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Gold Leaps Into Backwardation!
Since late January, the February gold contract has been in backwardation. This means that one could make a profit by simultaneously selling a gold bar and buying a February contract. One would still have one’s gold plus a little extra. I coined the term “temporary backwardation”, to describe this curious and very recent phenomenon. In our “new normal”, most gold and silver contracts go into backwardation as they get close to expiry.
When the Feb contract first jumped into backwardation, it was well within the “contract roll” period. The roll is when naked longs sell the expiring contract and buy a contract for a more distant month. This heavy selling of the expiring contract pushes down its price. Since cobasis is Spot minus Future (oversimplified slightly), the cobasis rises purely due to the mechanics of this selling.
But today something more serious occurred. The April contract, which is not yet being “rolled”, fell into backwardation. See the chart.
The market is offering a free profit to anyone who will sell a gold bar and buy an April contract. For whatever reason, no one is either able or willing to take the bait. This is proof that the market for physical gold metal is drying up. Speculators in the futures markets may believe that the gold price “should” fall because the central banks say they are not going to competitively devalue their irredeemable paper currencies. Owners of real metal are increasingly reluctant to part with it at the current price.
We don’t recommend that anyone ever naked short the monetary metals. Instead, we always advise to use an arbitrage position such as long gold / short silver.
Using the basis theory, we have been bearish on silver this year, against the consensus posting two videos (here and here).
Using the basis theory on gold today, we would suggest that now is a great time and a great price to buy gold.
And to those who may be shorting gold due to downward momentum, we would say this. Caveat venditor.
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very short supply of 90% lately for coin dealers, some of the half dollars(exp. walkers) have gained a 2-3$ premium over spot price of silver...
funny that anything in physical seems to be eerily scarce and sliding up in price...g, s, lead, brass, guns, fd food ...what's the market trying to say?
The market is trying to say that dollars are sliding down in price.
At least gold is not the only good money. Silver, platinum & high-value items like farm tools & food that will last can serve as shorter-term money. Take dollars out of the equation, work in energy+time & the answer is clear.
The only place I know this to occur is craigs list.
You buy pm's on craigslist?
I prefer mine to show up in an armoured truck
Before I have my ice fishing accident
there are some nice lakes around of course...many accidents...too many
were there periods of backwardation before the last gold breakout? I can't think of a good way to check.
Big time.
Jan/Feb 2011 is the analog here.
Yup.
Chicken Twittle sez:
The vaults are empty! The vaults are empty! The vaults are empty!
The vaults are not empty. The problem is the number of people that have claims on each ounce of physical gold. Each and everyone of them think they are the sole owner of that ounce when in reality 100 or more people share that ounce of gold.
..And when 1% of them decide it's crazy out there and it's time to take physical possession of those oz's.... BOOOM.
all your ounce are belong to us
Ah so, Yanke-san...
mus be "berong, or bewong." No ews ah awowd.
You have much to wearn gwasshoppah.
Kripke - didn't know you frequented this place.
So...the vaults are empty.
No, but who has the bigger gun wins the ownership tussle.
Trouble is,I think nonone ,iincluding Uncle Sam,has any idea how much
tungsten is within those bars.I think they are too scared to find out as well..
Scared? More like brazen and corrupt.
They didn't own that.
i did not have sex with that woman.
You belong to the government. Think about that. Well, you have.
The rest of the country is starting to.
You guys are all talking like there is a real "market". There is none. Stop already.
<i> I coined the term “temporary backwardation”, to describe this curious and very recent phenomenon. In our “new normal”, most gold and silver contracts go into backwardation as they get close to expiry.</i>
Fuck you, Wiener. You did not coin this term.
And how nice to see your authorship now hidden behind the title "Monetary Metals"
You're a fucking joke.
The spread goes into a carry as the delivery month expires. This happens with all futures if delivery is below cash/spot. Otherwise the spread goes into an inverse. It happens with all futures. This guy is an idiot.
I have been removing supply from the market, into my strong hands, for the last month in, for me, pretty large quantities.
I laugh at your sell off, I am converting more shit into real money as soon as I post this!
Take that Blythe, you $2 whore!!
Dog
PS- FUCK YOU BERNANKE!!
$2 whore? I think you're over valuing her!
Bear Stearns intially setlled at $2, (before taken out by JPM @ $10 on orders of the Fed)
My 1964 dimes will be very useful in the future....
You gotta admire the handsome young man with a plan;)
Fitty cent?
CME fixes the price.
There is no news that would support the drop in gold this week, so it is clearly being manipulated, however you want to explain it. Wait until the Chinese see these sale prices next week.
Fuck that bigger fool theory! You think the chinese are going to save your ass? These guys are in for themselves, buddy!
Greater fools have been sitting in fiat while the money supply supply has been blowing up asset prices, stocks and hard physical gold money. Stop trying to short stuff. The US Base money supply increased 6.5% last month alone. You are crazy if you are not buying physical on dips while we are hyperinflating.
Such backwardation (coupled with the GLD puke indicator) may be signaling that the current bear market in gold may be nearing its end. However, if a bottom is being made, the charts should will give us due notice. For the time being, the trend remains bearish for both gold (GLD) and silver (SLV), but a turning may be in the making:
http://www.dowtheoryinvestment.com/2012/12/dow-theory-update-for-dec-20-...
Fuck those charts. GLD and SLV are useless indicators for anything. Fraud ridden and corrupted bankster garbage.
They are a pitiful joke to anyone with half a brain concerning the precious metal sector. Avoid them like the plague.
In other words, the map is NOT the territory! :>D
thats the most up arrows i ever saw
GLD and SLV are merely a paper charade that means nothing. What we see is a shrinking supply of metals and an expanding supply of paper-ponzi-contracts: the result of this will be detachment of paper price VS physical price... The spot can be 25$/oz but you will have to pay 5 or more $ premium to get your hands on the metals, because bitchez we ain't gonna sell you our gold and silver cheap!
Paper vehicles created to destroy price discovery.....gl brotha pig
He's right though. The charts are a wreck.
Short silver? When I can get an oz for $30? No thank you.
Short paper at the top, then close and buy physical at the bottom?
Sounds good to me, provided you can catch the top.
Art Cachin recently noted that "Some Trader Has Made A Very Big Bet That Something Very Bad Will Happen Within The Next 60 Days" (http://www.businessinsider.com/art-cashin-on-big-vix-bet-2013-2). I wonder.. gold backwardation and VIX speculation.. coincidence?
"VIX speculation.. coincidence?"
If you actually follow that link and read the full post (rather than making up a theory based on what someone else is saying), you will see that the $11 millions spent was a 'call spread' (long AND short) with a fairly limited possible return and in NO WAY implying that "something very bad will happen in the next 60 days".
Honestly ... while most in here are rightly up in arms at the crap/lies/disinformation...that comes out of TPTB on a regular basis, I wish that some of those who come up with new theories on a regular basis at least check the basic facts.
Something is on it's way and it's not good.
It's called a carry...one could do the same thing with Wheat or Rice futures. It truly isn't that complicated.
Deep thinker on gold Antal Fekete has written that a true and persistent backwardation in gold would be the indication of very rough times just ahead. If one has doubt that a counterparty would deliver physical in the near future (via buying a futures contract and giving up some gold now), then backwardation may be a result. Backwardation would also be a sign of profound distrust in the PM markets...
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Yet, The Central Bank of DoChenRollingBearing is on a Buyer's Strike, even for gold. Why? N N Taleb's "Via Negativa", partially in penance, partly to simplify this Fringe Blogger's life and bring a little more peace...
"The Via Negativa: Less if More"
http://tinyurl.com/c4r29qb