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Gold Prices Skyrocket, Stocks Plunge – Looking Like 2008 On Steroids

August 2, 2011 by Leave a Comment

As politicians celebrated the debt limit increase and congratulated themselves for “saving” the nation that they destroyed, collapsing stock markets and soaring gold prices told a different story.  The public spectacle of a dysfunctional Congress debating the debt limit exposed to the world the horrendous extent to which the US government is addicted to endless deficit spending.

Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul summed up the outcome of the debt limit fiasco best:

This deal will reportedly cut spending by only slightly over $900 billion over 10 years. But we will have a $1.6 trillion deficit after this year alone, meaning those meager cuts will do nothing to solve our unsustainable spending problem. In fact, this bill will never balance the budget. Instead, it will add untold trillions of dollars to our deficit. This also assumes the cuts are real cuts and not the same old Washington smoke and mirrors game of spending less than originally projected so you can claim the difference as a ‘cut.’

The plan also calls for the formation of a deficit commission, which will accomplish nothing outside of providing Congress and the White House with another way to abdicate responsibility. In my many years of public service, there have been commissions on everything from Social Security to energy policy, yet not one solution has been produced out of these commissions.

Ron Paul also provided an explanation of what constitutes a “spending cut” in the bizarro world of government accounting and why, in the end, spending and debts will not decrease.

No plan under serious consideration cuts spending in the way you and I think about it. Instead, the “cuts” being discussed are illusory, and are not cuts from current amounts being spent, but cuts in projected spending increases. This is akin to a family “saving” $100,000 in expenses by deciding not to buy a Lamborghini, and instead getting a fully loaded Mercedes, when really their budget dictates that they need to stick with their perfectly serviceable Honda. But this is the type of math Washington uses to mask the incriminating truth about their unrepentant plundering of the American people.

The world was finally tuning in to the reality of the desperate financial condition of the United States.  The mainstream press was predicting a plunge in gold prices and soaring stock prices after Congress agreed to increase the nation’s debt limit.  Instead, the opposite happened as markets reflected underlying economic reality.

Since mid July, the Dow Jones Industrial Average has plunged by 858 points.  Since July 1st, gold has gained $178 per ounce.  Meanwhile, the debt crisis in Europe continues to intensify with bond yields soaring in Italy and Spain.  The world economy is marching off the edge of a cliff as governments lose the ability to contain the spiraling debt crisis.  It’s starting to look like a replay of 2008 on steroids.

Gold  soared by $39.80 on the day to close in New York trading at an all time high of $1,661.10.  Silver more than paced the gain in gold, adding $1.61 to close up 4.1% at $40.95.

SPDR Gold Trust Holdings Increase, Silver ETF Holdings Decline

Holdings of the SPDR Gold Shares Trust (GLD) gained almost 37 tonnes on the week.  For the first time this year, holdings of the GLD are greater than they were at the beginning of the year.  The record holdings of the GLD occurred on June 29, 2010 when the GLD held 1,320.47 tonnes of gold.

The SPDR Gold Trust currently hold 41.2 million ounces of gold valued at $67.5 billion.  Shares of the GLD hit an all time high, closing at $161.52.

 

GLD - COURTESY YAHOO FINANCE

Holdings of the iShares Silver Trust (SLV) declined by 90.93 tonnes after an increase of 112.15 tonnes in the prior week.  Since the beginning of July, holdings of the SLV have increased by 288.28 tonnes.

The SLV currently holds 315.9 million ounces of silver valued at $12.5 billion.

GLD and SLV Holdings (metric tonnes)

August 2-2011 Weekly Change YTD Change
GLD 1,281.75 +36.95 +1.04
SLV 9,824.93 -90.93 -1,096.64

 

 

 

 

 

 

Filed Under: Featured, Gold, Silver, Statistics, US Debt Crisis Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Gold Rallies On Week – Is The World Economy At The Precipice?

July 30, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Gold continued its winning ways this week.  As measured by the closing London PM Fix Price, gold gained $26.50 to close the week at all an time high of $1,628.50.

Gold has closed higher for the past four consecutive weeks.  The rally that began at the beginning of the month has pushed gold higher by $145.50 or 9.8% since July 1st.  Investors worried about the solvency of sovereign states in Europe have now switched their focus to the United States.

The impasse over raising the US debt limit has morphed into a crisis of confidence over the ultimate value of the US dollar.  There is no clear consensus on how the debt limit negotiations in Washington  will be resolved.  The only certainty is that, regardless of how the debt limit crisis ends, confidence in the “full faith and credit” of the United States will be greatly diminished.

China and Russia, two large holders of US debt, have watched in horror as the US deliberately debases its currency value through money printing and a parabolic increase in debt.  At a time when the US needs to borrow trillions of dollars in new debt, there is likely to be a greatly diminished appetite to purchase additional US debt.

The global debt crisis and a lack of confidence in paper money has resulted in a steady increase in the price of gold.  Will gold continue to soar if global economies start collapsing or will gold be drawn into the deflationary abyss along with all other asset values?  Opinions vary but here are some good thoughts on the matter.

-John Browne of Euro Pacific Capital warns that gold could be subject to a price pullback based on the deflationary impact of a global recession or short term optimism over the US avoiding default.

–Decision Point’s Carl Swenlin wonders if gold is too much of a “sure thing” investment and ponders the fate of gold in a deflationary collapse.

-A Citigroup analyst speculates that gold could quickly reach $5,000 based on a “worst case scenario for Euro sovereign debt and USA fiscal problems”.

Confidence is vital in a fiat money based world.  The ongoing global debt crisis may be the trigger that ultimately destroys faith in paper currencies.

Precious Metals Prices 7/29/11
PM Fix Since Last Recap
Gold $1,628.50 +$26.50 +1.65%
Silver $39.63 -$0.04 -0.10%
Platinum $1,779.00 -$14.00 -0.78%
Palladium $824.00 +$17.00 +2.11%

Silver and platinum were essentially unchanged on the week after posting strong advances since the beginning of July.  Palladium advanced by $17 or over 2% on the week and is up $74 since July 1st.

Filed Under: Featured, Gold, palladium, Platinum, Silver, US Debt Crisis, Weekly Recap Tagged With: , , , , ,

U.S. Currency At No Risk Of Becoming Sound – Gold Has Spoken

July 28, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Ben Bernanke tells us he wants a sound dollar and Barrack Obama tells us he wants to cut entitlements and reduce the budget deficit.

I have no doubt that both gentlemen are honorable and doing what they believe is best for the country.  Others, perhaps less naive than myself, may be inclined to believe that the Fed Chairman and President are attempting to foist a distorted view of reality on the American public.  Credibility can depend on the public’s perception of reality, a fact well understood by politicians and central bankers.

“If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it.” – Joseph Goebbels, Propaganda Minister

“When it becomes serious, you have to lie”. – Jean-Claude Juncker, Euro Finance Minister

It’s not hard for politicians to fool the American public – they have had many decades of experience honing that skill.  It is another matter to fool the markets and using that scorecard , our dysfunctional and highly polarized government has failed miserably.  The gold market has not been fooled, holders of US dollars have not been fooled and the U.S. debt monster is visible to all.

Gold - courtesy stockcharts.com

US Dollar - courtesy stockcharts.com

 

After weeks of bitter debate, the best that the Washington elite could manage to do was agree to disagree at a later date and, of course, establish a commission to look further into the debt crisis, also at a later date.

The elegant solution to the nation’s debt problem, as described above, may finally allow John Q. Public to sleep more soundly at night.  Inquiring minds, however, can cite numerous reasons why the Nation’s debt crisis will be keeping all of us awake in the near term future.

-The ultimate compromise to the debt crisis will be more debt, following in the footsteps of the EU’s grand solution to the Greek debt crisis.  “I will gladly pay you tomorrow if you lend me more money today” attitude  is going to quickly wear thin with U.S. creditors.

-The U.S. is borrowing trillions to pump cash into a weakening economy that already can’t create enough income to service the debt we already have – this strategy is the ultimate Ponzi scheme.  The conviction that future economic growth will pay for today’s borrowings is false.  Burdensome levels of public sector debt have been proven to dramatically restrain future economic growth.

-The U.S. and world economies are looking at a replay of the 1930’s depression, except this one won’t be so gentle.  The American public, with the persuasion of politicians, has come to believe that the “richest nation on earth” can provide cradle to grave security based on mathematically impossible entitlement promises.  The financial chaos and social breakdown resulting from broken promises to pay by the government will severely test the foundations of our democracy.

-All of the proposed “solutions” to the country’s overwhelming debt problem involve increasing the national debt by trillions more and agreeing to phantom spending cuts at some point in the future.  The U.S. is on a debt treadmill and all of the political solutions coming out of Washington are equivalent to turning up the speed on  the treadmill and pouring oil on the belt.

-The Dodd-Frank Act, which was supposed to solve the problem of systemically risky institutions, ignored the biggest systemic risk of all to our financial future – the U.S. government.

-The Federal Reserve, which according to Bernanke, “saved  the entire world” from a depression in 2008, has strangely detached itself from the crisis by proclaiming that they are powerless and without policy tools to prevent the looming U.S. debt default.  (See this on Ron Paul’s view of the Fed).  If worse comes to worse, perhaps Bernanke should seek some advice from the insolvent States of California and Illinois on how to go about issuing vouchers.

Filed Under: Featured, Gold, US Debt Crisis Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

SPDR Gold Trust Hits All Time High, Silver ETF Holdings Increase

July 28, 2011 by 2 Comments

Holdings of the iShares Silver Trust (SLV) gained 112.15 tonnes on the week after increasing by 169.76 tonnes in the previous week.  Although SLV holdings have declined by 1,005.71 tonnes since the beginning of the year, holdings of the silver trust have increased markedly in July as silver prices surged.

Since July 1st, holdings of the iShares Silver Trust have increased by 379.21 tonnes.  Holding of the SLV hit an all time high on April 25th when the Trust held 11,390.06 tonnes of silver.

As measured by the London PM Fix Price, silver has gained $6.96 since July 1st, rising from $33.85 to $40.81.  Silver is up 33.1% since the beginning of the year when it stood at $30.67.  The SLV, after correcting in early May, has broken out of its trading range in the mid 30’s and has been steadily advancing.

Investors looking to past history for clues on the future price move in silver are looking at two entirely different worlds.  The parabolic move and subsequent collapse of silver prices in the 1980’s was driven by specific events which quickly reversed.  After breaking out of a decades long base, silver will not be a replay of the 1980’s but instead is in a long term super cycle which will ultimately result in much higher prices (see For Silver, This Time Is Different).

 

SLV - COURTESY YAHOO FINANCE

The SLV currently holds 318.8 million ounces of silver valued at $13.0 billion.  Over the past year the SLV has increased by 86%.  Over the past three years the SLV has had an annual rate of return of 25.1%.

GLD and SLV Holdings (metric tonnes)

July 27-2011 Weekly Change YTD Change
GLD 1,244.80 -1.21 -35.91
SLV 9,915.86 +112.15 -1,005.71

Holdings of the SPDR Gold Shares Trust (GLD) dipped slightly on the week by 1.21 tonnes after increasing by 20.60 tonnes in the previous week.

Gold has been in a steady uptrend during July.  As measured by the closing London PM Fix Price, gold has gained 9.6% or $142 since July lst.  Gold started the year at $1388.50.

Since the beginning of the month, the GLD has gained 39.0 tonnes.  The GLD currently holds 1,244.80 tonnes of gold valued at $65.0 billion.

The GLD hit new all time highs this week as the advance in gold prices continued.

 

Filed Under: Featured, Gold, Silver, Statistics Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Gold Hits New Record High As U.S. Spirals Towards Default

July 25, 2011 by 3 Comments

Gold reached all time record highs in Asian trading as legislators in Washington reached an impasse on raising the U.S. debt limit.  Immediate delivery gold soared to $1,624 before pulling back to $1,617.90, up $16.60.

The ongoing fiasco in Washington over increasing the U.S. debt limit has brought into focus the extent to which the United States has become addicted to deficit financing.  Increasing the debt limit to avoid default has become a side issue to worries over the long term ability of the United States to honor its obligations without debasing its currency.

The White House request to increase the debt limit by an astronomical $2.4 trillion, to tide us over for another year and a half, has convinced many investors that a debt downgrade is imminent.

Standard and Poors has already warned that the credit rating of the US might be downgraded regardless of whether a default is averted.  The head of the world’s largest bond fund also predicts that the US will lose its triple AAA rating regardless of how the debt limit issue is resolved.  According to Bloomberg,

“In most likelihood, a last-minute political compromise will avoid a default but will leave the AAA rating extremely vulnerable,’’ El-Erian, the Newport Beach, California-based chief executive officer and co-chief investment officer at Pimco, wrote in an e-mail.

The highly polarized negotiations going on in Washington reflect the ultimately self destructive nature of democracies.  Voters have collectively elected a political class who have promised benefits that are financially impossible to honor.  The tipping point has been reached and the political will to fix the problem is overridden by numerous special interest groups who demand that their benefits be preserved and increased.  In a collective pact of economic suicide, voters are demanding benefits from a wealth redistribution scheme that will eventually make all of us equally poor.

Writing in the Wall Street Journal, Arthur Brooks discusses whether the welfare state in the US has reached the tipping point.

The Bureau of Economic Analysis tells us that total government spending at all levels has risen to 37% of gross domestic product today from 27% in 1960—and is set to reach 50% by 2038. The Tax Foundation reports that between 1986 and 2008, the share of federal income taxes paid by the top 5% of earners has risen to 59% from 43%. Between 1986 and 2009, the percentage of Americans who pay zero or negative federal income taxes has increased to 51% from 18.5%. And all this is accompanied by an increase in our national debt to 100% of GDP today from 42% in 1980.

In the other scenario, our welfare state slowly collapses under its weight, and we get some kind of permanent austerity after the rest of the world finally comprehends the depth of our national spending disorder and stops lending us money at low interest rates. (Think Greece.)

John Sununu, writing in this week’s Time Magazine, makes a similar point.

We all know the nation’s budget is huge, but nothing drives the point home like the number of Americans receiving financial support. Add Medicaid, farm payments, housing subsidies and others to the list, and roughly 47% of all Americans are receiving at least one federal benefit. Tax preferences, like the deductions for mortgage interest, retirement savings and health care, bring the number closer to 75%. The dirty little secret about America is that being on the dole is no longer an exception but the rule.

Voters are characterized according to the programs from which they benefit.  Instead of Americans, we are retires, veterans, farmers, teachers, investors and students.  We have become a nation of spending constituencies.

The entire developed world has taken on financial obligations that are impossible to meet and no longer possible to finance, as we have seen in Greece, Portugal and Ireland.  The relentless rise in the price of gold reflects the desperate efforts of social welfare states to meet their obligations through currency debasement and ballooning deficits.

Jim Rogers, in a Bloomberg podcast, said it best – “I have not sold any gold, I have bought more gold.  If gold goes down I’ll buy more. The price of gold is going to go much, much higher over the next decade.”

 

Filed Under: Featured, Gold, US Debt Crisis Tagged With: , , , , ,

As World’s Most Predicted Financial Crisis Approaches Precious Metals Move Higher

July 23, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Precious metals gained across the board for the third week in a row.  Silver and palladium were the top performers this week with each advancing almost 4%.

July has seen an explosive move in the precious metals group as worries intensify about the twin debt crises in Europe and the U.S.  In both cases, governments and central banks are avoiding the tough choices that must be made when debt levels reach unsustainable amounts.  Common sense dictates that over leveraged borrowers with insufficient income to service debt must eventually default, or gradually reduce the debt through a combination of austerity measures and income growth.

Common sense, however, is a trait sorely lacking in politicians.  Nor does preaching austerity to your constituents enhance the odds of being re-elected.  The preferred solution, which has been employed since the 1980’s, is to add more debt and let the future take care of itself.  What’s different this time is the growing realization that at some point the compounding of debt becomes unsustainable, enslaving future generations and inhibiting economic growth.

The widely discussed study by Rogoff and Reinhart definitively documents that when public sector debt to GDP approaches the 90% level, economic growth slows dramatically – (see This Time Is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly).  Since most of the developed world economies are already at or above the 90% debt to GDP ratio, the prognosis for future economic growth to gradually reduce debt levels becomes a tenuous prospect.

Despite the obvious risks of a growing debt burden, a significant number of the Washington elite insist that the debt limit be raised by another $2.5 trillion which would represent a doubling of the national debt in a little over five years.

Raising the debt limit, which became a routine ritual in past years, has suddenly morphed into a potential default situation as a growing number of responsible political leaders refuse to rubber stamp another massive increase in public borrowing.  As debt limit negotiations broke down today, the odds of a potential default by the United States became a distinct possibility.

Will a temporary default become a seismic event?  Who knows, but if gold had advanced by one dollar per ounce for each time I’ve seen an article predicting financial Armageddon, if the debt limit was not raised, gold would be well over $4,000 per ounce.   If the U.S. does “default”, it will not be the end of the world.  In the best case scenario, a brush with default may convince more members of our EZ spending Congress to come around to the financial common sense of men such as Ron Paul.

http://youtu.be/sEP8cQF-QC4

Summary of Ron Paul’s comments to Congress:

  • Countries that are as indebted as the U.S. always default.
  • The real increase in the debt this year, counting entitlements, is $5 trillion.
  • In the past 3 years, the dollar has been devalued by 50% against gold.
  • Default will be through inflation.

Gold advanced by $15 on the week and is up $119 since July 1st.  Silver advanced by $1.50 on the week and has gained $5.82 since July 1st.

Platinum and palladium both advanced on the week by $33 and $30 respectively.  Platinum has gained $85 and palladium $57 since the first of the month.

Precious Metals Prices
PM Fix Since Last Recap
Gold $1,602.00 +$15.00 +0.95%
Silver $39.67 +$1.50 +3.93%
Platinum $1,793.00 +$33.00 +1.88%
Palladium $807.00 +$30.00 +3.86%
Filed Under: Featured, Gold, palladium, Platinum, Silver, US Debt Crisis, Weekly Recap Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Gold and Silver ETF Holdings Increase As Precious Metals Rally

July 21, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Holdings of the SPDR  Gold Shares Trust (GLD) gained 20.60 tonnes on the week after increasing by 19.60 tonnes in the previous week.

Gold has been in a steady uptrend during July as the debt crises in Europe and the United States continue to expand.  As measured by the London PM Fix Price, gold has gained $103 since July lst.  Gold has gained $197.50 per ounce since the first of the year when the price was $1,388.50.

Since July lst, total gold holdings of the GLD have increased by 40.21 tonnes and the value of the trust has increased by $6 billion to $63.5 billion.  At July 20, the Gold Trust held 40.1 million ounces of gold bullion, up from 38.8 million ounces on the lst of July.

Shares of the GLD hit an all time high this week along with the price of gold.

 

GLD - COURTESY YAHOO FINANCE

The iShares Silver Trust (SLV) increased its holdings by 169.76 on the week after a gain of 101.55 tonnes in the previous week.   Silver holdings of the trust since the beginning of the year have declined by 1,178.86 tonnes when the Trust held 10,921.57 tonnes.  The record holdings of the SLV occurred on April 25th when the Trust held 11,390.06 tonnes.

Silver has surged in price along with gold since the beginning of July.  Based on the closing London PM Fix Price, silver has increased from $33.85 on July 1st to $38.59 at the July 20th close, for a gain of $4.74 or 14.0%.

The SLV Trust currently holds 315.2 million ounces of silver valued at $12.2 billion.  As of July 20th, the net asset value of the Trust was $37.61 according to the Trust’s website.  The price of the SLV closed on July 20th at $39.12 or a 4% premium to the Trust’s net asset value.  The current premium of the SLV to the Trust’s net asset value is higher than usual, reflecting investor demand for the SLV.  The all time high premium on the SLV to the underlying net assets of the Trust occurred on April 27, 2011 at 6.3%.

iShares Premium/Discount - courtesy us.ishares.com

Precious metals have advanced strongly after suggestions by the Federal Reserve that it might initiate another round of quantitative easing if economic conditions continue to deteriorate.  Meanwhile, the debt crisis in Europe continues to expand with many believing that the only “solution” is to imitate the U.S. Central Bank and print money.

GLD and SLV Holdings (metric tonnes)

July 20-2011 Weekly Change YTD Change
GLD 1,246.01 +20.60 -34.70
SLV 9,803.71 +169.76 -1,117.86

 

Filed Under: Featured, Gold, Silver, Statistics Tagged With: , , , , ,

Debt Limit Fiasco Could Push Gold To $2,000

July 20, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Gold has advanced almost nonstop since the beginning of July.  As measured by the London PM Fix Price, gold has advanced in 10 out of the 14 trading days since July 1st, gaining $118.  London gold closed today at $1,586.00 but soared in late New York trading to end the day at $1,602.90.

Gold has decisively broken out of the two month trading range it has been in since early May at the $1,500 level.  All the fundamental factors driving gold higher continue to strengthen.  The fragility of the paper financial system has been exposed.  Efforts by politicians to solve the debt crisis are only serving to hasten the collapse of the system they are trying to preserve.

The debt ceiling problem in Washington continues to fester as politicians dither and delay.  With every top official in Washington warning of financial Armageddon if the debt ceiling is not raised, the betting is that a compromise to increase the debt ceiling before August 2nd will be reached.  Whatever compromise is reached is likely to be a meaningless “agreement to disagree later” as the debt ceiling is raised but the hard choice of where to cut spending is postponed.  If gold sells off in a knee jerk reaction to Washington’s “solution” to the debt crisis, it will provide another buying opportunity for gold investors.

A solution to the nation’s spiraling debt crisis no longer seems possible.  Neither political party has the will nor the desire to realistically address the basic problem of excessive deficit spending.  There is no upside for those with the courage to call for the austerity measures needed to put the Nation on the path towards sound financial footing.  A majority of Americans favor increasing the debt limit and that majority naturally consists of those who derive all or most of their income from government payments.  Politicians get the message – keep the payments coming no matter what or we will vote you out of office.  The strategy of dealing with too much debt will again be to increase debt.

With debt compounding at rates far in excess of the country’s income gains and with taxes already at punitively high levels, the only option left for servicing the debt is to debase the currency and repay creditors with devalued dollars (see Ron Paul Says US Is Already Defaulting on the Debt).

As long as Washington can keep selling its debt and as long as Ben Bernanke is there to purchase government debt with freshly printed money, the spending and deficits will continue until the entire financial system collapses.  This is what the gold market recognizes and that is why there is  no effective limit on the upside to gold prices.

A brief pause at the $1,600 level should soon be followed by an even stronger advance.  Since 2009, every consolidation in the gold market has been followed by strong advances that lifted gold by hundreds of dollars per ounce.   Gold could quickly get to the $2,000 range as the current rally progresses, given the rapidly deteriorating condition of the global financial system.

 

Gold - Courtesy stockcharts.com

In the final analysis, it doesn’t even matter what the imperial leaders in Washington decide to do – we are already beyond the tipping point – the only matter of consequence is how to prepare for the inevitable collapse of the world fiat monetary system.

 

Filed Under: Featured, Gold, Gold Stocks, US Debt Crisis Tagged With: , , , , ,

Gold and Silver Rocket Higher As Bernanke Oils Up The Printing Presses

July 15, 2011 by 1 Comment

The precious metals group continued higher this week, with standout performances by gold and silver.

As politicians continue to engage in reprehensible scare tactics in order to increase the debt limit by another $2.5 trillion, it has become increasing clear that the policies of more debt and dollar debasement will continue.  In an interview today, Ron Paul said that he expects “nothing will change” and that the U.S. is already defaulting on the debt via the devaluation of the dollar.

Gold and silver, which had already been strongly advancing in the prior week, soared after Fed Chairman Bernanke spoke before Congress on Wednesday.   Mere days after the end of QE2, Bernanke said that he stands ready to rescue the American economy with more accommodative monetary measures.   Although the exact mechanism by which future monetary easing  will be deployed remains to be seen, the end result will be the further debasement of the U.S. dollar.

As measured by the London PM Fix Price, gold hit new highs, soaring by $45.50 on the week, putting its two week gain at $104.00 per ounce.  Gold prices continued higher in New York trading with gold closing at $1,594.30, up another $7.30.

Gold has become the currency of last resort as it becomes clear that money printing is the only option left to prevent massive sovereign debt defaults by world governments.   Accordingly, there is really no upside limit for gold and silver prices.   Legendary trader Jim Sinclair told King World News that the stage has been set for gold to move up to $12,000 per ounce.

Silver has been the standout performer in the precious metals group.  After basing in the mid 30’s range after the May correction, silver has exploded upwards.

 

Silver - courtesy kitco.com

After rallying by over 7% last week, silver tacked on another 5% this week.  As measured by the closing London PM Fix Price of $38.17, silver has advanced by $4.32 or 12.8% over the past two weeks.   After the close in London, silver continued to gain in New York trading, closing at $39.37.

Silver is in a long term super cycle advance backed by fundamentals that guarantee higher prices. The accelerating exodus from paper money will quickly push silver prices to new highs – see For Silver , This Time Is Different.

Precious Metals Prices
PM Fix Since Last Recap
Gold $1,587.00 +$45.50 +2.95%
Silver $38.17 +$1.89 +5.21%
Platinum $1,760.00 +$20.00 +1.15%
Palladium $777.00 +$1.00 +0.13%

Platinum advanced by $20 on the week after a $32 dollar advance in the previous week.  Palladium ended essentially unchanged on the week after an advance of $26 last week.

Filed Under: Featured, Gold, palladium, Platinum, Silver, Weekly Recap Tagged With: , , , , ,

Ron Paul – The U.S. Is Already Defaulting On The Debt

July 15, 2011 by 1 Comment

Ron Paul, the embodiment of common sense and classic American values, spoke today about the U.S. debt crisis in an interview on The Daily Ticker.

Rep. Paul made the point that few people see any real value in U.S. government debt securities and are holding them only as a temporary place to keep their money.  “That’s why people are going to gold as a reserve and a place to put their money”.

Ron Paul said that Washington does not understand how dangerous a situation the Country is in and that “nothing will change”.  Default on the debt would be “a big deal” and Paul thinks that Congress will raise the debt limit and that all payments on U.S. debt will made.

Ron Paul noted, however, that governments like our “always default, the default is we pay our debts with money with less value.  Bernanke is actually working very hard at this, he wants the price inflation to go up so that the dollar goes down in value.  So we get to the point in two years or so that you can take the national debt of $14 trillion and turn it into $7 trillion or real value.  They want the dollar devalued – that’s how countries default.  So the default is ongoing and that is very dangerous…”.

Meanwhile, President Obama said “America is stressed out”.  Yes, Mr. Obama, the country is stressed out – by failed economic policies propagated by the elite political class and special interest groups in Washington who serve Wall Street and the Big Banks rather than the American public.

America has reached the tipping point from policies that have given us a crash in housing values, no job gains over the past decade, zero return on our savings, higher inflation, dollar debasement and a decline in real incomes.   Middle class households who have not allocated a substantial portion of their savings to gold or silver have seen their wealth decimated.

In a rare display of candor, Treasury Secretary Geithner admitted in an interview this week that  “It’s going to feel very hard, harder than anything they’ve experienced in their lifetime now, for a long time to come.”  Now if only the politicians would be honest with us,we might be able to establish a better plan for a path to recovery other than unlimited money printing.

 

Filed Under: Featured, Gold, US Debt Crisis Tagged With: , , , ,