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February 18 – Gold $903.25 up 45 cents
(PM Fix) – Silver $17 down 10 cents
"The suppression of truth has
long been among the highest priorities for the upper echelons of power and authority. For a minority
elite that clings to power by the manipulation of the masses using an
omnipresent cocktail of lies, deception, mass-produced ignorance and
ingrained propaganda, the destruction of truth is an essential method of
control. It is a formula that has worked to unmitigated success for the elite
throughout history, whether the shadows of power stretch from ancient
pyramids, marble temples, castles, mansions or halls of governance. Those
holding the levers of power and control understand, better than most, that
the dissemination of truths to a blind majority could spell the end of their
reign, for truth brings sight to the blind." … Manuel Valenzuela
GO GATA!
The commodity markets remained on fire in overseas trading with copper
rallying 9 cents in London
to the $3.59+ per pound mark. Crude oil was up 56 cents to $96.06 per barrel.
Platinum continued to fly, gaining another $55 to $2106. Palladium was up $14
to $459.
Gold
began to take off until the Gold Cartel showed up at work in London. At exactly 3 AM Eastern time (the
usual), they prevented gold from taking out $908, and down she went. That was
all she wrote.
Silver
was weak all morning, in direct contrast to almost all other metals.
In the
near future we will be finalizing the speakers and format for our upcoming
"GATA Goes To Washington" conference. I think you will find the
conference to be both stimulating and much fun. Here is a real surprise
… in addition to many attendees from the US, we have registrations from
the following countries thus far:
The
Netherlands
China (Shanghai)
Portugal
Saudi Arabia
Malaysia
UK
Canada
Viet Nam (2) (Ho Chi Minh)
India
Spain
Switzerland
Portugal
Talk
about how the world has gone upside down from days gone by. So far there are
three attendees to the GATA conference from Communist countries, and STILL,
the FREE financial market press refuses to even mention GATA, much less deal
with all we have discovered and done over the years. And THIS after one of
the top economic advisors for Russia’s President Putin,
Andrey Bykov, attended
Gold Rush 21 … who told me at its conclusion that it was the finest
conference he ever attended (Gold is not far from doubling since Andrey said that).
Think
about coming to our Washington
conference if you can make it. There were a couple of people who might have
attended Gold Rush 21, but they didn’t register because their gold/silver stocks were down at the
time, producing a lessened wealth effect. As many of you know, the price of
gold began to explode a couple days after GR 21, as did the gold/silver
shares. Both of those invited potential attendees greatly regretted not
attending, especially when they learned how special that conference was.
For those new Cafe members who want to grasp the significance of why Andrey Bykov said what he said
about Gold Rush 21, you only need watch what was said by the speakers at the
time ... to watch our 24 minute highlight film of this historic gold
conference go to:
www.GoldRush21.com
For those who want to know more about the evolving details of the
conference, go to:
www.GATA.org
MIDAS:
The
price of gold bottomed around $256 and took off after our GATA African Gold
Summit in Durban, South Africa on May 10, 2001. That
is a fact.
The
price of gold blew out The Gold Cartel's long standing $6 Rule two days after
Gold Rush 21 when it was $436 at the time (August 8 and 9 in 2005) and went bonkers
in the ensuing 9 months. That is even a MUCH more important fact, as the
dollar only fell from 89 to 87 during this incredible price surge.
Those
are both documented FACTS.
GATA
expects the impact of our March on Washington
to be more effective than both of our other well received conferences
combined! Do you want to be a part of history in the making?
As
always, we at GATA encourage delegates bring their spouse and family, when
possible, to attend our functions. In the event, your family does not wish to
attend the conference we are in the midst of developing family programs
offered from the Hyatt Crystal City during the day.
From
our location at the Hyatt Crystal City,
near the Ronald
Reagan International
Airport, you are
ideally located for easy access to the entire DC area. Visit monuments and
museums, take in a show or game, check out Old Town Alexandria or Pentagon
City Shopping or tour historical sites, all just minutes away.
Please
watch the www.GATA.org site for program offerings for you to choose from
during the conference and booking information through the Hyatt Crystal
City.
In
addition we are offering, to encourage participation during the evening
activities, we are offering a special rate of $150 for your spouse or partner
to attend the Opening Reception and Friday Evening GATA Gala.
APRIL
17 (evening reception), 18 and 19 are the dates of the conference. APRIL is
when the G-7 is expected to give their go ahead for the IMF to sell gold
(only if approved by the US Congress. Now THIS for APRIL…
Hi Bill
(a long time GATA member) --
And you
thought the precious metals market was being managed !!!
Within
the last week, I have been notified by a representative of my bank in Europe,
one of the largest private European investment banks, that his bank as well
as other European banks, are "under pressure" from their government
to liquidate all stocks, bonds, and mutual funds held on account for their US
clients (both US citizens and legal residents of the US) and to hold only
cash assets on account for these customers. He said that he expects these
actions to become effective as soon as April and was "forewarning"
me and my wife of these actions for the purpose of our own investment
planning.
What
this tells me (and perhaps your sources or other GATA members across the
Atlantic can confirm any knowledge of this impending action) is that the US
has entered into an agreement with its EU allies to create massive liquidity
from the non-cash assets of legally held European accounts of US Citizens,
for the purchase of currency exchange to prop up the dollar.
As you
know, there was a lot of consternation on the part of European exporters when
the Euro rose to USD$1.50 and genuine concern about the economic outlook for
the EU's economy in the face of a US recession.
This action could be meant as a "stop gap" measure to try to hold
the dollar from sinking further into the abyss or to create the
"appearance" of a strengthening dollar against the Euro. Short
term, it may be gold unfriendly in that the PM market does, on occasion, move
inversely with the dollar. This may be a cartel attempt at a new angle of
attack on gold. The ECB is definitely concerned about gold rising too fast
against their currency just as the Fed is here.
I am
not at all surprised, were this action to proceed, that my government would
stoop to such measures in such an unabashedly covert and underhanded manner. My
immediate concern is what action to take, if any, to protect our financial
assets in the wake of such news.
Yes,
you are definitely right Bill.......there are no free markets anymore !!!
Respectfully,
S
PS:
Bill -- One other member of my family has also been contacted about this. Our
bank is in Luxembourg
no less !! So the "veil" has been broken
as a result of reporting changes in the EU's new
banking laws. And as a consequence, the US has a heavier hand to play
with US Citizens holding financial assets abroad.
***
None of
us know if there will be IMF gold sales or not. We do know The Gold Cartel
and friends threw this black cloud out to spook the market by holding the
THREAT of massive sales over the market. This maneuver
gave them cover to bomb gold, like they did last week, when the price should
have skyrocketed, based on the financial market/commodity news, and ought to
be staring at $1000 by now. The children threw another tantrum and did their
desperate thing again.
What
will come of all this potential IMF gold supply is up in air for the moment. Have to wait and see what comes down the pike. What
is NOT up in the air is the growing worldwide demand for gold … demand
which is going to blow The Gold Cartel out of the water no matter what they
do in the short term.
Much
was made by the pundits re slowing Indian demand for gold. This was
documented for months on a daily basis in the MIDAS More gold goodies
commentary. That news was no surprise to Café members. What was not
highlighted by these same pundits was how other investment demand was so
powerful that it could take gold to new highs, despite India’s
disappearance.
As
brought to your attention recently, investment demand by the VERY WEALTHY in
the US
took off late last year and in January especially. While the general
investing public remains gold clueless, some of the BIG MONEY in the US has seen
the light and are making their move into our arena.
Then there
is the growing demand in China, which is going to grow by leaps and bounds in
the years to come … as they have only been able to buy physical gold
for a couple of years now. Voila:
www.chinaview.cn
BEIJING, Feb. 15 -- China
surpassed the United States
as the world's second-biggest retail gold market after India in 2007
by volume despite rocketing prices of the metal.
Total
consumer demand in China's
mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan
reached 363.3 tons, up 23.5 percent from a year earlier, the World Gold
Council said in a research report.
India had a gold demand of 773.6
tons last year, while the figure in the US sat at 278.1 tons.
Mainland
gold demand, including jewelry and retail
investment, topped 326 tons, up 26 percent from 2006, and the first time it
surpassed the 300-ton level. Mainland gold-jewelry
demand reached 302 tons in 2007,
a year-on-year growth of 23.5 percent.
What
makes the Chinese market stand out is the growing demand in the fourth
quarter, when most other markets saw demand drop as costs soared.
Gold
prices hit a three-decade high and topped more than US$900 an ounce on
concerns over inflation, global economic uncertainty, the likelihood of an
American recession and a weak US dollar.
In the
fourth quarter, mainland gold demand rose 18 percent to 94.3 tons. In India gold demand tumbled 64 percent to 83.9
tons and in the US
it fell 15 percent to 110.7 tons.
"It's
a milestone for China's
gold industry with demand surpassing the 300-ton level," an industry
veteran said yesterday.
Concerns
over domestic inflation and the volatile stock market also added to the
investment drawing power of gold as a haven.
China's
gold demand this year is again unlikely to be affected by rising prices as
Chinese tend to buy at high prices in the hope of even further increases,
World Gold Council veterans said in January.
Chinese
gold demand was stagnant during the late 1990s and early 2000s but started
going upward from 2003. China's
gold sales volume stood at 207.6 tons in 2003, a 2.0 percent rise
to end a five-year wane.
The
gold-sale rise is also in line with the country's economic take-off.
China is expected to
have a gold consumption of 600 tons in 2010, according to industry insiders.
The
nation last year surpassed South
Africa as the world's biggest gold-mining
country.
(Source:
Shanghai
Daily)
***
Demand for gold in the Middle East is
on the upswing too:
Total Middle East gold consumption increases from 315.6
tonnes to 348.4 contributing to 10% increase
The World Gold Council's regional office in Dubai announced that the UAE gold jewellery
consumption increased by 8% in 2007 compared to 2006 despite the 15% increase
in gold price.
-END-
GOLD
SALES SOAR
DUBAI: Gold sales in the Middle East jumped last year as strong regional
economies stoked demand for the precious metal, the World Gold Council (WGC)
said yesterday.
The
precious metal rose more than 30 per cent last year amid safe-haven buying
due to credit market turmoil and worries about the health of the US economy,
which sent the dollar to record lows, as well as record high oil prices.
Spot
gold hit a record high of $936.50 an ounce at the beginning of this month.
"Comparing
the Middle East performance to the rest of the region... the high and
volatile gold prices did not affect the gold market to the extreme as per the
other regions," WGC managing director for Middle East, Turkey
and Pakistan Moaz Barakat
said.
Earlier
this year the Middle East's largest gold consumer virtually stopped exporting
scrap gold as jewellers take advantage of record-high prices.
Demand
in the UAE also rose.
-END-
And now
it appears that India
is coming back in the market too, as reported in this column late last week. The
mainstream gold pundits have been reporting old news re India. What
they failed to explain to their readers is that the bullion dealers over
there have run down their inventories and must enter the market again to
satisfy demand.
This is
no surprise. When the gold price rallies like it did, the sophisticated
Indian buyers get "sticker shock" and back away. They then wait for
dips and come back in. Sometimes the dips are not to their liking, but they
have to come back in anyway … after they become accustomed to a certain
price level, like around $900 and below, as is the case at the moment.
To sum
up this drift (headline anyway):
No
let-up in the demand for gold
Robin Bromby | February 18, 2008 SOMETIMES it pays to take a
step back and look at the big picture - especially now that so many sectors
are being knocked about. With property companies and banks being in the news
for all the wrong reasons, investors can apparently still look to the
resources sector for assurance.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23229198-18261,00.html-END-
A
picture is worth a thousand words, as they say. To give you some idea of the
depth of The Gold Cartel’s blatant childish fit they threw last week,
we only need regard the following charts:
Weekly
dollar chart
http://futures.tradingcharts.com/chart/US/WWeekly CRB chart
http://futures.tradingcharts.com/chart/RC/WWeekly platinum
chart
http://futures.tradingcharts.com/chart/PL/WWeekly gold
chart
http://futures.tradingcharts.com/chart/GD/WSHEESH! ... as SARGE, my editor, would say.
More gold goodies:
Indian
ex-duty premiums: AM $3.44, PM (61c), with world
gold at $905.70 and $905.60. Above, and somewhat below, legal import point.
The rupee started steady, but subsequently softened to close at $1=R39.775. The
stock market slipped by 0.37%. A few minutes before the Indian bullion market
formally closed, world gold spiked up abruptly by some $3: it may be that as
a consequence the PM premiums were understated.
Attached
is a note by the sagacious Chris Wood, of CSLA, pointing out that something
very odd is happening in the US
banking system:
“For
the first time since the data began the series on banks’ non-borrowed
reserves has gone negative, falling to minus US$19bn in the fortnight to 13
February…The banks are…,GREED & fear
guesses, increasingly giving the Fed the garbage collateral nobody else wants
to take…The reality is that “structured finance”, by
offering a combination of illusory guarantees and liquidity, has produced a
monster. This is going to be the instrument of the most colossal wealth
destruction and certainly higher than the current US$400bn
guesstimates…GREED & fear would assume that the financial situation
is probably just as critically extended in Europe."
***
CARTEL CAPITULATION WATCH
US economy stuff:
"FACED with tightening
credit and a slowing economy, America’s
consumers are being forced to scale back their purchases, but high prices of
necessities are keeping their overall purchases rising at a reasonably strong
rate.
The retail sales report for
January showed overall retail sales that were stronger than many economists had
expected, and was well received by the stock market on Wednesday, the day it
was released. In total, retail sales are running more than 4 percent over the
level of a year ago, an increase that is above the overall inflation rate and
much stronger than the sales were when the last recession began in early
2001.
But the overall change is
misleading. One reason for its strength is that prices of necessities are up
sharply over the past year, meaning that those items consume more and more of
the household budget, leaving less for other things.
Over all, Americans are
spending about 13 percent more on food and energy now than a year ago. The
figures, as are all the figures shown in the charts accompanying this
article, are based on three-month moving averages of seasonally adjusted
figures, and compare this year with last year."
New York Times, Floyd
Norris, Feb 16, 2008
***Bill
H:
To all:
this past week saw less visible volatility to the public
eye. The stock indices which "Joe and Jane public" watch saw less
volatility. However there was tremendous volatility in commodities, such as
the grains and energy complex. The big story was the credit complex. The ARM
[auction rate municipal] market
saw some rates go as high as 20 %. This because
of the uncertainty with MBIA, AMBAC, and the other insurers, plus the big
brokers backed away and did not support this market once the bids dried up. These
brokers in the past would step up to smooth out any poor or failed auctions. They are afraid to/and don't have the capital
to lend the support now needed. Imagine 20% rates on tax free municipal
bonds! I thought the Fed just cut rates! The bond insurers have until next
Friday to come up with a plan, or face ratings downgrades. What is happening
in the credit markets now is "our collective worst nightmare" and
"mathematically expected and assured". Virtually all foms of debt have been impacted by this credit crunch. Once
a credit based economy experiences a "lack of faith" the end is
near since more credit is needed just to sustain life. We have seen the
entire debt complex from commercial paper and ARM munis,
to credit card and auto loan
securities, to home equity and all forms of mortgage loan securities, to AAA Munis, all the way to the most exotic forms of
derivatives, freeze up/blow up/implode.
What we
have not seen yet to any large degree is a major convulsion in the US
Treasury markets. THIS IS NEXT! The federal deficit is set to explode with
receipts cratering, and expenditures exploding because business is contracting. This fiscal trainwreck will happen while the Fed lowers and lowers
rates, and pumps and pumps more money into the system which further debases
the Dollar. We are watching desperate measures being used to buy time, and
obscure bankruptcies from public view.
Since
the Fed cut rate 1.25% ALL Treasuries with a maturity longer than 3 years
have risen in rate and fallen in price. Not drastically yet, but rates have
risen. We are watching the last haven of US debt start to bend. So far
this has been in somewhat slow motion. We could be very close to Treasuries
convulsing. Foreigners have funded US deficits since 1980. If foreign capital
decides that either the Dollar is too risky of a currency, or that the US
Treasury is not the "AAA" credit that it once was, we go directly
into implosion mode without passing go or collecting $200. I assure you,
things will speed up! Our entire system is predicated on credit. Bad things
are already beginning to happen across the the
whole economic spectrum. Can you imagine what things will be like if Uncle
Sam gets shut out of the credit markets? EVERYTHING will change!
This is
another way of saying foreigners won't accept $s. Not buying Treasuries, or even selling Treasuries would be a function
of not wanting Dollars. The results will be disastrous. We will be forced for
the first time in x number of years to actually live within our means. This
poses a big problem because the US no longer
produces much in the way of real goods. Less than 1 in 10 jobs now are in the
manufacturing sector. In the last 10 to 15 years the US has spent
nearly all of its accumulated capital ie[fat], sent more than half of its manufacturing overseas ie[muscle], ruined the world's reserve currency ie[blood], and bankrupted the greatest empire of all time.
None of us made this situation what it is, everyone of us needs to do what is
necessary to protect ourselves and loved ones. Regards, Bill H.
Over in
the UK…
Hi
Bill,
I imagine this story is true. So no private sector solution could be found. Not
great news when you think how long they have tried. Also, it emphasizes how
hard it will be to rescue bigger banks.
BEST
WISHES,
Bob
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7249575.stm
Hi
Bill,
I hope you are having a good weekend.
This
link takes you to a website about a new book, just published in the UK, about the
massive lack of accuracy in newspaper stories. I think the book is well worth
reading and whilst it does not cover any real financial reporting stories in
any depth, it makes it easy to understand how the gold cartel get away
without any real scrutiny from any newspaper or TV. The book is mainly about
the UK
press, but it does show convincingly, in my opinion, that the modern
journalist has little time and little support from his employers to write
accurate and properly researched stories.
http://www.flatearthnews.net/home
Best wishes,
Bo
From the FT:
Nerves
on edge as lender results beckon
By
Peter Thal Larsen Sun Feb 17, 12:35 PM ET
If the
stock market is to be believed, Britain's biggest banks are
severely damaged. After more than six months of market turmoil - which
culminated on Sunday in the nationalisation of Northern Rock - investors are
braced for the worst when the country's largest lenders start reporting
results this week...
-END-
In Iran:
Iran Starts Oil, Petrochemicals
Exchange in Tehran
Feb. 17
(Bloomberg) -- Iran,
holder of the world's second- largest oil and gas reserves, opened an exchange
for crude and petrochemicals as the government encourages private investment
in the energy sector.
Trading
began today in petroleum products such as light polyethylene, a plastic used
for packaging. The Tehran-based Iran Mercantile Exchange is using ``spot'
rather than futures trading, requiring immediate payment and delivery of the
physical product…
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=amcLG_E_EuyI&refer=home-END-
Adrian from Moscow:
Bill,
Here is a real-time example of how a fiat currency implodes due to letting
the printing presses run 24/7.
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5g2RPSaqb
qphRrvYYIaUsAV27LZwD8UQVTO06Even the
American BLS hedonic massaging would not do much for the Zimbabweans…
QUOTE
In
early October, the state central statistical office gave official inflation
at just below 8,000 percent. It then suspended its monthly updates on
inflation because there was not
enough in the shortage-stricken shops to calculate a regular basket of goods.
END
Zimbabwe inflation has
now exceeded 66,000% per year. It now holds the dubious honor
of having the highest inflation of any country in the world. Voltaire has
been proved correct again - "Paper money eventually returns to its
intrinsic value ---- zero."
Cheers
Adrian
TOCOMGood Evening All:
On February 15th the seven big gold shorts reduced their net short
position by 660 contracts to 72,919 contracts.
STDJ
increased their net short position by 345 contracts to 30,101 contracts.
http://www.tocom.or.jp/souba/gold/torikumi.htmlIn silver they
added 60 contracts to their net short position bringing it to 709 contracts
(60kg deliverable equivalent).
http://www.tocom.or.jp/souba/silver/torikumi.htmlBest Wishes,
Scott
Bill,
In the February 15 session on the TOCOM Goldman Sachs INCREASED their short
position by a substantial 1008 contracts to bring their net short position to
13,270 contracts. I have included an updated chart of the GS short position
and the POG. It can be seen that while the overall down trend is in tact GS
is now cranking up their short selling. In the words of Citigroup it
certainly looks as if this is timed to cap the gold price! Considering that
the Cartel needs access to the IMF gold stash would imply that this could be
a last hurrah.
 
Cheers
Adrian
Something
to think about:
Hi,
I found an article in Kitco headlines
http://www.busrep.co.za/index.php?from=rss_Business%
20Report&fArticleId=4256504
on chronic lung disease in S
African gold miners. If you look up silicosis (if you don't know about it)
you will find that the matter is a really big deal. I can easily imagine the
matter leading to massive successful lawsuits (not just what is reported on
in the article), or seizures of mines by the government--and I'm not sure
that either piles of monster damage claims or nationalization would be unfair
(and arguably might not be enough).
There is a huge amount of medical literature on silicosis (mainly coal miners
I think, though this is not a matter I am extremely familiar with), so I
would guess that for decades a fair amount of knowledge must have been
available to the S African mining companies on risk & preventive
measures. Even if, as presumably is true, the article is right in saying that
there is no known safe level for silica in air, the same is true for
radiation, and reasonable authorities
keep workers from being heavily exposed to radiation.
Being neither an authority on lung
disease nor on mining, I do not know, but I would guess that open-pit miners
would be less at risk, possibly much less at risk if (as I would hope would
be true in the US) they wear face masks or something like that if it is too
dusty.
J.
Gold,
silver and the shares remain THE historic investment opportunity of a
lifetime!
GATA BE IN IT TO WIN IT!
MIDAS
By : Bill Murphy
Lemetropolecafe.com
Le Metropole
Café is a Membership site. Visit and Experience a 2 week Free Trial !
Bill Murphy is chairman of
the Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee and proprietor of www.LeMetropoleCafe.com, an Internet site devoted
to financial commentary with emphasis on the precious metals. He can be
reached at :
LePatron@LeMetropoleCafe.com
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