Markets Make Fools of Us All

As the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced further above 10,000 yesterday, gold slipped back below $1,200 an ounce. We are not exactly sure what we think about the stock market’s resurgence – or about gold’s retreat – but we are pretty sure what we do NOT think.

We do not think stocks have vaulted into a new bullish trend; nor do we think gold has slumped into a new bearish trend. Rather, the recent moves feel like short-term, counter-trend noise. This noise might last a few weeks, but we would not mistake it for music.

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Gold Role Reversal: Central Banks Now Net Gold Buyers

The world is turning upside down when central bankers are accumulating gold and ordinary people are not.

Last year, central banks were net buyers of gold for the first time since 1988. In fact, they bought the most gold in any year since 1964. Total central bank holdings worldwide, according to the World Gold Council, grew by 425 metric tons last year.

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Unemployment and Precious Metals

Unemployment Discrepancy and its Impact on Precious Metals Analysts, financial planners and so called “experts” tout a variety of anti-inflation investments, ranging from commodities like oil and coal to sophisticated instruments like inflation-protected treasuries and annuities.  Although all these products may seem to be inflation-proof on paper, none have the intrinsic value of gold, silver or any other precious metals. [Read more...]

Precious Metal and Energy ETF Analysis

Precious Metals and Energy ETF Trading Report So far this week has been generous with our commodity ETFs moving higher, other than natural gas which is clearly in a bear market. Each of the commodity ETF trading charts below is at a different stage and it will be interesting to see how things unfold in the coming weeks. [Read more...]

ECB Gold Sales

10 November 2009 - Consolidated financial statement of the Eurosystem as of 6 November 2009

Items not related to monetary policy operations

In the week ending 6 November 2009 the decrease of EUR 20 million in gold and gold receivables (asset item 1) reflected the issue of commemorative gold coins by one Eurosystem central bank. The net position of the Eurosystem in foreign currency (asset items 2 and 3 minus liability items 7, 8 and 9) decreased by EUR 2.3 billion to EUR 171.8 billion on account of customer and portfolio transactions and US dollar liquidity-providing transactions.
Extraordinary transactions... [Read more...]

Copper Prices Rally

Copper prices rally on brighter demand prospects LONDON (Reuters) - Copper rallied on Monday as demand prospects brightened after Codelco, the world's top copper miner, raised premium charges for Asian customers in 2010, while a weaker dollar also helped boost industrial metals. Three-month copper futures on the London Metal Exchange MCU3 traded at $6,572 a tonne at 1537 GMT from $6,490 on Friday, when a weaker than expected monthly jobs report from the United States hit the dollar and sentiment. Chile's Codelco raised its term premium for copper to the Japanese port of Yokohama to $75 a tonne in 2010, and to $74 for South Korean buyers, in anticipation of rising demand in parts of Asia, industry sources said on Monday. [Read more...]

Gold Hits $1105… Still More Upside

Gold hits record above $1,105 and analysts still predicting more upside SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Gold powered to another record high on Monday on safe-haven buying as the U.S. dollar slipped and after a weaker-than-expected U.S. unemployment rate revived worries about the health of the global economy. Gold has gained more than 25% in 2009, driven by persistent weakness in the U.S. currency that has lost more than 6% versus the euro so far this year, and recently by the failure of a meeting of the Group of 20 finance officials to talk more specifically about the dollar's decline.. As expectations rise that central banks across the globe might look to buy gold to diversify their reserves, analysts say that there could be more upside for the precious metal. [Read more...]

Gold:Silver Ratio – Buy Silver!

This article suggests that silver is undervalued compared to gold by anywhere from 10% to 50% based on historical gold to silver price relationships.

With primary secular bull or bear trends easily running from 10 to 20 years of the average investor’s 40 year investing lifespan it is crucial to identify optimal accumulation points within these primary trends to avoid prolonged periods of under-performance and potentially negative returns and to avoid dramatically reducing the number of productive years in which to build one’s fortune. [Read more...]

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Gold Wheaton and South African Uranium

The Canadian miner's Barbados unit will put up an initial payment of $50m Canada's Gold Wheaton Gold Corp (GLW.V: Quote) said its Barbados unit agreed with First Uranium Corp (FIU.TO: Quote) to buy gold from its South African unit for an initial payment of $50 million. Gold Wheaton will buy 7% of the life of mine gold production from Ezulwini Mining Co's mining right over its Ezulwini mine, which covers about 3,718 hectares, in the Gauteng province of South Africa. Under the deal, which is expected to close in late November, Gold Wheaton will pay First Uranium $400 per ounce on each gold delivery, or the prevailing spot price of gold, whichever is lower. [Read more...]