Switzerland

Smart money is willing to pay a small premium to own segregated and allocated coins and bars rather than have the exposure of an ETF or digital gold platform ... Prudent diversification into physical coins and bars will again reward those who take a long term view.

The Swiss establishment has been reliant upon the public’s ignorance, but now they are up against a formidable opponent in Egon von Greyerz. Not only that, but they can clearly see that, as elsewhere around the world, the public is fast becoming disenchanted with the status quo; and that is potentially very dangerous for these people. What is important to understand here is that if the initiative passes it will be part of the Swiss constitution IMMEDIATELY - as some are suggesting. This means that the government and parliament cannot touch it. Only another referendum can change it. This is proper democracy for you. The closer we get to the vote on November 30, the bigger this story is going to become, and the bigger it becomes, the higher the chance that the yes vote wins. Should that happen, it will undoubtedly set off alarm bells throughout the gold market, as yet more physical gold will need to be repatriated and another sizeable, price-insensitive buyer will enter the marketplace.

We fear many Americans who don't travel internationally might have become somewhat immune to the intrusive, arbitrary nature of today's American government and its institutions. It is still possible to achieve the American Dream of a simple life with opportunity for wealth creation, fun, freedom and good times without an overly intrusive, threatening government ... just not in the United States.

The summer, thankfully, has been largely bereft of the dismal trend of bankers committing suicide, but as Bloomberg reports, Thierry Leyne, a French-Israeli banker and partner of Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the disgraced former chief of the IMF, was found dead Thursday after apparently taking his own life by jumping off the 23rd floor of one of the Yoo towers, a prestigious residential complex in Tel Aviv. This is the 16th financial services executive death this year.

The seemingly insatiable appetite of the growing Indian middle class for gold is causing the government in India to again consider imposing sanctions on the importing of gold. 

The poll shows that 45% approve the Swiss gold initiative and 39% are against. There are 29% firm yes voters and 28% firm no voters (see graph). The poll shows 16% are leaning towards a yes or are “more yes” and 11% are leaning towards a no or are “more no.”

The European status quo and EU elites are becoming increasingly concerned by popular calls in Italy for Italy to leave the European Monetary Union and the euro "as soon as possible" and return to the lira. 

Over the weekend, while the world was focusing on the threat of Ebola contagion in the US and around the globe, Sweden's otherwise sleepy capital Stockholm found itself the location of a blitz military operation involving the Swedish Armed Forces, Navy, Army and Air Force, when late on Saturday, Swedish armed forces stepped up an operation -- involving more than 200 men, stealth ships, minesweepers and helicopters -- in an area about 50 kilometres (30 miles) east of the Swedish capital. The operation was initiated on Friday after the armed forces said they had been informed of a "man made object" in the water.

We believe that the “Save Our Swiss Gold” campaign has the potential to be a game changer in the gold market - both in terms of the ramifications for the current global monetary system and in terms of higher gold prices. 

There has been a lack of coverage of this important story and there is therefore a lack of awareness about the possible implications for the gold market. Thus, in the weeks prior to the referendum on November 30th, we are going to analyse the referendum, the important context to the referendum and the ramifications of a yes or a no vote.

Global stocks plummeted yesterday and again today, on investor concern that U.S. and Chinese inflation data are signalling a global slowdown in economic activity.  U.S. retail sales fell in September and producer prices declined for the first time in a year.

Curious why Netflix is being obliterated after hours, plummeting to 5 month lows, down some $100, or 24% after hours after reporting earnings? The answer is highlighted in the Q3 investor letter, and specifically the red highlighted number, which is NFLX' guidance for Q4 EPS...

Banks abused their position of controlling the daily silver fix to reap illegitimate profit from trading, hurting other investors in the silver market who use the benchmark in billions of dollars of transactions, according to the suit. 

• M&A Bubble is bursting: AbbVie Says It Reconsiders Merger Pact With Shire (WSJ)
• Winner of bad headline timing award: Spinoffs Could Set Stage for Next Merger Wave (BBG) - and now wait for the spinoffs getting pulled
• Record mortgage settlement pushes Bank of America into third-quarter loss (Reuters)
• Korea joins the Japan currency war: Bank of Korea Cuts Base Rate (WSJ)
• Double Irish’s Slow Death Leaves Google Executives Calm (BBG)
• Global Oil Glut Sends Prices Plunging (WSJ)
• Slow Rise in Prices Shows China’s Economy Is Still Struggling (WSJ)

With this in mind we hope the Swiss people display their fierce independence and reject the advice of the "experts," many of whom got us into this mess, in favour of the policies that have kept them peaceful and prosperous for centuries ...

Physical gold is being accumulated and used in exchanges but very discretely as of now. The geopolitical and economic environment in the last few months was in my view the calm before the storm. Both the economic and political environments are uncertain and will surprise the complacent markets.