March 19, 2024

Gold American Eagle Bullion Coin Sales Soar 37% in June – Will Gold Outperform Stocks in 2014?

2014-proof-gold-eagleSales of the US Mint American Eagle gold bullion coins soared in June to 48,500 ounces from the previous month of May during which sales totaled 35,500.  Demand for gold bullion coins, however, has been relatively soft compared to previous years.

June sales of the gold bullion coins were down from the year ago period when 57,000 ounces were sold during June 2013.  At the current sales pace 2014 annual sales of the gold bullion coins would come in at roughly 500,000 ounces down significantly from total sales of 856,500 ounces during 2013.  Sales of the American Eagle gold bullion coins hit a record high of 1,435,000 ounces during 2009 when the financial system was still in intensive care and the Federal Reserve initiated a massive money printing campaign to “save” the world.

Gold should always have a presence in an investment portfolio but since mid 2011 stocks have become a powerful competing investment alternative to precious metals. The easy money policies of the Federal Reserve have served to inflate asset values of stocks and bonds to dangerously overvalued levels according to many analysts.

Will stocks and bonds continue to enjoy easy gains of 20 to 30 percent a year or will the entire house of cards built on easy printed money come tumbling down when the world least expects it?  Just this week the Bank for International Settlements (a consortium of the world’s biggest central banks) issued an alarming warning about growing levels of debt and the dangerous unintended consequences of zero interest rate policies.

The report issued by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) noted that “Overall, it is hard to avoid the sense of a puzzling disconnect between the markets’ buoyancy and underlying economic developments globally.”  The head of the BIS’s economic department further noted that  “Financial markets are euphoric, in the grip of an aggressive search for yield…and yet investment in the real economy remains weak while the macroeconomic and geopolitical outlook is still highly uncertain.”  The BIS noted the obvious when it cautioned that the ultra low levels of interest rate due to financial repression by central banks is encouraging further borrowing but an eventual rise in interest rates will amplify the problem of excessively high levels of debt, a consequence that no one seems prepared for.

So who needs gold when stocks are heading straight up and the consensus is that this wealth machine of easy money and asset inflation is unstoppable?

Gold, silver and stocks

At some unknowable point in time and for some unpredictable reason the euphoria of the credit bubble created by the central banks will burst just as all bubbles in history have burst.  The resulting financial chaos that ensues from the bursting of a central bank induced credit bubble will be calamitous since the situation could well become uncontainable by world monetary authorities.  As the BIS notes, “keeping interest rates unusually low for an unusually long period can lull governments into a false sense of security” whereby they continue to borrow vast amounts of low cost funds to such excess that further expansion of government borrowings become impossible.  Governments that are unable to finance additional borrowings when the next economic downturn comes will turn to their only savior – the central banks.  Unable to stimulate the economy through rate cuts since rates are already at zero, central banks will be forced to monetize government debts on a monumental scale and when this day arrives we should all want to have a heavy percentage of our portfolios in gold.

The current mania for paper assets seems to have even infected China and India who have historically turned to gold as a safeguard against profligate governments and paper money backed only by the promises of lying politicians.   According to the Wall Street Journal demand for gold is expected to decline in both China and India during 2014.

The crowd seems to be leaning heavily towards paper assets and away from gold, suggesting that a turnaround is probably forthcoming.  Gold has already had its correction and is now on track for what will probably be a historic rally.  Consider that despite widespread bearishness on gold, the price during 2014 has held its own and is actually up on the year.  From a price of $1,225 per ounce at the start of the year gold has moved up to $1,326, not exactly a sign of weak demand.

Soaring Gold and Silver Prices Should Not Be a Surprise to Anyone

bars-of-goldThe precious metal markets caught on fire in a big way today.  Gold prices surged the most in nine months by over $40 per ounce and silver closed in on $21 per ounce.  After losing 28% last year as short term hot money investors sold out their holdings, gold and silver were ready for a huge rally from both a fundamental and technical standpoint (see Why Gold and Silver Could Outperform Every Other Asset Class in 2014).

Precious Metals June 19, 2014

METALS PRICE CHANGE PER CENT GAIN
GOLD $1319.00 +40.50 3.17%
SILVER $20.89 +0.88 4.45%
PLATINUM $1472.00 +24.00 1.66%
PALLADIUM $841.00 +12.00 1.46%

The reasons for today’s huge gains in precious metals varied in the mainstream press but soaring prices should have been no surprise to long term investors who understand why gold and silver should be a part of every portfolio.

Gold and silver constitute a fundamental defense for wealth preservation against the rapidly eroding value of paper currencies backed by broke governments which is Why All Governments Hate Gold.

The various governments of the world and their central banks produce and distribute a product – paper currencies. Those currencies are backed by confidence, faith, and credit, but not by gold, oil, or anything real. Those currencies are digitally printed to excess, since almost all governments spend more than their revenues. The UK, Japan, and the USA are prime examples.

Politicians want to spend more money, but they also need to maintain the illusion that the money is still valuable, that it will retain most of its purchasing power over time, and that inflation is under control. The illusion weakens when food, gasoline prices, and other consumer goods are wildly rising in price. At a more abstract level, gold indicates the same lack of confidence in the printed pieces of paper that our central banks distribute.

If last year’s price correction shattered your conviction in owning gold and silver please consider The Fundamental Reasons for Owning Gold and Silver Are Stronger Than Ever.

One of the best methods for protecting wealth against a constantly depreciating paper currency is to own precious metals.

The bull case for precious metals remains intact as central bankers worldwide have become the lenders of last resort for nations that have exhausted their borrowing capacities.  Very little has changed since 2008 when the world financial system stood at the abyss of collapse.  Unsustainable debt levels continue to increase even as the capacity to service the debt diminishes.

Virtually every government in the world has taken on debts and liabilities that are clearly unsustainable.  Governments “don’t go broke” is the sustaining mantra for those with faith in paper currencies but governments do and will continue to print money that accelerates the loss of purchasing power of fiat currencies.  Please consider the following charts courtesy of John Mauldin Economics.

Eventually, as people realize that the central bank emperors have no clothes it will become clear Why There is No Upside Limit for Gold and Silver Prices.

The increase in the value of gold and silver is due to the fiscal and monetary policies of nations struggling to deal with massive levels of debt – policies that virtually guarantee a continued rise in the price of gold and silver.  Central banks, having exhausted all conventional means of monetary easing, have moved on to the last resort option of quantitative easing and currency debasement.

Government officials argue that unprecedented deficit spending and quantitative easing are necessary to stimulate economic  growth, but this theory has not worked in the real world.  Despite trillions in stimulus spending,  job creation and economic growth have been extremely weak and are likely to remain so according to economists Kenneth Rogoff and Carmen Reinhart who wrote This Time Is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly.  According to Rogoff and Reinhart, economic growth is subpar when public sector debt exceeds 90% of GPD which the U.S. and many other developed nations have already surpassed.  In addition, a recovery of the job and housing markets after a financial crisis take many years due to the burden of excessive levels of debt.  Ultimately, Rogoff and Reinhart predict that austerity measures will need to be imposed along with some type of debt restructuring.

Is the U.S. capable of reducing spending and  instituting austerity measures? Cutting deficits means cutting payments to a long list of incomeless recipients who really don’t care where the entitlement money comes from.  Those still actually paying taxes will object strongly to any proposed tax increase to fund government spending.  Unable to cut spending or raise taxes leaves the Government with one bad option – print more money.

Politicians, who value getting elected above all else, are likely to strong arm the reliably compliant Federal Reserve to “come to the rescue” again with additional printed dollars.   In the minds of politicians and Federal Reserve officials, there will always be very compelling reasons to continue borrowing and money printing.

A nation that has reached the limits on taxation and borrowing has few viable policy options other than a continuing series of quantitative easing programs.  Current government policies, if left unchanged, virtually guarantee a continued increase in the price of precious metals.

 

Silver Bullion Coin Sales Soar In March, Gold Coin Sales Slump – Are Coin Buyers Stupid?

2014-proof-gold-eagleThe March sales report of American Eagle bullion coins by the U.S. Mint showed a large drop in gold bullion coins while sales of the ever popular silver bullion coins soared.

Sales of the American Eagle gold bullion coins in March totaled 21,000 ounces, down by 32% from February’s total of 31,000 ounces and down by a dramatic 66% from March 2013 when 62,000 coins were sold.  Year to date sales through March of 143,500 ounces of the American Eagle gold bullion coins plunged 51% from the comparable period last year when the U.S. Mint sold 292,500 ounces.

The decline in sales of gold bullion is in marked contrast to last year when sales boomed despite an almost 30% decline in gold prices, the worst performance since 1981.  Investors in physical gold across the globe viewed the decline in gold as a buying opportunity.  Sales of gold coins in 2013 by The Perth Mint soared over 40% while sales by the Royal Canadian Mint surged over 80%.  Sales of American Eagle gold coins by the U.S. Mint in 2013 jumped by 6.3% to 800,500 ounces.

Are Gold and Silver Bullion Coin Buyers Stupid?

While gold rebounded in 2014 from a low of $1221 to as high as $1385 before pulling back to a current price of $1284, perhaps buyers are waiting to see if the rally in gold will continue or if gold will decline again in 2014 as predicted by the likes of Goldman Sachs.  Long term it does not matter since the entire concept of fiat money has never ended well over the long term.  According to Bloomberg, the “long term” may be upon us sooner than many think.

Sound money and sound banking policies of governments have always been suspect but since the financial crisis of 2008, the entire concept of sound money has been utterly abandoned on a global basis as central banks printed trillions of dollars to support a financial system that imploded due to over indebtedness.  “Curing” the problem of too much debt with more debt and printed fiat money has in many people’s mind saved the world financial system, a tenuous theory at best.

1881-CC-Morgan-Dollar

According to the Bank for International Settlements, the amount of global debt (primarily government borrowings) has soared by a staggering 40 percent to $100 trillion since 2008 with the U.S. in the lead increasing the national debt to $12 trillion from $4.5 trillion at 2007 year end.  Fast forward to the next recession which could have its roots in a variety of events from the collapse of Japan’s epic empire of debt to the start of a serious military conflict over Ukraine driven by the warmongering military industrial complex in the U.S.  Another serious economic crisis, whatever its genesis, will result in money printing on an unimaginable scale as central banks do the only thing they can do which is to print more money.

Buyers of physical bullion are long term investors who understand what’s happening and are buying the only true money that cannot be debased by government profligacy and rapacious tax policies.  In the meantime, fluctuations in the price of gold caused by speculators such as hedge fund operators who can push around the price of physical gold without ever owning it through the use of futures contracts or options merely provide fantastic buying opportunities when they slam down gold prices.  Long term gold and silver are the only protection to preserve wealth against governments determined to debase fiat money to keep the highly leveraged financial system from imploding.  Current gold buyers will at some point will be holding an asset that soars in value as confidence in central banks completely evaporates as the value of paper money collapses.

American Eagle silver bullion coins meanwhile continue to soar and are a much more affordable option for many buyers compared to gold.  March sales of American Eagle silver bullion coins soared in March to 5,354,000 ounces, up by 43% from the prior month’s sales of 3,750,000 ounces and up by 60% from the March 2013 sales of 3,356,500 ounces.   Sales of silver bullion coins also increased dramatically in 2013 to a new record high of almost 42 ounces, up from almost 34 million ounces in 2012.  Based on annualizing the year to date sales of silver bullion coins, 2014 could turn out to be another block buster year with sales approaching another record of over 55 million ounces compared to 42 million ounces in 2013.

Buyers of physical gold and silver are long term investors who are intelligently protecting their wealth against governments hell bent on inflation and debasement of the currency in order to keep the house of debt cards from collapsing.  Accordingly, short term declines in the sale of gold bullion coins is totally irrelevant.

The Rationale for Owning Gold and Silver Is Stronger Than Ever

1933-double-eagle1By: GE Christenson

Consider our economic world from two perspectives:

The Deviant View – as represented by those who visit deviantinvestor.com, read alternate media, are skeptical of the “official” news, and who critically examine the financial world.
or
The others – call it the mainstream media view.
Deviant readers are more likely to believe:

  • The US government gold supposedly stored in Fort Knox and at the NY Federal Reserve is mostly gone. (Deviant Investor survey showed that over 81% believe that less than 20% of the gold is actually available.)
  • The Federal Reserve will eventually be forced to increase QE instead of reducing it. (Deviant Investor survey showed that 62% believe that QE will be increased to $100 Billion per month, or more, by the end of 2014.)
  • Gold bottomed in December and is going to new highs. (Deviant Investor survey indicates that 92% believe that gold has bottomed and is going to new highs.)
  • The Federal Reserve has, over the past 100 years, debased the dollar, produced inflation, and substantially increased the profits for the financial industry mostly at the expense of the American people.
  • Dollars are unbacked debt based Federal Reserve Notes that work well for daily commerce. However, they have no intrinsic value and, in terms of decades, been not been a good store of value.
  • Gold and silver are excellent for savings and investing at the present time, have intrinsic value, and are a store of value over the long term.

SILVER DOLLARS

Mainstream Media View

  • Of course the gold is still physically stored in Fort Knox and at the NY Federal Reserve! Why would it not be there?
  • QE will be reduced, the economy is beginning to grow, and the economy will appear much healthier in time for the 2016 elections.
  • The Syria intervention that did not happen was mostly about human rights, not gas pipelines or control over energy markets.
  • The stock market is a good measure of economic health, even though it primarily benefits the upper ten percent of the US populace.
  • Pension funds are seriously underfunded, but they will be fine – with only a few exceptions – as always.
  • Social Security is a “pay as you go” retirement plan for Americans; and even though it is a legally sanctioned “Ponzi Scheme,” it is a solid system.
  • Politicians will be politicians, but for the most part, the US political system works with only a modest amount of corruption and inefficiency.
  • If you like your health plan, you can keep it. If Crimea votes to join Russia, they can. If you don’t want to pay taxes, … well, that is a different issue.
  • If you run a too-big-to-fail bank, you need not worry about breaking the law or prosecution, since the bank is necessary for the survival of the economy.
  • Stocks are good, gold is bad. Per Warren Buffett, “Gold gets dug out of the ground in Africa, or someplace. Then we melt it down, dig another hole, bury it again and pay people to stand around guarding it.” From Charlie Munger, “Civilized people don’t buy gold.”

And there you have it – a simple summary of the Deviant view versus the Mainstream view.

Implications

Suppose that 50% to 80% of the gold in Fort Knox and the NY Fed is either gone, leased, or rehypothecated. Suppose that China has amassed the largest horde of gold in the world. Do these suggest the price of gold is likely to increase over the next few years?

Suppose that the Federal Reserve is forced via market conditions (interest rates rising, the S&P crashing, war, dollar collapse, financial melt-down, or other possibilities) to expand the QE program and to “print and purchase” $100,000,000,000 or more per month of distressed paper, damaged derivatives, flaky mortgage-backed securities, and increasingly large quantities of dumped T-bonds and notes. Do you think this will support the price of gold over the next few years?

money printing

Suppose that gold double bottomed in June and December 2013 after being crushed by the naked short sales in April and June of 2013. Suppose that the unintended consequence of that market take-down was increased demand for physical gold, particularly from Asia and the Middle East. Does the new uptrend and increasing world-wide demand for gold suggest higher prices in the next few years?

Suppose that, for whatever reason, the world launches into another cycle of war, several countries send troops to various spots around the world, and the US engages in one or several hot wars. Will this increase the deficit, increase the national debt, increase financial and social anxiety, upset the stock market, and suggest higher gold prices?

Summary

The Deviant View: Gold has bottomed, the US deficit will expand, the national debt will continue its exponential increase, and consumer prices for the things we need, such as food and energy, will substantially increase. War, fraud, and corruption will increase prices more rapidly.

The Mainstream View: You can keep your health plan, NSA spying on everyone is mostly good, wars keep the economy healthy and moving, the stock market will continue to roar higher, and, as former Vice President Dick Cheney stated, “Reagan proved that deficits don’t matter.”

Another View On Gold: The following are comments that I have paraphrased from another site that dislikes gold. (I disagree with all of these comments.)

  • If and when humanity advances, the value of gold will be zero.
  • The problem is that gold is not an asset because it produces no return.
  • Gold is not only high-risk but also costly since it pays no return.
  • Gold is not a savings vehicle.

I express my opinions, and I expect others to do the same. There will be disagreements. We all experience the consequences of our thoughts and actions. This is why it is so important to perceive economic reality clearly. A belief in current delusions and the uselessness of gold will be expensive.

Additional Reading

Andrew Hoffman: “Deflation,” and Why You Must Own Precious Metals – Now!

Hugo Salinas Price: We Cannot Get Away From Gold or Silver

GE Christenson
aka Deviant Investor

Gold’s Next Big Move Is Up – Every Bull Market Has Pullbacks

gold generalBy: GE Christenson

Gold peaked in August of 2011 and fell erratically into December 2013.

Was that the end of the collapse, or is there more downside coming in gold prices?

Bearish Scenario: Listen to the banks who are forecasting weak prices in 2014 and thereafter. “Nothing to see here folks, the dollar has weakened drastically since 1971, gold sells for 30 times its 1971 price, but it’s all good. Just move on and pretend… Gold will drop below $1000 before you can say 2016 elections…”

I’m not a fan of:

The bearish gold scenario when decades of Federal Reserve “printing” and US government budget deficits have all but guaranteed continued destruction of the purchasing power of the dollar.

Belief that even though dollar debasement practices have accelerated since the 2008 crash, gold prices will fall because bankers say so.

Propaganda that gold is useless and that unbacked debt based fiat currencies are solid and stable.

Large High Frequency Trading companies that short the gold market, loudly proclaim that gold prices will fall, dump a huge number of paper contracts on the Comex, quietly cover their shorts after the gold price crash, book huge profits, and then reverse the process as they push prices up. These traders are in the business of making profits so none of this is surprising.

Instead of listening to self-serving banker opinions, let’s examine the data. The following chart shows monthly prices for gold since 2000. Note that highs and lows as listed in the monthly data are slightly different from actual hourly highs and lows. For this analysis over 14 years, the differences are immaterial.

This table shows the price and approximate number of years.

table3102014

Summary: The price of gold bottomed in 2001, rallied for 3.0 years, fell for 1.1 years, rallied for 2.8 years, fell for 0.6 years, rallied for 2.8 years, and fell for 2.4 years. Lows were about 4 years apart, highs were about 3.5 years apart, and the rallies lasted, on average, about 3 years.

Gold in December of 2013 had dropped to the lower logarithmic
trend line after falling for 2.4 years. The patterns suggest that the next move should be a rally that lasts approximately 3 years to new highs near the top of the trend channel well above $3,500.

roosevelt

But there is more: (If you distrust Technical Analysis, skip this section.)

  • Gold prices made a double-bottom in June and December 2013 thereby indicating a successful test of the lows formed in June.
  • The MACD – a technical indicator (first chart) which tracks the difference between two moving averages – registered a very low reading in December 2013. Further, the moving averages in the indicator have turned up. This is strongly supportive of the analysis that December marked a major low in gold prices.
  • The TDI-Trade-Signal line – another technical indicator (first chart) – registered its lowest reading in 15 years at the June 2013 low and has also turned up. This is another strong indication that gold bottomed in December.
  • The RSI – Relative Strength Index – as shown on the second chart was at a 15 year low at the June 2013 gold price lows. It has turned upward.
  • The disparity index, which is simply the deviation between the monthly prices and the 12 month simple moving average (second chart), was at a 30 year low and flashing a buy signal after the June 2013 gold price lows.

For those who have no faith in technical analysis:

Consider this GEM – Gold Equilibrium Model (thanks to Nick Migliaccio for the name). I summarized the model in this short article. The model is based on three variables and calculates the equilibrium gold price with no reference to oscillators or technical indicators. The GEM model projects a “fair” or equilibrium price for gold in March 2014 of approximately $1,580. Gold prices, based on this long-term model, are currently low and are likely to move much higher over the next several years. This long-term model produced an excellent statistical correlation with the smoothed price of gold over the 42 years from 1971 – 2013.

Conclusions

  • The GEM indicates that, over the next several years, gold prices are headed much higher.
  • The chart of gold prices since the year 2000 (log scale) shows a “megaphone pattern” of higher lows and higher highs. Currently the gold price is near the bottom of the exponentially up-trending pattern.
  • Technical oscillators indicate important bottoms in June and December – at levels not seen in more than a decade.
  • The disparity index shows that gold prices in June were well below the 12 month moving average. Similarly daily and weekly prices were well below their moving averages. Prices tend to regress to the mean – another indication that prices are likely to rise from the deep lows in June and December.
  • Short term prices could rise or fall a little from here – I’m offering no opinion – but gold prices should be much higher in 2015 and 2016.
  • Gold is for savings and investing, not trading. Dollars buy groceries while gold buys safety, insurance, and peace of mind.
  • As Darryl Robert Schoon always says, “Buy gold, buy silver, have faith.” It is good advice.

GE Christenson, aka Deviant Investor

U.S. Mint Bullion Coin Sales for February 2014 Show Silver Up, Gold Down

2013-w-gold-eagleSales of bullion coins by the U.S. Mint were mixed in February with silver bullion coins showing an increase and gold bullion coins a decline.

After hitting all time record sales in 2013 sales of the American Silver Eagle bullion coins are off to a slower sales pace in 2014.  According to the U.S. Mint a total of 3,750,000 silver bullion coins were sold in February, up by 381,500 ounces or 11.3% over the comparable prior year period.  February 2014 year to date sales of silver bullion coins total 8,525,000 ounces, down by 2,341,500 ounces or 21.5% from the previous year.

Retail investors have long regarded silver bullion coins as an excellent investment.  The price pullback in silver since 2011 provided an excellent opportunity to make additional purchases at bargain prices and investor took advantage of the situation.  Silver bullion coin demand soared last year to almost 42 million ounces and the U.S. Mint could not keep up with demand.  Demand for silver coin was so great that the U.S. Mint ran out of coins and suspended sales for most of December and part of January 2014.

Sales of silver bullion coins are shown below by year.  The sales for 2014 are through February 28th.  Sales of silver bullion coins have exploded since the financial meltdown of 2008 when the Federal Reserve began printing trillions of dollars out of thin air, a program which continues to this day.

Sales of the American Eagle gold bullion coins slowed dramatically in February compared to last year.  Total sales of gold bullion coins was 31,000 ounces compared to 80,500 last February.   2014 year to date sales through February totaled 122,500 ounces compared to 230,500 ounces for the comparable prior year period.

Gold coin sales can fluctuate considerably from month to month but sales have exploded since the financial crisis in 2008 and remain very high by historical standards.  After declining for three years in a row, sales of gold bullion coins strengthened during 2013 with sales above 2012 levels.

2014 totals through February 28th.

According to Reuters the decline in gold bullion coin demand was due to large sales of coins by hedge fund speculators and other large investors.  As the sale of these coins flooded into dealer vaults they had less need to purchase coin from the U.S. Mint.

american-silver-eagle

The American Eagle silver bullion coins cannot be purchased by individuals directly from the U.S Mint.  The coins are sold only to the Mint’s network of authorized purchasers who buy the coins in bulk based on the market value of silver and a markup by the U.S. Mint.  The authorized purchasers sell the silver coins to coin dealers, other bullion dealers and the public.  The Mint’s rationale for using authorized purchasers is that this method makes the coins widely available to the public with reasonable transaction costs.

U.S. MINT BULLION COIN SALES
MONTH GOLD SILVER
2014 2013 2014 2013
JANUARY       91,500   150,000    4,775,000     7,498,000
FEBRUARY       31,000      80,500    3,750,000     3,368,500
TOTALS     122,500   230,500    8,525,000   10,866,500

With economic and political turmoil spreading across the globe and central banks standing ready to flood the world with paper currencies, gold and silver continue to remain a safe haven for many investors.  It would not be surprising to see gold and silver surge in price this year in defiance of the bearish calls of many analysts.

Yellen’s Remarks to Senate Committee Constitute an All Out Buy Signal for Gold and Silver

money printingFed Chairman Yellen’s less than sparkling performance before the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee on Thursday constitutes a complete affirmation for continued purchases of gold and silver.  The Chairman’s testimony was so disjointed that two major news organizations published completely contradictory headlines of her stuttering remarks.

Tapering – will she or won’t she was the question on everyone’s mind regarding future actions of the Fed and here’s the yes and no answer to the big question based on Yellen’s testimony.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Yellen Says Rethinking Bond Pullback is Possible.

Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen said she isn’t sure how much of the recent deterioration in U.S. economic growth is due to weather, adding the central bank might consider a pause in its reduction of bond buying if the weakness persists.

“Asset purchases are not on a preset course, so if there’s a significant change in the outlook certainly we would be open to reconsidering, but I wouldn’t want to jump to conclusions here,” Ms. Yellen told the Senate Banking Committee Thursday.

“A number of data releases have pointed to softer spending than analysts had expected,” Ms. Yellen said. “That may reflect in part adverse weather conditions, but at this point it is difficult to discern exactly how much.”

Since Feb. 13, U.S. economic data has shown signs of weakness. The softness has been broad-based, with retail sales falling 0.4% and industrial production sliding 0.3% in January. The recovery in housing, a crucial gauge for the success of Fed policies, has also shown signs of fraying. Some economists have blamed harsh winter weather for the slowdown.

Meanwhile, Yellen’s remarks were viewed in a different light by a Bloomberg headline stating that Yellen Repeats Fed Likely to Keep Trimming Asset Purchases.

Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said the central bank is likely to keep trimming asset purchases, even as policy makers monitor data to determine if recent weakness in the economy is temporary.
Yellen repeated the Fed’s statements that the central bank intends to reduce asset purchases at a measured pace, and she said in response to a separate question that the bond-buying program was likely to end in the fall.

Does Yellen have a dissociative identity disorder (DID), commonly referred to as a multiple personality disorder? According to Wikepedia, DID is characterized by two identities or dissociated personalities that alternately control a person’s behavior. The disorder is a controversial subject in the field of psychiatry and there is no consensus regarding either diagnosis or treatment so we can give Yellen a pass of this one.
Here’s the facts we do know about Yellen and Fed policies and they all represent some of the best reasons for increased ownership of both gold and silver.

2013-gold-eagle
The Fed stands ready to increase its $4 trillion balance sheet at the slightest sign of weakness in the stock market or the economy despite the lack of conclusive evidence that their money printing spree has helped the real economy.

The money surging out of the Fed has created multiple asset bubbles which will eventually pop, prompting further asset purchases with printed money to contain the damage and the cycle stays on auto repeat until the entire empire of debt and printed money completely collapse.

The Fed is firmly committed to an annual inflation target of at least two per cent to combat the threat of deflation.   The Fed is terrified of deflation since it increases the value of money and decreases  the ability of borrowers to service their debt burdens relative to income.   Deflation would make it difficult and eventually impossible for governments to continue borrowing to stay current on their mountains of debt and entitlement obligations.

Inflating away the debt is the Fed’s solution for keeping U.S.A. Inc. in business.  The Fed’s inflation targeting will help the U.S. government from being overwhelmed by debt but long term it guarantees that the future purchasing power of the dollar will continue its relentless decline and the downward spiral in real inflation adjusted wages will continue.

There will be a “next recession” and when it comes the Fed’s only option is money printing since short term rates are already at zero.

1881-CC-Morgan-Dollar
Yellen has acknowledged that she has a soft spot in her heart for the unemployed. The Fed’s conflicting mission of ensuring a stable value of the dollar and promoting employment has morphed into a full blown effort to create economic wealth and jobs through higher inflation and printed money.

Courtesy: zerohedge

The monetarist fools at the Fed, lead by Yellen, seem fully committed to solving every economic problem with more monetary printing. This policy may keep the wheels from falling off in the short term but guarantee disastrous long term results.  Bernanke had his critics but Yellen seems like a novice by comparison – maybe she should grow a beard.

17 Questions About Gold and Silver The Federal Reserve Needs to Answer

Yikes!  We Have to Look at This for the Next Four Years

Yikes! We Have to Look at This for the Next Four Years

By: GE Christenson

1.  Germany requested that the NY Federal Reserve return the gold that Germany shipped to the United States decades ago. If the gold were physically in the vaults, it would be relatively simple to ship the gold back to Germany. It has not been returned, which begs the question, where is Germany’s gold?

2.  If Germany’s gold is “missing,” what about other gold from other countries that is supposedly stored at the NY Fed?

3.  Does the U.S. gold supposedly stored at Fort Knox and at the NY Fed still exist in those vaults?

4.  The U.S. believes in paper dollars and an unbacked debt based currency. Such currency can be created with little more than a few keystrokes on a Federal Reserve computer. Would the Fed and the U.S. government sell gold into the world market to slow the inevitable weakening of the U.S. dollar? Would the Fed and the U.S. government ship (via intermediaries) substantial quantities of gold to China to prevent dumping of T-bonds and dollars? Are gold sales a “delaying action” to extend the reserve currency status of the U.S. dollar?

CPI INFLATION

5.  If China is converting their excess of dollars and T-bonds into gold, buildings, land, businesses, mines, and so much more, what do they believe is the real value of those dollars and T-bonds?

6.  If much of the German, Italian, French, English, and U.S. gold is “missing” and is now in very strong hands, is the price of gold too low and likely to rise?

7.  What will happen to world bond and stock markets if confidence in the financial system evaporates? Would confidence in the financial system be damaged if the world became aware that most of the gold supposedly stored in government and central bank vaults in the western world is “missing?” Is this the primary reason why the U. S. gold vaults have not been audited for over 50 years?

8.  Why are China and Russia buying large quantities of gold from the western world as well as all of their domestic production?

9.  Paper dollars were, years ago, backed by gold or silver. They are no longer backed by either. Why?

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10.  JP Morgan testified before congress in 1912 and stated, Gold is money. Everything else is credit.” Do you understand what this means?

11.  You have $100,000 to invest today into either gold or S&P 500 Index ETFs. Which investment do you believe will purchase more gasoline in three years?

12.  If you had $100,000 to invest into either gold or Confederate paper money and Confederate bonds in 1862, which would have been the better investment 20 years later?

13.  Voltaire stated about 3 centuries ago that “paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value – zero.” Most paper money systems throughout history have failed. The current paper systems seem likely to fail in the future. What is the intrinsic value of 80 ounces of gold (about $100,000 at today’s prices)? What is the intrinsic value of 5,000 $20 bills ($100,000)? Which seems likely to purchase more food in three years?

14.  Mayer Rothschild supposedly stated, “Give me control of a nation’s money and I care not who makes its laws.” Was he thinking that if he can create the currency and the legislature can be “influenced” with currency, then he can buy the legislation that his banking interests needed? Was he also thinking that if he can create the currency and he can trade that currency for physical gold, he had procured real wealth for his family?

15.  Nixon closed the gold window in 1971 and assured us that it was only temporary. Since then the (official) U.S. national debt has increased from approximately $398 Billion to over $17 Trillion – up by a factor of over 40. Interest must be paid on that debt. Was the creation of $17 Trillion in debt beneficial for the majority of the people and the economy of the U.S. or only for the political and financial elite?

FEDERAL DEBT

16.  Is the current U.S. paper money experiment going to end differently from any other failed fiat currency system?

17.  In 1971 gasoline in the U.S. cost approximately $0.35 per gallon. Today it costs approximately $3.50 per gallon. The rising national debt correlates with the rising prices of gasoline, tuition, health care, postage, coffee, stocks, gold, copper, rent, food, and so much more. Some of those prices have risen faster (others slower) than the debt, but the trend is the same since 1913 and especially since 1971 – all up substantially. Do you think this is a coincidence? Do you think the ongoing increase in national debt will continue to cause consumer price inflation or that it will, somehow, miraculously, cause prices to go down, in spite of 40 + years of contrary experience?

Conclusions

Is this the end of the world? No! But it is past time to realize that a debt based financial system is largely detrimental to most of the people outside the political and financial elite. Such a debt based system has a limited lifespan and a reset seems both imminent and inevitable. Actions to consider:

  • Eliminate non-mortgage debt and reduce the amount of other debt.
  • Convert variable rate mortgage debt to fixed interest rate debt.
  • Be wary of a stock market that has risen for almost five years and seems to be based more on QE, hope, and artificially lowered interest rates than upon earnings and the health of the economy.
  • Convert paper and digital dollars to gold and silver and store them in a safe depository outside the banking system.
  • Be careful in this increasingly dangerous world.

GE Christenson, aka Deviant Investor

The Ultimate Irony – Gold Bullion Is a Poor Investment According to “Too Big To Fail Banks”

coinAnalysts at the “Too Big To Fail” banks are unanimously predicting lower gold prices and telling their clients to dump gold.

On January 12, 2013 Goldman Sachs predicted that gold could fall to as low as $1,000 this year due to a less expansive monetary policy by the Federal Reserve.

In a report to clients this week Morgan Stanley analysts cut their price targets on gold for both 2014 and 2015 citing a strong global economy, rising interest rates and a reduced need for safe haven assets.

Not wanting to miss out on the “gold is dead party” Wells Fargo chimed in this week with their opinion that investors should eliminate their gold exposure on any rallies.

banks gone wild

The irony of the herd mentality on gold by the Too Big To Fail banks is beyond incredible.  Yes, these are the same “Too Big To Fail” banks who were selling billions of A rated mortgage backed securities to clients in 2007 that suddenly all defaulted in 2008.  Cynical types who remember the financial meltdown in housing of a few years back may also recall that the same banks now advising clients to dump gold were telling home buyers with shit credit and no income that, yes, you can afford that $800,000 house.

The big banks analysts seem to be engaging in a major group think exercise that justifies their dire predictions for future gold prices based on nothing more than an extrapolation of the gold price over the past two years.  We won’t even get into the part about how everyone at the big banks that almost blew up the financial world wound up getting bonuses instead of jail terms.

bankers

In any event there are many people who are ignoring the sage advice of the “Too Big To Fail” banks and buying gold anyways.

Japanese investors, who are growing increasingly alarmed by the concerted efforts of Prime Minister Abe to put Japan back on the “right track” by creating inflation with printing press money, are buying gold at a frenetic pace.

Gold sales by Japan’s biggest bullion retailer surged 63 percent to a five-year high as prices slumped and investors sought refuge from Prime Minister ShinzoAbe’s campaign to stoke inflation and weaken the yen.

Sales of bars to local investors by Tanaka Kikinzoku Kogyo K.K. soared to 37.3 metric tons in 2013, from 22.9 tons a year earlier, the Tokyo-based company said in a statement today. Sales exceeded purchases for the first time since 2004.

Demand for physical gold in China is also exploding as investors seek a safe haven asset that cannot be produced in infinite supply by the central banks of over indebted nations.

Increased demand in China, which probably overtook India as the world’s largest consumer last year, helped gold rebound from a six-month low of $1,182.52 on Dec. 31. China imported 1,017 tons of gold from Hong Kong in the first 11 months of 2013, almost double 2012’s total, Hong Kong government data show.

With the universally bearish outlook for gold by big money managers don’t be surprised if gold outperforms all other assets classes in 2014.

14 Tough Questions Gold Investors Have for the Federal Reserve

Liberty-EagleBy: GE Christenson

“Those who cannot remember the past, are condemned to repeat it.” George Santayana.

1. What mistakes from the past are we condemned to repeat?

2. Since unbacked paper currency systems have always failed in the past, why have bankers and economists promoted an unbacked paper currency system since 1971?

3. Would the Federal Reserve, which is owned by private banks, seek to enrich its member banks and the financial elite by implementing monetary policies such as QE that purchase distressed bank assets and boost the stock and bond markets?

4. Janet Yellen is the new leader of the Fed and new leaders are almost always confronted with a financial crisis early in their term. What should we expect during the next 18 months?

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5. ALL paper money systems have eventually failed due to excessive “printing” of the paper currency. How many years of “printing” $85 Billion per month qualifies as excessive “printing”?

6. Human nature changes very slowly if at all. Politicians have lied to most of the people most of the time during the past several thousand years to serve their own self-interest. Are politicians currently lying about ObamaCare, strength of the economy, employment, the NSA, big banks, the IRS, Syria, and so much more?

7. Why does gasoline currently sell for approximately $3.50 per gallon even though it cost only $0.15 per gallon about 50 years ago? Why does a cup of restaurant coffee no longer sell for $0.10? Why do $20 gold coins containing nearly an ounce of gold now sell for over $1,250?

8. The S&P 500 Index is trading near an all-time high and is by most measures and sentiment severely over-bought on a weekly and monthly basis. Is it ready to correct downward?

9. Why is the official unemployment rate falling even though fewer Americans are working and the labor participation rate is at 30 year lows?

10. The Federal Reserve has been levitating the stock market and bailing out banks. Is it possible the Fed policies will backfire and those policies will eventually accomplish the opposite of what the Fed wants?

11. If the national debt of $17 Trillion can never be repaid, and if the U.S. government must borrow to pay the interest every year, and if the Federal Reserve must “print” those dollars, what is the real value of that debt? Is it $17 Trillion or perhaps a great deal less? The economist Hyman Minsky called this “Ponzi Finance” – the final stage of a debt based economic system when payments on the debt must be made from additional borrowing.

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12. If a soaring gold price encouraged people to question the value of the U.S. dollar, and if the U.S. government had the means to suppress the price of gold, would the U.S. government manipulate the price of gold lower?

13. Germany requested their gold be returned from the NY Federal Reserve vaults about a year ago. It has NOT been returned. What happened to the German gold? Further, how much, if any, of the gold supposedly stored in Fort Knox is physically there and not “leased” or otherwise encumbered?

14. Gold has been money – a store of value, divisible, a medium of exchange, a unit of accounting, and intrinsically valuable – for 5,000 years. Paper money has usually been little more than a politician’s promise of integrity and responsibility. Which do you trust – gold or a politician’s promise?

These questions and their answers suggest that:

Drastic restructuring of the current monetary system seems inevitable, whether or not it is imminent.

Before the system resets it seems likely that governments around the world will scramble to locate and nationalize assets in order to maintain their power for a while longer. Capital controls and financial repression via artificially lowered interest rates are already in place. Pension plans, savings accounts, and IRA and 401(k) plans seem vulnerable to partial confiscation, bail-ins, or mandatory investment in government bonds. Such confiscations and bail-ins have already occurred in other parts of the world and could easily happen in the United States.

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Gold and silver have protected purchasing power and assets for 5,000 years. In this twilight period of the current debt based monetary system it seems likely gold and silver will increasingly be necessary for protection of purchasing power and assets. Are you prepared?

GE Christenson

aka Deviant Investor