Category Archives: Gold

04.21.13
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Motley Fool: Gold Fell to $1,400? Welcome to the New Gold Rush!

With everyone talking about how the great gold boom is over, that with the price of gold tumbling to $1,400 an ounce the back of the yellow metal as a safe-haven investment  has been broken, you might be surprised to learn there’s actually a new gold rush going on. With every drop in the price of gold (and silver, too), individuals are buying as much of the precious metal as they can.

According to the former assistant secretary of the Treasury under President Reagan, Dr. Paul Craig Roberts, the price collapse was an orchestrated attack on gold and silver coordinated by the Federal Reserve. The assault saw prices plunge an unprecedented 10% in one day at one point.  SPDR Gold Shares  (NYSEMKT: GLD  )  is now 12% lower from where it started April, while the iShares Silver Trust  (NYSEMKT: SLV  )  is down 18%.

For the tinfoil hat brigade, the collapse, coming as it did just days after President Obama met with the heads of Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, and Bank of America, was enough of a nexus to indicate that this was a response to the threats posed by gold (and even Bitcoin) to the Federal Reserve system.

Gold Price in US Dollars Chart

Gold Price in US Dollars data by YCharts, Shaded area represents U.S. recession.

While I’m not sure I buy into conspiracy theories like that, I do know that if it’s true, then the Law of Unintended Consequences must surely be at play. There’s anecdotal evidence everywhere that despite the dumping of tons of paper gold assets on the market, demand for physical gold and silver has never been greater.

The new gold rush Bullion dealers are reporting they’re seeing individual purchases every bit as strong as occurred back in 2008. My bullion and coin dealer, JM Bullion, has upwards of a three-week delay in shipping American Silver Eagles, yet dealers everywhere are finding it increasingly difficult to get supply. Buyers from India to China are also racing to scoop up gold, with the China Gold Association reporting retail sales tripling in the country between April 15 and April 16, while Hong Kong and Macau have reported volume surges of as much as 150%.

Click below for the full article.

http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2013/04/21/gold-fell-to-1400-welcome-to-the-new-gold-rush.aspx

04.18.13
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Business Insider: Here’s What We Know About The Sad State Of Wall Street Now That Earnings Are All In

In the last week or so every Wall Street bank has reported its earnings, so now  it’s time for the takeaways.

As usual the headlines of the week didn’t tell the whole story.

A quick glance looks like this: JP  Morgan beat estimates with a 33%  jump in profits, Morgan  Stanley‘s profits dipped but the bank still  beat expectations, Goldman  Sachs is taking champagne  showers, Bank  of America is eeking  out some kind of improvement, and Citi  is finally coming into its own after shedding a load of toxic assets.

Now for the news you can read between the lines.

Sales and trading is on life support, especially if you trade fixed income,  currencies or commodities. The traders at Goldman Sachs did better than everyone  else, but as CNBC’s  John Carney pointed out, they were still down 7% for the quarter.

Bank of America’s S&T revenue fell 20% (run by Tom Montag, who still gets  paid more than BofA CEO Brian  Moynihan) and Morgan Stanley got killed, with its revenue falling 42%.

On the other hand, Wealth Management, once one of the most boring sectors on  The Street, is carrying banks. This is especially true at Morgan Stanley (where  the unit is up 48% from this time last year) and Bank of America, where  assets under management grew $67.7  billion year-over-year to $745.3 billion.

Another business where Wall Street is making some cash is in debt  underwriting. Thanks to our current low yield environment, companies that were  unable to issue bonds before can do so now. The demand to buy these bonds is  there from clients searching for yield any way they can get it. Wall Street is here to help.

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Click below for the full article.

http://www.businessinsider.com/wall-street-banks-q1-2013-earnings-2013-4

04.17.13
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The News Tribune Reports…. Goldman CFO: Still ‘very close’ to crisis

Goldman Sachs reported what seemed like a good first quarter, but analysts were more concerned about the bank’s future than the past three months. They peppered the chief financial officer with questions about impending regulations, and investors sent Goldman’s stock down even as other banks rose.

By the numbers, it was a decent quarter. Profit rose 5 percent and revenue was up 1 percent. Both beat analysts’ expectations. Bond underwriting soared 69 percent as issuers rushed to take advantage of low interest rates and a hearty appetite for corporate debt among investors. CEO Lloyd Blankfein described the results as “generally solid.”

Goldman’s leaders sounded a cautious tone on a conference call with analysts, however. They said investors were still nervous about the economy and that the bank would continue to focus on controlling costs.

Click below for the full article.

04.17.13
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Wall St. Cheat Sheet: Are Your Income Taxes Fair?

With the official tax deadline in the rear view mirror, many Americans can now reflect on how much they paid Uncle Sam. If you feel like you are paying more than your “fair share,” you are not alone.

Unsurprisingly, Americans are losing faith in the fairness of income taxes. According to the latest Gallup survey, only 55 percent of Americans regard the income tax they pay as fair, the lowest reading since 2001. The results are based on Gallup’s Economy and Personal Finance poll and includes adults from all 50 states. It was conducted in the early part of April.

Click below for the full article.

http://wallstcheatsheet.com/stocks/are-your-income-taxes-fair.html/?ref=YF

04.16.13
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Schiff: 2/3 of America to Lose Everything Because of This Crisis

A record breaking stock market is distorting a frightening  reality:  The U.S. is being eaten alive  by a horrific cancer that will ultimately destroy the economy and impoverish  the vast majority of its citizens.

That’s according to Peter Schiff, the best-selling author  and CEO of Euro Pacific Capital, who delivered his harsh warning to investors in  a recent interview on Fox Business.

“I think we are heading for a worse economic crisis than we  had in 2007,” Schiff said.  “You’re going  to have a collapse in the dollar…a huge spike in interest rates… and our whole  economy, which is built on the foundation of cheap money, is going to topple  when you pull the rug out from under it.”

Schiff says that, despite “phony” signs of an economic  recovery, the cancer destroying America stems from a lethal concoction of our  $16 trillion federal debt and the Fed’s never ending money printing.

Currently, Bernanke and company is buying $1 trillion of  Treasury and mortgage bonds a year. That’s about $85 billion per month against  a budget deficit that is about the same level.

According to Schiff, these numbers are unsustainable. And  the Fed has no credible “exit strategy.”

Click below for the full article.

http://moneymorning.com/ob-article/schiff-us-will-win-currency-war.php?code=3243#.UW4XY1_D_HZ

04.16.13
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Reuters: Stock Markets Rally, lifted by gold, earnings, and data

Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange, April 11, 2013. REUTERS-Brendan McDermid

Stocks jumped more than 1 percent on Tuesday, a day after their worst decline since November, as gold prices rebounded and earnings from Coca-Cola and Johnson & Johnson improved the outlook for first-quarter results.

Inflation data, which reinforced expectations that the Federal Reserve will keep its stimulus plan in place, added to bullish sentiment.

The price of gold jumped 1 percent after its record daily drop in dollar terms on Monday. The SPDR Gold Shares ETF (GLD.P), which fell 8.8 percent on record volume Monday, rose 1.1 percent to $132.80. The S&P 500 materials index .SPLRCMA climbed 1.9 percent, leading the benchmark S&P 500 higher.

The market’s advance followed the S&P 500’s drop of more than 2 percent drop on Monday, giving the index its worst one-day percentage loss since November 7. The S&P 500 is up 10.4 percent since the start of the year after enjoying a strong first-quarter run, partly as a result of the Fed’s continued stimulus efforts.

“Yesterday I think was a bit out of line … But I think the trend is that the market is consolidating, that we’re going to see a little bit of a pullback here over the next month and a half or so, and then we’ll get on to greener pastures,” said Brian Amidei, managing director at HighTower Advisors in Palm Desert, California.

Click below for the full article.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/04/16/us-markets-stocks-idUSBRE93006T20130416

04.15.13
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More on the Stock Drop: Michael Belkin Predicts 40% Stock Market Drop; Other Opinions and Articles

Hedge Fund Consultant Michael Belkin spoke at The Big Picture conference, predicting a 40% stock market drop in the coming 12-15 months. Belkin joins Sam Mamudi to discuss his case for a market drop.

What do you think. Check out the video here:
http://live.wsj.com/video/michael-belkin-predicts-40-stock-market-drop/A1C9660A-0321-4E82-BA0E-EFD4CD092D40.html#!A1C9660A-0321-4E82-BA0E-EFD4CD092D40

More Articles on Today’s Stock Crash:

AL.COM: Stock market takes biggest drop this year
http://www.al.com/business/index.ssf/2013/04/stock_market_takes_biggest_dro.html

Huffington Post: Stock Market Suffers Worst Drop Of The Year On China, Commodities Concerns
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/15/stock-market-worst-drop_n_3087334.html?utm_hp_ref=business

Yahoo News: Stock market takes biggest drop this year
http://news.yahoo.com/stock-market-takes-biggest-drop-201935964–finance.html

UK’s The Telegraph: Business news and markets: as it happened – April 15, 2013
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/business-news-markets-live/9988168/Business-news-and-markets-as-it-happened-April-15-2013.html

04.15.13
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Daily Finance: Dow Has Worst Day This Year as Commodities Plunge

NEW YORK (AP) – A steep fall in commodity prices led the stock market to its worst day this year on Monday, as worries about the global economy resurfaced.

The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 265 points, its biggest loss in five months.

The first trigger came from China. News that the world’s second-largest economy slowed unexpectedly pummeled oil, copper and other commodities. In the stock market, companies that produce oil and mine for metals fared the worst. A slowdown in China, a huge importer of basic materials like copper, would stymie profits at those companies.

Click the link below for the full aritcle.

http://www.dailyfinance.com/2013/04/15/dow-jones-stock-market-drop-commodities/

04.15.13
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More on the Gold Price Drop

Earlier we posted Peter Schiff’s thoughts on the gold price drop.  What do you think, is this a market correction?  Will the price of gold rise as the economy and the dollar weaken or has the economy stablized?

Below are a series of articles on the topic with information and varying opinions on the subject.

Gold plunges to lowest in more than 2 years
http://news.yahoo.com/gold-plunges-lowest-more-2-181027539.html

Zero-Hedge: What happened the last time we saw gold drop like this?
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-04-15/what-happened-last-time-we-saw-gold-drop

Daily Paul: Gold and Silver Doom and Gloom or Crack Up Boom?
http://www.dailypaul.com/281931/gold-and-silver-doom-and-gloom-or-crack-up-boom

Ben Bernanke Swamps the Gold Bugs
http://news.yahoo.com/ben-bernanke-swamps-gold-bugs-173938980.html

Business Insider: The Gold Collapse Is Personally Costing Ron Paul A Fortune
http://www.businessinsider.com/ron-paul-investment-gold-2013-4

CNN Money: Gold plunges to two-year low
http://money.cnn.com/2013/04/15/investing/gold-prices-china/index.html

Reuters: Gold investors run for the exits, prices suffer biggest-ever drop
http://in.reuters.com/article/2013/04/15/markets-gold-idINDEE93E0CK20130415

04.15.13
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Peter Schiff on CNBC About Gold Drop: We’re Headed To A Currency Crisis One Way Or Another

Video of Peter Schiff talking about potential currency crisis and his belief in Gold. Also below that is an older video of Peter Schiff on MSNBC debating policies of the FED as part of a panel. One thing to think about is the role of the Federal Reserve and whether it is good policy to inflate currency and print money out of thin air?