Tag Archives: Comex

The Precious Metals Bull Market Is Just Revving Up

Financial Markets, Gold, Precious Metals, , ,

The monetary “gods” at the Federal Reserve have created the perfect monetary policy recipe to fuel gold, silver and mining stocks to new all-time highs and beyond. While the bubbleheads in the financial media have been garishly cheerleading the general stock market as it heads to an extreme overvaluation that will not end well, the mining stocks have outperformed the big three stock indices by a considerable margin.  As an example, since the March bottom, GDX is up over 100%, while the Nasdaq Composite is up 51.6% and the SPX is up 40%. And the mining stocks are just getting warmed up.

Relative to the prices of gold and silver, the mining stocks are still extraordinarily undervalued. In 2011 when gold peaked at $1900, the HUI index was trading over 600. It just recently crossed over 300.

Bill Powers of Mining Stock Education and I discuss the bullish set-up for the precious metals sector, including the gold/silver ratio, specific junior mining stocks and a couple other timely topics:

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You can learn more about the Mining Stock Journal by following this link:   MSJ Subscription Info.  In the next issue released July 9th I discuss several of the stocks I follow, recommend and in which I invest, capital management strategies and I present a junior exploration “venture capital” idea that has the potential to be a 5-bagger from its current level.

Comex Data Shows The Potential For A Run On Gold And Silver

Financial Markets, Gold, Market Manipulation, Precious Metals, ,

The last few delivery periods for gold and silver on the Comex have experienced a record number of longs standing for delivery. For gold, April’s record was topped by June’s record. Sandwiched in between these to “front month” contracts was a record amount of gold “delivered” in May (May is a non-front month contract). July silver appears right now to be headed for a record number of “deliveries.”

I put “deliveries” in quotes because a large majority of the entities which stand for “delivery” never remove their bars from the Comex vaults. For all we know the banks are using unallocated bars, or even bars that don’t exist, to satisfy the terms of the “deliveries.” That said, if the stoppers (the entities that take “delivery”) begin in large numbers to remove their bars from Comex vault custody and move the bars to alternative safekeeping, the potential exists to cause a run and eventual default on the Comex.

Chris Marcus and I discuss this topic in our latest weekly podcast:

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You can learn more about  Investment Research Dynamics newsletters by following these links (note: a minimum subscription period beyond the 1st month is not required):  Short Seller’s Journal subscription information   –   Mining Stock Journal subscription information

Note:  I do not receive any promotion or sponsor payments in any form from the mining stock companies I present in my newsletter. Furthermore, I invest in many of the ideas personally or in my fund.

“Major Battle Underway In The Gold Market”

Financial Markets, Gold, Market Manipulation, Precious Metals, , , ,

The chart (and blog title) above is from James Turk via King World News. Turk was making the point that the western Central Banks, via the bullion banks, are short $4 billion worth of paper gold on the Comex. With all of the Central Bank money printing, and the Fed is by far printing the most, it would be a disaster for the fiat currency system if the price of gold were to break free and rediscover price discovery. It’s only a matter of time until this occurs. But for now the Central Banks are making a concerted effort to do what they do best: defer reality for as long as possible.

For now the goal is to prevent gold from breaking above $1800, which means the invisible “battle line” is at $1790. I remember when gold was trying to get over $400. It seemed like it took forever. But once $400 fell (shortly after Elliot Wave aficionado, Robert Prechter, proclaimed gold was going back to $50), it didn’t take long for gold to double (about 18 months). I think once gold gets through $1800 and holds, it will challenge the all-time high at $1900 relatively quickly. For as bullish as I am on gold, I’m 3x more bullish on silver.

A subscriber was concerned about the possibility of the miners getting hit hard in the next general stock market crash. I suspect the miners will get hit initially but then stage a rally. But that’s why I advise always leaving yourself plenty of cash to take advantage of big sell-offs that will likely recover quickly and take the market higher.

We’re in an ideal period of time for gold/silver to move higher with all of the money printing and concomitant currency devaluation. As gold/silver move higher the mining stocks will eventually catch a big bid from the mainstream investing public and soar. Look at how quickly the mining stocks recovered from the March massacre. (And from the Thursday/Friday morning price slam as the Comex was opening).

NOTE: The commentary above is from the last issue of my Mining Stock Journal subscription newsletter. In this issue I provide any updates and recommendations on my core portfolio recommendations.  I also provide a brief review of Vizsla Silver ($VIZSF) and Mako Mining ($MAKOF).  You can learn more about my newsletter here:   Mining Stock Journal

The Money Printing Road To Perdition – Got Gold?

Financial Markets, Gold, Market Manipulation, Precious Metals, , , ,

Where’s the “V?” – Obviously the Fed has injected monetary cocaine into the stock market to make it appear as if stocks are “discounting a “V” economic recovery.  But a “V” on Main Street is nowhere to be found (graphic is from Crescat Capital -the comment bubble is my edit):

The chart above plots the NY Fed’s weekly index of economic activity (red line) vs. the Bloomberg U.S. financial conditions index, which attempts to measure the relative strength of the bond, equity and money markets (white line). With the amount of money the Fed has injected into the financial system, it’s no surprise that the financial conditions index is soaring. However, as I’ve suggested in recent issues, this money is having little, if any, effect on real economic activity.

Compounding the insanity of the current market valuations is the fact that no one has any idea just how bad the economic damage has been from the shutdown of the economy and the virus crisis. We won’t know for several months the degree to which unemployment and overall economic activity will recover. Certainly this idea that there will be a full recovery by the end of the summer (per several White House officials) is completely foolish.

The economic numbers that appear positive are merely a “statistical” bounce attributable to the “re-opening” during May from the highly depressed state of the economy during the lock-down period. But household debt delinquencies – credit card, auto and mortgage – continue to rise, while there’s little evidence that the majority of those who lost their jobs will be re-employed any time soon, if ever.  What will be the effect on the economy when unemployment benefits expire for a large portion of those receiving them now and who can not find a job?

The Fed asserts that its money printing is necessary to restore economic health.  But this is poorly disguised Orwellian propaganda.  Most of the Fed’s money printing has been used to keep the Too Big To Fail banks from choking to death on subprime and non-performing “assets,” such as leveraged loans to the retail and oil sectors, CLO liabilities and counter-party exposure from OTC derivatives (credit default swaps, primarily).  The resumption of money printing in September 2019 is evidence of that assertion. The rest of the printed money is funding the enormous load of new Treasury issuance.

Gold hit a new eight-year high today. This comes interestingly on the heels of escalating tensions with China. Trump likely does not understand this, but China holds several aces up its sleeve which can be used to undermine the U.S. dollar and detonate the ticking time bombs embedded in the U.S. financial system.  The most notable wild card held by China is its increasing control over the global physical gold market.

In the context of these comments from a Vice Chairman at the China Securities Regulatory Commission (i.e. a CCP member), it’s quite possible that China is starting to flex its muscle slowly to reset the price of gold to more closely align the vast spread between the paper derivative gold price determined in London and NYC and a true “price discovered” price of gold that reflects the underlying supply/demand reality:

Fang Xinghai, a vice-chairman at the China Securities Regulatory Commission, said that as China mainly relies on the US dollar payment system in international deals, it makes it vulnerable to possible US sanctions.

“Such things have already happened to many Russian businesses and financial institutions. We have to make preparations early – real preparations, not just psychological preparations,” Fang said at a forum organised by Chinese media outlet Caixin.

Fang’s comment came at a time when Washington is pondering how far it should go to use the US dollar’s key role in international payment to punish Chinese individuals, companies and financial institutions for alleged involvement in issues such as Xinjiang and Hong Kong.  (Caixin Gloal, via Zerohedge)

I’m just speculating here,  but China may be starting to flex its muscle in the gold market. It’s a widely accepted proposition that China’s Central Bank holds many multiples of the amount of gold officially reported.

China is the world’s largest producer of gold and now its setting its sights on acquiring robust western hemisphere gold mines.  Two State-controlled Chinese mining companies have made three notable western gold mining company acquisitions this year: one with a mine in Canada (TMAC); one with a soon-producing gold mine in Columbia (Continental Gold); and one in Guyana (Toronto-based Guyana Goldfields).  All three mine properties host very high-grade gold resources.  China would not spend hundreds of millions to acquire high margin gold mines to sell the gold produced at a manipulated,  artificially low price of gold.

Beyond China’s “invisible hand,”  I don’t know how else to explain the strength in the gold price during a period of time – late 2019 through present – when China and India have largely been absent from the gold market based on import data, while at the same time the Comex paper gold open interest has declined over 40% since January.

Gold has been surprisingly strong this morning, hitting an eight-year high at $1785 (August gold basis). If August gold can jump over the $1788-1790 area, which has been defended vigorously by the paper gold slinging western bullion banks, the $1800 level may fall like Gaul…

Fact, Fiction And Fraud At The Comex

Financial Markets, Gold, Market Manipulation, Precious Metals, , , ,

“I think there will be a full monetary system reset after the world has had enough of Jay Powell and his digital printing press.”

The alleged gold flow into the Comex and amount of gold for which contract longs are taking “delivery” is at a historical extreme. I use “delivery” because “taking delivery” means being assigned an electronic warrant that records ownership transfer of a Comex registered bar presumably (but not guaranteed) to be sitting in a Comex-approved vault.  It  does not mean that the party taking delivery takes possession of  a physical bar.

Chris Marcus and I discuss the unusual activity at the Comex and the LBMA in the podcast below.  But first read this excellent article from Ronan Manly at Bullionstar.com, who dissects fact from fiction about the Comex vault and delivery reports:

However, given the opacity of the wholesale gold market and the unconvincing explanations from its fronting organizations the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) and COMEX operator CME Group (e.g. closed refineries, grounded flights), those looking for a ‘Theory of Everything’ framework to connect all of the above have had to do so on their own.

While Bloomberg and Reuters are content with repeating spoon-fed handouts about all of the above – eating the breadcrumbs instead of following the trail – and between them have published at least 30 articles on the subject, thankfully there are many on the sidelines who are more inquiring and less gullible, hence the skepticism, speculation and debate.  “The Curious Case of Comex Gold Deliveries…”

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You can learn more about  Investment Research Dynamics newsletters by following these links (note: a minimum subscription period beyond the 1st month is not required):  Short Seller’s Journal subscription information   –   Mining Stock Journal subscription information

Note:  I do not receive any promotion or sponsor payments in any form from the mining stock companies I present in my newsletter. Furthermore, I invest in many of the ideas personally or in my fund.

Gold Manipulation Is Carefully Orchestrated – And China Knows It

Financial Markets, Gold, Market Manipulation, Precious Metals, U.S. Economy, , ,

The bullion banks – at least on the Comex – have reduced their risk exposure to gold and silver derivatives over the last several months, which means reducing their short exposure. This is likely in response to the rising risk that they will be unable to meet increasing long-side counterparty delivery demands.

Chris Marcus of Arcadia Economics and I discuss the trends developing in the precious metals market as well as China’s awareness of the western Central Banks’ efforts to manage the gold price:

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You can learn more about  Investment Research Dynamics newsletters by following these links (note: a minimum subscription period beyond the 1st month is not required):  Short Seller’s Journal subscription information   –   Mining Stock Journal subscription information

Note:  I do not receive any promotion or sponsor payments in any form from the mining stock companies I present in my newsletter. Furthermore, I invest in many of the ideas personally or in my fund.

Is A Run On Comex And London Gold & Silver Occurring?

Financial Markets, Gold, Market Manipulation, Precious Metals, , ,

Indications of stress developing in the physical gold and silver markets of London and NYC were apparent last summer, well before anyone ever heard of the term “coronavirus.” The shortage of gold in NY that led to roll-out of the infamous “4G enhanced gold” contract that fractionalized LBMA gold bars for “delivery” on the Comex is just one of the “footprints” in the snow that lead us to this conclusion.

In addition, the big spread between spot gold and gold futures which persisted for several weeks and now has spread to the silver market reflects a large dislocation between the physical market and the paper derivatives market for silver.

Chris Marcus of Arcadia Economics and I discuss what appears to be a drain on the physical supply of gold and silver on the Comex and LBMA:

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You can learn more about  Investment Research Dynamics newsletters by following these links (note: a minimum subscription period beyond the 1st month is not required):  Short Seller’s Journal subscription information   –   Mining Stock Journal subscription information

Note:  I do not receive any promotion or sponsor payments in any form from the mining stock companies I present in my newsletter. Furthermore, I invest in many of the ideas personally or in my fund.

The Comex Has Big Problems

Financial Markets, Gold, Market Manipulation, Precious Metals, , , ,

An article from Bloomberg was published 2 days ago which alleged that “New York Gold Traders Drown in Glut…”  The Comex is now reporting there’s 26 million ozs of gold in Comex vaults, 17 million of which is in the “eligible” account.  This is up from 9 million total ozs at the end of March, 5.5 million of which was “eligible.”

I find it amusing that the mainstream media swallows the Comex data reports without fact-checking or insisting on an independent audit of the bars.   Ronan Manly of Bullionstar published a research piece in which he dug up a letter from the CME to the CFTC which stated that the CME believes the deliverable supply of “eligible” is 50% of the reported number.  That’s if we take the CME’s estimate prima facie.

The world was told 6 weeks ago that it was impossible to transport gold bars oversees and a scheme was rigged to make London gold (400 oz bars) available on a fractional basis to satisfy Comex deliveries at the option of the party taking delivery. But the bars were to remain in London. Suddenly the Comex “found” several million ozs of gold in its warehouse stock report. Bars that are unaccounted for and supposedly sitting in London vaults.

In all likelihood, the 17 million ozs of gold added to Comex vaults is a product of double-counting bars in London. I know many of those reading this might find this to be “conspiratorial,” but it’s been long acknowledged that the LBMA is running a fractional bullion system.

That said, assume the 26mm ozs of gold are real. Discount the 17mm “eligible” by the CME self-admitted discount factor of 50% and that leaves 17.5 million alleged gold ozs available for delivery.  But the gold contract open interest is 510,000 contracts, or 51 million ozs of paper gold. In relation to the 17 million ozs of gold that may be available for delivery, it’s highly misleading – and probably intentionally misleading – to call the supply of gold in NYC a “glut.”

Add to this deceptive Bloomberg article a report from Reuters that CME banks are pulling back from the Comex.  To begin with, HSBC attributed its $200 million dollar hit from gold trading to its London operations. The article also claims that 400 tonnes of gold have been shipped to NYC despite the narrative in April that gold couldn’t be moved from London to NY.  I surmise the “movement” of gold is digital-based.  As Bill Murphy commented, “we were told there’s trouble getting gold to NY – now they say there’s too much…Don’t believe any of it – they are scared to death about something.”

There’s a big problem at the Comex and that’s why the bullion banks are pulling away from it.  ScotiaMocatta is closing its precious metals operations and taking a loss to do it. Mocatta Bullion has been in operation since 1684 and was one of the largest operators on the Comex in gold and silver.

I’m not sure it’s even credible to say the bullion banks are pulling away from the Comex. The gold open interest was over 800,000 contracts (80 million ozs of gold) earlier this year. The banks have been working hard to reduce their open interest and short exposure – that much is true. But historically the open interest on the Comex for gold has ranged between 200,000 and 400,000 contracts. In that context how can a drop in o/i to 500k contracts be considered “pulling back?”

Since late August 2019, the activity on the Comex has been what many of us consider strange, if not engulfed with the scent of desperation. The fractional 400 oz gold contract and the two articles discussed above are a few examples out of many. Recall the CME introduced the “pledged gold” category back in October 2019. “Pledge gold” is just another form paper derivative gold. HSBC jumped on that designation immediately. We find out a few months later that HSBC had impaled itself on its gold trading and custodial activities and required the “pledge gold” designation in order to meet the collateral requirements as a clearing member of the CME.

As with the fiat currency fractional banking  monetary system, the bullion market in London and NYC has become a fractionalized system of derivatives and other forms of paper gold (leases, hypothecation, lending) backed by a tiny amount of real physical gold relative to the amount of paper claims.  This fractional bullion system is crumbling at its core and the propagandist articles like the ones above being disseminated through the mainstream media are a reflection that something is seriously wrong at the Comex.

If you don’t have possession of the gold you think you own, you do not own it.  The world will eventually understand why that assertion is true…

QE To Infinity Leads To A Systemic Reset Involving Gold And Silver

Financial Markets, , , , ,

Scott Pelley, “60 Minutes:” “Where does it [money] come from?” Do you just print it?”

Jay Powell: “We print it digitally. So as a central bank, we have the ability to create money digitally. And we do that by buying Treasury Bills or bonds for other government guaranteed securities. And that actually increases the money supply…No, there’s really no limit to what we can do with these lending programs that we have. So there’s a lot more we can do to support the economy, and we’re committed to doing everything we can as long as we need to.”

I almost fell off my chair after I reading Powell’s comments on “60 Minutes” public relations stunt on behalf of the Fed. There’s two important points that stand out like like silent screams in Powell’s words: 1) 99% of the currency – not money – printed by the Fed goes directly to the banks or funds Government debt; a small trickle might get to Main Street to “support the economy;” 2) the Fed is willing to print an infinite amount of currency to keep the financial system propped up. In other words, the Fed is indeed printing helicopter money but it’s dropping it on the banks and not the economy at large.

This is why gold soared during and after Powell’s interview and it’s why the gold/silver price management team (Fed, ECB, BoE, BIS) has been working overtime in an effort to prevent gold and silver from going parabolic. That effort is doomed to fail.

Chris Marcus from Arcadia Economics and I discuss the Fed’s money printing and the likelihood that it will lead to an eventual reset of the global monetary system:

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You can learn more about  Investment Research Dynamics newsletters by following these links (note: a minimum subscription period beyond the 1st month is not required):  Short Seller’s Journal subscription information   –   Mining Stock Journal subscription information

Note:  I do not receive any promotion or sponsor payments in any form from the mining stock companies I present in my newsletter. Furthermore, I invest in many of the ideas personally or in my fund.

GLD / SLV Are Frauds – If You Want Gold And Silver Buy Physical

Financial Markets, Gold, Market Manipulation, Precious Metals, U.S. Economy, , , ,

“If you want to buy gold and silver, why are you buying GLD and SLV? The best case if that you are going to index the price movement in gold and silver. But when you sell GLD they don’t  send you bars of gold, you get dollars in your account  – devalued dollars.  The dollar is being devalued everyday by the Fed. All fiat currencies are being devalued by Central Banks.”

GLD and SLV are “Enrons” waiting to happen. The ratio of paper gold liabilities to the availability of physical gold and silver is minimally 100:1.  The fraud in the paper gold/silver market is mind-blowing in its proportion.

Chris Marcus of Arcadia Economics and I discuss the why the bullion banks and the modern London Gold Pool is collapsing:

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You can learn more about  Investment Research Dynamics newsletters by following these links (note: a minimum subscription period beyond the 1st month is not required):  Short Seller’s Journal subscription information   –   Mining Stock Journal subscription information