“We are responsible for about 5,500 light poles and also about 5,000 individual lights that are installed beneath overpasses,” Morosi told The Detroit News. “Right now we’re estimating 1,100 outages to those poles for a number of reasons.”
The main reason for many of the outages, according to Morosi, is copper thieves – who are stripping metal from the transformer cabinets.
This article was posted on the detroit.cbslocal.com Internet site early Friday morning local time...and I thank West Virignia reader Elliot Simon for sending it. The link is here.
Jim Rickards: Currency War 3 Has Just Begun
This 40-minute interview with Jim was posted over at the financialsense.comInternet site on Saturday...and I thank reader Harold Jackobsen for bringing it to our attention. The link is here.
Sterling strikes seven-month lows amid calls for further weakness
During morning trading on Monday, the pound fell 0.5pc to $1.5438 - its lowest level since July last year - before recovering to trade around $1.5483.
Sterling's slide came as Martin Weale, a senior Bank of England policymaker, said on Saturday that the pound may need to weaken further, which would help to make exports cheaper and spur growth.
“Provided the calmer atmosphere we have seen since the summer is sustained, we may see further benefits of the depreciation."
With the Bank of England appearing comfortable with sterling's drop, traders suggested that more losses are likely. "Policymakers are hoping that a weaker sterling will help revive the economy," said John Hardy, currency strategist at Saxo Bank.
Print, print, print! So much for what was agreed upon in the BBC story that's posted above this one. I thank Roy Stephens for sending this article from The Telegraph. It was posted on their website early Monday afternoon GMT...and the link is here.
Sterling's slide came as Martin Weale, a senior Bank of England policymaker, said on Saturday that the pound may need to weaken further, which would help to make exports cheaper and spur growth.
“Provided the calmer atmosphere we have seen since the summer is sustained, we may see further benefits of the depreciation."
With the Bank of England appearing comfortable with sterling's drop, traders suggested that more losses are likely. "Policymakers are hoping that a weaker sterling will help revive the economy," said John Hardy, currency strategist at Saxo Bank.
Print, print, print! So much for what was agreed upon in the BBC story that's posted above this one. I thank Roy Stephens for sending this article from The Telegraph. It was posted on their website early Monday afternoon GMT...and the link is here.
Looming Elections: Berlin Warns Italians against Berlusconi
Top politicians tend to remain silent on elections being held abroad. But German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle this week has issued a barely concealed warning to Italians against voting for Silvio Berlusconi. And he isn't the only one in Berlin who is nervous about a possible return of "Il Cavaliere."
It was German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble who allegedly fired the first shot. In an interview with the Italian newsmagazine l'Espresso late last week, Schäuble warned Italians against voting for Silvio Berlusconi in general elections scheduled for Feb. 24 and 25. "Silvio Berlusconi may be an effective campaign strategist," the magazine quotes Schäuble as saying. "But my advice to the Italians is not to make the same mistake again by re-electing him."
A Finance Ministry spokesman was quick to deny that Schäuble had said such a thing. But this week, given Berlusconi's seemingly inexorable climb toward the top of Italian public opinion polls, two more top German politicians have warned against re-electing a man who many see as being partially responsible for the economic troubles facing the country.
This article showed up on the German website spiegel.de yesterday during their lunch hour...and I thank Roy Stephens for sending it. The link is here.
It was German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble who allegedly fired the first shot. In an interview with the Italian newsmagazine l'Espresso late last week, Schäuble warned Italians against voting for Silvio Berlusconi in general elections scheduled for Feb. 24 and 25. "Silvio Berlusconi may be an effective campaign strategist," the magazine quotes Schäuble as saying. "But my advice to the Italians is not to make the same mistake again by re-electing him."
A Finance Ministry spokesman was quick to deny that Schäuble had said such a thing. But this week, given Berlusconi's seemingly inexorable climb toward the top of Italian public opinion polls, two more top German politicians have warned against re-electing a man who many see as being partially responsible for the economic troubles facing the country.
This article showed up on the German website spiegel.de yesterday during their lunch hour...and I thank Roy Stephens for sending it. The link is here.
Saxo Bank CEO Says Euro Is Doomed as Currency Woes Resurface
Lars Seier Christensen, co-chief executive officer of Danish bank Saxo Bank A/S, said the euro’s recent rally is illusory and the shared currency is set to fail because the continent hasn’t supported it with a fiscal union.
“The whole thing is doomed,” Christensen said in an interview at the bank’s Dubai office. “Right now we’re in one of those fake solutions where people think that the problem is contained or being addressed, which it isn’t at all.”
“I’d be a bigger seller of the euro at anything near 1.4,” according to Christensen, who said he isn’t making any speculative bets against the currency.
This Bloomberg story was posted on their website in the wee hours of Monday morning Eastern time...and I found it yesterday's edition of the King Report. The link is here.
“The whole thing is doomed,” Christensen said in an interview at the bank’s Dubai office. “Right now we’re in one of those fake solutions where people think that the problem is contained or being addressed, which it isn’t at all.”
“I’d be a bigger seller of the euro at anything near 1.4,” according to Christensen, who said he isn’t making any speculative bets against the currency.
This Bloomberg story was posted on their website in the wee hours of Monday morning Eastern time...and I found it yesterday's edition of the King Report. The link is here.
G20 currency truce shortlived as Japan mulls foreign bond buys
Shinzo Abe told Japanese politicians that intervention on the markets is among the options being discussed. “There are views calling for foreign bond purchases,” he said, pointedly refusing to rule out such action.
The comments come despite a G20 statement over the weekend committing all major powers to “refrain from competitive devaluation”.
Buying foreign bonds is not the same as quantitative easing (QE) by the US and Britain, and crosses a sensitive political line. “It would be a direct violation of the G20 statement,” said Hans Redeker from Morgan Stanley. “We think he is saying this to convince markets that Japan has unlimited firepower to hold down the yen if absolutely necessary. He is trying to break the deflation psychology once and for all.”
He's also trying his best to talk the yen down without having to resort to outright money printing. In the end, it won't work. This Ambrose Evans-Pritchard offering was posted on The Telegraph's website on Monday evening...and is another offering from Roy Stephens. The link is here.
The comments come despite a G20 statement over the weekend committing all major powers to “refrain from competitive devaluation”.
Buying foreign bonds is not the same as quantitative easing (QE) by the US and Britain, and crosses a sensitive political line. “It would be a direct violation of the G20 statement,” said Hans Redeker from Morgan Stanley. “We think he is saying this to convince markets that Japan has unlimited firepower to hold down the yen if absolutely necessary. He is trying to break the deflation psychology once and for all.”
He's also trying his best to talk the yen down without having to resort to outright money printing. In the end, it won't work. This Ambrose Evans-Pritchard offering was posted on The Telegraph's website on Monday evening...and is another offering from Roy Stephens. The link is here.
Nine King World News Blogs/Audio Interviews
The first blog is with Bill Fleckenstein...and it's headlined "When Gold Turns, it Will Trade Violently to the Upside". Next comes Dan Norcini andBill Haynes: "One Huge Gold Buyer and Hedge Fund Moves". The third blog is with Michael Pento...and it's entitled "The Antidote For Reckless Governments and Money Printing". The next blog is with James Turk. It bears the headline "Central Planners are About to Completely Lose Control". The next blog is also with James Turk..."So-Called Audit of Fed's Gold Complete Rubbish and Propaganda"...and the third James Turk blog in a row is titled "U.S. Treasury Enters the Gold War". And lastly is Robert Fitzwilson...and it's headlined "Unlimited Fiat Under Guise of Currency Wars Sweeping Planet". The first audio interview is with Egon von Greyerz...and the second audio inteview is with Bill Fleckenstein.
Audit of gold at New York Fed fails to cover leases and swaps
The U.S. government's gold in New York is safe in a vault underneath Manhattan, and some of the precious metal there is purer than previously thought.
That's according to a first-ever audit conducted last year by the Treasury Department of U.S. gold on deposit at Federal Reserve banks in New York and elsewhere.
As part of the audit, the Treasury tested a sample of the government's 34,021 gold bars in the New York Fed's vault five stories below Manhattan's financial district, according to the inspector general's office. Auditors drilled tiny holes into the bars to remove samples that were tested for fineness in a process called assaying.
As Chris Powell stated in the GATA release where I found this L.A. TimesStory..."Multiple claims to the same metal are far more important than any possible imperfections in particular bars." Chris would be right about that. The link is here.
That's according to a first-ever audit conducted last year by the Treasury Department of U.S. gold on deposit at Federal Reserve banks in New York and elsewhere.
As part of the audit, the Treasury tested a sample of the government's 34,021 gold bars in the New York Fed's vault five stories below Manhattan's financial district, according to the inspector general's office. Auditors drilled tiny holes into the bars to remove samples that were tested for fineness in a process called assaying.
As Chris Powell stated in the GATA release where I found this L.A. TimesStory..."Multiple claims to the same metal are far more important than any possible imperfections in particular bars." Chris would be right about that. The link is here.
Robert Wenzel: Get ready for some major disinformation about America's gold
Robert Wenzel, editor of Economic Policy Journal, today notes the phoniness and irrelevance of the audit supposedly undertaken recently of gold at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, reported today by the Los Angeles Times in the story posted above this one.
"This audit was designed to confuse," Wenzel writes. "Expect more stories about how the Treasury Department conducted an audit of U.S. gold. Not true. Gold at Fort Knox, where America's gold supposedly sits, is off-limits to all and has never been audited."
Wenzel's commentary, which I found in another GATA release on Monday, is headlined "Get Ready for Some Major Disinformation about America's Gold"...and it's posted at Economic Policy Journal here.
"This audit was designed to confuse," Wenzel writes. "Expect more stories about how the Treasury Department conducted an audit of U.S. gold. Not true. Gold at Fort Knox, where America's gold supposedly sits, is off-limits to all and has never been audited."
Wenzel's commentary, which I found in another GATA release on Monday, is headlined "Get Ready for Some Major Disinformation about America's Gold"...and it's posted at Economic Policy Journal here.
India mulling further efforts to curb gold imports
The rumblings are getting louder by the day. The Indian government is considering more steps to curb gold imports and is looking to put a cap on the purchases of the precious metal to contain the country's swelling current account deficit.
The world's biggest gold importer has been trying to get its population to buy less of the metal and help bring down the country's import bill.
Late January, the government hiked the import duty on gold and platinum to 6% from 4% to curb imports of the precious metal. However, realising that an import duty hike was in the offing, bullion retailers purchased 23% more gold in January this year, ahead of the duty hike.
"The shipment was the highest in 18 months and clearly undermined the government's efforts to cap imports. A purchase of 100 tonne in one month is 40% more than the monthly average. This has got the government worried once again," said Baijal Pushpesh, bullion retailer.
This mineweb.com story was filed from Mumbai yesterday...and it's Ulrike Marx's final offering in today's column. It's definitely worth your time...and the link is here.
The world's biggest gold importer has been trying to get its population to buy less of the metal and help bring down the country's import bill.
Late January, the government hiked the import duty on gold and platinum to 6% from 4% to curb imports of the precious metal. However, realising that an import duty hike was in the offing, bullion retailers purchased 23% more gold in January this year, ahead of the duty hike.
"The shipment was the highest in 18 months and clearly undermined the government's efforts to cap imports. A purchase of 100 tonne in one month is 40% more than the monthly average. This has got the government worried once again," said Baijal Pushpesh, bullion retailer.
This mineweb.com story was filed from Mumbai yesterday...and it's Ulrike Marx's final offering in today's column. It's definitely worth your time...and the link is here.
Shanghai Gold Exchange benchmark contract volume jumps to record
Gold volumes for the benchmark cash contract on the Shanghai Gold Exchange climbed to a record today as the market re-opened after a weeklong break and lower prices lured buyers.
The volume for bullion of 99.99 percent purity exceeded 22,000 kilograms (22 metric tons), according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Prices dropped 2.8 percent to 327.25 yuan a gram ($1,630.29 an ounce) as of 5:04 p.m. Singapore time. Markets were closed last week for the Lunar New Year holiday.
"Chinese investors returned to the market today after the holiday, and the slump in gold prices in the past week provided great incentive for buying as many Chinese are still holding a bullish outlook on gold," Qu Mingyu, a trader at Bank of China Ltd., the nation's fourth-largest lender by assets, said by phone from Shanghai today.
This short Bloomberg piece showed up on their website in the wee hours of Monday morning Mountain Standard Time...and the link is here.
The volume for bullion of 99.99 percent purity exceeded 22,000 kilograms (22 metric tons), according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Prices dropped 2.8 percent to 327.25 yuan a gram ($1,630.29 an ounce) as of 5:04 p.m. Singapore time. Markets were closed last week for the Lunar New Year holiday.
"Chinese investors returned to the market today after the holiday, and the slump in gold prices in the past week provided great incentive for buying as many Chinese are still holding a bullish outlook on gold," Qu Mingyu, a trader at Bank of China Ltd., the nation's fourth-largest lender by assets, said by phone from Shanghai today.
This short Bloomberg piece showed up on their website in the wee hours of Monday morning Mountain Standard Time...and the link is here.
* * *
¤ THE WRAP
Back in the summer of 2012 and in December 2011, there was a strong feeling among many that JPMorgan might be able to completely eliminate its short position (then between 12 to 14,000 contracts) on lower prices. Instead, we rallied...and on both occasions...JPMorgan added aggressively to its concentrated short position. Today, JPMorgan’s short silver position is at least double the former low levels (if they reduced it as much as I think in the past three days). That’s a radically different setup, so much so that I would label it as the key factor in silver and gold at this point. Certainly, I hope everyone realizes that what I am saying is that, because of JPMorgan, the silver manipulation is more intense at this point than it ever was. - Silver analyst Ted Butler...16 February 2013
Well, all that needless worry about the overhanging short position in silver that both Ted and I were losing sleep over. Blythe Masters obviously heard our prayers and answered them yesterday.
You pretty much have to be brain dead not to recognize yesterday's price action in gold and silver for what it was. A deliberate take-down in silver...just like on Friday...and the entire prior week.
As Ted Butler said in his weekend commentary to his paying subscribers, we're pretty much cleaned out to the downside in gold...and only silver was the big question mark...as he mentioned in the quote above...and the short story in the 'Critical Reads' section further up. I also spent a fair amount of time discussing this issue in my Saturday column as well.
But the two $64,000 questions still remain. Are we done to the down-side...and will JPMorgan et al go short the subsequent rallies in the precious metals whenever they commence? You should be thinking of nothing else, because that's all that matters.
Here are the 2-year charts for both gold and silver...and they both little pretty oversold to me...but are they as oversold as JPMorgan et al would like them...or get them? We'll find out pretty quick.
In overnight trading, the price action has been muted...and volumes aren't overly heavy as we approach the 3:00 a.m. Eastern time London open. The dollar index is continuing its slide, down another 22 basis points since the New York close late Tuesday afternoon.
Well, all that needless worry about the overhanging short position in silver that both Ted and I were losing sleep over. Blythe Masters obviously heard our prayers and answered them yesterday.
You pretty much have to be brain dead not to recognize yesterday's price action in gold and silver for what it was. A deliberate take-down in silver...just like on Friday...and the entire prior week.
As Ted Butler said in his weekend commentary to his paying subscribers, we're pretty much cleaned out to the downside in gold...and only silver was the big question mark...as he mentioned in the quote above...and the short story in the 'Critical Reads' section further up. I also spent a fair amount of time discussing this issue in my Saturday column as well.
But the two $64,000 questions still remain. Are we done to the down-side...and will JPMorgan et al go short the subsequent rallies in the precious metals whenever they commence? You should be thinking of nothing else, because that's all that matters.
Here are the 2-year charts for both gold and silver...and they both little pretty oversold to me...but are they as oversold as JPMorgan et al would like them...or get them? We'll find out pretty quick.
(Click on image to enlarge)
One of the few things I'm thankful for after yesterday's price action, is that it all occurred on the last day of the cut-off for this Friday's Commitment of Traders Report...and if JPMorganet al report their volume and price data in a timely manner, the report should be quite something to see...in both metals.In overnight trading, the price action has been muted...and volumes aren't overly heavy as we approach the 3:00 a.m. Eastern time London open. The dollar index is continuing its slide, down another 22 basis points since the New York close late Tuesday afternoon.
And as I hit the 'send' button at 5:05 a.m. Eastern time, prices are flat, but volumes are already pretty hefty [especially in silver] despite the lack of price action...and the dollar index is down only 15 basis points.
As is pretty much always the case, any price activity worthy of the name normally begins at, or just after, the London silver fix at noon GMT...and I expect that to be the case again today.
See you here tomorrow.
As is pretty much always the case, any price activity worthy of the name normally begins at, or just after, the London silver fix at noon GMT...and I expect that to be the case again today.
See you here tomorrow.
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