Precious metals news

Though much has happened in the gold market this month - notably, a Fed pledge that has awakened the sleeping bull - we wanted to take a step back and shed some light on what is fundamentally driving the precious metals market today. A Wall Street pro named James Rickards recently released his first book, Currency Wars: The Making of the Next Global Crisis, and it's creating a buzz. Our own Peter Schiff often talks about competitive devaluation of currencies as the main driver behind our gold and silver investments. Recently, Peter sat down with James to get his perspective on what's behind these currency wars, and find out what he recommends investors do to preserve their wealth through this tumultuous time.
Peter Schiff: You portray recent monetary history as a series of currency wars - the first being 1921-1936, the second being 1967-1987, and the third going on right now. This seems accurate to me. In fact, my father got involved in economics because he saw the fallout of wh...

What is with people purchasing very important investments in shopping plaza parking lots?! I must stress that skepticism is your best friend when loading up your car at the local Target or Wal-Mart and you're approached by a bullion dealer. The chances of a legitimate bullion salesperson meandering through the lot selling legitimate silver are very slim. However, to remain open minded, there are deals out there that you can score in one of those serendipitous moments.

Will European Sovereigns Have to Sell Their Gold? MarketWatch - To make ends meet, European sovereigns may soon have to dig deep into their pocketbooks and jettison some of their gold reserves. At 2,452 tons, Italy enjoys the world's fourth-largest gold reserves. Current value: $123 billion. Rome's budget deficit for 2011: $80 billion. France, meanwhile, has bullion worth $122 billion and a budget deficit of $150 billion. China, on the other hand, owns very little gold. It is eagerly looking to diversify its reserves comprised largely of paper IOUs. When the bullion changes hands, so will the power, says MarketWatch. Read Full Article>>
Bullion Could "Easily" Crack $2,000 The Telegraph - Richard Davis, manager of the BlackRock Commodities Income Investment Trust, told the UK paper The Telegraph in a video interview this month that gold could "easily" top $2,000 in the next twelve months. This is especially the case if investment demand remains strong. Davis notes that the ...

With its announcement this week that it will keep interest rates near zero until at least late 2014, the Federal Reserve has put another large crack into the foundations underlying the US dollar. In a misguided attempt to provide clarity and transparency, Ben Bernanke has instead laid out a simple road map for economists and investors to follow. The signposts are easily understood: the Fed will stop at nothing in pursuing its goals of creating phantom GDP growth, holding down unemployment, propping up stock and housing prices, and monetizing government debt. To do so, it will continue to pursue a policy of negative interest rates, while ignoring the collateral damage of unsustainable debt, virulent inflation, misallocated resources and credit, suffering yield-dependent retirees, and a devalued U.S. currency.
Not surprisingly, precious metals and foreign currencies rallied strongly on the news - with gold up more than 4.3% and the Dollar Index down nearly 1.6% in the days followi...

As gold scams pop up around the country and world we are providing you information in order to help you avoid becoming a victim of the scams. This time around it's not the precious metal dealer that is scamming you. It's the one rating the deceitful precious metal dealer.
Peter Schiff talked this month on his show on SchiffRadio.com about a suspicion he had about the Better Business Bureau (BBB) and their rating system. The gold scam of the year was undoubtedly the GoldLine fiasco, and with their trial taking place this month in Santa Monica, Peter decided to check and see what happened to their BBB rating. They were originally listed as an A+, now no rating existed at all. No F's, not even a C! This wasn't because they were disqualified all together from the site for their obvious fraudulent activity...the site's reason for no rating was that there was "not enough information" to rate this company. HA!

This isn't the first time an Irish passport has been used to forge a company and/or person's existence. This time around it is believed that a group from Nigeria put together a massive gold scam that almost amounted to over €100 mil in gold from US investors. They told the investors that the unprocessed gold coming from African mines would be shipped into Europe and avoid fees, taxes, etc. Turned out that the gold didn't exist with the company and neither did the head of the company, John Recketts. His passport number was linked to an elderly woman in Dublin whose passport was stolen.

Recent U.S. economic data, such as the modest drop in the unemployment rate and the massive expansion of consumer credit, have suggested that the American economy is finally recovering. Opposite conclusions are being thrown at Europe, where many are convinced that recession is returning. Not surprisingly then, the dollar is currently hitting a multi-year high against the euro. The strength of the dollar itself is often held up as one of the major proof points that the U.S. economy is “improving.” But the data points that I believe really matter continue to suggest an economy on life support. I believe that the dollar is rising for reasons that have nothing to do with America’s economic health.
The ongoing sovereign debt crisis in Europe is unquestionably the center ring in the current economic circus. Given the difficulty of setting policy across borders and national interests, the negotiations in Europe have been messy, acrimonious, inconclusive, and conducted under the glaring...

By Peter Schiff
For such a wonderful year for precious metals investors, the final calendar quarter left little to celebrate. Just as people now take for granted that their phones will also take pictures, play music, and surf the internet, many investors have come to expect gold and silver to move up in a straight line.
In fact, in a recent CNBC interview one analyst claimed that gold's recent correction proves that it is not really a safe haven. In truth, such a statement merely proves how little some analysts know about markets.
However much the fundamentals may be on your side, there are always mitigating factors that affect price movement. In the case of gold and silver, the temporary resurgence of the dollar versus other fiat currencies alternatives has been the dominant factor - but even that isn't the whole story.

Casey Research's Gold Commentary
2011 was remarkable in many ways for the precious metals markets. Gold soared to new highs in early September, hitting at an intraday record of $1,920/ounce on the 5th. Silver screamed to within a hair of $50 on April 28. Corrections ensued, and the metals ended the year on a disappointing note for silver and an underwhelming note for gold. Equities for the sector were down, to way down for junior ventures, logging their worst annual return since 2008.
Here's a table of 2011 returns from most major asset classes:
Gold registered its eleventh consecutive annual gain, extending the bull market that began in 2001. The yellow metal gained 10.1% - a solid return, though moderate when compared to previous years.
Silver lost almost 10% year-over-year, due primarily to its dual nature as a monetary and industrial metal. Currency concerns lit a match under the price early in the year, while global economic concerns forced it to give it all bac...

It's not just the U.S. that is plagued with the cheesy gold-buying commercials and ridiculously priced gold coins. Canada also deals with their fair share of gold scams. With the Cambridge House Resource Investment Conference around the corner in Vancouver, BC, it's important that BC's Better Business Bureau has created a Top 10 Scam List for 2012. And surprise, surprise...guess what made the top of the list? Gold scams.
As a con artist, you've come along way to take the cake in a contest that most businesses would like to come in last place for. Since gold's stellar performance over the past couple of decades, criminal activity within the business is moving relatively higher. A correlation no one can ignore. With big money, comes the bigger scams.

Central Bank Gold Purchases Surge in Q3 Wall Street Journal - Central banks have purchased 7X as much gold in the 3rd quarter of this year than the same period last year, the latest World Gold Council quarterly report reveals. The combined purchases amount to a whopping 148.8 metric tons of gold. By comparison, in the third quarter of 2010, central banks purchased only 22.6 metric tons. Although a significant number of the buyers from 2011 remain anonymous, Marcus Grubb, managing director of investment at the Council, hints the answer may lie in central banks from surplus countries in East Asia, Central Asia, and Latin America. Read Full Article>>
US Federal Debt Now Exceeds $15 Trillion Washington Times - In case you were looking for one more reason to stockpile precious metals to hedge against coming inflation, history's greatest debtor nation passed a new milestone this month: Washington's debt load now tops $15 trillion! The achievement comes as a result of a one-day, ...

Words spoken by Robert White, an appraiser, who checked out the inventory Nola Cronk had just acquired from  Capital Gold Group. Cronk approached an appraiser after having a hellish battle with what she thought was a move to protect her retirement.
Nola Cronk's husband had passed away, and unfortunately he was the one who took care of finances, so she was soon left to her own to find the right place for the wealth she had left. She expressed interest in Capital Gold Group who quickly took advantage of this vulnerable client. They first asked for her financial records, assuring her after viewing that she need to act quick and move over $300K into gold. Then the broker who spoke with her over the phone, soon received a signed contract and a done deal through persuasive tactics that left Cronk seemingly helpless. Even when her buyer's remorse kicked in and she asked to lessen the investment amount, she was met with, "You'll either buy it or we'll take you to court and we'll get eve...

The legendary Jim Sinclair told Ellis Martin he is looking for a ‘modest' gold price of $1700-$2100 in 2012. We think gold could trade as high as $2300 in 2012, […]

If Michigan did not have $3.3 billion to pay out unemployment benefits from 2006-2009, exactly how do you suppose it has enough cash in 2011 to pay 2011 unemployment benefits […]

Michelle Bachmann's campaign leader Kent Sorenson has defected from the Bachmann campaign and joined the Ron Paul campaign, effective Wednesday night. Sorenson stated he felt obligated to make the move […]

This morning's disappointing Italian bond auction has sent the secondary market reeling, with the Italian 10-year yield surging back above the crucial 7%. 3 taps and out? Italy Govt Bonds […]

Sounds like one central authority is taking hold more and more as each day passes. Every country and every central bank is reinforcing their belief on how strong their currency […]

Silver has held crucial support at $26- FOR NOW. We wrote early this morning that silver looked to retest the lows near $26.05 overnight, and as you can see on […]

BrotherJohnF is back with another Silver Update: The FINAL Smackdown

Gold is trying to hold on at it's 6 month low and silver likewise is trying to fend off any further technical damage. Silver is re-challenging the September low of […]