Analysis Topic: Commodity Markets - Metals, Softs & Oils
The analysis published under this topic are as follows.Saturday, February 09, 2013
Silver Coin Clipping in the Digital Era / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2013
Price suppression, market controls and market manipulation have become the modern day equivalent to coin clipping in the silver market.
Monetary debasement is not a new phenomenon and has been practiced by various governments throughout the ages, either as a way for them to profit at the expense of their citizens or to pay off high levels of debt.
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Friday, February 08, 2013
Is Gold GLD ETF Cannibalizing the HUI Stocks Index? / Commodities / Gold and Silver Stocks 2013
With gold stocks languishing near lows in a desolate sentiment wasteland, investors are wondering why this sector has fallen so deeply out of favor. One theory is capital that would have traditionally flowed into major gold producers has been diverted into the GLD gold ETF instead. Taken to extremes, this logically leads to the conclusion gold stocks will never thrive as long as GLD exists. Is it cannibalizing the miners?
Undoubtedly it is, so the real question is to what degree. Since GLD’s birth in November 2004, it has grown into a wildly successful behemoth holding a staggering $71.5b worth of physical gold bullion in trust for its shareholders. I suspect the majority of GLD purchases have been for diversifying large portfolios, for obtaining that necessary fractional exposure to the gold price. GLD is fantastic for that.
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Friday, February 08, 2013
Gold, Bonds and the Dollar - Short- and Long-Term Implications / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2013
In our previous essay we stepped back from the day-to-day price analysis in order to focus on the major event that happened recently on the silver market (the silver - JP Morgan manipulation lawsuit was dismissed) and today we would like to get back to the recent price moves, however, first, let's discuss the current situation on the bond market.
A trend is a trend until it stops. Could this be the case for bonds? Is the bond bubble about to burst? And if so, what are the implications for precious metals?
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Friday, February 08, 2013
Gold Surges As Soros Warns EU May Collapse Like USSR / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2013
Today’s AM fix was USD 1,669.75, EUR 1,245.15 and GBP 1,059.55 per ounce.
Yesterday’s AM fix was USD 1,675.75, EUR 1,235.99 and GBP 1,065.86 per ounce.
Silver is trading at $31.57/oz, €23.68/oz and £20.04/oz. Platinum is trading at $1,720.75/oz, palladium at $743.00/oz and rhodium at $1,225/oz.
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Friday, February 08, 2013
Gold Stocks vs. Gold / Commodities / Gold and Silver Stocks 2013
The gold and silver stocks as a group have certainly been a disaster over the past two years. Both GDX and GDXJ are down with GDXJ leading the spiral. Yet, the metals are actually higher. Gold is up quite a bit while Silver is up marginally. Because of the volatility in this sector we can certainly choose any period to emphasize a point. However, it is becoming clear that the mining equities are struggling to outperform the metals. In studying the history of this sector (both the stocks and the metals) I’ve learned two things that I will share with you today. First, the large-cap miners have no track record of consistently outperforming Gold and second, it is possible to routinely find companies which can outperform the metals.
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Friday, February 08, 2013
What Platinum Gold Ratio Major Breakout Signifies / Commodities / Platinum
Platinum (PTM) is breaking out compared to gold (GLD) as South Africa, which supplies three quarters of world production, continues to struggle with labor issues and possible nationalization. Look for a major breakout of the platinum to gold ratio at 104. Platinum (PPLT) is about to break into new 52 week highs as demand increases due to the economic rebound in Asia, while at the same time supply is under major pressure. Observe the chart below which shows that the majority of production comes from questionable mining jurisdictions.
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Friday, February 08, 2013
U.S. Gas Prices Up 1.5 Times in Four Years; Government Still Says No Inflation? / Commodities / Gas - Petrol
Michael Lombardi writes: According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, inflation in the U.S. economy was 1.7% in 2012. As I have written in these pages, the way the official inflation rate is calculated is obsolete. Real inflation is running much higher than 1.7%.
Oil Price Information Service reports that, in 2012, $479 billion in gasoline was purchased by consumers in the U.S. economy. If you compare this number to 10 years ago, Americans are spending two and a half times more on gasoline. (Source: CNN Money, February 4, 2013) than they did in 2002. But consumer spending on gasoline didn’t go up because of increased demand; it went up because oil prices went up.
Friday, February 08, 2013
What Are the Two Hottest Precious Metals? Hint: Gold Isn’t One of Them / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2013
Sasha Cekerevac writes: Many investors in gold mining stocks have been disappointed over the past few months, as their shares have languished. Since November’s low, gold has gone down slightly, currently trading at $1,665 an ounce. Obviously, mining stocks need the commodity to increase in price for their shares to appreciate.
However, there are two precious metals that have seen a spectacular rise in prices since November: platinum and palladium.
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Friday, February 08, 2013
Silver Prices – The Big Picture / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2013
Question: What do May 2004, January 2005, August 2005, June 2006, October 2008, February 2010, September 2011, December 2011, June 2012, and December 2012 have in common?
Answer: They represented significant price lows in silver, AND those lows were confirmed by the weekly stochastic (14,3,3) indicator and the weekly TDI Trade Signal Line (13,5) as shown in the following chart of silver prices since 2004. Note the red circles showing price lows and corresponding turns in the stochastic and TDI indicators from oversold levels. (Information on the stochastic and TDI are here and here.)
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Thursday, February 07, 2013
Investing in 2013: The Case for Palladium / Commodities / Palladium
Tony Daltorio writes: Anyone who looks at precious metals when investing in 2013 will likely turn to gold and silver, maybe even platinum.
But there is another precious metal that is often overlooked, and should not be: palladium.
Palladium is mainly used in catalytic converters on gasoline-powered vehicles to limit the pollution these vehicles emit, just as its sister metal, platinum, is used in a similar fashion for diesel-powered vehicles.
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Thursday, February 07, 2013
Gold and Silver "Trapped" in Tight Range, Volatility Near Half-Decade Lows / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2013
The GOLD PRICE eased $5 per ounce from a 2-day high in London trade Thursday morning, holding above $1676 as Asian stock markets closed lower but Europe held flat.
The Euro currency held onto a half-cent rise as the European Central Bank kept its key lending rate at a record low of 0.75% for the 15th month in a row.
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Thursday, February 07, 2013
Economic Winter Could Thaw Gold Stocks / Commodities / Gold and Silver Stocks 2013
Ian Gordon has said it before: we're on the edge of an economic maelstrom that will breathe new life into the gold exploration industry. While his cautionary tales may be beginning to sound like the boy who cried wolf, Gordon, the founder and chairman of Longwave Group, gives some persuasive evidence to support his doomsday scenario for the greater market. In this Gold Report interview, Gordon talks about what he forecasts as an unprecedented period of growth and investment in gold, which is just about to get underway as the market sinks.
The Gold Report: Ian, you believe that 2013 is likely to be an economic and financial disaster. But you have been saying similar things for years. Why is 2013 likely to be different?
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Thursday, February 07, 2013
Silver Price Manipulation, the Case Against JP Morgan / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2013
Every now and then we receive questions about JP Morgan and the allegations that the company suppresses the price of silver. In our Q&A section we answered some of those concerns by replying to a question about JP Morgan and silver manipulation. In that answer we wrote the following:
Despite a (...)lawsuit accusing JPMorgan and HBSC of jointly controlling " over 85 percent of commercial net short positions ", a position inherited mainly from the liquidated Bear Stearns business, the CFTC seems inclined to drop any case it has against JPMorgan , making this the third case in a row that has not found proof of wrongdoing.
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Thursday, February 07, 2013
Gold Miners vs. the S&P - Surprising Conclusions / Commodities / Gold and Silver Stocks 2013
We often hear the claim that gold producers have not met investors' expectations for the past couple years. While there are many potential reasons for this, one explanation for their underperformance lies in the fact that producers diluted their share structures, leaving shareholders with smaller gains than they would have otherwise harvested.
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Thursday, February 07, 2013
Gold Lease Rates - What Changed in Swiss Gold Banking? / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2013
What the Swiss banks' move away from unallocated accounts says about gold, and about banking...
Imagine you could sell someone something, but keep ownership of it, and then use it yourself, writes Adrian Ash at BullionVault.
You could lend it out for interest, say, or raise loans of your own by pledging it as collateral. Or even sell it to raise cash when things get tight. And if your business fails entirely, the "owner" will just have to cue up with all of your other creditors, and be thankful with whatever small change is paid out by the courts.
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Wednesday, February 06, 2013
Stock Market Strength "Taking the Shine Off Gold" / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2013
WHOLESALE PRICES for gold bullion hovered above $1670 per ounce Wednesday morning, broadly in line with where it started the week, while stocks and commodities were also little changed and the Euro eased against the Dollar ahead of tomorrow's European Central Bank interest rate decision.
Gold has failed to break through the $1700 an ounce barrier since falling through the level in December. Over the same period, most stock markets have rallied. The S&P 500 had its best January since 1997, touching a new five-year high, while the FTSE 100 had its best start to a year since 1989.
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Wednesday, February 06, 2013
Why The IEA Wants High Priced Oil / Commodities / Crude Oil
THE IEA' S NEWLY FASHIONABLE QUESTClaiming his views "are not very fashionable", the Turkish-born chief economist of the IEA, Fatih Birol, also describes the IEA's annual flagship reports the World Energy Outlook as "designed and directed" by himself - and his WEO is obliged to reflect "unfashionable" theories and goals.
These new theories and goals are: universal energy supplies for all, and massive worldwide response to the crisis of global warming. Reconciling these two themes or memes needs high priced oil. Regarding the market price for oil, the IEA pitches for $175 per barrel; concerning new energy taxes in the form of carbon taxes "to fight global warming", taxes of $500 per tonne of CO2 on all fossil energy, possibly by 2020 or shortly after, are no problem for Fatih Birol.
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Wednesday, February 06, 2013
Politicization, Currencies & Gold: The Lost Battle of Central Banks / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2013
Central banks have many losing battles ahead.
The world finds itself immersed in the depths of an economic crisis. This crisis however, is unlike any other experienced in recent history. What is at stake is the very foundation of our monetary system, the currency.
Today's unbacked fiat currency experiment is at the very root of an emerging global monetary problem. While the talk of "recovery" in recent months now populates headlines, the desperate actions of politicians and central bankers show the contrary.
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Wednesday, February 06, 2013
Does China Still Love Gold? / Commodities / Gold and Silver 2013
The recent price action in gold and silver has been frustrating for some people. Both precious metals logged gains last year, but continue to remain in consolidation mode. On the positive though, bullion demand is still providing support to prices.
Due to the vulnerabilities of the global financial system and numerous quantitative easing programs, several nations are increasing their gold holdings. According to Bloomberg and data from the Census and Statistics Department of the Hong Kong government, gold imports into mainland China from Hong Kong nearly doubled to an all-time high last year. China, the world’s second-largest economy and the biggest gold consumer, imported a record 834,502 kilograms (834.5 metric tons), including scrap and coins, in 2012. In comparison, the nation only imported 431,215 (431.2 metric tons) kilograms the previous year.
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Wednesday, February 06, 2013
How to Profit From A Potential Doubling in Copper Prices / Commodities / Copper
"I think copper has at least 50% upside from today's price..." legendary analyst Adrian Day told me recently.
"I wouldn't be surprised to see the price double by the end of the decade."
When Adrian talks commodities, I listen... He's written his Global Analyst newsletter for over 25 years. At one time, it was one of the most popular investment letters in America, with over 60,000 subscribers. And for a decade now, he has focused on commodities for customers of Adrian Day Asset Management.