Self-directed retirement schemes with a gold and/or precious metals allocation are a powerful retirement planning tool and considering the continuing financial malaise affecting the U.S., they will continue to offer a genuine long-term savings option.
Gold bullion and pensions are a powerful combination. Pensions are extremely tax efficient investment structures that have been ignored by the general public for too long despite being very easy to set up.
Today, all eyes are on the ECB rate decision. The ECB is expected to leave rates unchanged at 12:45 GMT (7:45 EDT), but may indicate that it will reduce rates soon which would be gold supportive, particularly in euro terms.
China bought more than 100 tonnes of gold from Hong Kong for a fifth straight month in September as demand for bullion bars and jewellery stayed strong. Chinese demand appears to have fallen marginally in recent days but remains on track to overtake India as the world's biggest store of wealth gold buyer this year.
Demand for gold in the Middle East remains robust and there has been an eightfold increase or 700% increase in demand in recent years. Geopolitical uncertainty in the region, from Libya to Egypt to Syria and Iraq and Iran is leading to demand for bullion.
Thus, the Dubai Gold & Commodities Exchange plans to list a spot gold contract in the second quarter of next year. The bourse, which offers gold and silver futures, is talking to local merchants and industry organizations and aims to get regulatory approval for the product by early 2014, Chief Executive Officer Gary Anderson told Bloomberg. Demand for bullion in Dubai expanded eightfold in the last six to 10 years, he said.
Dubai accounts for about 25% of global physical gold trade and the United Arab Emirates will grow as a precious metals trading hub partly because of its location near the largest consuming nations, according to the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre, which owns a majority stake in the DGCX.
We have long pointed out that silver is not an ‘investment’ per se rather it is a store of value and a form of financial insurance. Silver is to be bought for the long term - until it has to be sold due to a need to raise cash – indeed a permanent holding.
“This could turn into a very violent wake-up call for [screen-traded gold]. People talk about ‘fiat currencies’, but we also have ‘fiat gold.’ Volatility is too cheap right now.”
Already, the Chinese have stopped accumulating dollars - preferring safer currencies, infrastructure, hard assets and commodities and of course gold. Even a small amount of Chinese selling could lead to substantial dollar weakness and much higher bond yields plummeting the U.S. into another recession.
Jansen notes that this is a new record for exports for the small country with a yearly estimate of 2,912 tons for exports. It is surmised that 1,100 tons of the gold bullion is set to flow East to China or Hong Kong.
Faber, whose advice has protected millions of investors in recent years, warned of a global systemic crisis possibly due to the massive size of the global derivatives market which is now worth over an incredible $700 trillion.
He warned “when the system goes down,” and only plastic credit cards are left, “maybe then people will realize and go back to some gold-based system.” He wisely said that, “I advise everyone to have some gold.”
