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Why is There a Shortage of Toilet Paper in Venezuela?
Juan Carlos Hidalgo
Forget about price controls. The Venezuelan government finally figured it out. The country is facing an acute shortage of toilet paper because people are eating too much. The head of the National Institute of Statistics released a survey yesterday that shows that Venezuelans “are eating three times a day or even more.” Thus the shortage.
However, Venezuelans don’t have to worry any more about eating in excess. Their National Assembly just approved the importation of 39 million rolls of toilet paper.
The beauties of Socialism.
View full post on Cato @ Liberty
Gold and Silver • Emancipation Of Physical Gold From Paper Gold Is At Hand
Emancipation Of Physical Gold From Paper Gold Is At Hand.
http://www.jsmineset.com/2013/05/08/ema … s-at-hand/
Posted May 8th, 2013 by Jim Sinclair & filed under General Editorial.
My Dear Extended Family,
The emancipation of physical gold from paper gold is at hand.
What the gold Banks have done is so stupid that it might not be stupid. The hammer of the gold banks in showing us all that they are the boss they have executed themselves in the form of waking the sleeping elephant of physical gold demand by holding a special sale on the metal.
The School of Free Gold is on the doorstep of their long sought end game. Free gold has various applications of their thesis but if you do not let applications detract from the main thesis of the emancipation of physical gold from fraudulent paper gold, they are right. Actually more correct than any other approach. Even they do not see their predictions have come true today as what above ground gold not already hoarded is heading for hoarding.
Cyprus was the key that opened the door to the end.
Hold your gold. You are approaching an event that is going to blow you away. Gold is going way over the modest price of $3500 and paper gold will be emasculated in that it no longer will be a factor in price discovery.
The knuckle draggers at the COMEX who are the gold banks have more than shot themselves in the foot with their gold sale. They have taken a direct hit in the head.
Sincerely,
Jim
Jim,
Today physical gold continues to leave London with 6.32 tonnes of gold departing the GLD for the shores of China, India and Russia. The game ends when the last physical ounce held at the GLD departs.
CIGA David Madisonstyle
Dear David,
The Emancipation of gold will not wait for the last ounce to go. In the Hunt situation the Comex panicked when they bought their own floor rumor that the Hunts were going to take delivery. They did not plan at all to take delivery but rolled positions to future months constantly. A few days later than first notice day and the Comex management, the gold banks, panicked.
It will happen the same way it did in March of 1980, but this time emancipated physical gold from the fraudulent paper gold will seek prices higher in the cash market for gold than any seasoned gold analyst is willing to say. The cash market is the OTC market for spot gold that will be as easy to access as Comex prices are now.
We have passed the end in this gold game leaving only the execution of paper gold to come at the hands of the paper gold traders themselves.
Jim
Jim’s Mailbox
Posted May 8th, 2013 by Jim Sinclair & filed under Jim’s Mailbox.
Jim,
Here is a great quote from a friend of mine.
CIGA David A.
"Curiously, many people argue this would be a good time to abandon gold. We don’t think so – we rather think that faith in central banks will eventually crumble, and then it will be well and truly ‘game over’ for these perpetual bubble machines. As a friend of ours frequently remarks: at that point the question of how to price gold will be akin to asking what the last functioning parachute on an airplane that is going down should be worth."
Dear David,
Unconsciously what your friend is tuned into is "Free Gold," the emancipation of physical gold from the paper gold fraud, a natural event now in progress.
Jim
Statistics: Posted by DIGGER DAN — Thu May 09, 2013 1:25 pm
View full post on opinions.caduceusx.com
Gold and Silver • Are We On The Verge Of Witnessing The Death Of The Paper Go
Are We On The Verge Of Witnessing The Death Of The Paper Gold Scam?
By Michael, on May 8th, 2013
The legal claims on physical gold far exceed the amount of physical gold that the banks actually have by a very, very wide margin. And right now the bankers are scared out of their wits because their warehouses are being drained of physical gold at a frightening rate. So what happens when their physical gold is gone but they still have lots and lots of people with legal claims to gold? When that moment arrives, it will represent the end of the paper gold scam. Many believe that the recent takedown of the price of paper gold was a desperate attempt by the bankers to put off that day of reckoning, but it appears to have greatly backfired on them. Instead of cooling off demand for precious metals, it has unleashed a massive "gold rush" all over the globe. Meanwhile, word has been spreading among wealthy families in both North America and Europe that they had better grab their physical gold out of the banks while they still can. This is creating havoc in the financial community, and at least one major international bank has already declared that it will only be settling those accounts in cash from now on. The paper gold scam is starting to unravel, and by the time this is all over it is going to be a complete and total nightmare for global financial markets.
For years it has been widely known that the promises that banks have made regarding their gold far exceed their actual ability to deliver, but we have never reached a moment of such crisis before.
Posted below are quotes from people that know precious metals far better than I do. What these experts are saying is more than a little bit disturbing…
-CME President Terry Duffy: What’s interesting about gold, when we had that big break two weeks ago we saw all the gold stocks trade down significantly, we saw all the gold products trade down significantly, but one thing that did not trade down, was gold coins, tangible real gold. That’s going to show you, people don’t want certificates, they don’t want anything else. They want the real product.
-Billionaire Eric Sprott: So we see all of these paper (trading) volumes going through that bear absolutely no relationship to what’s going on in the physical markets. As you know I have always been a proponent of the fact that supply in the gold market was way less than demand, and by a very large factor. I think demand exceeds supply by at least 60%. The central banks are surreptitiously supplying that gold, and ultimately they will be running on fumes.
When we hear about the LBMA not willing to deliver gold, and JP Morgan’s inventories at the COMEX have gone from 2.4 million (ounces) down to 160,000 ounces, it just makes you realize that all of this paper trading means nothing. It’s the real physical market that you have to rely on.
-JS Kim: FACT #1: COMEX gold vaults were recently drained of 2 million ounces of physical gold in one quarter, the largest withdrawal of physical gold bullion from COMEX vaults in one quarter during this entire 12-year gold and silver bull. There has been speculation about the reasons that spurred these massive withdrawals of gold from COMEX vaults, but the most reasonable speculation is that no one trusts the bankers to hold on to their physical gold anymore, especially in light of Fact #2. Note below, that both registered AND eligible stocks of gold had heavily declined in recent months. Such an event signals a general distrust of the banking system from everyone holding gold in registered COMEX vaults.
FACT #2: One of the largest European banks, ABN Amro, defaulted on their gold contracts and informed their clients that they would only settle their gold bullion contracts in cash and not in physical. So much for the supposed legality of financial contracts as a "binding" contract. So whether Fact #1 caused Fact #2 or vice versa is irrelevant. What IS apparent is that the level of trust in bankers to safekeep physical gold and physical silver is disappearing, as it should be, and as it should have already been for years now. But truth always takes some time to catch up to banker spread lies and that is what is happening now. I have been warning people never to trust bankers in deals involving gold and silver for years now, as in this article I wrote nearly four years ago informing the public that the SLV and GLD are likely a banker invented scam as well.
FACT #3: Silver fraud whistleblower and London trader Andrew Maguire stated that the LBMA was having trouble settling gold contracts in bullion as well and stated that institutions that asked for physical settlement “were told they would be cash settled instead by a bullion bank.” In plain English, this is a default. So Andrew Maguire reported that the LBMA had already gone into default. In light of Fact #1 and Fact #2, the dominoes were starting to tumble and the house of cards that the bankers had built in gold and silver paper derivatives to deceive and hide the true fundamentals of the physical gold and physical markets from the entire world was rapidly starting to crumble. A financial earthquake of magnitude 2.5 was quickly threatening to evolve into one of the biggest financial earthquakes of all time in which the world’s confidence in all global fiat currencies would effectively have a well-deserved funeral.
-Jim Sinclair: I think the reality is the supply situation is extremely volatile at this point, and even discussing it is like rubbing a raw nerve to the people who are in charge. The amount of discussion on the subject of warehouse supply, supply that is represented by the gold leases, indicated to the central planners that the demand for physical was going to continue to effect the exchanges.
Although they did not expect any grandstand delivery, the mere continued draining of physical inventories was threatening the very functioning of the paper exchange. That threatening of the paper exchange and its ability to continue functioning is really taking off the blinders and revealing the truth behind the critical question, ‘Where is the gold?’
The question now is, ‘Where has the gold gone?’ Who has all of this gold? Because of the nature of gold leasing, all of this gold has been purchased and it has gone somewhere. The reality of the empty vaults reveal that the gold has gone missing.
-Ronald Stoeferle: We’re seeing this rush to physical gold not only in the retail market, but also for the institutional players…[it's] just overwhelming…I [estimate] a 130-to-1 [ratio of paper to physical gold]…and I think in the last week we were really close to [triggering] a default of the paper market.
-Gerhard Schubert, head of Precious Metals at Emirates NBD: I have not seen in my 35 years in precious metals such a determined and strong global physical demand for gold. The UAE physical markets have been cleared out by buyers from all walks of life. The premiums, which have been asked for and which have been paid have been the cornerstone of the gold price recovery. It is very rare that physical markets can have a serious impact on market prices, which are normally driven solely by derivatives and futures contracts…
I did speak during the week with several refineries in the world, of course including the UAE refineries, and the waiting period for 995 kilo bars is easily 2-3 weeks and goes into June in some cases. A large portion of the 995 kilo bars in the UAE goes normally into the Indian market, but a lot of the available 995 kilo bars are destined for Turkey, at this time. We heard that premiums paid in Turkey have reached anything between US $ 20 and US $ 35 per ounce.
-James Turk: Another indication of the demand for large bars is the huge drawdown in the gold stock in COMEX warehouses. It is noteworthy that COMEX reports show the drawdown is largely the result of dealers removing their inventory, their working stock. When that happens, you know the availability of supply is constrained.
What all of this means, Eric, is one thing. If the central planners want to keep the precious metals at these low prices, to meet the demand for physical metal they will need to empty more metal from central bank vaults, or borrow metal from the ETFs as some have suggested is happening. Otherwise, the central planners will have to step back and stop their intervention, thereby letting the price of gold and silver rise so that demand tapers off, bringing demand and supply of physical metal back toward some kind of balance.
We’ve seen this same situation several times over the last twelve years. It is what I have been calling a “managed retreat.” Despite the current weakness, I firmly believe we have again entered a critical period where the central planners will need to retreat once again in order to let the gold and silver prices climb higher.
-The Golden Truth: And then I get a call from a close friend in NYC last Friday. His career has been in private wealth management in the private bank department of the Too Big To Fail banks. He’s been looking for work and chats with old colleagues all the time. He called my Friday and told me he just got off the phone with a very high level private banker from a big Euro-based TBTF bullion bank, but who was at JP Morgan until about six months ago.
This guy told my friend that there is a scramble by many very wealthy European families/entities to get their 400 oz bars out of the big bank vaults. He knows this personally, for a fact. He said the private banker community is small over there and the big wealthy families all talk to each other and act on the same rumors/sentiment. The Bundesbank/Fed and the ABN/Amro situations triggered this move. He knows for a fact JPM tried to calm fears about 3 months ago by sending a letter to it’s very wealthy clients assuring them their bars were safe, in allocated accounts. He said right now those same families are walking into the big banks like JPM and demanding delivery of their bars or threatening to take their $100′s of millions in investment portfolios to competitors. His wording was "these people are putting a gun to the heads of private banks and demanding their gold."
I know this information is good because I know my friend’s background and when he tells me his source is plugged in, the guy is plugged in. Not only that, my friend’s source said that there’s no doubt that someone like a John Paulson, not necessarily specifically him, but entities like him or it may include him, have held a gun to GLD and demanded delivery of physical in exchange for their shares.
Regarding the Bundesbank/Fed situation, recall that the Bundesbank asked to have some portion of its gold sitting – supposedly – in the NY Fed vault in NYC sent back Germany. The total amount is 1800 tonnes. After behind the scenes negotiations, the Fed agreed to ship 300 tonnes back over seven years. To this day, the time required for that shipment has never been explained. Venezuela demanded the return of its 200 tonnes held in London, NYC and Switzerland and received it all within about four months.
And regarding the ABN/Amro situation. ABN/Amro offered a gold investment account product that offered physical delivery of the gold in the investment account when the investor cashes out. About a week before the gold price smash, ABN sent a letter to its clients informing that the physical delivery of the bullion was no longer available and that all accounts would be settled with cash at redemption.
I believe it was these two events that triggered the big scramble for physical gold by wealthy families/entities who were suspicious of the integrity of their bank vault custodial arrangement anyway.
*****
So what does all of this mean?
It means that we are entering a period when there will be unprecedented volatility for precious metals. There will be tremendous ups and downs as this crisis plays out and the bankers try to keep the paper gold scam from completely unraveling.
Meanwhile, nations such as China continue to stockpile gold as if the end of the world was coming.
According to Zero Hedge, Chinese gold imports set a brand new all-time record high in March…
Quite the contrary: as export data released by the Hong Kong Census and Statistics Department overnight showed, Chinese gold imports in March exploded to an all time record high of 223.5 tons.
And the number for April is expected to be even higher.
Does China know something that the rest of us do not?
We are also seeing a rapid decoupling between spot prices and physical prices. In fact, it is quickly getting to the point where the spot price of gold and the spot price of silver are becoming irrelevant.
For example, demand for silver coins has become so intense that some dealers are charging premiums of up to 30 percent over spot price for silver eagles.
That would have been regarded as insane a few years ago, but people are now willing to pay these kinds of premiums. People are recognizing the importance of actually having physical gold and silver in their possession and they are willing to pay a significant premium in order to get it.
We are moving into uncharted territory. The paper gold scam is rapidly coming to an end. In the long-term, this will greatly benefit those that are holding significant amounts of physical gold and silver.
http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/arch … -gold-scam
Statistics: Posted by yoda — Wed May 08, 2013 7:28 pm
View full post on opinions.caduceusx.com
Are We On The Verge Of Witnessing The Death Of The Paper Gold Scam?
The legal claims on physical gold far exceed the amount of physical gold that the banks actually have by a very, very wide margin. And right now the bankers are scared out of their wits because their warehouses are being drained of physical gold at a frightening rate. So what happens when their physical gold is gone but they still have lots and lots of people with legal claims to gold? When that moment arrives, it will represent the end of the paper gold scam. Many believe that the recent takedown of the price of paper gold was a desperate attempt by the bankers to put off that day of reckoning, but it appears to have greatly backfired on them. Instead of cooling off demand for precious metals, it has unleashed a massive “gold rush” all over the globe. Meanwhile, word has been spreading among wealthy families in both North America and Europe that they had better grab their physical gold out of the banks while they still can. This is creating havoc in the financial community, and at least one major international bank has already declared that it will only be settling those accounts in cash from now on. The paper gold scam is starting to unravel, and by the time this is all over it is going to be a complete and total nightmare for global financial markets.
For years it has been widely known that the promises that banks have made regarding their gold far exceed their actual ability to deliver, but we have never reached a moment of such crisis before.
Posted below are quotes from people that know precious metals far better than I do. What these experts are saying is more than a little bit disturbing…
-CME President Terry Duffy: What’s interesting about gold, when we had that big break two weeks ago we saw all the gold stocks trade down significantly, we saw all the gold products trade down significantly, but one thing that did not trade down, was gold coins, tangible real gold. That’s going to show you, people don’t want certificates, they don’t want anything else. They want the real product.
-Billionaire Eric Sprott: So we see all of these paper (trading) volumes going through that bear absolutely no relationship to what’s going on in the physical markets. As you know I have always been a proponent of the fact that supply in the gold market was way less than demand, and by a very large factor. I think demand exceeds supply by at least 60%. The central banks are surreptitiously supplying that gold, and ultimately they will be running on fumes.
When we hear about the LBMA not willing to deliver gold, and JP Morgan’s inventories at the COMEX have gone from 2.4 million (ounces) down to 160,000 ounces, it just makes you realize that all of this paper trading means nothing. It’s the real physical market that you have to rely on.
-JS Kim: FACT #1: COMEX gold vaults were recently drained of 2 million ounces of physical gold in one quarter, the largest withdrawal of physical gold bullion from COMEX vaults in one quarter during this entire 12-year gold and silver bull. There has been speculation about the reasons that spurred these massive withdrawals of gold from COMEX vaults, but the most reasonable speculation is that no one trusts the bankers to hold on to their physical gold anymore, especially in light of Fact #2. Note below, that both registered AND eligible stocks of gold had heavily declined in recent months. Such an event signals a general distrust of the banking system from everyone holding gold in registered COMEX vaults.
FACT #2: One of the largest European banks, ABN Amro, defaulted on their gold contracts and informed their clients that they would only settle their gold bullion contracts in cash and not in physical. So much for the supposed legality of financial contracts as a “binding” contract. So whether Fact #1 caused Fact #2 or vice versa is irrelevant. What IS apparent is that the level of trust in bankers to safekeep physical gold and physical silver is disappearing, as it should be, and as it should have already been for years now. But truth always takes some time to catch up to banker spread lies and that is what is happening now. I have been warning people never to trust bankers in deals involving gold and silver for years now, as in this article I wrote nearly four years ago informing the public that the SLV and GLD are likely a banker invented scam as well.
FACT #3: Silver fraud whistleblower and London trader Andrew Maguire stated that the LBMA was having trouble settling gold contracts in bullion as well and stated that institutions that asked for physical settlement “were told they would be cash settled instead by a bullion bank.” In plain English, this is a default. So Andrew Maguire reported that the LBMA had already gone into default. In light of Fact #1 and Fact #2, the dominoes were starting to tumble and the house of cards that the bankers had built in gold and silver paper derivatives to deceive and hide the true fundamentals of the physical gold and physical markets from the entire world was rapidly starting to crumble. A financial earthquake of magnitude 2.5 was quickly threatening to evolve into one of the biggest financial earthquakes of all time in which the world’s confidence in all global fiat currencies would effectively have a well-deserved funeral.
-Jim Sinclair: I think the reality is the supply situation is extremely volatile at this point, and even discussing it is like rubbing a raw nerve to the people who are in charge. The amount of discussion on the subject of warehouse supply, supply that is represented by the gold leases, indicated to the central planners that the demand for physical was going to continue to effect the exchanges.
Although they did not expect any grandstand delivery, the mere continued draining of physical inventories was threatening the very functioning of the paper exchange. That threatening of the paper exchange and its ability to continue functioning is really taking off the blinders and revealing the truth behind the critical question, ‘Where is the gold?’
The question now is, ‘Where has the gold gone?’ Who has all of this gold? Because of the nature of gold leasing, all of this gold has been purchased and it has gone somewhere. The reality of the empty vaults reveal that the gold has gone missing.
-Ronald Stoeferle: We’re seeing this rush to physical gold not only in the retail market, but also for the institutional players…[it's] just overwhelming…I [estimate] a 130-to-1 [ratio of paper to physical gold]…and I think in the last week we were really close to [triggering] a default of the paper market.
-Gerhard Schubert, head of Precious Metals at Emirates NBD: I have not seen in my 35 years in precious metals such a determined and strong global physical demand for gold. The UAE physical markets have been cleared out by buyers from all walks of life. The premiums, which have been asked for and which have been paid have been the cornerstone of the gold price recovery. It is very rare that physical markets can have a serious impact on market prices, which are normally driven solely by derivatives and futures contracts…
I did speak during the week with several refineries in the world, of course including the UAE refineries, and the waiting period for 995 kilo bars is easily 2-3 weeks and goes into June in some cases. A large portion of the 995 kilo bars in the UAE goes normally into the Indian market, but a lot of the available 995 kilo bars are destined for Turkey, at this time. We heard that premiums paid in Turkey have reached anything between US $ 20 and US $ 35 per ounce.
-James Turk: Another indication of the demand for large bars is the huge drawdown in the gold stock in COMEX warehouses. It is noteworthy that COMEX reports show the drawdown is largely the result of dealers removing their inventory, their working stock. When that happens, you know the availability of supply is constrained.
What all of this means, Eric, is one thing. If the central planners want to keep the precious metals at these low prices, to meet the demand for physical metal they will need to empty more metal from central bank vaults, or borrow metal from the ETFs as some have suggested is happening. Otherwise, the central planners will have to step back and stop their intervention, thereby letting the price of gold and silver rise so that demand tapers off, bringing demand and supply of physical metal back toward some kind of balance.
We’ve seen this same situation several times over the last twelve years. It is what I have been calling a “managed retreat.” Despite the current weakness, I firmly believe we have again entered a critical period where the central planners will need to retreat once again in order to let the gold and silver prices climb higher.
-The Golden Truth: And then I get a call from a close friend in NYC last Friday. His career has been in private wealth management in the private bank department of the Too Big To Fail banks. He’s been looking for work and chats with old colleagues all the time. He called my Friday and told me he just got off the phone with a very high level private banker from a big Euro-based TBTF bullion bank, but who was at JP Morgan until about six months ago.
This guy told my friend that there is a scramble by many very wealthy European families/entities to get their 400 oz bars out of the big bank vaults. He knows this personally, for a fact. He said the private banker community is small over there and the big wealthy families all talk to each other and act on the same rumors/sentiment. The Bundesbank/Fed and the ABN/Amro situations triggered this move. He knows for a fact JPM tried to calm fears about 3 months ago by sending a letter to it’s very wealthy clients assuring them their bars were safe, in allocated accounts. He said right now those same families are walking into the big banks like JPM and demanding delivery of their bars or threatening to take their $100′s of millions in investment portfolios to competitors. His wording was “these people are putting a gun to the heads of private banks and demanding their gold.”
I know this information is good because I know my friend’s background and when he tells me his source is plugged in, the guy is plugged in. Not only that, my friend’s source said that there’s no doubt that someone like a John Paulson, not necessarily specifically him, but entities like him or it may include him, have held a gun to GLD and demanded delivery of physical in exchange for their shares.
Regarding the Bundesbank/Fed situation, recall that the Bundesbank asked to have some portion of its gold sitting – supposedly – in the NY Fed vault in NYC sent back Germany. The total amount is 1800 tonnes. After behind the scenes negotiations, the Fed agreed to ship 300 tonnes back over seven years. To this day, the time required for that shipment has never been explained. Venezuela demanded the return of its 200 tonnes held in London, NYC and Switzerland and received it all within about four months.
And regarding the ABN/Amro situation. ABN/Amro offered a gold investment account product that offered physical delivery of the gold in the investment account when the investor cashes out. About a week before the gold price smash, ABN sent a letter to its clients informing that the physical delivery of the bullion was no longer available and that all accounts would be settled with cash at redemption.
I believe it was these two events that triggered the big scramble for physical gold by wealthy families/entities who were suspicious of the integrity of their bank vault custodial arrangement anyway.
*****
So what does all of this mean?
It means that we are entering a period when there will be unprecedented volatility for precious metals. There will be tremendous ups and downs as this crisis plays out and the bankers try to keep the paper gold scam from completely unraveling.
Meanwhile, nations such as China continue to stockpile gold as if the end of the world was coming.
According to Zero Hedge, Chinese gold imports set a brand new all-time record high in March…
Quite the contrary: as export data released by the Hong Kong Census and Statistics Department overnight showed, Chinese gold imports in March exploded to an all time record high of 223.5 tons.
And the number for April is expected to be even higher.
Does China know something that the rest of us do not?
We are also seeing a rapid decoupling between spot prices and physical prices. In fact, it is quickly getting to the point where the spot price of gold and the spot price of silver are becoming irrelevant.
For example, demand for silver coins has become so intense that some dealers are charging premiums of up to 30 percent over spot price for silver eagles.
That would have been regarded as insane a few years ago, but people are now willing to pay these kinds of premiums. People are recognizing the importance of actually having physical gold and silver in their possession and they are willing to pay a significant premium in order to get it.
We are moving into uncharted territory. The paper gold scam is rapidly coming to an end. In the long-term, this will greatly benefit those that are holding significant amounts of physical gold and silver.
View full post on The Economic Collapse
10 Signs The Takedown Of Paper Gold Has Unleashed An Unprecedented Global Run On Physical Gold And Silver
The crash of the price of paper gold on Monday has unleashed an unprecedented global frenzy to buy physical gold and silver. All over the planet, people are recognizing that this is a unique opportunity to be able to acquire large amounts of gold and silver at a bargain price. So precious metals dealers now find themselves being overwhelmed with orders in the United States, in Canada, in Europe and over in Asia. Will this massive run on physical gold and silver soon lead to widespread shortages of those metals? Instead of frightening people away from gold and silver, the takedown of paper gold seems to have had just the opposite effect. People just can’t seem to get enough physical gold and silver right now. Those that wish that they had gotten into gold when it was less than $1400 an ounce are able to do so now, and it is absolutely insane that silver is sitting at about $23 an ounce. If the big banks continue to play games with the price of gold, we are going to see existing supplies of physical gold and silver dry up very quickly. And once reports of physical shortages of gold and silver become widespread, it is going to absolutely rock the financial world. But this is what happens when you manipulate free markets – it often has unintended consequences far beyond anything that you ever imagined.
The following are 10 signs that the takedown of paper gold has unleashed an unprecedented global run on physical gold and silver…
#1 According to Zero Hedge, the U.S. Mint set a new all-time record for the number of gold ounces sold on Wednesday…
According to today’s data from the US Mint, a record 63,500 ounces, or a whopping 2 tons, of gold were reported sold on April 17th alone, bringing the total sales for the month to a whopping 147,000 ounces or more than the previous two months combined with just half of the month gone.
#2 Precious metals dealers all over the United States are having a really hard time keeping up with demand right now. According to Chris Martenson, many are warning customers to expect waiting times of five to six weeks at this point…
In the U.S., all of the dealers I talk to are reporting huge demand and brisk buying. Silver in any form is quite hard to come by unless you want to pay premiums of 20%+ per ounce above spot price. Delivery times are 5 to 6 weeks out now – that’s an unusual situation. If this recent slam was designed to scare people away from gold, it did not have that desired outcome; in fact, just the opposite.
#3 Individual dealers all over the country are confirming that we are seeing a voracious appetite for precious metals at the moment. For example, the following is what a spokesperson for JM Bullion had to say…
We still have certain things in stock, like 10 oz bars, while others, like Silver Eagles, are a bit of revolving inventory.
The shipments are going out as soon as inventory comes in.
Our main challenge right now is actually getting the silver into the boxes and shipped out – we have been experiencing astounding volume.
This appears to be a widespread phenomenon. Just check out what other dealers are reporting…
“There has been a marked increase in demand since the plunge,” said Mark O’Byrne, executive director at Dublin-based investment and bullion specialist GoldCore, referring to the drop in gold prices seen Friday and Monday. Gold futures lost more than $200 an ounce, or over 13%, on those two days. They were at $1,392 an ounce, moving higher ahead of the close on Thursday.
GoldCore has seen more buying than selling on Wednesday and Thursday, with buy orders “lumpier and from high net worth clients, and with most of the selling in small orders of less than 50 ounces, said O’Byrne.
On Wednesday, David Beahm, executive vice president at Blanchard & Co., said his precious-metals investment firm has seen “2008-like demand” for gold since Monday.
#4 Large international banks are also experiencing tremendous demand for physical gold and silver by customers right now. The following is what Keith Barron told King World News about what he is hearing…
At the Bank of Nova Scotia in Toronto the gold window has been absolutely swamped. I have confirmed there were people lined up in droves recently for multiple-hours at a time to buy gold and silver bars and coins….
I then confirmed with UBS today in Zurich, Switzerland, that they are experiencing exactly the same thing. They told me people are waiting in long lines for bullion related bars and coins. The physical market is incredibly tight, and there is a huge buying opportunity right here.
The damage in gold will not be long-term because physical supply is already drying up. Asian countries have been aggressively buying gold. This really is an unprecedented opportunity for investors. This takedown in the metals has created incredible demand for both gold and silver, and anyone who wants to unload dollars or euros and put them into gold because they don’t trust the currency, now is the time to do it.
#5 The demand for physical gold and silver is heating up over in Europe as well. For example, the following is from an emergency message posted on the website of a precious metals dealer in the UK…
Due to the unprecedented demand triggered by the recent fall in the Gold Price we are currently not able to guarantee Next Day Delivery of orders.
We anticipate that all orders will be delivered within 7 days of receipt by us.
Whilst we appreciate that these delays are frustrating for our customers we would like to stress that all accepted orders are guaranteed at the order price and will be dispatched as soon as possible.
It is necessary for all of our staff to be utilised in fulfilling orders and we ask for your cooperation by not calling us to query delivery times. If you do need to contact us, please do so by e-mail and we will endeavour to respond within 48hrs.
#6 On the other side of the globe, demand for precious metals is skyrocketing as well. According to Bloomberg, people are “running through the gate” to get gold in Australia…
Gold sales from Australia’s Perth Mint, which refines nearly all of the nation’s bullion, surged after prices plunged, adding to signs that the metal’s slump to a two-year low is spurring increased demand.
“The volume of business that we’re putting through is way in excess of double what we did last week,” Treasurer Nigel Moffatt said by phone, without giving precise figures. “There’s been people running through the gate.”
#7 Reuters is reporting that customers are waiting for up to three hours to buy gold in Japan…
A week ago, as the yen-denominated price neared a new peak, jewelry stores and gold merchants across Japan saw long lines of mostly older Japanese looking to cash in on unwanted jewelry and other items that they had held for years.
But on Tuesday, buyers outnumbered sellers by a wide margin. At Ginza Tanaka, the headquarters shop of Tanaka Holdings, gold buyers waited for as long as three hours for a chance to complete a transaction.
#8 According to a Chinese article quoted by the Blaze, there is a mad rush to buy gold in China right now…
People have to rush to buy gold … gold bullion out of stock yesterday, investors yesterday to spend as much as 600 million yuan to buy 20 kilograms of gold bars
The mad pursuit gold insufficiency is not just a game for the rich. Yesterday, the Yangcheng Evening News reporter learned from the East flowers to Bay store, many growers, pork traffickers, fishmonger recently put down his job went straight to the mall to buy gold.
#9 According to Reuters, dealers in Singapore are having significant trouble finding enough of a supply to keep up with the intense demand for gold that has erupted this week…
“People are actually buying everything, gold bars, gold coins. People are rushing to get a hand on it. We have a problem meeting the demand because we are unable to get new supply,” said Brian Lan, managing director of GoldSilver Central Pte Ltd in Singapore.
#10 Bloomberg is reporting that over in India people are “flocking to stores” to purchase gold jewelry and coins…
Gold buyers in India, the world’s biggest consumer, are flocking to stores to buy jewelry and coins, betting a selloff that plunged bullion to a two-year low may be overdone.
“My daughter is just six months old, but I think it is never too early to buy gold,” said Sharmila Shirodkar, a 28- year-old housewife, while displaying a new pair of earrings she bought from a store in Mumbai’s Zaveri Bazaar. “I had been asking my husband every day if prices will go down more. I couldn’t wait anymore.”
If the big banks were trying to scare people away from gold and silver by crashing paper prices for those metals then they have utterly failed.
Instead of being frightened away, the global appetite for physical gold and silver is now more voracious than ever.
If the prices for gold and silver stay this low, we are eventually going to start seeing some very serious shortages in the marketplace.
And once reports of shortages of the actual physical metals become widely circulated, it will cause an “adjustment” in the marketplace that will shock everyone.
So hold on to your hats. We are entering a period of time when there will be unprecedented volatility for the prices of precious metals. It will be quite a roller coaster ride, but if you can handle the ups and downs it will be worth it in the end.
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Gold and Silver • Maguire – Over 500 Tons Of Paper Gold Sold In Takedown
Maguire – Over 500 Tons Of Paper Gold Sold In Takedown
http://kingworldnews.com/kingworldnews/ … edown.html
Whistleblower Andrew Maguire told King World News that more than a stunning 500 tons of paper gold has been sold in today’s takedown in the gold market. Maguire also spoke to KWN about the staggering Chinese physical gold purchases. Below is what Maguire had to say in this remarkable and exclusive interview.
Eric King: “How much paper gold was sold to take this market down, and how much tonnage have the Chinese and others been taking out of the physical market?”
Maguire: “Just since the cross (today) of $1,550 into the (London) fix and the breach of $1,500, we are now looking at in excess of 500 tons of paper gold that’s been sold.
Eric King: “So all of that is today?”
Maguire: “Yes.”
Eric King: “So when you look at the tonnage being taken out by the central banks in the last couple of weeks, including today, what kind of tonnage are we talking about on the physical side?”
Maguire: “Deliveries in Shanghai alone in March were 283 tons. In the eight trading days of April, we have seen another 117 tons (of gold) delivered. Today was another 20 tons delivered. So what we are looking at here is over 400 tons (of gold) in less than a month and a half.
Eric, consider that the basis of all of the mainstream media shills coming out and saying, ‘We’re in a bearish market because GLD, the ETF, has dumped around 200 tons since the beginning of the year. But what we are talking about here is China having purchased and taken delivery of over 400 tons in less than a month and a half. And since the beginning of the year (that figure) is substantially higher. It’s probably in the 800 ton range (for the Shanghai Exchange).
So it just amazes me how people concentrate on what’s happening in one paper market. What we are seeing today is actually a very positive development. I think we’ve reached a point of capitulation. I cannot see how the central bank buying cannot overwhelm all of these short sales, despite the leverage.”
Statistics: Posted by DIGGER DAN — Sat Apr 13, 2013 12:55 pm
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Business • No Paper Is Safe From A Bail-In: FSB
No Paper Is Safe From A Bail-In: FSB
Written by Jeff Nielson
Saturday, 06 April 2013 15:28
Ever since our governments perpetrated the Cyprus Steal roughly three weeks ago (the first of their “bail-ins”), I have been exploring the ramifications of this crime. My apologies to readers for any redundancy since then; however it has been necessary to cover this subject in a methodical manner in order to precisely and conclusively illustrate that:
– The Cyprus Steal was a premeditated act, plotted (at least) 18 months in advance; which included warning the Big Money to move their wealth out of harm’s way
– Many/most other Western regimes already have their own “bail-in” rules firmly in place
– The entire premise of the “bail-in” (i.e. confiscating money from peoples’ accounts) is flawed and fraudulent; meaning there could never be any rational or legitimate reason for this policy – making it a simple act of theft
Having established each of these points in previous commentaries; it’s now time to bring this analysis (in general terms) to a culmination: pointing out that the “bail-in” rules already in place do not merely contemplate stealing from bank accounts, but rather stealing any/every kind of paper asset from “the financial system more widely.”
The language used is unequivocal, the intentions beyond doubt. Why is it so much easier in retrospect to point out a “crime” plotted (at least) 18 months in advance? Because the bankers put out “policy papers” the way most people pass wind. Few if any of us have the luxury of wading through the endless pages of these documents merely to separate “hot air” from more of their devious (and illegal) plans.
It is now clear that the “centerpiece” of this planning is a policy paper issued by the Financial Stability Board in October 2011, entitled Key Attributes of Effective Resolution Regimes for Financial Institutions. The relevant language is spelled-out in Section 6:
6.3 Jurisdictions should have in place privately-financed deposit insurance or…a funding mechanism for ex post recovery from the industry of the costs of providing temporary financing to facilitate the resolution of the firm. [i.e. continuing to prop-up insolvent banks]
Obviously the only possible way in which deposit insurance could be a “mechanism for ex post recovery” is if these bankers/governments are stealing from peoples’ bank deposits. However, lest anyone holding bonds, pension funds, or other (paper) financial assets has been lulled into a false sense of security in thinking that only bank accounts are at risk, Section 6.5 should instantly torpedo that complacency:
6.5 As a last resort [the expression the Banksters began using back in 2008 when they began all this monetary insanity]…some countries may decide to have a power to…recover any losses incurred by the state from unsecured creditors or, if necessary, the financial system more widely. [emphasis mine]
The “financial system more widely” means any bank account, any bond, any pension, any equity; or more simply any paper one has in any financial institution.
Who/what is the “Financial Stability Board”? It is a very exclusive club. How exclusive? You can only join if you’re a Western Central Banker. It is the (official) voice of Western central banks, and thus it is above the mere “laws” enacted by our subordinate governments.
How do we know the authority of these central banks is supreme to the laws governing the Little People (i.e. us)? The central banks themselves make this unequivocally clear. When we have the audacity to even suggest an audit of our financial system, they (and their apologists in the Corporate Media) tell us it “threatens their Independence.”
If the central banks are Independent, what does that make our governments? That’s right, the Dependents. As a tautology, they can’t both be “independent.” And only one entity in this relationship is allowed to say to the other “no, I won’t let you do this.”
However, if even this tautological argument doesn’t convince readers that central banks are above the Law; our Puppet Politicians make this explicitly clear in official documents, such as the Canadian Budget. Mark Carney, Governor of the Bank of Canada and Chairman of the Financial Stability Board decreed that “bail-ins” should be the new law for the Little People of Canada.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper heard. Stephen Harper obeyed. From page 154 of Canada’s 2013 Budget:
…The Government intends to implement a comprehensive risk management framework for Canada’s systemically important banks. This framework will be consistent with reforms in other countries [i.e. the Cyprus Steal] and key international standards, such as the Financial Stability Board’s Key Attributes of Effective Resolution Regimes for Financial Institutions, and will work alongside the existing Canadian regulatory capital regime. [emphasis mine]
In case any Canadians weren’t sure whether this included stealing, Prime Minister Harper erases any ambiguity there (in the Budget’s next bullet-point):
…The Government proposes to implement a “bail-in” regime for systemically important banks.
Still not convinced that the central banks are our Financial Overlords, entirely above the law; who regularly tell our subordinate governments what to do? Let me introduce you to the Bank for International Settlements (BIS).
The BIS is the “supreme” (Western) central bank: the central bank of/for other central banks. It is located within the geographic boundaries of Switzerland, but it’s not a part of “Swiss territory”. Instead, it is its own sovereign soil – virtually identical to the above-the-law status of the Vatican within the geographic boundaries of Italy.
No “Swiss authority” (police/political/military) is allowed to set foot on “BIS territory” without the written permission of one of two executives within the BIS. It is completely immune to any/all Swiss law. Or put more simply, it’s also “independent.”
In a somewhat less-lofty context, the BIS is known as the lynchpin for the $trillions in money-laundering in which Western Big Banks engage every year mostly drug-money or terrorist-money. These Big Banks are caught engaging in their money-laundering on a now virtually weekly basis, and thus the routine is painfully familiar.
No banker is ever even arrested, let alone charged with a crime. The bank itself is never required to even admit wrong-doing; no matter how many $billions are involved, or how many times the bank has previously been caught money-laundering. The “fine” is inevitably some fraction of 1% of the actual quantity of money-laundering. It is such a pathetically microscopic sum that we can’t even call it a “cut” in return for our governments being the junior-accomplices in this organized crime.
Our Big Banks are nothing but a crime syndicate. The central bankers are the Mafia “dons”. This Crime Syndicate has now issued a decree to our Puppet Politicians that they wish to engage in a new form of crime, and to simply change our laws (the laws of the Little People) so that their stealing is now “legal.” The politicians have obeyed.
When I wrote How Your Bank Account Could Disappear back in July, 2012; it was in specific response to the even less-legal, more heavy-handed “bank robbery” which had occurred in the “MF Global” heist. I pointed out that ¼ of Wall Street executives had already confessed to believing that crime was a way of life for Big Banks.
At that time, I summed up in general terms the only attitude which any rational individual can have when it comes to entrusting any of their wealth to this Crime Syndicate:
What the large financial institutions of the 21st century have taught us (through the cruel “lessons” of their serial crimes) is that there is no one in the world whom you can trust less with your money than a banker.
http://bullionbullscanada.com/intl-comm … ail-in-fsb
Statistics: Posted by yoda — Sun Apr 07, 2013 1:50 pm
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Gold and Silver • The Great Disconnect Between Paper & Physical Silver
The Great Disconnect Between Paper & Physical Silver
http://goldsilverworlds.com/gold-silver … al-silver/
Gold Silver Worlds | April 2, 2013 | Articles: Insights | 16 Comments
Tags: paper silver, physical silver, silver manipulation, ted butler
This article proves how paper silver (i.e. silver futures market) has been able to cap the silver price despite exceptional strength in the physical silver market. The first quarter of 2013 revealed this great disconnect based on publicly available data. Besides, silver expert Ted Butler calculates an historic concentration of short positions by JP Morgan allowing the bank to control the silver price.
Silver started the first quarter at $30.45 per ounce (Jan 2nd 2013) and closed more than $2 lower at $28.30 per ounce (March 29th). During the same time period, investment demand for physical silver was historically strong and all data pointed to accumulation by investors. This evolution asks for an explanation; the answer lies in the paper silver market.
Physical silver (bullish): investors have accumulated at a record pace
In order to get an idea of the physical silver market, we use (1) the physical holdings of all silver ETF’s combined together with (2) US Mint sales of Silver Eagles. Those are leading indicators when it comes to investment demand for physical silver.
(1) The US Mint has sold a record amount of US Eagles when compared to the first quarter of all previous years (also described here in detail).
14.2 mio ounces (equaling 457.2 tonnes) of US Silver Eagles sold
(2) All silver ETF’s combined increased their physical holdings by some 4.0% (also described here, based on Standard Bank Research)
Physical accumulation of 26 mio ounces (equaling 800 tonnes) in all silver ETF’s
Total silver holdings at the end of the quarter quarter stood at 655.8 mio ounces (equaling 20,400 tonnes)
To put these figures into perspective, one should remember that total mine supply in 2011 was 761.6 mio ounces (equaling 24,485 tonnes).
The key message that the physical silver market is signaling is one of EXCEPTIONAL STRENGTH. One should note that this trend is occurring particularly in silver; gold is not showing the same strength in physical investment demand. Given these facts, how is it possible that the silver price has moved down in the first quarter? The next paragraphs reveal the answer.
Paper silver (bearish): futures positions have held the silver price down
The paper silver market refers primarily to the futures market in which large traders (hedge funds, large commercial banks, bullion banks, etc) hold long or short positions. Silver expert Ted Butler has been analyzing this area for three decades, and reports the weekly evolutions into great detail in his market commentaries. This is an excerpt from his latest analysis:
By far, the standout price feature for the first quarter in silver was the reduction in the total commercial net short position on the COMEX from the high point of Feb 5. From the peak on Feb 5 through last Tuesday, 29,000 net contracts were bought by the commercials. This is the equivalent of 145 million oz of silver and is clearly a towering amount compared to any amount of silver produced or consumed within the quarter. Yes, these are paper transactions, but they are so excessive in size as to overwhelm the free market forces emanating from the real world of supply and demand. Simply put, the commercials on the COMEX colluded and rigged silver prices lower during the quarter to trick the tech funds into selling.
One of those commercials is JP Morgan. Based on his analysis, Ted Butler calculates their short positions.
I would now calculate JPMorgan’s net short position to be 23,000 contracts as of Tuesday March 26th. Simple math shows that JPMorgan held 96% of the total commercial short position of 24,000 contracts in the latest COT report. I doubt such an extreme measure of concentration has ever occurred in any other regulated futures market. On this measure alone, it is safe to conclude that JPMorgan has manipulated the silver price in the last month(s), as there would be virtually no commercial short position in COMEX silver without this bank. That the CFTC and the CME Group can sit by and allow such an unnatural concentration to exist shows how inept and corrupt the regulators have become.
To put things into perspective, the current short position of JP Morgan (one single entity) equals some 12.5% of total yearly silver mining production. This short position is so concentrated that it has the power to control the overall price.
Ted Butler points out that the paper market controlling the price is illegal practice; it is against commodity law.
How to stop this illegal practice?
For how long can the paper market control the silver price is a key question. Ted Butler wrote in his latest commentary in that respect:
The question that really matters is what will JPMorgan do on the next silver rally? This is the question I asked back in December 2011 and during the summer of 2012. Each time, the answer was resounding as JPMorgan sold as many additional shorts as was required to cap the silver price. I would imagine most would expect the same outcome again as who’s to stop these criminals, surely not the sad excuse we have as regulators. I can’t argue that the regulating agencies (CFTC or CME) will ever do the right thing in silver, but there is one thing that could persuade JPMorgan to stop manipulating the price of silver. That something is too strong of a demand for physical silver, the signs of which appear to emerge daily.
In retrospect, it was growing physical silver demand in late 2010 that prompted JPMorgan to refrain from selling short silver and which allowed the price to climb to near $50 in a matter of six months or so. The crooks at JPMorgan will see that physical silver imbalance coming before just about anyone and that will be what causes them to cease adding new silver shorts.
The market situation in silver is not sustainable long term. It can for sure go on for a while, but not ad infinitum. From a longer term risk/reward perspective, which is the fundamental rationale for physical silver investors, silver is an excellent asset to own.
I am still of the mind that we are close to a silver price bottom of some great significance and that the investment risk/reward ratio in silver has rarely been more attractive than it is currently. Whatever new price lows the commercials (read: JP Morgan) may rig in silver, it is important to recognize any imaginable price lower is vastly exceeded by the potential amount silver will move higher in price eventually. The essence of successful investment is to place funds into the thing least likely to lose money and most likely to show great gains. In this instance, silver is it.
We strongly recommend readers to consider subscribing to Ted Butler his excellent service. His analysis shows in almost real time the silver market evolutions and puts investors in pole position.
Statistics: Posted by DIGGER DAN — Thu Apr 04, 2013 3:52 am
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American • IMF paper suggests U.S. should adopt $1.33-a-gallon gas tax
March 28, 2013
The International Monetary Fund was out with a highly-publicized research paper arguing for fewer energy subsidies, in the sort of paper only economists shielded from the political process can offer.
By the IMF’s tally, some $1.9 trillion worth of energy subsidies are offered worldwide.
Who can argue against fewer subsidies? Well, many people, once they see the alternatives. The IMF for instance, on page 44, cites studies showing the U.S. should introduce a “corrective” tax of 36 cents per liter. The extra money would curb congestion, reduce accidents and help reduce carbon emissions. Those are all good-sounding things and the tax doesn’t sound like much in metric.
Problem is, that works out to about $1.33 a gallon – or one-third of what consumers now pay for a gallon of gas. And Americans already pay roughly 50 cents a gallon in taxes to federal and state governments, according to the Web site GasPriceWatch.
Good luck with trying to raise gas prices by another 33%. These fees are about as popular with the public as a skunk at a picnic. As recently as Saturday, the Senate voted 58-to-41 against an amendment that suggested an unspecified carbon tax of unspecified nature.
http://blogs.marketwatch.com/election/2 … n-gas-tax/
Statistics: Posted by yoda — Thu Mar 28, 2013 11:13 pm
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Hollywood Kills a Congressional Policy Paper on Copyright Reform, “Went Ballistic.”
The Motion Picture Association of America led by chief lobbyist former Senator Chris Dodd, killed (it is denied officialy) a paper presented by the Republican Study Committee last Friday which callenged long held views on copyright.
The paper, and it was just a policy paper, incurred the wrath of the studios, which were taken by surprise. Within 24 hours it was retracted by by the committee.
In the paper the RSC questioned the very nature of our current copyright regime. It argued that current copyright laws stifled trade and innovation and that the current apprach to copyright is hugely outdated. The paper also argued that current copyright rules were basically a gigantic gift to the Hollywood establishment. (Which it is.)
The short lived paper was hailed across the Internet by liberal and conservative techie sites alike. Some even called it “courageous.” But it was not to be.
(From The Hill)
A policy brief that calls for major reforms to existing copyright law was posted to the Republican Study Committee’s website on Friday and suddenly yanked down just a day later — sparking outcry from tech bloggers and copyright reform advocates.
The brief, written by RSC staffer Derek Khanna, takes a critical view of the current copyright system, arguing that copyright “violates nearly every tenet of laissez-faire capitalism” and gives content producers a “government subsidized content-monopoly.”
Among its recommendations, the brief calls for copyright protection terms to be shortened and contends that false copyright takedown requests should be punished — changes that would likely result in fierce pushback from the entertainment industry.
“Today’s legal regime of copyright law is seen by many as a form of corporate welfare that hurts innovation and hurts the consumer,” the brief reads. “It is a system that picks winners and losers, and the losers are new industries that could generate new wealth and added value.”
Hear hear!
“It’s hard to understate what a drastic rhetorical shift this piece represented,” Jordan Bloom, an associate editor for The American Conservative, said in an email to The Hill.
“Conservatives ought to support less government, including copyright liberalization,” Bloom added. “If they had the courage of their convictions they might even find that voters would reward them for it.”
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