5/29/2024

Gold prices can ‘continue to make new highs,’ UBS says (CNBC)
“The risks to the upside are increasing”

The mounting strains on global shipping (FT)
Pirate attacks, Middle East instability and drought are causing disruption and congestion at the world’s ports.

Global silver deficit to rise in 2024 due to higher demand, lower supply (Mining)
The global silver deficit is expected to rise by 17% to 215.3 million troy ounces in 2024 due to a 2% growth in demand led by a robust industrial consumption and a 1% fall in total supply.

5/22/2024

Silver – Breaking through Key Resistance (Silver Seek)
Gold/Silver-ratio breaking out of its triangle consolidation.

China’s Gold Imports Slow as Record Prices Temper Demand (Yahoo Finace)
Overseas purchases of physical gold fell to 136 tons in April, a 30% decline from the previous month.

PRECIOUS APPRAISAL (Heraeus)
SIndia’s imports of silver in the first quarter exceeded the total for the whole of 2023.

5/20/2024

Hot commodity silver outpaces gold as buying gains momentum (Bloomberg)
“Even clients who are interested in buying gold are starting to say ‘well, maybe I’ll buy silver first, and wait for the ratio to sort of rebalance’”

Good, not great, news on inflation (FT)
China’s own gold allocation is still very low compared to other countries, and its “buying spree” suggests it may be intent on changing that.

Gold Is at Record Levels. Its Future Still Looks Bright. (Market Watch)
So why will gold keep rallying? Experts cite the combination of lower bond yields, a weaker U.S. dollar, and geopolitical concerns around the globe.

5/17/2024

Gold, silver and platinum’s red-hot rally still has further to go, strategists say (CNBC)
Precious metal prices got a major boost Wednesday after softer-than-expected U.S. inflation data heightened the near-term prospect of rate cuts from the Federal Reserve.

Is the “Costco Effect” the next GLD event? (LBMA)
The timing – heading into a tense US election year where people are fearful of inflation and growing economic uncertainty – is key.

Gold rally ends: How to handle gold going forward? (Julius Baer)
The narrative of central banks switching from US Treasuries to gold has been fuelling the recent gold price rally.

Gold Prices Stabilize After Record Highs:
What’s Next for Investors?

(USAGOLD – 5/17/2024) Gold prices are strong in early trading and silver is close to its three-year high scored in April. Gold is trading at $2388.44, up $11.48. Silver is trading at $29.93, up 35 cents. The recent gold price rally, driven by central banks shifting from US Treasuries to gold, appears to have stalled. Despite record-breaking prices, global gold demand has remained flat over the past decade, with the rally largely fueled by increased willingness to pay and speculation. Central banks, particularly in China and Russia, have increased their gold purchases, while other gold-buying central banks have also increased their US Treasury holdings since 2022. Although gold remains a hedge against economic and systemic risks, the medium to long-term outlook suggests more downside than upside. Investors should consider gold’s role as a portfolio hedge rather than chasing price gains.

5/15/2024

The US dollar has become so weaponized that central banks are snapping up politically-neutral gold (Business Insider)
Central banks are favoring gold as a politically neutral, safe asset, insulated from sanctions.

Is the gold boom a sign of de-dollarisation? (Unheard)
The four countries with the highest demand were Turkey, China, India, and Kazakhstan.

US sharply raises tariffs on Chinese EVs and semiconductor imports (FT)
US will quadruple the tariff on Chinese EVs to 100 per cent this year.

5/13/2024

Gold ETFs Endured Further Outlows In April, World Gold Council Says (Forbes)
This was due to further heavy liquidations in Europe…

Gold Monthly: Gold breaks new highs (ING)
Gold is up 12% this year despite a stronger dollar.

Inside the 21st Century Gold Rush (MSN)
Hedge funds and other speculators have begun ramping up bullish futures and options bets.

5/8/2024

U.S. Election Dynamics Looking Positive for Gold (TD Securities)
Sky-High Deficits and More Adversarial U.S.-China Relations a Manna for Gold.

PRECIOUS APPRAISAL (Heraeus)
Central bank gold purchases were a record for the first quarter.

As gold hovers near record highs, some experts warn against going all in (Yahoo Finance)
“It does really well when completely unexpected things happen”

5/6/2024

Monthly Gold Compass (Incrementum)
Gold Performance in Major Currencies Averages 15.6% in 2024.

Putting gold on a blockchain (Gold Money)
This initiative is driven by environmental concerns that the mining and processing of gold bars should be ESG compliant.

China has a ‘fake gold’ problem — locals are getting scammed into buying artificial jewelry (CNBC)
“The main thing a consumer can do to protect themselves is to buy from reputable sources, whether this is online or in-store.”

5/3/2024

Silver Industrial Demand Rose 11% in 2023 Reaching a New Record (Silver Institute)
Silver Demand for Photovoltaics Increased 64%, Surpassing Estimates.

A dip in gold prices is a buying opportunity – UBS (Investing)
“Pullbacks are frequent and have been relatively short lived”

Silver and the coming monetary reform (Kitco)
Analysis of two similar economic cycles over the last century reveals some interesting facts about silver…

5/1/2024

Why gold’s “strange” rally could continue (Goldman Sachs)
Two sources of demand could drive the metal even higher.

Multi-Asset Strategies: Exploring a versatile toolkit (Mercer)
Is the 60/40 portfolio dead?

MKS’ Nicky Shiels asks if Costco gold is the market’s new ETF moment (Kitco)
“Costco has done more for sentiment and opening new channels when trust has completely broken down post-COVID.”

4/29/2024

When Gold and Silver Diverge, Investors Should Take Note (Bloomberg)
Although gold and silver tend to track each other from a price correlation standpoint, the two precious metals also experience frequent divergences, and typically due to unique influences.

Is it too late to invest in the gold rush? (FT)
Demand from China drove prices to a record high this month — now many suspect the normal rules no longer apply.

India’s gold market update: unprecedented gold price rises, suppressed consumer demand and rising official gold reserves (WGC)
The domestic gold price remains at a discount in relation to the international price, although in April discounts have narrowed.

4/26/2024

Russian court orders seizure of $440mn from JPMorgan (FT)
The tit-for-tat continues…

Nebraska Ends Income Taxes on Gold and Silver, Declares CBDCs Are Not Lawful Money (Gold Seek)
Meanwhile, Iowa, Georgia, Oklahoma, Missouri, West Virginia, and Kansas are actively considering similar legislation in 2024…

The gold price has peaked as World Bank sees 8% gains this year, with some upside risk (KITCO)
In 2024, demand for silver is expected to increase modestly, driven by its dual appeal as both a financial asset and an industrial commodity.

4/25/2024

Is silver the new gold? (IG)
The gold-silver ratio is predicting substantial growth in silver value

Gold’s Record-Setting Rally May Have Its Roots in Chinese Frenzy (BNN Bloomberg)
“We know from other commodity markets, that from time-to-time, Shanghai traders become the most dominant players. That’s never really been the case in gold, but I think now that this might have changed.”

Speculative froth departing gold as China tightens trading conditions (Metals Daily)
The SHFE further adjusted the daily price limit for gold and silver futures to 8%, while increasing the hedging trading margin requirement to 9% and the speculative trading margin requirement to 10%.

4/24/2024

Chinese speculators super-charge gold rally (FT)
Huge bullish bets on Shanghai exchanges show growing clout of Asian traders in market for precious metal

Why gold weakness might be an opportunity for investors (CNBC)
Nicky Shiels, MKS PAMP SA head of metal strategy, joins ‘Fast Money’ to talk the recent drop in gold prices.

Speculative froth departing gold as China tightens trading conditions (Metals Daily)
The SHFE further adjusted the daily price limit for gold and silver futures to 8%, while increasing the hedging trading margin requirement to 9% and the speculative trading margin requirement to 10%.

4/23/2024

Gold drops more than 2% to one-week low as Middle East worries ebb (CNBC)
“Some risk of an imminent retaliation in the Middle East has been removed, which has attracted some selling activity in gold. But the question is how much scope there is to the downside”

PRECIOUS APPRAISAL (Heraeus)
Yesterday’s bad news is today’s good news for the gold price

Gold Price Suffers Biggest Daily Loss In 2 Years (Forbes)
Gold prices now sit almost 4% below their all-time high of over $2,400 achieved earlier this month

4/22/2024

GOLD – We need to talk about China… (Metals Daily)
Chinese people like to gamble … on stilts, with a very tall hat.

Umicore launches Nexyclus™, a unique guarantee for fully recycled precious metals, including PGMs (Umicore)
Customers can choose between three recycled content offerings and chain of custody certifications.

How Canadian Gun Smugglers Pulled Off the Biggest Gold Heist in Years (WSJ)
A man driving a truck pulled up at Toronto’s airport with fake documents and drove off with $14.5 million in gold bars.

4/19/2024

Gold’s Mystery Buyer … ? (Metals Daily)
I think we may have found our smoking gun..

World Silver Survey 2024 (Silver Institute)
For yet another year and the third in a row now, silver demand massively exceeded supply in 2023

Mystery gold buyer is betting on geopolitical and financial mayhem (WA Today)
“They buy on the London benchmark and they don’t chase the price”

4/18/2024

Hedge funds and commodities traders urged to hold more liquid assets (FT)
Financial Stability Board highlights need for capacity to meet margin calls in case of market shocks.

New York Fed Says Quantitative Tightening Could Stop in 2025 (Bloomberg)
Projections show reserves dropping to around $2.5-$3 trillion.

China’s Punishment for People With Bad Debts: No Fast Trains or Nice Hotels (WSJ)
Beijing’s crackdown on millions of delinquent debtors makes catching up on unpaid bills a slog.

4/17/2024

How are allocators responding to the soaring price of gold? (FT)
Allocations to commodities have suddenly gone up to 0.7%, up from 0.35% late last year…

Gold is sniffing out monetary and geopolitical dystopia (Telegraph UK)
‘Never seen before’ levels of buying could be the makings of a war chest.

Powell Signals Rate-Cut Delay After Run of Inflation Surprises (Bloomberg)
“The recent data have clearly not given us greater confidence and instead indicate that is likely to take longer than expected to achieve that confidence”