timesofindia.indiatimes.com / May 18, 2012

NEW DELHI: High gold prices coupled with the three-week strike by jewellers has resulted in a sharp fall in purchase of the yellow metal during the first quarter, with sales falling nearly 29% to a little over 200 tonnes during January-March, 2012.

While housewives are deferring purchase of jewellery, even the savvy investors, who prefer to have the metal in their investment portfolio, seem to have given up, thanks to high prices. As a result, jewellery sales were down 19% during the quarter, while the demand for coins and bars was down by nearly half to 55 tonnes, data released by the World Gold Council (WGC) showed.

“Weakness and volatility in the rupee resulted in elevated local prices, while consumers struggled to digest a rise in import taxes on gold and the introduction of an excise duty on gold jewellery, which prompted jewellers country-wide to strike,” the agency said in a report, adding that the demand in terms of value for jewellery increased by 10% in the quarter to a record high of Rs 41,480 crore.

Although WGC seemed to suggest the strike for the fall in sales, where large retailers such as Gitanjali and Tanishq stayed away, jewellers said shops now wear a deserted look as buyers are waiting for prices to fall.

In India, gold prices are off their peak of near Rs 30,000 per 10 grams seen in early May, but they are still around 28% higher than a year ago. In Delhi, the yellow metal fell by Rs 100 to a five-week low of Rs 28,440 per 10 grams, while it lost around Rs 165 to close at Rs 27,940. A bulk of the price rise in the domestic market is on account of a weaker rupee, which has lost nearly 21% against dollar over the past 12 months and closed at 54.49 on Thursday. During this period, gold gained nearly 6% and was trading at $1,575 an ounce internationally, according to data available with Bloomberg. WGC said global demand for gold was down 5% in the first quarter, essentially due to higher prices.

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Silver Stock Report

by Jason Hommel, May 18th, 2012

Here’s the link to tables of JH MINT Sales data without commentary.
http://jhmint.com/reports.html

People who are ready to buy silver and gold often ask us, “Which should I buy?” and “What’s the most popular?”  It’s the one ounce silver round!   It’s the clear winner.

The sales volume data shows what’s popular, and by how much.  To my knowledge, no other bullion dealer has published such data ever.  Thus, this is very important industry data.  It should be linked, and discussed and cross referenced by those who would comment on the physical bullion market.

The data reveals much.  One of my favorite points is that it exposes a lot of fraud.

Don’t ever believe it when fraudsters who vault your bullion in the form of 1000 oz. bars, claim that one ounce rounds are not popular, or that it’s “too difficult” or “too costly” to manufacture these popular silver products.

Note, the data covers the period from August 2010 to April 2012, which is 1.75 years, or a year and 9 months.

We sold a total of $33.9 million, and bought a total of $13 million worth of silver and gold from the public.  We have excluded purchases from wholesalers, or sales to refiners, which would have offset the difference, and would have helped to balance the numbers.  So, the numbers reflect what the public is buying and selling and doing and choosing to do, not what dealers buy or sell or have to do to serve the public demand.

Overall, it’s important to note that silver one ounce rounds are the most popular item, both in sales and purchases.  Since they are the most popular of purchases as well, this says that silver one ounce rounds were the most popular item of the last ten to twenty years.  Since sales of silver one ounce rounds were 23.6% of all sales, and purchases were 11.6% of all purchases, this says that they are only growing in popularity.  We didn’t sell “twice as many as we bought”, we really sold $8 million worth of one oz. rounds, while we bought $1.5 million, which is 5.3 times more.  To me, that suggests that one oz. rounds are 5.3 times more popular now (over the last two years), than they were “historically”.

Every now and then, people will sell the 100 oz. silver bars, or sell gold coins, just to convert into one ounce rounds, as people are growing in their awareness of the need to have a fungible, popular, barterable unit of tradable precious metal.

I believe this is a good trend.  It shows the growing awareness of the importance of fungibility, and it is helping the silver one ounce round to gain that fungibility that comes with being the most common unit of trade.

The sales data is showing that silver one ounce rounds are “becoming money”.

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(1) I discuss how the FDIC is a ponzi scheme. There are more potential outstanding claims compared to how much liquidity the FDIC has.

zerohedge.com / by Tyler Durden / May 18, 2012

Some look at today’s FaceBook IPO flop, the ongoing market rout, and the situation in Europe with disenchantment and disappointment. We, on the other hand, view it with hope: because more than anything, the events of the past few days show that the truth is getting out – the truth that capital markets simply can not exist under the authoritarian rule of central planners, the truth that the stock market is a casino in which the best one can hope for a quick flip, and finally the truth that our entire socio-economic regime, whose existence has been predicated by borrowing from the uncreated wealth of the future, and where accumulated debt could be wiped out at the flip of a switch if things go wrong in the process obliterating the welfare of billions (of less than 1%ers), is one big lie.

We believe that hope is what SocGen’s Dylan Grice is what he has in mind when he penned the following conclusion to his most recent piece: La Grande Illusion.

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silverdoctors.com / May 18, 2012

Last weekend we advised SD readers that our sources had informed us that JPMorgan’s derivatives losses sustained by their CIO desk were actually $100 Billion, not the $2 Billion admitted by Jamie Dimon to investors.
Well, one week later, the MSM (WSJ) is now reporting that JPM’s CIO has now lost $5 billion.

Perhaps more interesting, the WSJ states that Jamie Dimon personally approved the delta-hedging of its interest rate swaps positions which has resulted in the FUBAR derivatives losses for JPM.

So lets get this straight. The Big Cahuna who approved the strategy gets a $23 million bonus, and reappointed as CEO by shareholders, while Iksil and boss Achilles who implemented the trade for Dimon get shown the door have The Morgue attempt to claw-back their bonuses?

The US mega-bank JPMorgan Chase & Co loss from derivatives trading may widen to 5 billion dollars, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday. CEO Jamie Dimon personally approved the strategy that led to the trades, without monitoring how they were executed, the newspaper said.

JPMorgan last week announced a 2 billion dollars trading loss on synthetic credit products, or derivatives tied to credit performance. Dimon said the transactions, intended to manage risk, were “egregious” failures by the bank’s chief investment office. JPMorgan has said the amount could increase by 1 billion or more as it winds down the positions.

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Corporate bonds in the U.S. took a beating in the past 48 hours. The high yield market, which had been spared much of the carnage seen in the HY CDS markets, finally succumbed.

This chart is key for a couple of reasons. First it shows that the 3 point drop this week and the 2 point drop in the past two days for HYG is largely a catch up to moves that had already occurred in the CDS market. We still think of HYG as a “retail” product, but volumes have spiked in recent days as it has become a valued source of liquidity. Hedge Funds have been looking at the ETF versus the HY CDS index. A trade we have liked, that as recent as 4 months ago was generally met by polite grins from some of the HF’s we talk to. Now it is a strategy people like. More investors and market makers are looking at the ETF’s as a better way to hedge themselves than using the CDS index. The HY ETF’s have their own sets of problems, but there is a growing realization, particularly in the high yield market, that at least they move with their bonds more than the CDS indices.

We are starting to see spikes to the downside late in the day. It could be for any number of reasons, but the reality is that I think it is market makers more than anyone who are causing that. To the extent you get hit on bonds in the morning (you didn’t fade your bid fast enough, or the client was too important) you spent the whole day trying to move those bonds. With everything going on in Europe you don’t want (or aren’t allowed) to be long overnight. Your choices are hitting a down bid on the bonds – probably a loss of at least 1%, shorting HY18, which is already very cheap and the index guys get annoyed at anything less than $25 million, or, shorting some HYG. It might cost you a ¼ point, but that is better than selling the bond and it seems closer to the market than the CDS index which feels ripe for a squeeze. That flow is occurring.

The HY ETF’s are both trading at a discount. That is encouraging the arb which means arb clients will be selling bonds, buying shares, and then using share redemptions to monetize the trade. Again, it seems like a “market neutral” strategy, but for some reason, the selling of bonds seems to weigh more on the market than the purchase of the ETF’s. That adds to the downside pressure, and there is currently a big game going on of “which bond will the ETF’s sell”. That is adding to the volatility in the cash market.

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endoftheamericandream.com / May 18, 2012

If you know what to look for, it quickly becomes obvious that the elite of the world are not even trying to hide their insidious plans for the planet.  They hope to unite the entire globe under their leadership, and they don’t think that we are strong enough or smart enough to stop them.  They openly embed symbols expressing their desire for a one world economic system, a one world religion and a one world government on our buildings, on our monuments and on our money and they think that it is funny that most people have no idea what those symbols mean.  The New World Order openly mocks us and they seem to take pleasure in giving us “clues” about what their plans for humanity are.  In the “global society” that they have planned for us, individual freedoms and liberties will be greatly restricted “for the good of humanity” and they will use the emerging Big Brother police state control gridto monitor and control everything that we do.  It would be a totalitarian regime unlike anything the world has ever seen before.  That is why it is absolutely imperative that we wake people up and get them educated about what the globalists plan to do so that they can resist this growing tyranny.

The following are 12 pictures that demonstrate how the New World Order openly mocks us….

Wenlock – Official Mascot Of The 2012 London Olympics

On the official London 2012 website, we are told that Wenlock, the official mascot of the 2012 London Olympics, has a camera for an eye because that “lets Wenlock record everything”.

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Despite claiming he does not believe in the birther conspiracy theory, Arizona Secretary of State Ken Bennett has threatened to keep Obama off the state’s general election ballot if he can’t verify the president was born in Hawaii.

“I’m not a birther. I believe the president was born in Hawaii—or at least I hope he was,” Bennett told KFYI radio host Mike Broomhead on Thursday. “But my responsibility as secretary of state is to make sure that the ballots in Arizona are correct and that those people whose names are on the ballot have met the qualifications for the office they are seeking.”

Bennett, who is preparing to run for Arizona governor in 2014, claimed the move is not meant to appease birthers in the state ahead of that election.

Bennett said he has petitioned the state to verify the existence of Obama’s long-form birth certificate, and that his request has gone unanswered for eight weeks. The White House released Obama’s long-form birth certificate last year. Still, that doesn’t seem to have satisfied the legion of conspiracy theorists who continue to believe the president was born elsewhere. —TEB

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thedailybell.com / by Staff Report / May 18, 2012

A global frenzy buzzes now like so many angry bumblebees. At any moment, a company started in a dormitory just eight years ago will sell promoted common shares to the investing public and become the hottest technology diva ever. Unusual animal movements have preceded extraordinary natural disasters—might they also mark onset of man-made financial mayhem? Hundreds of millions of us like using Facebook. At first blush the features and benefits seem a compelling bargain. But as far as investors in this offering are concerned, are valuation levels for Facebook’s Class A common shares supported by realistic hope or by artful hype? – Washington Times

Dominant Social Theme: Now that Facebook is worth US$ 100 billion, where’s the next hot deal?

Free-Market Analysis: Frankly, we’ve been surprised by the lack of articles doubting Facebook’s US$ 100 billion valuation.

This article in the Washington Times, written yesterday, is about the closest we could come, recently, in the mainstream media.

We’ve been frank about our perception of what Facebook is – a creation in part of American Intel, which evidently and obviously has a stake in utilizing the data that Facebook “mines.”

For this reason we have described Facebook as lacking a business model, which is odd for a company that was just valued at US$ 100 billion.

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With fears building concerning another ‘08 credit meltdown, today King World News interviewed the #1 oil analyst in the world, Mike Rothman, to get his take on what is happening.  Rothman is the Founder of Cornerstone Analytics and he has been rated #1 for Independent Energy Research by Institutional Magazine since 2006.  Rothman consults directly with governments and has attended every OPEC Meeting since 1986.  Here is what Rothman had to say about the current situation:  “Essentially, with all of the concerns about the world either falling into recession or being in a recession, you still have Brent oil at triple digit levels.  That’s a testimony that oil balances are actually quite tight.  There’s a problem getting supply.”

“The reality is with people being so concerned about Europe, and a repeat of the credit crisis, you’ve had a shunning of the asset.  It’s kind of a weird gap between what oil prices have done and what oil sensitive equities have done.

Normally the stocks trade as a proxy for the commodity, but we’ve had a pretty big gap develop because sideline money is afraid of getting caught, perhaps ahead of something cataclysmic happening out of Europe….

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l eyes seemed to be on Facebook’s IPO today. But we look at some of these hyped up social media and gaming companies that have gone public and ask if they can get away with some choose-your-own-adventure accounting methods to boost profits. And back in March, our futures veteran Mark Melin told us MF Global was worth more to some entities dead than alive. Well now we know how much its carcass is worth to the legal team winding down the estate — the team led by the trustee and former FBI director Louis Freeh. They’ve reportedly racked up $25 million in fees! Customers are reportedly upset, as their money is still missing. We’ll talk about some possible MF Global enablers that seem to be getting a free pass from regulators and investigators: the auditors. Plus, the Financial Times reports JP Morgan’s chief investment office has built up positions totaling more than $100 billion in complex risky bonds – the types at the center of the 2008 crisis. This is in addition to the positions in credit derivatives that led to the $2 billion dollar trading loss we learned about last week. Has the bank’s reputation until now as an “excellent risk manager” allowed it to escape scrutiny when taking these risks? We discuss all of this with Francine McKenna on this episode of Capital Account. McKenna is author of the blog re: The Auditors, and a columnist for Forbes and American Banker. We wrap up with responses to your viewer feedback.

With continued uncertainty in markets around the world, today Ben Davies, CEO of Hinde Capital wrote the following piece exclusively for King World News.  Davies believes the gold and silver liquidation is over:  “I humbly believe the seller is done.  For one week there has been several but mainly one entity selling Comex gold futures, as well as some physical to liquidate on the open and closes.  This suggest to us it was a CTA commodity type fund.  They use volume areas of the day to transact.”

Ben Davies continues:

 “The sell-off in gold is reminiscent of the 2008 deleveraging process but it is more similar in dynamics to 2012 when a notable fund manager had to sell his gold/ ETF holdings.  There were buyers of course, seller and buyer volumes must match.  But the need to sell overwhelmed the need to buy.

When you have redemptions time is against you to liquidate, so it becomes a case of sell at any price as time becomes finite. Gold buyers picked up some bargains then and they will now.

Before FOMC minutes two nights ago the seller was back at the close.  And then the FOMC minutes changed the dynamic of market with the mention by some members that QE would be back if they saw renewed economic weakness.  This is the association for us all of why the market stopped going down but in truth the seller was done.

Like the December experience, once the seller is done, the market will snap back.  We run intraday correlations just to observe if markets are starting to fibrillate against each other.  We could see that risk assets were diverging and SPX was no longer moving with a 1.0 correlation with gold and silver.  We took this  as a positive sign that the precious metals were decoupling from risk assets.

 The seller was being soaked up by multiple buyers.  But all week we saw no significant Asian buying until two nights ago when the market went straight up yesterday on the open of the Asian morning.

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blog.milesfranklin.com / by David Schectman / May 18, 2012

I have stated that $1,550 is an important plateau for gold.  It was nerve-racking to see gold fall below this support level, but thankfully, today gold easily cleared $1,550 and as I am putting the finishing touches on Thursday’s daily at 5:00 A.M. Friday morning, gold is closing in on $1,600.  We, in the gold universe, need some uplifting price action.  In the last 48 hours, gold is up 4%, a whopping $60.  Before the year is over, this kind of move will not be unusual.

And how about silver; its two-day performance ain’t too shabby either.  It was below $27 on Wednesday.

oday was a thing of beauty.  Gold, as I’ve repeated numerous times, is almost always capped at 1%.  It hardly ever logs a 2% up day.  Today gold closed up 2.21%!  Without going way back and digging, I can’t remember a day that gold rose so much.  Gold’s RSI was as oversold as I can remember and now, it appears that gold is ready to move back up.  I expect that later on Friday, Ed Steer will write about the JPM closing out a massive amount of their gold and silver shorts.

I haven’t got Thursday’s sales figures yet, but Andy told me it was very, very busy all day.  All of the brokers were selling a lot of gold and silver.  Our ¼ oz. Gold Maple Leaf promotion was well received.  We don’t “promote” too often, but when we do, it is a good deal!

A topic I often mention is the falling standard of living in America and how it is hitting the middle class especially hard.  Backwoods Jack keeps reminding me that the highways are jam packed during rush hour and the restaurants are full.  Things appear “normal,” but are they really?

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mises.org /  by Frank Shostak / May 18, 2012

On Friday, May 1, 2012, JPMorgan Chase said it suffered a $2 billion trading loss. Some commentators have suggested that the huge loss emanates from so-called proprietary trading or placing risky bets using the bank’s money. The loss raised the credibility of the Volcker rule, which restricts banks from trading their own money. Despite JPMorgan Chase’s large loss, the opponents of the Volcker rule are of the view that the rule, if it is introduced, will only destabilize the financial markets and make things much worse. Hence they would like to allow market forces to do their job.

Do Fewer Banking Controls Always Equate with a Free Market?

The proponents for less control in the banking industry hold that fewer restrictions imply a better use of scarce resources, which leads to the generation of more real wealth.

It is true that a free banking environment is an agent of wealth promotion through the efficient use of scarce real resources, while controlled banking stifles the process of real wealth formation. However, it is overlooked by the opponents of the Volcker rule that the present banking system has nothing to do with free banking and thus a free market.

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munknee.com / by the editor / May 28, 2012

Lorimer Wilson, editor of www.munKNEE.com (Your Key to Making Money!), has edited the article below for length and clarity – see Editor’s Note at the bottom of the page. This paragraph must be included in any article re-posting to avoid copyright infringement.

Once every year gold and stocks form a major yearly cycle low while other commodities form a major cycle bottom every 2 1/2 to 3 years. Occasionally all three of these major cycles hit at the same time….That’s what’s happening right now and it should lead to a powerful rally over the next 2 years, culminating in 2014 when the dollar forms its next 3 year cycle low.

So says Toby Connor (www.goldscents.blogspot.ca) in edited excerpts from his original article*.

Connor goes on to say, in part:

The CRB Index and US Dollar Index 

The implications are that once the CRB has completed this major cycle bottom we should see generally higher prices over the next year and a half to two years, presumably topping during a major currency crisis as the dollar drops into its next three year cycle low in the fall of 2014.

Gold

I think the recent rally in gold is signaling that gold has put in its yearly cycle bottom. Since gold did not break below the December low of $1523 I think we can assume that this is a B-wave bottom and should be followed by the consolidation phase of a new C-wave that should break out to new highs either later in the fall or next spring. [Read:

• Goldrunner: Fractal Gold Analysis Says Gold On Way to $3,500 Mid-year!
• Leeb: Gold Going to $3,000 Before the End of 2012!
• David Nichols: Expect to See $2,750 – $3,000 Gold By June 2013 – Here’s Why]

The next two years should generate an even more impressive advance than the 2009-2011 rally, possibly even generating the bubble phase of the bull market in late 2014 or early 2015 as the dollar crisis reaches a crescendo. [Connor is not alone in his assessment that the peak will be in that timeframe.

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goldseek.com / May 18, 2012

Old news it is to most readers, that a Cartel (Note 1) of Mega-Bankers and Allies has for years, and is, engaged in Ongoing Price Suppression of Gold and Silver and their Miners’ shares.

Increasingly wide acknowledgement of Gold and Silver as the Ultimate Stores and Measures of Value (i.e. Real Money) would further devalue their Paper Treasury Securities and Fiat Currencies, and diminish their immense power. Thus their ongoing Price Suppression intensifies.

Indeed, it is no surprise to us that The Cartel has successfully (thus far) waged a battle against pro-Gold and Silver Sentiment since last September, 2011, and especially since the end of February, 2012. And they have been helped recently by Fears of Economic Deflation arising from of the Eurozone Crises.

Specifically, Greece moves ever nearer to Default and Spain and Italy are too Big to Bail, but both the latter are at increasing Risk of Economic Meltdown, as reflected in their 10yr Treasury Securities Yields moving back up over the Toxic 6% level.

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jessescrossroadscafe.blogspot.com / May 18, 2012

“Something has to be done because it’s totally out of control these days. I mean you can’t have bank runs like we’re seeing. The one thing the powers that be, the central banks and the governments, have tried to do is to avoid what I call a ‘Liquidation Event.’

Ever since we saw what happened when Lehman was liquidated, they realized we can’t go there. Fannie was taken over as well as AIG and GM to prevent this liquidity event. But I think the market is just liquidating, irrespective of whether the powers that be want it or not.

I just think that process is picking up into a tsunami and the world will start focusing back again on precious metals.”

Eric Sprott, interview at King World News

I tend to agree with Eric.   If the markets see Greece slip out of the Euro and fold its debts up and toss them away, the consequences for the banks and debt in some of the other Euro countries are going to be enormous.

They are deathly afraid of uncontrolled runs on the banks.   And even more so, they are concerned of contagion to US and UK banks, and a run on the currencies. At the end of the day, when the fundamentals are shot to hell, its all down to running a confidence game.

That is why I think that they will fight the inclusion of gold and silver in the world currency systems tooth and nail.  Once you open the door to alternatives, you erode the span of your control.  And that is fatal to an overextended control fraud, which is what the paper financial markets look like today.

And that is why the price of gold and silver have to be controlled.  They have an objective, but they need to avoid panics and sudden uncontrolled movements from the chose path to reach it.

The key word is ‘orderly.’

Make no mistake and have no illusions.  For all their bravado, I think these guys are scared shitless.  You can have faith in your free market gurus I’m sure. Faith that they will drop you a postcard of gratitude and encouragement from Paraguay and Switzerland, Abu Dhabi and Singapore.

And when they inevitably lose control it could go quite a few ways, but no matter which way it goes, it is likely to be memorable.

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sovereign-investor.com / Jeff Opdyke / May 18, 2012

If Barack Obama wins the presidential election in November, there’s a mighty cash-grab coming, Of course, if Mitt Romney wins there’s likely a mighty cash-grab coming, too.

America’s checkbook is so out of balance with debt that no matter who ends up in the White House, lawmakers have only three honest choices … cut spending, increase economic growth or raise taxes.

Cutting spending – actually reducing the size of the budget from one year to the next – hasn’t happened in the last 40 years in this country. Plus, we’re a people now accustomed to living on the dole, so I don’t see true spending cuts as realistic. Increasing economic growth to such a degree that we grow ourselves out of our debt crisis seems impossible, as well, since we’re already the biggest economy in the world.

So that means the government will be ransacking the sofa cushions looking for as much extra change as it can find. And that clearly means tax hikes, fee hikes and just about any other hike you can imagine.

To me, one of the best ways to hedge against Washington’s coming cash-grab is to invest in foreign real estate. It’s the solid way to move your wealth out of paper and into something tangible that the government can’t touch.

Why I am a Fan of Buying Overseas

I’m writing to you today from the clubhouse at Rancho Santana on the Pacific coast of Nicaragua, down near the Costa Rican border. I’m looking at the real estate opportunities that have emerged here in the last five to 10 years, as well as soaking up the enhanced quality of life.

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http://usawatchdog.com – There are two sets of meeting over the next four days that are likely to make big news. One is at Camp David with the G8 and one in Chicago with NATO. Forget the protests, that is just noise and distraction. There are three big problems that will be talked about at these meetings. Syria is in the middle of a revolution, and Russia has warned the West to stay out. Nothing is settled there, and the cease fire was short lived. Any NATO action, such as what happened in Libya, could spark World War III. The European debt crisis is getting worse, not better. Spanish banks are in trouble, more than two dozen Italian banks have been downgraded and the Greeks took nearly a billion dollars (700 million euros) out of the banks there. Germany is under Pressure to come to the rescue, but Angela Merkel is in trouble from all the bailouts. The fear is if Greece leaves the EU, then other countries will follow, and the banks could all take big losses. The other big topic for discussion will be the Iranian nuclear program and the big meeting in Iraq next week. The last meeting in April with the U.S., Germany, France, Britain, China and Russia ended with nothing more than an agreement for the meeting next week. Israel is not happy and, basically, said Iran was free to enrich uranium. Iran has repeatedly said its nuclear program is for the peaceful production of energy

 marketwatch.com / by Virginia Harrison and Claudia Assis / May 18, 2012

Metal ekes out 0.5% gain in week

Gold for June delivery GCM2 +1.07%  rose $17, or 1.1%, to $1,591.90 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.

On the week, the metal gained 0.5%.

“The move up is largely a bounce back from the steep declines we had been seeing in the last two weeks,” said Rohit Savant, an analyst with CPM Group in New York.

Gold prices will likely face some resistance if they try to go beyond $1,630 an ounce, he added. Prices have largely moved lower since the beginning of the month, Savant said.

So far in May, gold has lost 4.3%.

Gold jumped 2.5% in Thursday’s North American session, finding some support around $1,550 an ounce in a reversal from heavy selling seen earlier this week. Read more on Thursday’s relief rally.

Investors remained skittish about investments considered riskier such as commodity and equity markets, as fears of a run on banks moved to Spain and hurt confidence worldwide.

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SOUTHEAST TEXAS — We happened to grow up at a time that fell between wars, just barely missing the Vietnam conflict by a couple years.  However, close friends were not so time-lucky, and a compadre of ours was involved in the South Vietnamese jungles in horrific battles with the enemy they collectively called “Charlie.”  Although the stories have now mostly faded; stories listened to in awe as a young, full-of-spit-and vinegar pup who worshipped a sure-enough war hero might, a few mental images will never fade completely.  The one we recall today is an example – inspired, believe it or not, by the action in the AMEX Gold Bugs Index or HUI.

The returning hero, our older friend, told of a midnight surprise firefight with a seemingly overwhelming throng of attacking North Vietnamese army regulars surrounding and isolating the good guys on some God forsaken hill. Charlie had the advantage of complete surprise and superior numbers.

A few hundred U.S. army and marines were in a tight spot.  The marines had the high ground, their only advantage, but, as our warrior said modestly, “It was about 300 (U.S.) marines and army against maybe 2,500 VC (Viet Cong) so we figured it was about even. To tell the truth today, it could have gone either way.”

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goldstockbull.com / by Jason Hamlin / March 16th, 2012

I have received several emails this week asking my thoughts on the current price action in precious metals. Some subscribers are asking how low gold and silver might go in the short term and my honest response is “I have no idea.” Anyone that claims they can predict the short-term price movements in a market as manipulated as this one is blowing hot air. The banks can utilize leveraged paper contracts to take gold down to $1,200 and silver to $20 if they want to, in the short term.

However, they absolutely can not keep prices this low for very long, as free market forces will bring things back into equilibrium. In fact, recent take down attempts have been met rather quickly with buying from strong hands, much of it likely coming from China. While I still believe that the manipulators can create rather substantial take downs that scare weak hands out of their positions in the short term, they are becoming less effective and more impotent each day. This has been obvious in the charting, where buyers are stepping up to take advantage of these paper-driven artificial sell offs. I view this manipulation of paper prices as insignificant. Whether gold falls to $1,200 or only drops to $1,600 and bounces, I have no doubt it will continue to preserve wealth and continue to increase the purchasing power of those holding it over time.

I believe it is important not to give into emotions during corrections such as these. If you have been staring at your computer screen and stressing the price action this week, you are doing yourself a great disservice. I would suggest that your focus should be mustering the strength to stick with your convictions, ignore the noise and keep your eye on the longer-term picture. I see nothing wrong with hedging via put options or inverse ETFs, but I’ve found it easier and more effective to simply hold onto core positions and buy the dips.

I am convinced that gold and silver will eclipse their previous inflation-adjusted highs before this bull market is over. This means that gold will climb above $2,400 and silver above $150 at an absolute minimum. If we use more realistic inflation numbers such as those calculated by John Williams of Shadow Stats, the true inflation-adjusted highs are more than triple the prices listed above. Whether gold climbs to $8,890 and silver to $517 remains to be seen, but I believe we are likely to see the lower price targets listed above within the next 12 to 18 months.

If you agree with this assessment of the situation, then there is no reason to be concerned when silver falls by 5% or 10% in a week. When silver is trading anywhere from $150 to $517 per ounce, will it matter much if you bought at $30 or $35? Will the temporary decline that we are currently experiencing have any meaning at all?

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reuters.com / By Josephine Mason and Jan Harvey / May 18, 2012

Gold rose more than 1 percent on Friday, on track for its largest two-day gain since October, boosted by investors’ consolidation of positions ahead of the weekend and a stronger euro.

The second day of gains helped bolster confidence, which had been shaken by gold’s fall earlier this week to a four-month low at $1,527 an ounce, near critical long-term support levels.

But traders remained cautious given how the escalating crisis in Europe has driven the single currency lower this month.

“There is still no conviction in the market. If gold was a safe haven, it should be higher. Physical demand is mediocre and the Europeans want the dollar, which is why it is so strong,” a physical U.S. gold trader said.

The psychologically important $1,600-per-ounce mark remained elusive.

It got close, hitting an intraday high of $1,597.4 an ounce in late morning, before meeting technical resistance and easing back to around $1,590.

Spot gold was up 1 percent at $1,588.96 an ounce at 2:06 p.m. EDT, while U.S. gold futures for June delivery settled 1.08 percent higher at $1,591.9.

That takes gold up 0.6 percent on the week, snapping two weeks of losses, and brings it back to positive territory year-to-date, with a 1.5-percent rise.

While it was a far cry from the 14-percent gain in February when prices came close to $1,800 an ounce, bullion outpaced the U.S. equity market after Facebook’s much-anticipated debut stumbled after a delayed opening.

Trading on Friday returned to familiar trends, tracking the euro, which recovered from four-month lows against the dollar, though concerns over a Greek euro exit and instability in the Spanish banking system weakened confidence.

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oinweek.com / by  Louis Golino / May 16, 2012

The 1870-S $3.00 gold coin is one of the great rarities of American numismatics. It is/was until recently believed that only one such coin existed and that it was struck to be placed in the cornerstone of the U.S. Mint building in San Francisco.

But according to a report by Fox News online , an auction company in Alpharetta, Georgia has another specimen of the coin which was apparently discovered embedded in a souvenir book at a bookstore in San Francisco (see image below). It is to be auctioned off on June 2.

Steve White, who is the owner of the Four Seasons Auction Co., says that the coin is one of two or three specimens of this rare gold coin. He estimates that it will sell for up to $4 million.

He also invited interested parties to see the coin in person and according to the Fox story, “bring an independent expert to authenticate the piece.”

The coin has not been graded or authenticated by any of the recognized Third Party Grading services such as PCGS, NGC or ANACS, which is highly unusual for such a rare coin, especially one which is believed to be either unique or one of only two or three such coins.

Editors Note: We have had multiple numismatic experts contact CoinWeek expressing their opinion that while the story is interesting, they do not believe the coin is authentic. Potential bidders would be well advised to seek the guidance of a US Gold expert to examine the coin.

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commodityonline.com / May 18, 2012

Silver has been called the most volatile of metals. But volatility produces opportunity, according to Chris Thompson, a top-ranked StarMine analyst with Haywood Securities. In this exclusive interview, Thompson forecasts a strong year-end for the silver, despite price weakness so far in Q2/12, and shares the names of a select group of companies that stand to profit.

The Gold Report:Chris, Haywood Securities’ estimated silver price for 2012 is $36/ounce (oz), but the “devil’s metal” has averaged less so far in 2012, closing above $36/oz only once. Are you expecting a significantly stronger second half for silver?

Chris Thompson: Silver performed relatively well in Q1/12. We hope that the silver price will find support at current levels of ~$28/oz through Q2/12 and Q3/12, with potential for a strong Q4/12.

Looking at the silver price right now, I see that it’s struggling to hold its head above $28/oz. If we do see a significant breakdown from $28/oz, it may somewhat compromise our forecast for this year averaging $36/oz.

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In my previous article I pointed out how important it is to follow the capacity utilization rate to estimate the prices of gold and silver going forward. When the capacity utilization rate plummeted in 2008, we knew for sure that commodities would plunge with it. So what happened recently?

The capacity utilization rate for total industry for April 2012 came out at 79.2%, up from 78.4% the previous month (Chart 1). This number is the highest since July 2008, and bodes well for commodity prices, especially gold and silver (which had a very significant correction in the last months). Both mining, utilities and manufacturing came out higher in capacity utilization than the previous month. There was a concern the previous month that capacity utilization would come down in April, but it didn’t. So gold (GLD) and silver (SLV) prices should find support in the coming months.

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Ron Hera delivers a stinging rebuke to the economic boosters who claim the recovery is well under way and there’s no need to worry about anything and the last thing you need is gold and silver. When educational loans are factored out, food stamp recipients are up, and debt is actually down. In the past decade, the Dow hasn’t had any growth, and when you factor in taxes and inflation, it has actually gone down. Of course gold and silver are the best protection for wealth and these commodities always have been. With the fear of inflation always present, resource based investing is probably a wise move. It provides leverage and the potential to provide a hedge against rising prices. Many of the companies that Ron has recommended in the past have worked out extremely well.

commodityonline.com / May 18, 2012

NEW YORK (Commodity Online): Since the end of March, gold’s correlation to the euro against the dollar has risen to a multi-year high of nearly 70%, said Deutsche Bank, the largest bank in Germany, in a weekly commodities report.

According to the German bank, until the latter part of this week, gold had fallen with the single European currency. As a result, increasing speculation of a Greek exit from European Monetary Union and the short-term implications for the euro means downside risks for gold.

Analyst with Deutsche Bank stated that, “Perversely, we would see an actual Greek exit as ultimately bullish the euro so long as the ECB (European Central Bank) can succeed in limiting contagion to other euro area countries. In any event, we would expect the recent uptick in gold implied volatility will continue in the run-up to Greek election on June 17th.”

The weakness in the U.S. economy would be another potential catalyst to boost gold due to the possibility of additional Federal Reserve action to stimulate growth, Deutsche Bank concluded.

Deutsche Bank has a large presence in Europe, the Americas, Asia-Pacific and the emerging markets.

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How much interest would you want back if you lent to huge amounts of money to someone on an unsecured basis, and if that person had unaudited accounts and a history of playing dirty when the chips are down?

That’s the question being asked by Societe Generale strategist Dylan Grice in relation to the bond market, who warned that the artificially low cost of borrowing for some governments will come back to bite them.

“Maybe I’m missing something, but 150 basis points sounds on the low side to me,” Grice said, drawing a comparison to what he sees as the artificially low yields on some governments’ bonds.

In a research note this week, Grice made the point that if you applied the same rules to governments as you did people, then the cost of borrowing for many governments would be far higher than it currently is.

Grice questioned why the rules of economics do not seem to apply to governments. The nasty truth, his note explained, is that those governments — and their electorates — don’t want them to.

“Our demands are infinite, but the resources we have at our disposal to satisfy them are finite. And the thing is, scarcity is annoying. We don’t like not having. Bumping up against our budget constraint is no fun. It means we have to do something unpleasant like work harder, sell something we own, or go without. Riots in Greece, protests in Madrid, governors recalled in Wisconsin, governments toppled in Rome, Paris, and now Amsterdam … it all attests to the pain of a head-on collision with reality,” he said.

One relatively easy way to avoid that reality, Grice said, is to misrepresent your financial health, and he sees some major sovereign lenders doing just that.

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news.goldseek.com /  May 18, 2012

“When the Federal Reserve took its first steps down the road of debt monetization with the first quantitative easing program (QE1), we knew there were going to be more. QE2 followed QE1. QE lite – the Fed promised to keep interest rates low until the end of 2014 – followed QE2. And QE3 is on the way…

“It’s going to happen – as surely as we’ll see QE4, QE5, and on and on and on.

“That’s the problem with reckless money printing. It’s like jumping into a swimming pool. You can’t ever ‘un-jump.’

“So now it’s just a question of timing the announcement for maximum impact….”

“Traders Prepare for More Money Printing”, Jeff Clark,

The Growth Stock Wire, 05/15/2012

Old news it is to most readers, that a Cartel (Note 1) of Mega-Bankers and Allies has for years, and is, engaged in Ongoing Price Suppression of Gold and Silver and their Miners’ shares.

Increasingly wide acknowledgement of Gold and Silver as the Ultimate Stores and Measures of Value (i.e. Real Money) would further devalue their Paper Treasury Securities and Fiat Currencies, and diminish their immense power. Thus their ongoing Price Suppression intensifies.

Indeed, it is no surprise to us that The Cartel has successfully (thus far) waged a battle against pro-Gold and Silver Sentiment since last September, 2011, and especially since the end of February, 2012. And they have been helped recently by Fears of Economic Deflation arising from of the Eurozone Crises.

Specifically, Greece moves ever nearer to Default and Spain and Italy are too Big to Bail, but both the latter are at increasing Risk of Economic Meltdown, as reflected in their 10yr Treasury Securities Yields moving back up over the Toxic 6% level.

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Danielle and I finally met face to face at the Hard Assets investment conference in New York City. One of the great things about FSN is the ability to meet people and make new friends around the world. I’ve been interviewing her and having economic discussions for many months. So holding an interview live was a lot of fun. We talked a lot about the recent precious metals correction. Personally, I believe it’s temporary and defies all reason. The Elites are no doubt behind it, this is their last ditch effort to somehow salvage the world economic system that has served them so well, for so long.

Danielle however, makes a number of valid points about investor discipline. She says we all need rules to guide us when making important decisions. Danielle’s approach is very compelling because once you’ve got a buying and selling plan mapped out, you’re in a position to control your emotions and you won’t make rash decisions at the most inopportune times.

theaureport.com / by Brian Sylvester / May 16, 2012

Silver has been called the most volatile of metals. But volatility produces opportunity, according to Chris Thompson, a top-ranked StarMine analyst with Haywood Securities. In this exclusive interview with The Gold Report, Thompson forecasts a strong year-end for the devil’s metal, despite price weakness so far in Q2/12, and shares the names of a select group of companies that stand to profit.

The Gold Report: Chris, Haywood Securities’ estimated silver price for 2012 is $36/ounce (oz), but the “devil’s metal” has averaged less so far in 2012, closing above $36/oz only once. Are you expecting a significantly stronger second half for silver?

Chris Thompson: Silver performed relatively well in Q1/12. We hope that the silver price will find support at current levels of ~$28/oz through Q2/12 and Q3/12, with potential for a strong Q4/12.

Looking at the silver price right now, I see that it’s struggling to hold its head above $28/oz. If we do see a significant breakdown from $28/oz, it may somewhat compromise our forecast for this year averaging $36/oz.

TGR: Do you think investors shy away from the silver space given its overall size and susceptibility to manipulation?

CT: Silver is often referred to as the most volatile of all precious metals. In that sense, it’s not for the faint-hearted investor. However, with volatility comes opportunity as long as timing is right. The benefit that silver provides is that it finds value as a store of wealth, as well as an ingredient used in industrial applications, so it offers investors a dual benefit where silver fundamentals benefit from economic growth as well as economic uncertainty.

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24hgold.com / by Adrian Ash / May 18, 2012

Benchmark prices to buy gold for London settlement rallied more than $10 an ounce off new five-month lows beneath $1,528 on Wednesday morning, bouncing as the euro, world stock markets and commodity prices also paused this month’s sharp liquidation.

Spanish and Italian bond yields also eased back but remain over 6% after Spain’s prime minister Mariano Rajoy told the parliament in Madrid there is “a serious risk that the markets won’t lend to us or lend only at astronomical prices.”

Over in Greece – where the daily “bank run” of withdrawn euro deposits is now totaling some €700m per day – president Karolos Papoulias meantime appointed a judge to act as interim prime minister and set the date for an election re-run as June 17.

“[Gold] selling continued in Asia today across all exchanges,” says Swiss refinery and finance group MKS in a note.

“Market participants have given up waiting for a bounce,” says a Singapore dealer. “The market will do what it needs to do to clean out the weakly margined before it becomes healthy once again.”

Hedge-fund legend George Soros opted to buy gold in the first quarter of 2012, reversing previous sales according to new data from March 31 released yesterday and showing his fund more than trebling its position in the $60 billion New York-listed SPDR gold ETF.

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bullionstreet.com / May 18, 2012

According to country’s Geological Survey of India (GSI), a total of 19.8 million tons of Platinum Group of Elements (PGE) ore were found in the exploration conducted by it for the last five years.

NEW DELHI(BullionStreet): India announced major discovery of Platinum Group of Elements (PGE) spread across the country.

According to country’s Geological Survey of India (GSI), a total of 19.8 million tons of Platinum Group of Elements (PGE) ore were found in the exploration conducted by it for the last five years.

Major findings were reported from the Eastern State of Odisha and Southern States of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

GSI has carried out investigation for PGE in the states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Meghalaya, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur and Nagaland, said India’s Mines Minister Dinsha Patel in a written reply to country’s lower house of Parliament.

The exploration carried out so far by GSI has resulted in identification of the following four major PGE prospects in the country:

GSI has taken steps to find out more quantity of PGE in other parts of the country which includes to undertake state of art baseline data (ii) to explore minerals having poor resource cum reserve base like PGE in locales of favourable geological milieu (iii) to augment existing resource position with special emphasis on deficient and scarce minerals like PGE through continuous integrated multi-disciplinary exploration (iv) to delineate new target areas through syntheses of multi-disciplinary earth science data in vast tract of areas, for which potential is yet to be established.

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• Germany, France, and Greece are three European nations that have had elections recently. Not all of these elections were for top posts, yet they all point to the same conclusion; austerity is being voted down.

• The most recent vote was in Germany. A self-described “social, liberal, and progressive” group won the election. They will likely be harsh critics of the sitting government’s austerity programs. If a government’s “solution” is not austerity it is usually money printing. Governments use money printing to renege on their obligations.

• The dollar is benefiting from the euro debt crisis. In the short term, the temporary strength in the dollar could continue, although yesterday Ms. Merkel strongly implied that she is willing to support printing money for Greece.

• The falling stock market could help the dollar temporarily, but a great currency does well when the nation’s other assets do well. Our dollar only rises now if other assets are sold in a panic. Is that a great currency? Gold is the strongest currency in the world and it’s the only one that is debt-free.

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24hgold.com / by Tim Iacono / May 18, 2012

Yesterday, the Federal Reserve took another baby step toward safe and sane monetary policy by raising the overnight bank lending rate from 3.5 percent to 3.75 percent. The policy statement acknowledged the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina, but indicated that accommodation would continue to be removed at a “measured” pace.

While noting that core inflation has been low, that underlying inflation is expected to be contained, and that longer-term inflation expectations remain contained, they acknowledged that higher energy prices have inflationary potential.

Whew!

That’s a lot of talk about inflation – for a moment there it looked like they were going to tell us that we actually had some.

Gold as Kryptonite

It is not often that we tune into CNBC – it is best taken in small doses, abstinence is ideal. Yesterday, we did happen to catch a portion of Ron Insana’s panel discussion after the Fed policy announcement. Former Fed vice chairman and devoted Greenspan worshipper Alan Blinder was one of the guests.

A chart of the historical relationship between real oil and real gold prices was shown. The chart clearly showed the decades long correlation between these two commodities and indicated in a not-so-subtle way that gold would be closer to $1000 than $500 if this relationship had not broken down over the last few years. Barry Ritholtz over at The Big Picture had this chart up the other day – apparently Ron showed this chart last Friday as well.

Hmmm… Perhaps Ron owns some of the yellow metal. Or, maybe he’s just curious.

After a few words about commodities and inflation, Insana asked Blinder a long and tortured question about the Federal Reserve and gold. Here is the discussion that followed:

Blinder: So, I’m not sure what the question was. Are you asking should the Fed be talking about the price of gold?

Insana: Should it be looking at the price of gold as an inflation indicator. Yeah.

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silverseek.com / By Hubert Moolman / May 18, 2012

The silver chart is currently showing some promising signs.

Below, is a 6-year chart of silver (generated at fxstreet.com):

On the chart, I have indicated two similar patterns (marked 1 to 5).This comparison suggests that silver could rise significantly over the next couple of months. This would mean that a dramatic turnaround in the price of silver is coming (it might have started already).

I have also drawn some red lines at the $10, $20, $30, and $50 level. These levels appear to have acted like key levels, where the price of silver has found support or resistance.

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When you think about it, it’s easy to understand why financial markets and media have been so fixated on the Facebook IPO.

The creation of so many billionaires and millionaires overnight is certainly cause for good cheer, and given the debacle in Europe coupled with America’s looming ‘fiscal cliff’, Facebook may be the ONLY bit of good news in the entire financial system.

But a $100 billion valuation…? 100+ times earnings? This certainly seems excessive, at least for now.

What we’re supposed to believe about Facebook is that the company is going to continue to revolutionize advertising in the way that it stratifies users by demographic, geography, interests, etc.

True, this is really beneficial for advertisers; if you’re a company that manufactures surfboards, for example, you can target your ads to men between the ages of 20 and 30 who live in coastal California and “like” surfing or Laird Hamilton.

This is much more effective than some radio ad or billboard which is seen by the general public, 90% of which will not be the target market.

But there are a few issues with Facebook’s model-

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dollarvigilante.com / Thursday, May 17, 2012 at 1:29 PM

We wrote about Facebook co-founder, Eduardo Saverin, defecting from the US last week (“The Great Defection From The West“).  Apparently we weren’t the only ones to notice.

Today, Lyin’ Chuck Schumer held a news conference to unveil the “Ex-PATRIOT” – “Expatriation Prevention by Abolishing Tax-Related Incentives for Offshore Tenancy” – Act to respond directly to Saverin’s move, which they dub a “scheme” that would “help him duck up to $67 million in taxes.”

Parasites don’t like it when their host can leave so quickly and easily. Schumer plans to use violence to re-impose taxes on expatriates like Saverin even after they flee the United States and take up residence in a foreign country. Their proposal would also impose a mandatory 30 percent tax on the capital gains of anybody who renounces their U.S. citizenship.  And, perhaps most importantly, the plan would bar individuals like Saverin from ever reentering the United States again.

TDV Correspondent, Menno Troyer contacted us today to state the following:

“Somehow, as an involuntary citizen of the US, this proposed legislation frightens me more than all of the US’s previous, rapidly escalating police state moves combined.”

We agree.  This bill, if passed, would take the state of affairs between the US Government and the people they deem to own to an entirely new level.  To say the least, Schumer’s financial terrorist attacks today show the US Government for what it really is… and shows US citizens as the tax slaves that they are.

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Friday, May 18, 2012

silverseek.com / By Julian D. W. Phillips / May 18, 2012

New York bounced back to $1,573.70 and Asia continued to take it higher, with London running it up to Fix at $1,588.00. The euro was weaker at €1: $12693, where it was when the morning Fixing took place. In the euro it Fixed at €1,251.083 €34. Ahead of New York’s opening gold looked stronger at $1,591.23 and in the euro, which also continued to slip, €1,253.43 while the euro was at €1: $1.2695.

Silver Today – Silver closed at $28.02 in New York and rose in London opened at $28.41. Ahead of New York’s opening it stood at $28.49.

Silver (very short-term)

Silver should have a stronger bias, today in New York today.

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gata.org / By cpowell / May 18, 2012

The unit at the centre of JPMorgan Chase’s $2 billion trading loss has built up positions totalling more than $100 billion in asset-backed securities and structured products — the complex, risky bonds at the centre of the financial crisis in 2008.

These holdings are in addition to those in credit derivatives that led to the losses and have mired the bank in regulatory investigations and criticism.

The unit, the chief investment office (CIO), has been the biggest buyer of European mortgage-backed bonds and other complex debt securities such as collateralised loan obligations in all markets for three years, more than a dozen senior traders and credit experts have told the Financial Times.

The bank has said its derivative activities were intended primarily to help balance risks on its overall balance sheet, but the revelation that it has built up other large, risky positions is likely to raise further questions about the CIO’s remit.

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goldcore.com / May 18, 2012

Gold’s London AM fix this morning was USD 1,588.00, EUR 1,251.08, and GBP 1,005.13 per ounce. Yesterday’s AM fix was USD 1,547.00, EUR 1,217.44and GBP 974.00 per ounce.

Silver is trading at $28.53/oz, €22.55/oz and £18.12/oz. Platinum is trading at $1,465.00/oz, palladium at $603.80/oz and rhodium at $1,300/oz.

Gold climbed $34.30 or 2.23% in New York yesterday and closed at $1,573.70/oz. Gold began trading sideways in Asia then climbed over 12 points reaching a high of $1,589.31. Gold edged off a bit in Europe and is now trading near the $1,587/oz level at 1055GMT.

Gold rose for its 2nd day on concerns that Europe’s debt crisis is growing and the yellow metal is once again seeing increased demand as a safe haven asset.

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