The resistance prices have been breached

You have recalled that I mentioned about the metals having a distinct behavior of going against a "wall" or "resistant" or "ceiling" price for awhile before continuing its bullish ways. This behavior in the prices have been observed by long time fans of precious metals since it was neglected by sophisticated investors.

If you have navigated the price bar of the metals on the left side of the blog, then you may have observed that silver is on its bullish ways again, after hitting the 35$ per ounce price wall for a few months. Well, gold is another story since it is the premiere metal of choice especially in this shaky financial environment that the US has dug itself in. In 2008, Gold was roughly 900$ per oz and I was exclaiming to myself that that was a great amount to be investing funds in, look at it now, my investment just took on a 100% appreciation since then.

Here is Robert Kiyosaki's take on this, which he posted in his Conspiracy of the Rich website:

"Online Exclusive Update - #97
August 19, 2011

Wait for the Crash
I just got off the phone with my friend, Richard Duncan. He is the author of The Dollar Crisis and the Corruption of Capitalism. These are must read books.

Richard is an American who now lives in Thailand. He’s worked for the World Bank and the IMF. In my opinion, he’s the smartest economist in the world. It’s due to his books and speaking at Rich Dad events that I have a better view on the world, its current problems, and the future.

Richard and I spoke in L.A. a few months ago at a Rich Dad Education event. We came to the same conclusion: once the Fed’s second round of quantitative easing (QE 2) ended in June, the economy would contract. Today, this is happening, causing the wild swings in the stock market.

We also forecasted that the Fed would wait for the pain to get intolerable and then would reenter with a third round of quantitative easing. Simply said, the Fed will wait for us to beg for the poison that is killing us… more counterfeit money.

The good news is that if the Fed does wait for us to beg, prices will collapse. This means gold, silver, and oil will come down in price…maybe. In other words, wait for the pain to bring down prices before chasing the high prices of gold and silver.

I’ll share more from my discussion with Richard later on in further COR updates. As you know there’s a lot going on, and this is no time to be passive. Things are changing too rapidly, and one mistake could spur the New Depression."


This is not good for those who continue to shrug off the power of the metals in hedging wealth. Get some for yourself while there is still time!

Local investments in metals

If you are thinking in holding some of your wealth in precious metals then I would probably inform you that this type of vehicle is illiquid and though you can use capital gains in trading, I think the long terms benefits of buy and hold are a better option since fundamentals would indicate that the prices are definitely going for a bull run.

Because of the absence of a gold and silver bullion market place in the Philippines, it is often better to be able to procure metals from a refinery, a small mine or sources that have these in abundance. This country is one of the toughest places to buy these metals in their natural form since most of the rich and powerful are the ones calling the shots.

If you are able to travel to Hong Kong, you might be able to procure a few ounces of gold or silver bullions that you can take home.

Some have asked if trading gold and silver can be a lucrative business, my answer is Yes, but only if you are able to stomach an increase in value of metals week by week and knowing you are letting the products pass through your hands. Since 2008, prices of the metals have shot up heavily and to give you an estimate of how superior this is, silver has gone up 400% since the mentioned year.

A great transfer of wealth is about to take place and to keep yourself in the balance, you need to be very creative about how you place a certain percentage of your wealth and my best bet is in Precious Metals.

Hong Kong storage for metals

While going through the www.goldsilver.com website. I learned that they are now offering a storage service for metals purchased from them. Here is the overview from the service:

"GoldSilver.com offers the safest, most cost effective, and secure gold vault storage and silver vault storage services in the precious metals industry.

Our strategic partnerships provide GoldSilver.com Insiders the ability to attain fully insured segregated gold and silver vault storage around the world.

With segregated vault storage the silver and gold bullion products you purchase are held solely in the beneficiary title(s) you elect. The original products you buy are always stored separately never swapped nor comingled with other accounts.

Vault storage customers receive custody certificates documenting holdings and account inventory levels. All physical vault storage holdings are a secure phone call away from door delivery or to lock in a sellback price".

Now this is really good news if you are serious about stacking away your precious metals in a secure place and insured at that. Hong Kong is just nearby and therefore is a very feasible plan in the absence of such a service here in the Philippines.

Gold, Silver Prices Reach Another Record

By Alix Steel 03/02/11 - 03:48 PM EST

HOLLYWOOD, Fla. (TheStreet ) -- Gold prices closed at a record high Wednesday as silver trumped a 31-year high.

Gold for April delivery settled up $6.50 to $1,437.70 an ounce at the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The gold price hit a record intra-day high of $1,441 an ounce and hit a low of $1,428.20. The spot gold price was up 30 cents, according to Kitco's gold index, after settling Tuesday at its own record of $1,433 an ounce.

Silver prices hit a high of $34.97 Wednesday and the May contract settled up 40 cents to $34.83.

The U.S. dollar index was down 0.46% to $76.64, which was lending support to the metals.

Federal Reserve chairman, Ben Bernanke, intimated in his testimony to the House Financial Services Committee Tuesday and Wednesday that he isn't ruling out a third round of quantitative easing, despite the fact that oil prices are surging and the employment landscape is slowly improving. The ADP employment report for February showed that the private sector added 217,000 jobs.

The Fed released its Beige Book this afternoon, an anecdote for the U.S. economy, saying that the U.S. continues to grow at a "modest to moderate pace" despite persistent unemployment. Interest rates are expected to still remain low for an extended period of time. Gold prices came off from their highs on the positive growth outlook, but acknowledgments that inflation was lurking and that businesses were passing along some of the higher costs, kept a firm floor under prices.

Many investors had been wondering if oil's recent rise over $100 a barrel would prompt the Fed to tighten the money supply to cool inflation. Bernanke's adherence to low rates, however, was a green light for precious metal traders who bought gold and silver as protection against a weaker dollar.

Unrest and violence in the Middle East showed no sign of slowing down as government troops in Libya regained control over a city in the mostly rebel-held Eastern half of the country. The worries that unrest could spread to bigger oil producers like Iran and Saudi Arabia were also keeping gold's safe haven identity alive.

*There is this wealth transfer occurring, better start for yourself pronto!

Fields of Gold

I remember the song by Sting, the all-famous "Fields of Gold." When I checked the price of the metals, I was caught back by the prices which were in new field prices. Silver in particular was hovering the $30 per ounce already.

This means that the resistant price of $30 is almost over. The hovering of the price from 27 to 30 represented a good buying opportunity for new time investors. It also means that the world economy is not getting any better and the transfer of wealth is steadily taking place.

I still get blank faces when I tell people that they need to get a few silver for themselves. It is not a liquid investment and so when you buy a few ounces for yourself, try to forget about it and buy more. It is like buying real estate,you buy and wait and not wait to buy.

The average Filipino yuppie is still concerned with the doodads and updated fashion trends that do not increase in value. It is time to be concerned about your financial future and do a little hedging on what personal wealth you have.

Elliot Wave Newsletter

I received this email newsletter from Elliot Wave International. Very interesting:

"Paul,

Every issue of Bob Prechter's Elliott Wave Theorist delivers unique analysis and forecasts, which subscribers use to pursue their own strategies. It's rare for Prechter to publish a specific trade recommendation.

Yet at noon Eastern time Monday, Dec. 6, after watching silver gap higher at the open and pop just above $30, he published a special Interim Report alerting subscribers to an "irresistible" opportunity in silver.

There's a special context to this Interim Report: previously, the only buy recommendation on silver that Prechter published over the past 20 years was February 1993, when he urged subscribers to buy bags of U.S. silver coins as silver fell below $3.60/oz. The low that year was $3.50.

Back to the present -- one day after Prechter's Interim Report (Tuesday, Dec. 7), silver hit a fresh 52-week high, but promptly fell 7% on the way to its intraday low. This was the third-largest reversal of its kind in 40 years.

While these were unquestionably an exciting couple of days in silver, they were indeed just two days.

The relevant question for you now is: What's in store for silver and gold in the next several days, weeks and months?

We offer the most useful answer to that question that you'll find anywhere. It's presented across no fewer than 15 clearly labeled charts in The Theorist, The Financial Forecast and Short Term Update.

It can all be on your screen in minutes via a risk-free subscription to the Financial Forecast Service. Follow this link to learn more.

Thanks for reading,


Robert Folsom
Elliott Wave International"

Makes you want to think what you are doing to ride this wave.

WHAT think ye?

There is this great hype at the Philippine Stock Exchange because of the gains and the Initial Public Offerings (IPO) of some great brands like Cebu Pacific Air. There is also much talk about the Real Estate Investments Trust (REIT) which will beef up public holdings in big real estate companies like SM and Megaworld.

While this is good and well, I think that the advocacy to educate the working class regarding these investment instruments is VERY LOW. Gosh, these things are not taught in our public schools and the mention of the word "Stocks" can become mind-boggling to an average High School student even in the best schools of the country. If the public is not made to understand these investments and they start rushing into the Philippine Stock Market, unarmed with technical knowledge, then their chances of getting wiped out increases many times over.

Take into example this IPO from Cebu Pacific. Though tempting to the untrained mind to freely partake of its ownership, there are many factors that should be considered before going into this hush rush investment seizure. Among these are:

1.The looming fuel shortage of the future
2.The low P/E ratios of the parent company vs the stock price
3.Volatility of the international tourism market
4.Ask Buffet regarding his opinion on airline companies

I am not saying that this is a bad investment, all I am driving at is that this takes a lot of technical investing, and if you are not up to it then you should consider hiring a consultant or trading with a mentor who has done it before.

Precious metals on the other hand is a no brainer investment tool. If you cick on the prices on the right side of this blog, you will see that Silver has entered a short bull market again and will ride until it hits a 'resistant' price ceiling where it will hibernate for a while.

In Kiyosaki's latest online post, here is a glimpse of what he had to say:

"If you do nothing else, start buying a little silver. I know I said to stop buying silver once it went over $20, but things have not changed and things are getting worse. Although expensive at $20, I believe it’s better to hold on to silver than fiat currency such as the dollar, euro, or yen. In 2010, gold has gone up about 50 percent and silver is up about 80 percent. In a few years, the world will wake up to silver, so buy a little now while it’s still cheap."

It is possible to buy actual silver in the Philippines, you just need to be a little creative in your efforts. The rewards will be worth it!

Citizens bank on gold in Myanmar’s troubled economy

From: www.bworldonline.com, click here for original article

YANGON -- Housewives huddle over jewelry counters in Yangon’s bustling Chinatown, but fashion is not foremost on their minds. This is banking in Myanmar’s dysfunctional economy.

On nearby Shwe Bontha Street, the heart of the gold market since colonial times, Nyan Tun is more than just a trader: he is an unofficial banker in the military-ruled country.

“Normally, the major buyers are farmers. They will buy gold with a little bit of extra money to sell before the next harvest,” he said.

“Second are the housewives, who love to buy jewelry as savings.”

The global economic crisis may have reignited suspicion of banks worldwide, but in isolated Myanmar such distrust has long run deep and savers have no desire to put their money into the backward banking system.

Not that people have much to spare: decades of economic mismanagement by the country’s rulers, plus international boycotts and sanctions, have generated a population struggling to get by and facing soaring consumer prices.

Between 2005 and 2009, the annual inflation rate in Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, averaged 20%, according to the Asian Development Bank.

“If you want to catch up with inflation, you buy gold. If you save money in the bank you lose money,” said Nyan Tun.

“People have much more trust in gold as a store of value,” added the trader, whose name AFP has changed at his request. In military-ruled Myanmar, saying anything seen as critical of the junta can have serious consequences.

Nyan Tun said the value of a gold “tical” -- about half a troy ounce -- had increased more than 30-fold in the local currency, the kyat, since his early days as a gold trader in the late 1980s.

Sean Turnell, a specialist in Myanmar’s economy at Macquarie University in Sydney, said rampant increases in consumer prices were largely a result of the government’s habit of simply printing more money to fund its spending.

An abundance of natural treasures -- including gold, gas, teak, oil, jade and gems -- could make the country a rich nation as it once was before coming under military rule in 1962.

But Myanmar remains one of the world’s least developed countries, with nearly a third of the population living below the poverty line, according to World Bank figures, as the junta and its associates exploit these raw materials for their own benefit.

“The fiscal situation should be good,” said Mr. Turnell, on the basis that earnings from gas supplies should fund government spending.

“But they (the military rulers) don’t bring money they get from gas properly into public accounts,” he said. “These funds are not recorded.”

Few believe Myanmar’s controversial first election in 20 years, due on November 7, will bring about much-needed economic reform, as the polls are widely expected to simply cloak military rule with civilian clothing.

“The ruling class will still be the same, so there will not be big changes,” said Nyan Tun, now in his 50s.

However there have been some shifts in the economic landscape ahead of the election, with the junta instigating a spate of privatizations of state firms and properties.

Along with these sell-offs of assets including ports, factories and cinemas, four conglomerates on international sanctions lists and run by junta-friendly tycoons have been given licenses to start up new banks.

Mr. Turnell said the cronyism apparent in these recent developments suggested the country was “drifting in a really strange direction away from a totalitarian system into one that works like a semi-criminal economy.”

For the average Myanmar citizen, there is still no economic stability, or decent alternative to their trustworthy treasure.

“Gold has been the ultimate reserve asset, the ultimate insurance against bad government policy. It goes back to the colonial era -- it’s seen as being dependable and independent of the state,” said Mr. Turnell.

With the precious metal playing such a key role, the regime keeps a close eye on its trade. Nyan Tun said plain-clothed special branch police lurk on Shwe Bontha Street and pressure traders to stop selling when prices go up.

“Maybe the government thinks inflation is due to the price of gold, but actually it’s the other way round,” he said.

“The gold price is the index of inflation to citizens,” agreed a business editor in Yangon who did not want to be named. “People don’t know how else to judge inflation. The government gives no explanation.”

Myanmar’s banking system has never really recovered from a major crisis in 2003, which saw three banks completely collapse and was exacerbated by the policies of the Central Bank, such as recalling loans from borrowers.

People have also been hit hard in the past when the authorities scrapped certain currency units as legal tender.

A mass uprising against the military in 1988, which was brutally crushed, escalated from protests over a major episode of demonetization by the regime.

“That wiped out the savings of a huge amount of people,” said Mr. Turnell. “I have never come across a single Burmese person who saves money in the banks.”

For now gold remains the safest haven in Myanmar -- the reason why a fishmonger will wear her savings around her neck.

“Gold: this is the only thing people trust,” said the business editor. -- AFP

*It will come soon to a theater near you!

The Prices are getting better..

If you haven't been paying attention to that small button at the left side of this blog which tells you of the current prices of precious metals, then you might not have realized the recent climb in prices.

Yes, Silver in particular has pounced the $19 barrier and this is a strong indicator of an ever increasing demand of the metal as a result of increased awareness against the volatility in the financial markets.

Gold is getting higher and higher while Silver is still dirt cheap. Gold is hoarded but Silver disappears. With the many industrial uses of Silver in our high tech world, we wouldn't wonder that the prices would continue to go higher. This is a highly recommended investment strategy that will outdo any CDs, Treasury Bills or whatever paper asset you may have.

If you feel lazy towards getting rich, then Silver might just be the right vehicle for you!

SSS eyes sale of P1-B gold certificates

By Ronnel Domingo
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 21:02:00 04/20/2010

THE SOCIAL SECURITY SYSTEM IS PLANNING TO ISSUE gold certificates to local retail investors backed by P1 billion worth of gold that the pension fund is offering to buy from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.

SSS president Romulo L. Neri said the plan was meant to provide a new investment opportunity that would serve as a hedge against currency fluctuations and help expand the country’s capital market.

Neri said the SSS had sent the BSP a written offer for the purchase of gold.

“Eventually, SSS intends to issue gold certificates,” he said. “With other major players in the capital markets, SSS hopes to establish a trading mechanism for the certificates in the Philippine Stock Exchange.”

Neri explained that the plan would also enable SSS to hedge part of its assets in gold reserves, widely considered a safe and stable investment and a haven for investors during times of currency uncertainties.

The law that created the SSS—Social Security Act of 1997—mandates the pension fund to invest in BSP-approved investment instruments.

The SSS investment portfolio includes placements in government securities, equities, member and development loans, housing and real estate.

According to Neri, the SSS has more than P260 billion in its investment reserve fund as of end-December 2009.

He said he expected gold trading to bring in additional income for the SSS aside from helping the BSP absorb excess liquidity in the open market.

In January, the SSS extended a P1-billion loan to Philippine Postal Corp. to enable the latter’s money remittance system to go electronic.

The loan package is part of a partnership between SSS and PhilPost related to the unified multi-purpose identification (UMID) system, which provides a single ID card for members of the SSS, the Government Service Insurance System, Philippine Health Insurance Corp. and the Home Development Mutual Fund or Pag-Ibig Fund.

When the UMID system has been rolled out, SSS members will be able to get payments for pensions, loans and benefits through PhilPost’s nationwide web of some 2,200 post offices.

*Even the government now realizes the potential hedge powers of precious metals, you should rethink your position and accumulate some for yourself.

7 Reasons Why Silver Will Make You Rich!

GoldStockMania.com (J. Edwards)
April 12, 2010

I know most investors are looking for that one ultimate investment that will right all of their past wrongs. You know, make up for all the losses or non-starters they may have accumulated over the years. That one investment that will perhaps buy them a permanent vacation somewhere with white sand beaches, a nice cabin in the mountains, get them into the house of their dreams, or whatever does it the most for them. On GoldStockMania.com, I have talked a bit about the great profit potential of junior gold mining stocks and why now is a great time to invest in them. I also wanted to take a moment to talk about why I am very, very bullish on silver; the metal which is overlooked by most but will make the few who own it extremely rich. While gold will have a spectacular performance over the course of this bull market, it is silver that will be the MVP. Silver is about as close as you can get to a sure bet. Here are 7 reasons why silver will make you rich.

1) Gold to Silver ratio

Historically a gold to silver ratio has been maintained between gold and silver where a certain amount of silver could buy 1 oz of gold. In fact a long time ago, there used to be a US law that fixed the gold silver ratio at 1:15, which then allowed 15 silver ounces to buy 1 ounce of gold. Since 1840, the gold to silver ratio has ranged from 1:15 to as high as 1:97. Today's gold to silver ratio sits at about 1:63. Many analyst believe that this ratio is currently out of whack and will return to historical levels which according Ted Butler and others has averaged 12-15 oz of silver to 1 oz of gold. If the ratio returns to historical levels it would require a substantial rise in the price of silver. At $1150 gold, silver would need to be around $76/oz.

2) Inflation Past and Future

Just as gold is a great inflation hedge, so is silver. As you know silver has been known as the poor man's gold. The dollar has lost over 98% of its value as clearly shown in my article, Gold vs Dollar, What A Knock Out!. This is just considering the inflation effect over the past 100 years or so, but what about right now and the near future? The erosion of dollar continues but at an accelerated pace not seen before in the history of this country, and thus makes it imperative to take the necessary precautions to protect the value of your savings now. I have not seen anything more compelling than silver to protect and dramatically increase my wealth at the same time.

The Federal Reserve is working overtime printing dollars and inflating the money supply which means every new dollar they create is taking away value from every one of the dollars in your pocket! This is where gold & silver really shine since this type of monetary expansion has always driven up the price of gold and silver historically. You can see just over the last year or two how the fed has really kicked it into overdrive. The inflationary effect of the spike you see on the graph has not yet hit, so it is still time to get positioned for the inflation tsunami and load up on silver while you can and while it's still cheap. There is no end in sight and they plan to print more dollars until their little printing press breaks. Wait till you see what they do to the dollar for an inflationary encore.


3) Increasing Silver Industrial & Investment Demand

Last year global silver demand hit 888 million ounces, while worldwide mining production totaled only 680 million ounces, thus creating a 208 million ounce deficit. Many people don't know that silver is the most used commodity in industry next to oil. Industrial demand continues to pick up with new applications for silver coming to the market all the time, like silver zinc batteries. The silver zinc battery market alone is forecasted to be a large driver going forward for silver. If you are looking for more reasons, then how about Ten Thousand Reasons To Buy Silver, which goes into more detail about the numerous industrial applications that require silver. Yes, there are many of them from water filters and band-aids to electronics such as cell phones and RFID tags.

Silver investment demand is on the rise as well and perhaps may soon surpass that of industrial demand. Just like people are turning to gold in the great flight to quality, silver is also starting to attract demand from investors. One of the biggest wildcards in the mix is China. Until recently, the chinese government did not allow its citizens to buy precious metals. They have done a complete reverse and now highly encourage all of their 1.3 billion citizens to buy, buy, buy. Don't forget about their neighbors, you know, the other country that has a 1 billion plus people in it, India. The Indians have a long history and tradition of buying both gold and silver. I believe silver demand in India will increase as the price of gold rises.

Demand is also picking up in the United States, with the US Mint reporting record silver eagle coin sales for January 2010, it was the best silver eagle sales in the history of the US Mint for the month of January. Furthermore, the mint recently announced more record silver eagle coin sales for the month of March 2010 and for the first quarter of 2010. The US Mint sold over 9 million silver eagles during 1Q2010! At this rate, silver eagle coin sales will consume all the US silver production for 2010, which is typically around 40 million ounces of silver annually. This is very significant because, whoever typically buys US based silver will need to go and find it elsewhere since the US Mint by law, is required to use only silver produced in the United States. Don't even think about getting it from China, because they consume every ounce of gold and silver produced in their country and will not export any gold or silver. I wonder what the US Mint will do when the silver demand exceeds the amount of silver of produced in the US?

4) The Real Silver Advantages: Leverage & Availability

Since more people are waking up and running to gold for asset protection due to the erosion of the dollar and other fiat currencies, gold will naturally not be as affordable as silver. One could argue that we have already reached this point. People will come to reason that they can get the same level of protection as purchasing gold, but at a more affordable price by purchasing silver instead. The late comers to the party (which will be the majority, see my article, "When Will You Buy Gold…") who missed out on the chance to buy gold when it was only $250/oz will want the next best thing which is silver. Likewise, many investors will also see that they can get a much higher leverage on purchasing silver. So if gold is starting to get too expensive for your wallet, then why not get some leverage by purchasing silver? The best times to buy is whenever the prices are falling. Since you get way more ounces of silver for your money than gold, you naturally get more leverage. Leverage coupled with a great investment, equals great profits! Just be clear, do NOT buy silver on margin! Short term volatility makes buying silver and gold on margin too dangerous.

No matter what you have heard or read, there is only one real way to buy silver & gold and that is physical. If you are not buying physical silver and/or gold, then more than likely you have a paper claim to someone else's physical silver or gold (see GATA.org and below for more on this). Either make a trip to a reputable local coin shop or buy gold and silver online at trusted bullion companies. You should really do both for geographic diversity. I also like the online storage options because it's so easy to buy, sell, and securely store my precious metals.

Silver availability is like a game of musical chairs, when the music stops someone will be without a chair. The amount of above ground silver has been just about exhausted over the past century. I have seen estimates as high as 1 billion ounces of silver world-wide above the ground. Even in this worse case scenario and assuming that all this silver is for sale ( which most of it is not), all the silver in the world could be bought for just $18 billion dollars! This is a drop in the bucket when compared to much larger markets like gold, oil, US Bond Market, etc. So silver availability is a huge advantage for silver investors as there is trillions of dollars that is very likely to one day come chasing a very tiny silver market. I have seen silver stock pile estimates around 300 million ounces and lower. See more on this below.

5) Dwindling Silver Stock Piles

Going back in history, governments around the world use to have huge silver stock piles. Around the 1950's, the US government alone had 3.5 billion ounces of silver, the largest stock pile in history. Since then according to the CPM group, just about all of these stock piles have been sold off/consumed. The CPM data shows that world silver stock piles have gone from over 2 billion ounces in 1990 to under 300 million ounces in 2007. Furthermore, silver demand has outpaced silver production by 156% annually for 19 consecutive years. According to Ted butler's article, Why Silver is More Valuable Than Gold, more silver has been consumed than produced for over 60 years now. Available silver stockpiles have tanked to an estimated 140 million ounces or only a four-month supply of silver! No matter whose estimates you believe, the real point to get from all of this is that the quantity of silver has been disappearing at an alarming rate while demand is substantially increasing. Conditions are ripe for a shortage. Now contrast this to gold, which after mining for the past 5,000 years, we still have about 90% of all that gold still here with us. All the silver mined over the same period is now mostly gone!

6) Eventual COMEX Short Squeeze

Some people just like to play with dynamite for one reason or another. There are a handful of bullion banks that fit this description that hold excessive short positions in both gold and silver. However, the short positions held for silver are much larger, in fact, the largest for any commodity. At varying points, there have been a silver short position 80 times greater than gold short positions. These bullion banks according to Ted Butler and Gata.org are primarily led by JP Morgan and HSBC. Although it is hard to imagine anyone willing to make such stupid bets, the bullion banks known as commercial traders have shorted more than 200 percent of all known silver inventory!

NIA believes the precious metals markets are currently being artificially suppressed by paper gold and silver that doesn't physically exist. At last week's CFTC hearings, Jeffrey Christian of the CPM Group admitted that banks have leveraged their physical bullion by 100 to 1. This means for every 100 ounces of paper gold/silver that trade, there could be as little as 1 ounce of physical gold/silver in the vaults backing it. However, Mr. Christian sees no problem with this because he says "it has been persistently that way for decades" and there are "any number of mechanisms allowing for cash settlements."

What Mr. Christian fails to realize is, most investors around the world holding paper gold/silver believe they own physical gold/silver. There will come a time when these investors don't want cash settlements in U.S. dollars, but they will want the physical precious metals themselves. When investors around the globe eventually call for physical delivery of their precious metals, NIA believes it will result in the biggest short squeeze in the history of all commodities. Src- NIA, Silver Short Squeeze Could Be Imminent

The problem with shorting, is that eventually the short positions have to be bought back. Finally when the stars align and the conditions are right, you will see the mother of all short squeezes perhaps ever seen before. I talked about this in my article, A Gold Price Explosion Just Around The Corner? If the futures long traders would just demand physical delivery instead of cash settlements and contract rollovers, we would see this short squeeze happen a lot sooner than later. This one of the primary reasons everyone should buy physical silver and gold instead of paper claims to gold & silver. These commercial bullion banks are offering a lot of paper contracts that are impossible deliver on. A silver short squeeze has not been seen in more than 20 years, since the Hunt brothers demanded physical delivery of their silver. Which shows that massive short selling to manage the price of silver and gold works until it doesn't right. If you have not seen this yet, check out the article just published by the NY Post, Trader Blows Whistle on Gold, Silver Price Manipulation.

7) Silver Leasing

According to Ted Butler in his article, Silver Leasing or Silver Fleecing, there are/were about 150 million ounces of gold and about 1 billion ounces of silver that have been leased out. What doe this mean? It means that some gold & silver producers at one time or another did not have enough gold or silver to sell to their customers, so they leased (borrowed) the metals from others (like central banks) that had ample supplies at the time. The producers then would sell these metals to their customers.

The leasing created a phantom supply of gold and especially silver. The problem here is, all of this leased gold and silver has to eventually be produced or paid back. It is the equivalent of borrowing money and living off of it with the plan of paying it back at some point in the future. The problem is, when pay back comes you have to come up with the borrowed money and you still have to come up with additional money to continue to live off of. So the 1 billion ounces of silver has to be produced/repaid at the some point, all the while silver demand continues to increase along with yearly silver deficits. According to Guide to Investing in Gold & Silver, it would take a 100% mining devotion for two years to repay all the gold and silver leases outstanding.

Summary

Silver is perhaps one of the greatest investments one can make at this point in time. Investors looking for a safe and very profitable investment should definitely have silver as a part of their investment portfolio. Also, as time permits I would like to write about some great silver mining companies that can help you make even more money than just investing in silver alone. Better yet, there are some really undervalued silver junior mining stocks that I am very excited about. If you like to know more about this kind of information, then consider subscribing to my FREE newsletter.


If the Chinese will be buying much silver then we are in a for a bullish ride in silver!

Gold Silver Prices Rise Vs. Dollar

from: Bullion Vault

Gold and Silver Prices rose against a weakening US Dollar in London on Wednesday morning, pushing higher as Asian shares ended the day lower and European stock markets held flat.

"A close above $1097 today will give gold its sixth consecutive quarterly gain," says the daily note from Mitsui's London team.

"Silver fixes higher in Europe, gold firm," says a Reuters headline, repeating Tuesday morning's news.

"Spot Gold in Euros remains well bid and did not even [dip to] our previously forecast €800 support region," writes Axel Rudolph, technical analyst at Luxembourg's Commerzbank, in his latest weekly report.

Staying "short-term bullish" on silver, "We remain medium-term neutral as long as the Silver Price remains contained within its three month resistance line at 17.97 and the 15.59 late-Feb. low," says Rudolph.

Adding 7.7% against both the Euro and Pound Sterling since the start of Jan. 2010, the Gold Price today rose above $1110 per ounce for Dollar investors.

Silver today came within 10 cents of a 10-week high at $17.61 per ounce, some 4.1% higher from the first-quarter's start.

"Whenever Gold falls we see good physical buying coming in," the Reuters news wire quotes one Europe-based trader.

"Even on the private customer side, there's pretty good demand for coins and bars."

**Buy Metals now to hedge against inflation and declining Dollar value!

Gold rises as U.S. data boosts risk appetite

REUTERS

The precious metal's rise came after two sessions of declines that stemmed from worries about a surprise interest rate hike on Friday in major bullion consumer India.

Bullion eked out gains even though the dollar rose against the euro. Analysts said gold's inverse relationship with the U.S. currency has weakened for now.

"People are watching the currencies and what is happening with the dollar. It's (Gold) holding, and I think that's what people look to gold for as a place holder ... it's going to hold its value in times of uncertainty," said Tom Hartman, broker with Altavest Worldwide Trading.

Spot gold was at $1,102.20 an ounce at 2:39 p.m. EDT (1839 GMT), up from $1,101.60 late in New York on Monday.

U.S. April gold futures on the COMEX division of the NYMEX settled up $4.20 at $1,103.70 an ounce.

Gold had risen early last week in the face of a rising greenback, boosted by safe-haven buying due to fiscal worries about Greece and uncertainty about currencies.

The euro slipped against the dollar as investors worried European Union policy makers were unlikely to provide a rescue package for Greece at a summit later this week.

But then a U.S. government report showed sales of previously owned homes fell less than expected, and that fueled gains on Wall Street.

"Further strength in the dollar could trigger profit taking in gold," said Richcomm Global Services analyst Pradeep Unni.

"Disappointment that euro zone leaders are unlikely to come up with a rescue package for Greece at this week's summit continues to weigh on the euro."

Gold watchers are awaiting the meeting for the fresh impetus it may give the currency markets, analysts said.

CFTC METALS HEARING IN FOCUS

Precious metals investors will watch a day-long hearing by the top U.S. futures regulator on Thursday to determine whether gold, silver and copper markets need speculative position limits to prevent price manipulation.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which has struggled to gain support for a plan to curb concentration in energy markets, is expected to face even tougher resistance as it considers whether similar provisions are needed for metals.

In the physical sector, gold imports into India, the world's biggest bullion consumer, are seen between 23 and 28 tonnes, against 4.8 tonnes a year ago, the head of Bombay Bullion Association (BBA) said on Tuesday.

Silver prices also tracked gold to recover losses, with spot silver at $16.94 an ounce against $16.93.

**It seems that silver is to stay above the 15$ per ounce level. Do not wait for this price to soar past 20$, if you do, you will miss the current price!

China To Purchase Half of IMF's Gold

By www.english.pravda.ru/

China has confirmed the intention to purchase 191.3 tons of gold from the International Monetary Fund at an open auction, Finmarket news agency said.

World central banks started to increase their gold reserves after prices on gold began to climb in 2001. The IMF sells gold within the scope of a program to diversify sources of income and achieve an increase in lending.

The IMF announced an intention to sell 403.3 tons of gold in accordance with the adequate decision made by the board of directors of the fund in September of 2009. India, Mauritius and Sri Lanka purchased about 212 tons of the amount at the end of 2009. India purchased most – 200 tons.

China’s interest in international trade is connected with the development of the nation’s economy, as well as with the growing consumer demand in the country.

“Chinese officials have confirmed previous announcements from IMF experts and said that the purchasing of 191 tons of gold would not exert negative influence on the world market. China is interested in the development of the domestic consumer market,” the agency reports.

Most of Chinese citizens believe that investing in gold jewelry is a good way to avoid inflation, Rough & Polished agency said.

The IMF has received the profit of $7.2 billion from gold sales. A part of the funds is to be used for crediting poor countries.

**If a huge country like China is slowly buying metals, shouldn't you be doing the same?

WHICH WILL YOU HOLD THIS YEAR?!

From: Goldsilver.com

Remember... It's Fact:

Every currency in the world is fiat or "faith based" meaning it's worth only the value of the actual paper it is printed on. More people are learning this fact every day, confidence is eroding in the fiat currency system. History proves that for fiat currency... the final value of zero is inevitable!

"The credit boom is built on the sands of banknotes and deposits. It must collapse." - Ludwig Von Mises

The solution to protecting yourself is simple. Secure a Gold and Silver foundation to your wealth. Owning physical Gold and Silver has been very lucrative over the past decade. But don't take our word for it. The facts below prove that this is a Worldwide Event!

So Who Is Winning "The Worldwide Fiat Currency Race to Debase"?

How did paper currencies perform versus Gold and Silver last decade?

January 1, 2000 -> December 31, 2009

The Gold Decade gain versus the Philippine peso is 340 % while the silver decade gain versus the Philippine peso is 262 %.

Which Monetary Unit are You Going to Hold this Decade?

DON'T MISS THE GOLD & SILVER RUSH OF THE 21ST CENTURY!
Gold

We Believe the Gold and Silver Bull Markets are Just Getting Warmed Up -
Don't Get Passed By!!!

EXACTLY ON MY MIND.

Perfect storm for silver brewing as antibiotics substitute--Silver Institute

Silver may soon replace antibiotics as an alternative for healing, and is increasingly gaining ground in the burgeoning field of nanotechnology.
Author: Dorothy Kosich
Posted: Friday , 25 Sep 2009

SPOKANE, WASHINGTON -

The over-prescription of antibiotics and the rapid spread of bacteria globally are creating "a perfect storm for silver," which will encourage even more medical use of the precious metal, Silver Institute Executive Director Mike DiRienzo said Thursday.

In a presentation to the Silver Summit in Spokane, DiRienzo detailed new and emerging uses for silver, lead by the metal's growing significance in hospitals and the practice of medicine.

"Currently we're seeing a surge of applications for silver-based biocides in all areas: industrial, commercial and consumer. New products are being introduced almost daily," he said.

Silver may soon replace antibiotics as an alternative to healing, he explained. The use of silver in medical implants is in the testing phase, such as the use of silver in medical implants to reduce the threat of spinal infections.

DiRienzo explained, "Engineers at the University of California, Davis have developed a ‘smart' contact lens designed to measure pressure within the eye. High eye pressure can be a sign of glaucoma, the world's second leading cause of blindness."

"At the heart of the new lens are sensors that measure stress on the cornea and the fluid pressure within the eye. The lens is composed of a type of silicone used in commercial contact lenses and silver particles placed on the lens that act as conductive wires and double as antimicrobial agents," he added.

The new lens could be used by hospitals and doctors to check for glaucoma but also by patients in their homes through a personal computer hooked into a wireless network.

Meanwhile, hospitals are increasingly utilizing silver in equipment surfaces, coatings, and other uses aimed at reducing bacteria growth. Silver is even being used in the paper used in hospital notes.

The Federal Drug Administration is permitting silver to be used in bottled water, DiRienzo noted. It is already being utilized in coatings for equipment used in the processing for milk.

Silver can also be found in germ-killing lockers now being used by the military, he said.

The precious metal is also being increasingly used in textiles, such as in polyester fiber coatings. DiRienzo said India just began using silver to preserve silk fabrics. Scientists at the Indian Institute of Technology in New Delhi have developed a method to create anti-microbial silk by infusing the delicate material with silver ions.

"This marks the first time that silver ions have been embedded into woven silk although it has been successfully applied to cotton and synthetic textiles," DiRienzo noted.

Among other consumer applications of silver are consumer electronics with millions expected to be invested in silver conductive inks by 2015, DiRienzo explained.

Silver has been used in surface mounting, which allows components to be fastened both mechanically and electronically to printed circuit boards. Components are placed in indentations on circuit boards and molten silver alloy solder flows across its surface to create an instantaneous permanent bond between the two.

Silver is used to concentrate solar-energy for power generation, and in humidifiers to slow the growth of bacteria. It also used in rechargeable solar batteries.

Silver is also reducing bacteria in refrigerators and in washing machines, he added.

DiRienzo noted that "the newest trend is the use of nano-silver particles to deliver silver ions as the nano-technology industry grows and we become more knowledgeable about how nano-particles behave."

He called silver nanotechnology "a huge market," which is being somewhat stymied by a two-year battle with EPA over the designation of the technology as a potentially toxic metal.

The U.S. has the heaviest nanotechnology investment, DiRienzo noted, with Japan is second place.

*This is going to cause a resounding demand for silver. Invest now while prices are still low.

Gold & Silver Climb vs. Ailing Dollar, Falling Stocks

From Chris Mullen at GoldSeek.com...

Gold and silver climbed roughly 1% in Asia on Thursday, reaching as high as $943.65 and $14.41 per ounce respectively, before they fell back off in London dealing.

Both metals then rallied to new session highs in the last few hours of trade and ended near those late peaks of $950.80 and $14.483 with gains of 1.5% and 1.3%.

Silver and Gold Prices continued to rise to new 7-week highs in after-hours access trade as well.

The Gold Price in Euros rose to €684, capped by Euro strength as the Dollar fell.

Platinum remained at $1140.50, and copper fell over 5 cents to about $2.05.

Gold Mining and silver equities fell about 3% an hour into New York trade, but they then rallied back higher for the rest of the day and ended with almost 2% gains at new 8- and 9-month highs.

Oil fell on worries over weak demand from a stagnant economy, but it ended well off its early lows as the Dollar dropped markedly in late trade, down to its lowest level of the year on preferences for other world currencies.

S&P downgraded Britain’s debt outlook to negative, and many feel that the US may be next in the announcement of downgrades with a possible loss of its current AAA credit rating.

Treasuries reversed early gains and ended markedly lower after it was announced that the Federal Reserve bought fewer bonds than expected during this week's Quantitative Easing action.

The Dow, Nasdaq, and S&P fell almost 2% on renewed worries over jobs, the economy, and America’s debt rating.

*The hyperinflation that most economists are predicting will follow soon and there will be a great economic turmoil especially in the United States that will revalue the strength of Precious Metals. Own some today!

Silvery reasons to own..

For a fact, Silver has one of those shiny lusters that can protect an individual through tough economic times. For many reasons, Silver is the investment to beat at this time where fiat money is devaluating and the stock markets all over the world are crashing. Here are some of the reasons:

a. No new minings for silver- since it is a by product of other metals, mines find silver on a 'coincidental' basis and not for the intention of getting silver per se.

b. Heavy demand- almost all of our tinker toys like mobile phones, laptops, computers, PDAs, Play Stations are industrial users of silver since it a very good electricity conductor.

c. From the reasons sighted- Low Supply, Heavy Demand-- what happens next is a question that you will have to answer depending on how well you paid attention to Economics in High School.

d. Silver is deemed to rise so as to cope with the gold and silver price ratio. Historically, there is a certain ratio for gold and silver prices and since silver is too low right now, experts believe that a price correction later through salient economics will bring the price of silver to the moon.

So what are you waiting for? Grab some for yourself and protect your financial future!

The Outstanding gains in the Metals

Last December I wrote that I bought my first batch of metals at a rate of 10$ per ounce for silver while 850$ for gold via an account through goldmoney. If some of you took the same advice and were keen on getting capital gains even in a short span of time, you might have made some good money by now. The price spots on this blog site are accurate and reflect world market prices.

Gold and Silver are still very undervalued at this time compared to sound economic fundamentals and there might be a tipping point somewhere in March which most economists think that the public might rush in and create a surge in demand. It is not too late to get into the boat and buy some for yourself.

Now is the time to act and get into this investment bandwagon!

Gold and Silver US price rally

Gold and Silver experienced a wonderful rise in prices in the year 2007, December 28 to be exact and there is linking evidence that the bottom price of these metals right now is going to experience another boost of prices.

December 13,2008- I finally was able to purchase my first 120 ounces of silver and 1 ounce of gold from a company that sold these metals and stores them in a vault in Zurich and London. This has given me a lot more piece of mind. The silver was purchased at $10.85 and right now the price has moved to $11.60, posing a conservative gain in the last few days.

We have also been able to source out silver 'pellets' which is .999 in purity from a local seller. This is great news since we are now able to hold physical silver per se. If there was only a way to buy US silver eagles or other bullion money in the Philippines, but it seems that you get a blank stare when you ask if they knew anybody selling silver bullions.