Gold and What Moves it.

The resources is said to hold about 53 tonnes of gold and 31 tonnes of copper.

In 2006, Wiedemer and a team of economists accurately predicted the collapse of the U.S. housing market, equity markets, and consumer spending that almost sank the United States. They published their research in the book America’s Bubble Economy.

Thin premiums remain the order of the day for the gold and silver holding trusts and funds.

Citi analyst Tom Fitzpatrick sees gold appreciating $2,000+ from here.  I think quite a bit of that sort of move could happen more quickly than most might imagine.

I think quite a bit of this recent gold action is taking place on the public stage, but is being driven by private talks amongst the monetary powers that be.

There should be little doubt that a replacement for the US dollar reserve currency is being seriously considered.  Especially after the manner in which a few doubtful words cast by Bernanke about QE was able to send world markets into a swoon overnight.

There are those who would discredit gold and silver as being too volatile for inclusion in a basket of currencies that would become the international trading unit of exchange. ...

Looking at the current economic, financial and monetary situation...you just have to wonder how much time we have left before the whole thing collapses in a heap.  Maybe the Fed and JPMorgan et al are awaiting that day when everything melts down before they finally allow the precious metals market to melt up.  We'll find out, as they say, in the fullness of time. - Ed Steer

Bernanke has of course been the most productive man in history. In his 7 years as Chairman of the Fed he has printed more money than during the whole history of the USA.

By Egon von Greyerz
As precious metals investors worldwide are concerned about the correction in gold and silver let me tell you that you must not be. 

The incredible concoction of debt, derivatives (that will never be repaid with normal money) and accelerating fiscal deficits in most countries will guarantee money printing in unlimited quantities. 

And Bernanke and fellow central bank heads will not disappoint. The only important criterion in the job description of a central bank chief is that he/she is willing and able to print whatever is necessary and in the next few years that will most likely involve printing 100s of trillions of Dollars, Euros and Yen. ...

Analysts said even if the Turkish government heeds this calling, Turkish businessmen will still find a way to continue trading with Iran.

ANKARA(BullionStreet): Turkish gold businessmen are considering various options to circumvent US sanctions on their gold trade with Iran.

Turkish Union for Jewellery and Precious Metals exporters said Turkey is a country that buys a bar of gold and deals with its processing on its own, thus making the price more attractive. That is why Iran chooses us. At the same time, there are three gold processing plants in Turkey, all members of the London Bullion Market Association(LBMA).

There are only five such countries in the world, and Turkey is one of them. It offers gold at a price $50-100 lower than the average price on international market, that is why Iran chooses Turkey.” ...

Falling prices helped to drive up consumer demand for gold and silver jewelry. This demand climbed higher across the globe including in the U.S. (+22%), India (+27%) and China (+20%).

By Jason Hamlin
Global gold demand for the first quarter of 2013 declined both in terms of tonnage (-13%) and dollars (-16%).

The volume decline was driven primarily by 177 tonnes of outflows from ETFs, versus inflows of 53 tonnes last year. If we remove this component from the mix, total global demand actually increased by 8% during the first quarter.

It is somewhat odd to see that investment demand in the form of bars and coins climbed by a healthy 10.3%, while ETF investment demand turned negative and total holdings dropped by over 7%. Some of this divergence can be explained by investors exiting paper positions in precious metals in favor of taking possession of the physical metal. This decision stems from a growing distrust of the banks and financial institutions that act as custodians for the popular gold and silver ETFs. Many precious metals investors do not believe that the funds actually hold all of the physical to back up the paper claims. ...

Gold extraction grew by 6.34 per cent to 29.33 tons, while gold output from scrap and waste processing rose 5.87 per cent to 2.036 tons.

MOSCOW(BullionStreet): World's fourth largest gold producer, Russia refined 35.235 metric tons of gold in January-March 2013, up 4.37 per cent from a year earlier.

According to Russian Gold Industrialists Union the output also included gold extracted by gold miners and gold from the associated output of non-ferrous metals. ...

Analysts said premiums on physical gold eased due to some supply from bullion importing agencies.

NEW DELHI(BullionStreet): Two days after hitting as high as $20 an ounce, gold margins have come down to $5 an ounce in Indian markets Thursday.

Analysts said premiums on physical gold eased due to some supply from bullion importing agencies. Nominated agencies like MMTC, State Trading Corp. and PEC are controlled by the trade ministry.

Indian authorities have been taking steps to lower the demand for gold as part of their efforts to reduce the country's trade and current-account deficits.

The government increased the import tax on the metal to 6% from 2% over the last year-and-a-half hoping that it would increase prices for local buyers and in turn reduce demand. ...

Quantitative Easing: The New American 'High'

Hello, 
Is there anybody in there? 
Just nod if you can hear me 
Is there anyone home? (Comfortably Numb – Pink Floyd)

The stock market has now reached a place where no market has gone before and yet very few Americans understand the level of Federal Intervention that has gotten us here. We are being “eased” ladies and gentlemen with waves of “quantitative” cash intended to stimulate spending, lending and investment.

In four Quantitative Easing events since 2008, the Fed has credited its own account to purchase Treasury bonds and bank CD’s to juice Money Markets to record levels. The theory is that a flood of liquidity will encourage lending institutions to give money more freely while also boosting the markets and making us all feel incredibly comfortable and astonishingly numb.

This delusion of prosperity has literally kept the good times rolling and the champagne corks popping on Wall Street where investment bankers are riding high and investors are eagerly embracing a cavalier “eggs in one basket” approach to their retirement and savings accounts.

The Fed knows all too well that markets are driven by cash and confidence and that the rally-hungry populace will slurp up short-term gains with reckless abandon. But they also know ...

Tyler Druden Concludes:

... Perhaps the biggest insult here to sentient creatures everywhere, is that people have now become merely lab rats in the greatest behavioral conditioning experiment of all time, not only as regards to buying stocks on both bad and good news, or any utterance out of Bernanke's mouth, but an experiment designed to force everyone to simply stop thinking logically - the logic being that since every central bank is engaged full bore in reflating everything, than the economy left on its own is simply horrendous ...

This doesn’t make it easy to understand for investors who bought gold stocks and have now seen them go down in price…

But while the prices of gold stocks have pulled back significantly this year, demand for physicalgold bullion has gone through the proverbial roof.

The U.S. Mint had to halt the sales of its most-sold 1/10-ounce gold bullion coin. In Australia, the Perth Mint is working in overdrive to fill rising orders. The British Mint reports British consumers’ buying of gold has accelerated as well.

In the first quarter of 2013, total demand for gold bullion from ...

(Hint: It isn't fundamentals)

The run-up in the stock market (the SPX for purposes of this article) has been nothing short of stunning. Since hitting a sell-off bottom on October 4, 2011, the SPX has run-up a nearly non-stop 47.8%. In just the last month, the SPX has run up 7.5%. This is in the face of deteriorating economic indicators and declining corporate revenues. The stock market has for sure taken most observers and professionals by surprise, except for maybe the most passionate "perma-bulls."

Given this incredible move higher in stocks, I wanted to investigate a couple of possibilities for what is fueling this near-parabolic stock rally. Based on what I've been able to come up with, it's pretty clear that stocks are rocketing higher on Fed fuel and not fundamentals. But don't take it from me, it seems that some high profile billionaire investors are unloading their big positions, especially anything related to consumption:  Billionaires Are Dumping Stocks.  Let's take a look "under the hood" of the economic and financial system and see if we can figure out why.

While Bernanke was giving his report on the economy and monetary policy to the Joint Economic Committee of Congress today, in which he pretty much laid to rest any fears that the Fed would "taper" its monetary policy and bond purchase program anytime soon, I decided to look into some of the Fed's monetary data as reported on the  St. Louis Fed website.  Specifically I wanted to look at the Adjusted Monetary Base, which is the sum of the currency in circulation plus the commercial bank reserves held at the Fed, because this monetary account is the one directly affected by the QE program. ...

Unprecedented price and currency volatility will continue to test mining and metals companies for the next few years as the sector approaches supply/demand equilibrium in many commodities, says a new Ernest & Young white paper.

Mike Elliot, Ernst & Young’s global mining and metals leader, advised that mining and metals companies will be preoccupied with reading to the downside risk and price and currency volatility in 2013 and 2014.

Price volatility is underscored by the December 2012 reported results of the large diversified mining companies, in which mineral price movements account for 79% if the US$25.6 billion plunge in the period-on-period earnings. ...

James Grant, of Grant’s Interest Rate Observer fame, stopped in to visit with CNBC’s Maria Bartiromo on a day when the equity and bond markets were a volatile roller coaster as the markets parsed and dissected every word and nuance uttered by the top Fed central planners. 

“You know what else is scary, is that we seem to be so Fed-centric.  Since when is a central bank the principle fundamental in financial markets or an economy?  Does everything really ride on the syntax or the judgment, or let’s be frank, the guesswork of these well-intended scholarly people?” Grant asked rhetorically.   

A bit later Grant strikes a familiar chord: “The Fed has a definite impact. It might not be the one they intend,” he said.  Watch the video to see the rest of that important thought. 

Is the coming financial collapse going to be inflationary or deflationary?  Are we headed for rampant inflation or crippling deflation?  This is a subject that is hotly debated by economists all over the country.  Some insist that the wild money printing that the Federal Reserve is doing combined with out of control government spending will eventually result in hyperinflation.  Others point to all of the deflationary factors in our economy and argue that we will experience tremendous deflation when the bubble economy that we are currently living in bursts.  So what is the truth?  Well, for the reasons listed below, I believe that we will see both.  The next major financial panic will cause a substantial deflationary wave first, and after that we will see unprecedented inflation as the central bankers and our politicians respond to the financial crisis.  This will happen so quickly that many will get "financial whiplash" as they try to figure out what to do with their money.  We are moving toward a time of extreme financial instability, and different strategies will be called for at different times.

So why will we see deflation first?  The following are some of the major deflationary forces that are affecting our economy right now... 

In the aftermath of continued propaganda from the Federal Reserve, today King World News spoke with one of the top economists in the world about what the Fed is really planning.  Michael Pento spoke candidly about the frightening situation the US faces and how the Fed is trapped, despite mainstream media and Fed misinformation. 

... “The stupidity of the Federal Reserve is so blatant here.  In 2007 the Federal Reserve took interest rates to 5 1/4%, and the economy cratered because we had $48 trillion in debt, and a Debt/GDP ratio of 353%.  Interest rates rose and the economy cratered. 

We were entering a Great Depression.  Bernanke lowered interest rates to 0%, and debt increased all the way up to $54 trillion.  So why would anybody believe, Mr. Tepper or anybody else, that if the Federal Reserve stopped buying all of our issued debt, if they started to raise interest rates and unwound their balance sheet, and rates went anywhere near 5%, why wouldn’t the same thing happen again?  ...

Norcini has been stunningly accurate in his predictions of the movement in the gold and silver markets.  Now the acclaimed trader discusses these incredibly important developments in key markets:  “Yesterday was one of those days in which the Chairman of the US Federal Reserve made a point of saying everything he needed to say in order to cover all of the bases.  No matter who was listening they were sure to hear what they wanted.  

He had to let the market know that the Fed was mindful of not pulling the plug on the QE program too soon.  He chose those words to start his talk.  The effect was immediate – the precious metals markets roared to life and stock markets shot to yet another all-time high.  Even crude oil did its upward levitation act by surging higher on those initial comments....

Top Citi analyst Tom Fitzpatrick’s team sent King World News three extraordinary gold charts illustrating why gold is headed for a massive $2,000+ gain from current levels.  KWN is pleased to share this information with with our global readers.  Below is what top Citi analyst Fitzpatrick’s team had to say along with three very powerful charts.

Fitzpatrick’s Team:  “On a medium-to-long-term basis we remain very bullish on Gold.  However, it remains too early to call this correction lower as over, and we still believe that a lower low close to $1,260 can be seen.  If so, we suspect that will be a platform for a much higher move in the months and indeed years ahead.  The Equity market may also be instrumental in this story.

That low (in gold) was hit at $682 in October 2008, and within 3 years Gold had rallied to $1,921.  A similar fall and rally would see Gold at $1260 near-term and then above $3,500 by 2016.  That $3,500 number resonates with us for a number of reasons.  When Gold rallied in 1970-1980, it went from $35 to $850 (It multiplied over 24 times). ...

by Cecilia Jamasmie:

US Federal Reserve Bank Chairman, Ben Bernanke, seems to be sticking to his monetary policy as he showed no signs of the Fed ending its bullion-friendly bond buying program any time soon, as his opening statement reads.

The document, released to the media a couple of hours ahead of his testimony in front of Congress, indicates the Fed’s monetary stimulus is helping the U.S. economy recover, as the high costs of unemployment and inflation continue to run below the central bank's target.

"Monetary policy is providing significant benefits," Bernanke says in his testimony, reiterating that the Fed was prepared to either increase or reduce the pace of its bond buys based on economic conditions.

“In particular ...