Precious metals news

By Peter Schiff
Testifying before the US Senate this past Tuesday, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke made an extraordinary claim about its bloated balance sheet: "We could exit without ever selling by letting it run off." What Bernanke means here is that the Fed could simply hold its Treasuries and agency bonds until they mature, at which point the government would then be forced to pay the Fed back the principal amount. Through this process, the Fed's unprecedented and inflationary position will be gradually and placidly unwound.
Growing rumors last month of a potential "tightening" of monetary policy - seemingly confirmed by the Fed minutes released on Feb. 20th - have spooked the precious metals markets, leading to a 5.8% correction in gold and 10.2% in silver.
However, these fears are preposterous on two counts.

By Jeff Clark from Casey Research
Bloomberg reported last week that Russia is now the world's biggest gold buyer with its central bank having added 570 tonnes (18.3 million troy ounces) over the past decade. At $1,650/ounce, that's $30.1 billion worth of gold.
Russia isn't alone, of course. Central banks as a group have been net buyers for at least two years now. But the 2012 data trickling out shows that the amount of tonnage being added is breaking records.
The following table lists the countries that have added to their gold reserves this year, while the second one tallies those that have been selling. You'll see how recently each country has reported, along with its percentage increase.
Based on current data, the net increase in central bank gold buying for 2012 was 14.8 million troy ounces - and that's before the final 2012 figures are in for all countries.
This is a dramatic increase, one bigger than most investors probably realize. To put it in perspective...

Our friends at Demonocracy have finally released an infographic visualizing silver bullion supplies.  Demonocracy made infographics famous by visualizing the US Debt in $100 bills and the global derivatives casino […]

Guest Post, by Michael Lombardi Skepticism toward gold bullion prices is increasing. The bears and the mainstream media are focused on the price decline of gold bullion and are clearly […]

By Bill Holter: With factories cranking out guns and ammo at 110% of capacity, how could a shortage currently exist? MASSIVE DEMAND. Now, think about the Gold and Silver mining […]

James G. Rickards, author of "Currency Wars: The Making of the Next Global Crisis" sat down w/ Kitco News' Daniela Cambone to discuss his work and the evolving "currency wars". […]

Checkpoints (some would say illegal checkpoints) have been popping up quite frequently in the new USSA. As you see in this video, you DO NOT have to comply with their […]

In a slight alteration to the recent algo pattern of hammering the metals on the daily COMEX open, gold and silver were sold down hard on Friday's London open, and […]

Gold fell 5% in February due to dollar strength, reasonably positive economic data, aggressive selling of paper gold on the COMEX, and poor sentiment.  Despite the very negative sentiment, gold […]

BrotherJohnF's latest Silver Update: Bernanke,Thou Madman

Submitted by Bill Holter: The GOP reportedly is considering "ceding" power to President Obama regarding the sequester.  The President will have until March 8 to come up with $85 billion […]

Germany Repatriating Gold in Case of Currency Crisis Forbes - Germany's central bank announced plans to bring 50% of its total gold reserves back to Frankfurt from the US and France. 300 tons of gold will be moved from the NY Fed to the Bundesbank over the next seven years. A Buba spokesman said they would not be selling the gold, but storing it "in case of a currency crisis." Germany is the second largest holder of gold in the world, and some claim the gold grab is in response to public pressure to have the reserves verified. Read Full Article>>
US Mint Silver Sales Jump ABC & Bloomberg - The US Mint temporarily sold out of its 2013 American Eagle silver bullion coins in the first two weeks of the year. When sales resumed at the end of January, 1.123 million ounces sold in one day - which will likely push sales to the highest monthly total since July 2010. Sales were driven by unexpected investor demand, which may be related to fears over the Fed's QE3 Plus money-printing...

By SD Contributor SRSrocco: Backwardation of gold and silver have been going on since 2008 — the year the financial system died. Today, I watch as the majority of gold […]

Legendary gold trader Jim Sinclair, who called the top of the last bull market in gold to the day, liquidating his entire personal gold position overnight the day gold topped, […]

In this unique discussion, precious metals experts Eric Sprott, John Embry and Rick Rule discuss a wide range of topics related to precious metals investing including macro economic issues, expanding […]

It used to be the main exchange currency in Europe, but soon after WW1 governments ditched it. Now, amid turbulent financial times and economic woes, gold is fashionable once more. […]

Forbes has interviewed Stephen Leeb, Chairman of Leeb capital management on the fundamentals of silver. Leeb, who can barely contain his excitement over the prospects for silver throughout the interview, […]

After a brief 2 day reprieve Tuesday and Wednesday, your regularly scheduled COMEX gold and silver raid is back, with gold being smashed to $1576, and silver back towards $28.

In this episode of the Keiser Report, Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert discuss how slime molds outsmart our central bankers and policymakers, and look at the four troll banks and […]

Submitted by Bill Holter We "purport" to have just over 8.000 tons of Gold.  For round numbers this is valued between $400 billion and $500 billion.  The Fed has in […]