Ne détenez pas d’or dans une banque suisse ou dans n’importe quelle autre banque. Nous voyons régulièrement des exemples dans des banques suisses de taille moyenne et de grande taille qui devraient fortement inquiéter les clients. En voici quelques-uns : Un client entrepose de l’or physique dans une banque, mais lorsqu’il souhaite le transférer vers des coffres privés, l’or n’y est plus et la banque doit s’en...
Read More »Bi-Weekly Economic Review: A Whirlwind of Data
The economic data of the last two weeks was generally better than expected, the Citigroup Economic Surprise index near the highs of the year. Still, as I’ve warned repeatedly over the last few years, better than expected should not be confused with good. We go through mini-cycles all the time, the economy ebbing and flowing through the course of a business cycle. This being a particularly long half cycle, it has had...
Read More »China Gold Import Jan-Sep 777t. Who’s Supplying?
While the gold price is slowly crawling upward in the shadow of the current cryptocurrency boom, China continues to import huge tonnages of yellow metal. As usual, Chinese investors bought on the price dips in the past quarters, steadfastly accumulating for a rainy day. The Chinese appear to be price sensitive regarding gold, as was mentioned in the most recent World Gold Council Demand Trends report, and can also be...
Read More »The Strange Behavior of Gold Investors from Monday to Thursday
Known and Unknown Anomalies Readers are undoubtedly aware of one or another stock market anomaly, such as e.g. the frequently observed weakness in stock markets in the summer months, which the well-known saying “sell in May and go away” refers to. Apart from such widely known anomalies, there are many others though, which most investors have never heard of. These anomalies can be particularly interesting and profitable...
Read More »How Will Bitcoin React in a Financial Crisis Like 2008?
If the ownership of bitcoin is as concentrated as some estimate, then the liquidity issue distills down to the actions of the top tier of owners. Whenever I raise the topic of bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, I feel like an agnostic in the 30 Years War between Catholics and Protestants. There is precious little neutral ground in the crypto-is-a-bubble battle; one side is absolutely confident that bitcoin and the other...
Read More »A Different Powelling – Precious Metals Supply and Demand Report
See the introduction and the video for the terms gold basis, co-basis, backwardation and contango. New Chief Monetary Bureaucrat Goes from Good to Bad for Silver The prices of the metals ended all but unchanged last week, though they hit spike highs on Thursday. Particularly silver his $17.24 before falling back 43 cents, to close at $16.82. Never drop silver carelessly, since it might land on your toes. If you are at...
Read More »Bi-Weekly Economic Review: Gridlock & The Status Quo
The good news is that the economy just printed its second consecutive quarter of 3% growth, a feat not accomplished since Q2 and Q3 2014. The bad news is that the growth spurt in 2014 was better, quantitatively and qualitatively. Those two quarters produced gains of 4.6% and 5.2% (annualized) in GDP, much better than the most recent 3.1% and 3% prints of Q2 and Q3 2017. And it took a hurricane to get the most recent...
Read More »World’s Largest Gold Producer China Sees Production Fall 10 percent
Gold mining production in China fell by 9.8% in H1 2017 Decreasing mine supply in world’s largest gold producer and across the globe GFMS World Gold Survey predicts mine production to contract year-on-year Peak gold production being seen in Australia, world’s no 2 producer Peak gold production globally while global gold demand remains robust China Gold Mine Production 1H 2016 vs 1H 2017 - Click to enlarge Gold...
Read More »Global Asset Allocation Update
The risk budget this month shifts slightly as we add cash to the portfolio. For the moderate risk investor the allocation to bonds is unchanged at 50%, risk assets are reduced to 45% and cash is raised to 5%. The changes this month are modest and may prove temporary but I felt a move to reduce risk was prudent given signs of exuberance – rational, irrational or otherwise. Moderate Allocation - Click to enlarge No...
Read More »Wozniak and Thiel Fuel Bitcoin-Gold Debate: Gold Comes Out On Top
– Gold versus bitcoin debate makes further headlines as tech experts weigh in – Peter Thiel tells Saudi conference he believes bitcoin is underestimated and compares to gold – Steve Wozniak tells Money 20/20 that bitcoin is a better standard of value than gold and U.S. dollar -Both men recognise that the US dollar has little value and there are worthy competitors to its crown as reserve currency – Gold continues to hold...
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