Bernanke Will Resign - Good for Gold?

Jim Walker, founder and CEO of Asianomics, provided a very bearish economic outlook for 2011 that included further gains for gold, the resignation of Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, and the end of the euro “in its current form.”

“We’re advising people to be long gold, I think that continues to go up, certainly through the first nine months of next year,” Walker stated in a CNBC interview, “We’re kind of expecting that at that point that Ben Bernanke will resign and I think the gold price will fall on the back of that and then resume its rise.”  He did not provide a target price however for the yellow metal.

His rationale for Bernanke’s resignation is based on significant deflation in 2011, as the Fed’s quantitative easing programs are unable to prevent deflation from taking hold of the economy.  Accordingly, Walker remains bullish on U.S. Treasuries.

As for the euro and European sovereign debt crisis, Walker stated that “I think the euro is finished in its current form.  I think there will be an exodus of countries from the euro that just can’t stand the pain” of the austerity measures being implemented in many of the PIIGS nations.

“They are democracies after all,” Walker continued, “and people vote out governments that inflict pain on their population.”

Information from Gold Alert

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Gold Price Record High 2011!

Gold on the COMEX  rose to a decade high settlement price on a low trading, the last trading day of 2010, as the $U.S. lost ground against its major rivals, thus in turn enhancing gold's appeal as an alternative store of wealth.

The most active gold contract for February delivery jumped 15.5 dollars, or 1.1 percent, to $1,421.4 p/oz, this is the highest gold settlement price ever. Gold's previous record of $1, 416.1 p/oz was reached this year on the 6th of December. Traders are still pointing at the weakness of the $U.S giving gold it's strength, gold appears cheaper to investors trading in other currencies when the $U.S falls.

The current U.S dollar index, which measures the $U.S strength against a basket of six other major currencies, slid 0.7 percent to 78.94, still a way off from it's low of 72 in Jan 2010.

The Gold price has risen for the 10th straight year on the trot, closing out 2010 with a gain of 29.7 % in $U.S terms and it looks like we will see continued gains into 2011.

Most traders that I am talking to see the rising inflationary situation and the concern over failing fait currencies such as the $U.S and the Euro. There will be three things that will drive the gold price forward in 2011, firstly increase in investment demand, demand in asia (China) and central banks which were net sellers of gold for years they are now starting to buy gold and increase there holdings.

So it looks like the gold bull is here to stay, well for the moment anyway.

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Jim Rogers - On The Commodity Bubble

       

Jim Rogers, a great investor who co-founded the Quantum Fund, told me he was at a conference with 300 hedge fund managers, when he spoke to them he was amazed to find out that 76% of them had never owned gold.

"When you have a long bull market in anything, at the end everyone becomes hysterical, everybody owns it ... and then we will have a huge bubble in all of them," he says. Rogers estimates the commodity bull run, not just gold, is about halfway there.

Gold Information

Gold prices dropped for the first time in 4 days as investors sold out of gold before the year end to take advantage of the lastest rally and a 2 week high. 

The gold price lost 0.2 % to a low of $1,402.47 p/oz and is currently trading at $1,403.07. Gold gained 1.6 % over the last 24 hrs, the biggest climb since the beginning of December. Gold futures for February delivery on Comex in NYSE fell 0.2 % to $1,403.40 p/oz.

Gold has risen 28 % in 2010, topping out at $1,431.25 p/oz on December 7th, as Europe’s debt crisis and low U.S. interest rates spurred investment into gold. Gold is heading for a 10th consecutive year gain, the longest streak in at least 9 decades.

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Gold coins in India are sold like hot cakes!

MUMBAI (Commodity Online): Cash in on the gold glitters seems to be the mantra in India now a days. From large corporate house, state run banks, post offices to small time entrepreneur – everyone has one eye on Gold and the other on the huge volumes it is generating now a days.

After the stupendous success of Gold coins through Post Offices and the State Bank of India branches, Reliance Money, the investment and broking arm of Anil Ambani group, has now come out with flying colours in its Gold coin sales.

It has so far sold 1000 kg of gold coin so far and in the next four months, it will reach 2000 kgs, sources in Reliance Money reveals.

Most of the gold coins that Reliance Money has sold from its own outlets were in the form of gifts whereas the Post Office sales were more or less rural or semi urban areas for individual investment purpose.

The public sector SBI has continuously failed in its attempt to reach out to the customers in its sales as the information dissemination it should have generated is slow and not user friendly.

Most of the gold coins in India are in the range of .5 gram, 1, 5 and 20 grams denominations. Reliance had earlier joined with Indian Post for leveraging the reach of post office across the country.


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Post From Commodityonline.com 

Gold at $15,000 p/oz!

Gold at $15,000 in the next 5 years, is it possible? Interesting take on the gold market.

Gold Drop's 1% on Chinese Rate Rise

The spot gold price dropped close to 1% this morning on the news that China had raised its interest rate over the holiday weekend.

This is the Chinese central banks second interest rate rise in as many months, the Chinese are trying to curb the strong inflationary pressure that there economy is under at present. Spot gold fell to a 7 day low before bouncing back a little to $1,374 p/oz, other metal price also have been adversely effected by the news out of China.

China is a key market currently for commodities and all economic data coming out of the country has an immediate impact on commodity market prices. However with this sort term dip I dont think it wil be long into the new year before we see the spot gold price jump back over the $1,400 p/oz mark.

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Gold Coin Investment

Why should you decide to invest in gold coins, rather than other forms of physical gold?

Gold coins have the advantage of having two value features, first being the actual bullion value and secondly the coin or rarity value. I like to own gold coins but I will always buy at the coins melt value or below.

How do you do this?

Typically trawling the internet is a good place to start. Last year I  brought 4 Swiss Francs for $180 U.S each when the actual melt value that the time was over $230 U.S., I just searched the internet for gold coins for sale and found a classified advert with the coins for sale stating, "any offers considered",  the seller of the coins was a little strapped for cash at the time and simply took the best offer on the day. Currently these coins are selling on different web-sites across the internet for $300-$320 U.S a coin, thus giving me a profit of around 50% in the last 9 months.

I see gold coins as just another alternate way to invest in gold and maybe a better way to store value as given that a coin has some added historic value to it. So why don't you try it yourself, the deal of a decade comes along every day, it just depends on if you are out there looking for it or not.

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Suriname witnesses new gold rush

It's interesting to see how different countries are effected by the current surging Gold market, I guess that the less developed economies can see the real value in Gold, rather than that of paper fait currency.

We have heard many commentators implying that a U.S. economic recovery that leads to the sort of growth that was seen before 2008 will give investors reasons to divest from gold. As the year end approaches and another year is on us, it seems wise to us to look at this carefully. All of us would dearly love to see a real recovery, with rising housing prices moving back to levels seen in 2008, strong employment data and consumers with plenty of disposable income to make life stress free again. In such a climate, one can understand that these desires would be accompanied by a fall in the gold price, which to many is a thermometer measuring the ailments of the developed world economies. But is that the reason that gold is at current levels?

The developed world economy grows as the gold price rose
Let’s take a look back to the year when the gold price started to rise, back in 2,000. What was the economic climate of the developed world like then? When the Volker hiked interest rates in the early eighties,, confidence in the dollar grew and world growth took off. As the turn of the century approached, developed world economies looked good. The euro made its entrance onto the world monetary stage and the Eurozone grew steadily. By 2008, life was even better. The bulk of the world’s executives had only seen these good times. There appeared no unmanageable reason for not expecting the future to be more of the same. During the days from 1999 to 2008, the gold price rose nearly five times. Could we relate this to the economic state of the developed world? No, of course not! In fact it would almost be wrong to say that the gold price rose. At $275, it was very undervalued.

Why was it at $275 and rose from 2,000 onwards?
The $275 price of gold was a result of the long-term central bank campaign to ‘discredit’ gold in favor of the dollar then the euro. Britain sold half of its gold in 1999 at that price. The fact that European central banks decided to limit their sales of gold to amounts that the gold market could handle without taking the gold price down was the key factor.

The arrival of the gold Exchange Traded Funds unleashed pent-up U.S. institutional demand and brought gold back to the investment world.

The realization by gold mining companies that the profits from hedge positions in a gold market, where the price was persistently falling were disappearing caused them to re-think their policies. The profitable hedge positions, which so many of them had, could limit their income to prices lower than the rising gold price. These positions had to be closed to increase profits. Shareholders demanded that they were. Around 400 tonnes of these hedge positions were bought back annually. A combination of the above factors ensured that the gold price would drift upwards towards a level it should have been in 1985.

The came the ‘credit crunch’
When the growth of the east met growth in the West, the oil price took off and nearly doubled in price. This was the pinnacle of world growth. It was a time when the worry was, could the resources of the world accommodate global growth? It was also the zenith of U.S. economic power. Then came the unexpected credit crunch as the property bubble burst. All markets fell, including the gold and silver markets, but for different reasons.

Why did they fall when the hope in the future was so strong? We would favor calling this an investor meltdown. There appeared every reason to expect companies to continue to perform well in the future, when the investment was looked at, but the change had hit investor’s capacities to invest. Too many investors has leveraged their positions so that when house prices fell then equity and other markets fell, there was a need to liquidate holdings and find cash to cover the margin and other calls. So markets, such as gold and silver, which should have risen in that economic climate, fell as investor investment capacities shrank.

History shows that when such breakdowns in prices happens, gold and silver act as ‘safe havens’, but they weren’t between mid-2008 and most of 2009. Right now, U.S. investor capacities remain well below what they were before then. Markets in general have stabilized, but not grown, in an investment climate that has been marked by falling confidence in the monetary system and the rising fear of instability and uncertainty.

The gold and silver markets also stabilized. With the Fed’s policy of QE, the developed world’s economies have not spiraled down into deflation nor have they promised a real recovery. What has happened is that in this fearful financial climate, business goes on as usual, but with little hope of seeing the pre-credit crunch days.

As the credit crunch crossed the Atlantic and morphed into the sovereign debt crisis fears of a systemic collapse have heightened. The attention has swung to a falling confidence in the currency system itself as far too much debt is being carried by nations responsible for confidence in the paper currency systems. The expectation is for the sovereign debt crisis to worsen in the future.

The Gold market changes structure
The change in the gold and silver markets has been structural. It has become global and embraced peoples from diverse cultures, nations and stations in life.

- From the limitation of gold sales by European central banks, to the cessation of those sales, to central banks becoming buyers of gold the ‘official’ gold market has changed direction completely.

- U.S. institutional investors have joined the line of investors holding for the long-term [not trading for profits], a change from past attitudes. The advent of the gold E.T.F.’s have drawn new large investors to the gold market [the same has happened in silver].

- As Europe’s sovereign debt crisis brings the Euro into question, Europeans, who have experienced many currency collapses in the last hundred years are turning to physical gold held out of reach [they hope] of their governments.

- In India as that country’s middle classes go global and enlarge locally, gold demand is overcoming rising prices in line with growing disposable income. This year should see them buy close to record levels of bullion. As always they do not buy for profit, but because they see gold as money and to ensure financial security.

- In China the last decade has seen that country turn into the world’s second largest economy and headed to be the largest, with more than four times as many people as the U.S. From a tiny gold market at the turn of the century, it is growing phenomenally with the support of its government. With its people new to wealth, their propensity to save is unwavering [saving around 40% of income]. The Chinese, from the government down, favors gold as both money and a means of saving. With inflation running ahead of interest rates there, gold is proving itself a leading investment medium. The potential gold demand from China is many times the level it is and was in the developed world.

Will gold fall in a real recovery?
Against the background painted above, it is clear that the gold price is independent of the state of the U.S. economy. Mr Ravi Kumar in Mumbai does not understand the implications of U.S. house prices rising or falling. Mr. Wang Ho of Shanghai is not overly worried about U.S. Treasury Yields. They are driven to buy gold by completely different forces, as old as man himself. He wants to protect himself and his future with it. This won’t change if U.S. growth were to jump to 10%, let alone 3%.

The reasons why gold rose [pre-2008] had very little to do with U.S. economic growth. Those reasons will continue to take gold higher in 2011 and onwards, because they have to do with the monetary system not economic growth or the lack thereof. Where U.S. economic growth will affect the gold price in a recovering investment climate, is that U.S. investors will be financially more able to invest in gold and silver. The rise of gold is about the state of the developed world’s money is!

But far more importantly the gold market has moved primarily out of the developed world and India to encompass the entire global economy. As money, as a reserve asset and as an international measure of value there are considerably more ramifications of far greater importance to gold investors than a recovering U.S. economy. What are they?

Thank to Gold Seek for the use ful information.

Golden Day

Well it's another golden christmas day and with gold trading remaining tight leading up to the holiday period, I can see we are in for another gold bull run in the new year.

Gold this year started off trading around the $1,100 p/oz and having broken through the $1,400 p/oz which is in excess of 25% p/oz, which is a lot lower than the $2,000 p/oz mark that some gold commentators were calling at the beginning of 2010.

Where to now for gold for 2011?

I can see the the gold market opening up in the new year with a push up over $1,400 p/oz and with the U.S Fed not showing any signs of changing the current policy on printing their fait currency anyones guess where we will end up.

The general public will start to play it's part in this market soon driving up the gold prices to a point where we could see a large correction, firstly we are yet to see the average Mr Joe on the street start buying and talking about how many bars of gold they have tucked away. When we see the subject of the current gold price talked about at parties, Sunday afternoon bbq's and over a coffee or a beer this when it becomes interesting, much the same as the real estate boom when everyone was a property expert the same people will now becoming experts in the gold market and we know what happened then!

Anyones guess when this will happen, but i am sure it will and when it does watch the gold price fly.

Foe more useful gold information check out www.easygoldinvestment.com 

Gold News

GOLD dropped yesterday as buyers cashed in gains amongst a downgrade of Spain's sovereign debt rating and favorable US data.

December contracts dropped down $US6.80, or 0.1 per cent, at $US1380.00 a  gold troy oz on the Comex division of the NY Exchange. The most active contract, for Feb delivery, settled to $US6.90, or 0.1 %, at $US1380.50.

For more Gold News check out www.easygoldinvestment.com 

Vietnam Gold Story

Nong Nam has been steading grinding away saving her hard earned cash. However the young nurse won't be putting her money in a local bank, with the value of the Vietnamese currency slowly dropping. Nong Nam has made the wise investment decision of gold investing seeing gold being a much safer bet.

Jewelry shops and pawn brokers, back street money changers have had a sudden influx of customers over the last few weeks, desperate to dump their Vietnamese dong for $U.S or gold as the rapid Southeast Asian nation is buffeted by double-digit inflation and the near collapse of one of its largest government companies.

These problems have highlighted the dark-side of the Communist government's push for such fast economic growth, which has lifted millions out of poverty but  in turn helped created new problems that the country's technocrats are no able to control.

For more gold information check out www.easygoldinvestment.com

He who has the gold rules!

With the gold price being bullish for nearly the last 10 years, I would say at present its a Golden Opportunity. Many people now are seeing the full value in owning Physical gold, the is evident in asian countries  where physical gold is traded over the counter on a daly basis. Interesting fact that I found out the other day was that Thailand has a larger Gold reserve than that of Australia, Thailand having 99.5 metric tonnes of Gold and Australia only having 79.9 metric tonnes. With the Chinese government also pushing its citizen towards the value of holding physical gold, maybe in the years to come we will see the east as a large holder of the worlds available gold reserves.

Checking the gold price today it had moved higher on the news that revision to the upside of GDP turned out to be lower than expected in the U.S. The U.S dollar is also trending lower on the back of this news against the Euro.

For more gold information visit www.easygoldinvestment.com

When can we tell that Gold has peaked?

My friend Doug Casey has frequently written that you'll know the bull market for gold has peaked when there's a picture of a golden bull tearing up the dollar or the New York Stock Exchange on the cover of Time Magazine.

I have a similar view, but with a different indicator. 

I'm sure you've seen those TV commercials, fliers, and billboards that say "WE BUY GOLD". The business model is simple-- they take in whatever gold you can find around the house (a false tooth, granny's wedding ring, etc.) and trade you for worthless paper money.

If that's not bad enough, they capitalize on people's ignorance of the gold market and offer a ridiculously low valuation, sometimes less than 50% of the spot price for gold. People are getting ripped off, and they're happy about it because they're able to sell their 'junk' for a few extra bucks.

These are the types of things that are common in a rising bull market that has plenty of room to run-- the public, largely ignorant about gold, is happy to trade physical wealth for worthless paper.

At the top of the market, we'll be seeing the exact opposite. The public will have wised up; the vast majority of people walking the streets will know the price of gold and be able to distinguish a Maple Leaf from an American Eagle.  

At this point, everyone will want to own gold, and the signs will change from "WE BUY GOLD" to "WE SELL GOLD"... and they'll be everywhere.

Entrepreneurs, flush with all the bullion they've been racking up over the years from false teeth and wedding rings, will start unloading their gold holdings to the very people who supplied them to begin with... all at a handsome profit.

In certain parts of the world, we're already seeing early signs of this. I've seen hoards of Chinese people queuing up to buy small gold bars in Shanghai during their lunch breaks. Same in India.

Gold "ATM" machines are sprouting up in Europe and Asia-- you can pop a few hundred euro (or your credit card in some cases) into what looks like a vending machine, and out comes a small, assayed bar of gold. 

I've been following the spread of these machines with great interest, and I noticed that the first of them arrived to the United States in Boca Raton, Florida a few days ago. 

Don't get me wrong-- this one machine doesn't constitute a top. Not even close. There would have to be thousands of these machines across the country at McDonalds and Starbucks before that happens.  If you need extra convincing, ask your neighbor what the price of gold is.

Years from now, though, I'm willing to bet that the sucker who ends up paying the highest price ever for an ounce of gold before the metal starts to decline will probably do so standing in front of one of these machines at a shopping mall somewhere in suburbia. 

Another 'top indicator' that I look for is the occupancy rates for safety deposit box facilities like The Storage in Hong Kong or Commonwealth Vault right here in Auckland. 

When these firms have a long waiting lists, or new facilities are sprouting up, it suggests that public awareness for gold is increasing... and the more that happens, the closer we get to the top.

Again, this is also starting to happen. Singapore's recent Freeport facility leased out to capacity almost instantly, and you're hard pressed to find an available safety deposit box at any of Singapore's banks. Buy hey, that's Singapore... not exactly representative of the entire world.

Here in Auckland, Commonwealth Vault has plenty of availability, and they charge peanuts.

Bottom line, while some of these 'top indicators' are starting to emerge, I think it will be several years before they're ubiquitous. People are only starting to wake up to the reality that unbacked paper currency is fundamentally flawed, and it will be a long time before this belief becomes widespread once again, just as it was in ancient times.

In the meantime, as long as central banks keep pumping their currencies full of hot air, gold should continue to have strong, long-term growth potential as the 'anti-currency'. 

Post from www.sovereignman.com

http://www.sovereignman.com/expat/when-the-gold-market-tops/

Gold Price & Upcoming Iran Conflict

With all the media focus now been driven towards  Iran as having or trying to develop nuclear weapons, the ever posing threat of an upcoming conflict between US/Nato forces against Iran, this will only put more pressure on the Gold Price trend to remain upwards.


In times of conflict in the past we see Gold become a safe haven as people seek a safe place to store their wealth, this will keep driving the Gold Price up. So the combination between the unstable world financial system and the possibility of a 3rd war in the Middle East region I can say medium to long term I am very Gold orientated with any of my investments, whether that be in physical Gold or in Gold stocks I think it's a safe bet.

So at this stage let take the sit back approach to the Iran conflict but I dare say with Iran having 10-15% of the worlds know Oil reserves it only a matter of time before a US led Nato invasion takes place.

For more Gold Information visit www.easygoldinvestment.com 

Where is the Gold Price Going??

Is Gold to expensive? Its never the right time to buy gold, people always waiting for the dips in the market but the overall long term trend with Gold at present is up and in my view we will see the Gold Price reach $2,000 p/oz before we see any dramatic pull back.

Why is this?

The fact that the US Fed is on a path at present of never ending money printing, this is a typical reason that is sited. I believe though even  with the media preaching about a record Gold Price we are still not at the inflation adjusted high of the 1980's, which in today's terms would be in excess of $2,350 p/oz.

So sit back and let see the Gold Bull continue until $2,000 + p/oz.

For more Gold Information check out www.easygoldinvestment.com 

Golf Coin - Information

The American Gold Buffalo was authorized under Public Law 109-145 dated December 22, 2005. The Gold Buffalo coin is the first United States gold bullion coin minted in .9999 fine (24 karat) gold. By comparison, the American Gold Eagle is minted in 22 karat gold. The coins were first issued in 2006 in both uncirculated and proof versions.

The design for the Gold Buffalo coin is taken from the Indian Head or Buffalo Nickel issued from 1913 to 1938. It was designed by James Earle Fraser, once a student of Augustus Saint Gaudens. The obverse depicts a Native American. The obverse inscriptions include "Liberty", the date, and mint mark. The reverse depicts a Buffalo on a raised mound. The reverse inscriptions include "United States of America", "E Pluribus Unum", "In God We Trust", ".9999 Fine Gold", the denomination, and gold content.

American Gold Buffalo coins have been issued as gold bullion coins sold through the US Mint's network of authorized bullion purchasers. Only one ounce bullion coins have been offered. Since 2006, the US Mint has offered collectible proof versions of the coin. In 2006 and 2007, only one ounce proof coins were issued.

For 2008 only, fractional denominations were announced. This included a one-half ounce coin with $25 face value, one-quarter ounce coin with $10 face value, and one-tenth ounce coin with $5 face value. These coins were offered both individually and as part of a four coin set containing one of each denomination. The fractional denominations were offered in both proof versions, and collectible uncirculated versoins bearing the "W" mint mark. After only one year of offering, the fractional versions of the Gold Buffalo Coins were discontinued.

Coin Specifications

Dates: 2006-present
Mint: West Point
Weight: varies based on denomination
Composition: 99.99% gold
Diameter: varies based on denomination
Thickness: varies based on denomination

More Gold information at www.easygoldinvestment.com

US dollar, Good as Gold????

The dollar's days as reserve currency may be ending, but it won't be because China decided to dump its pile of US Treasuries. No, no. It will be because austerity measures in the US lack of demand for imports making it less necessary to trade in US$. It will be because Barak's "weak dollar" policy led to the demise of Bretton Woods 2 which kept interest rates low by recycling capital into the US. And, it will be because Congress and the White House were incapable of fixing the financial system, reigning in Wall Street, or restoring credibility to the markets. These are the real reasons the greenback is toast and Gold is the way forward.

As Volcker opines, "We’re faced with broken financial markets, underperformance of our economy and a fractious political climate" because we no longer have "a successful governing model" that the rest of the world admires.  Absent radical restructuring and a new regulatory regime, the dollar will be unable to maintain its "exceptional role" as the world's reserve currency.  It's only a matter of time. And, it then will be Gold  that yet again will be the only true store of value.

For more Gold information 

Jim Rogers - Gold Investment Strategy

Jim Rogers is alway a good source fro Gold information

Gold Price Information

Trading on Monday we saw, gold rise to above $1,390 p/oz. The $ however slipped compared with the Euro currency once again.
With a sharp increase in the gold price  brought back investors that had either sold out within the last 7 days. The Gold Price has dipped a little near enough to 2% which has scared of some Gold Investors.

Most people are using Gold at present to hedge against dollar holding and bonds etc.

About a week ago gold prices hit $1,430.95 p/oz, a new record but investors took advantage of the sell off opportunity.

December delivery of US gold futures was quoted at about $1,397 per ounce. Experts agree that while the dollar is struggling, gold will stand very strong.

The same about euro many woes. As the European Union finds it difficult  to gain control over its economy, gold will be seen as favorable. 

Check out Easygoldinvestment.com for more gold information and updates.