GoldCore's blog

Compared with Japan, the United States national debt is a mere $17 trillion or so. But if you convert that number into yen, it comes to about 1.6 quadrillion.

We laugh at children when they talk about bazillions and gazillions but a quadrillion is no laughing matter.  Measuring any currency in quadrillions brings to mind the many hyperinflations seen in the 20th and 21st centuries. For example,  the powerful and very wealthy Germany in the early 1920s and wealthy Zimbabwe, the breadbasket of Africa in 2008.

Japan's soaring national debt is already more than twice the size of its economy. 

The U.S. Federal Reserve is insolvent and has liabilities of over $3.2 trillion and yet has capital of just $60 billion. Therefore, it is leveraged by fifty to one, akin to a highly leveraged hedge fund. 

Gold and silver futures surged 2.1% and 3.6% respectively and the dollar fell on the open in Asia prior to determined selling which again capped precious metal prices. Analysts and media attributed the price gains on the withdrawal of Larry Summers from the race to be the new Fed Chairman, leaving Janet Yellen as the new frontrunner.

The collapse of Lehman Brothers, the risk of other large important banks failing in the coming months and the still significant systemic, macroeconomic, monetary and geopolitical risk of today shows the vital importance of real diversification and an allocation to physical gold.

Gold prices fell sharply again just prior to European markets opening, in aggressive selling which saw gold quickly fall from $1,355/oz to $1,343/oz at 0754 GMT. Support at $1,360/oz was breached overnight and gold should now test support at $1,320/oz.

The decline in gold coin sales and robust silver coin demand was seen in other mints including the United States Mint, the Royal Canadian Mint and other mints during the month. 

The Royal Canadian Mint last week reported a surge in revenue and profitability for the second quarter of 2013. Revenue increased by 93.8% to $1.05 billion and this represented the first time in the Mint's history that quarterly revenue exceeded $1 billion.

A COMEX default on delivery of precious metals and specifically of gold bullion bars remains a risk. It is of significant importance and that is why we have covered its possibility since 2011. A COMEX default would have serious ramifications not just for precious metals markets but for the wider commodity markets, for the U.S. dollar and all fiat currencies and our modern  monetary system.

Concerns about inflation and weakening currencies are leading the Chinese middle classes and wealthy to again use gold jewellery, coins and bars as a hedge and store of value.

Store of wealth buyers in China today were paying a $18 per ounce premium or 1.3% premium over COMEX gold (see table below). In recent weeks they have been willing to pay as much $30 per ounce extra for gold. 

The Chinese people are concerned that the same massive inflation that is affecting India, Indonesia, Brazil and other emerging markets may eventually reach China. 

The U.S. Mint’s sales of silver coins are heading for a record again this year, with sales of 33 million ounces (1,026 tonnes) to late August already matching the level of the whole of 2012.

Many other mints including the Perth Mint, the Royal Canadian Mint and the Austrian Mint have also seen a fall in sales recently but are set for record or near record sales again this year.

Since 2003, we have consistently said that silver was likely to surpass its real high in the coming years. The gold silver ratio is likely to trend lower and revert to its long term average and its geological ratio of 15 to 1 as a huge amount of silver has been used in industrial applications in recent years.

It is likely that he does, as he is Chinese and was a Chinese refugee who fled to Hong Kong with his family to avoid the perils of war. Refugees who flee from their homeland to start new lives in other countries tend to have a deeper appreciation of and understand the importance of owning physical gold.

Gold, silver and brent oil rose and European stocks declined after reports of missile launches in the Mediterranean. Russian radar detected two ballistic "objects" that were fired towards the Syrian coastline from the central part of the sea.

Peak gold has yet to be considered and analysed by the international financial and investment community but there is a risk that it has happened or will happen soon with a consequent impact on the gold mining industry and on gold prices in the 21st Century.

This week will see the end of August trading and September is, along with November, one of the strongest months to own gold. This is seen in the charts showing gold’s monthly performance over different time frames - 1975 to 2011, 2000 to 2011 and our Bloomberg Gold Seasonality table  from 2003 to 2013 (10 years is the maximum that can be used).

Thackray's 2011 Investor's Guide notes that the optimal period to own gold bullion is from July 12 to October 9. During the past 25 periods, gold bullion has outperformed the S&P 500 Index by 4.7%.

“…  gold is the hard currency of choice, and we expect for this trend to accelerate going forward. We still believe that in the next couple of years we will be looking at a gold price of around $US3,500. As the gold/silver ratio plummets near 30, this would also suggest a silver price above $US100.”