FX: EURGBP Bearish Signal out of Nowhere

Article by Investazor.com

eurgbp-bearish-sginal-false-breakout-09.07.2013-1

Chart: EURGBP, Daily

Today the Great Britain Manufacturing Production fell unexpectedly -0.8%, while the expectations were of 0.3% growth. The industrial production stagnated and the Trade Balance was in line with the forecasts.

These release had a negative impact over the evolution of the GBP. GBPUSD dropped under its latest low and EURGBP touched a high at 0.8668. The most interesting evolution of the day came after the downgrade of Italy. Euro lost almost everything it had gained and EURGBP fell back under 0.8600.

If this day will close around 0.8595 we can say that the break above the 0.8630 resistance was a false one and a Shooting Star pattern will be confirmed. We are expecting for the price to continue the fall, during the next days, back to 61.8 Fibonacci retrace (0.8550) of the preceding move. The setup will be invalidated only by a close above the current high.

The post FX: EURGBP Bearish Signal out of Nowhere appeared first on investazor.com.

What Caused Euro to Fall under 1.2800?

Article by Investazor.com

After the ECB press conference from last week and the good NFP for the United States, yesterday the Trade Balance and Industrial Production fell for Germany.

While already to the ground the Euro Area and the Euro currency take other kicks. Today it was announced that Greece will get the aid and everything seemed to be cooling down, Italy was downgraded to BBB from BBB+ by S&P.

The downgrade came after Asmussen brought other bad news for the Euro Area and knocked the Euro under 1.2800 with the US dollar. The German economist said that he would not rule out a new LTRO and that ECB forward guidance goes beyond 12 months.

euro-kicked-to-the-ground-09.07.2013-1

Chart: EURUSD, H4

The price for the EURUSD currency pair seemed to be stabilizing under 1.2900 level.  It did not last more than a day because after the statements of Asmussen and the downgrade of Italy the price fell fast under 1.2800 and hit a very good demand area at 1.2745. From here we can see a second reaction of appreciation.

The 14 periods RSI has drawn a positive divergence. This could be a signal that buyers will not give up right now, and that they now have backup.  From 19 of June the price has moved inside two equal downward channels.  At this point a drop under 1.2740 would be a signal that the price could accelerate on the downside. If the price will manage to get back up and break the trend line then we might see an interesting outcome.

The post What Caused Euro to Fall under 1.2800? appeared first on investazor.com.

Central Bank News Link List – Jul 9, 2013: IMF reduces global growth projections as U.S. expansion weakens

By www.CentralBankNews.info

Here’s today’s Central Bank News’ link list, click through if you missed the previous link list. The list comprises news about central banks that is not covered by Central Bank News. The list is updated during the day with the latest developments so readers don’t miss any important news.

Strategies for Success in a Bloody Market: John Kaiser

Source: JT Long of The Gold Report (7/8/13)

http://www.theaureport.com/pub/na/15425

With so many junior mining companies going into hibernation, John Kaiser of Kaiser Research Online fears that the entire mining sector could fall dormant. In this interview with The Gold Report, he outlines approaches to discovery and development that smart, nimble companies are deploying to stay alive. Whether precious, base and critical metals, or in jurisdictions as exotic as Morocco and as familiar as Nevada, these are the basics required for survival in today’s brutal market.

The Gold Report: John, early this year you predicted that as many as 500 companies listed on the TSX Venture Exchange would go under by the end of 2013. Do you stand by that?

John Kaiser: I think at least 500 companies are endangered; I doubt they will disappear by the end of the year. The critical time will be next summer, when their audited financials are due and their annual meetings will be held. If we have not had a turnaround by then, many management teams will hand the keys over to the stock exchange and abandon their companies.

Of the 1,800 companies we follow, 761 as of June 28 have less than $200,000 ($200K) in working capital left. That is the bare minimum needed to merely exist as a publicly listed company.

TGR: Is capital on hand one of the first things that you look at when deciding whether to invest?

JK: Yes. If a company has no working capital, we look at whether management owns sufficient shares to make it worth its while to salvage the company and whatever resource assets it still owns.

Our ideal company has working capital of at least $3 million ($3M) and a management team that holds a reasonable equity stake and has well-rounded exploration and development expertise. We want a company that is working its property. Too many companies, despite being well endowed with cash, are hunkering down, waiting for metal prices to turn around.

That is the deadly danger we face: companies with cash going into hibernation. No money gets spent on exploration. No new discoveries emerge. Existing deposits are mothballed because they require heavy capital spending to advance them. The entire sector goes dormant.

TGR: In your chart of 1,788 resource sector companies, 73% are trading below $0.20/share. The percentage trading below $0.10/share jumped to a seven-year high of 53% in late 2008, dipped to 12.6% in February 2011 and is back up above 58% this year. What is causing those swings?

JK: While equities in general are near record highs, the resource sector has been targeted for a massive selloff. We are now more than two years into a serious bear market. Two things are driving this. One is the perception that the supercycle has run its course and that the global economy will, at best, grow at a very modest rate. At worst, we may end up in a global recession or depression. The other perception is that the main narrative for gold has not really delivered what was promised: a substantially higher gold price.

The mining sector has also seen substantial cost escalation over the last five years. Now we get the extra whammy of declining metal prices. Investors see the mining sector as just one big way to lose money.

TGR: In April, you attributed blame for falling gold prices to the goldbug narrative that took pleasure in bad news. Is a good economy good for gold?

JK: The apocalyptic goldbug narrative posits that if fiat currencies are debased, the gold price will rise. However, that is just a mathematical adjustment to inflation; it does not create a profit margin for existing gold mines.

An alternative argument is that much of the demand for gold in the last decade has been purchases made possible by the prosperity created through the emergence of China as a major economic engine. The private sector now owns 82% of all the gold that exists; central banks own about 18%, the lowest since 1910.

If the global economy were to keep growing, emerging market economies would grow at a greater rate than mature Western economies, eventually eclipsing them. The resulting shift in the balance of economic power to these new kids on the block would introduce anxiety over what the world might look like 10–15 years from now, when the U.S. economy no longer dominates.

It would be prudent for the private sector to park some of its growing wealth in physical gold and for central banks, particularly in countries with emerging economies, to accumulate gold in preparation for a period of instability when the U.S. dollar no longer serves as the single reserve currency. A reviving American economy would benefit the global economy, which should boost demand for gold. I disagree with the conventional goldbug view that a strong American economy is bad for gold. The market, however, has for now taken their view, which creates a bottom-fishing opportunity.

TGR: June was tough for gold and mining stocks. Physical gold dropped through the $1,200/ounce ($1,200/oz) barrier, and the Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners (GDXJ) basket of miners sank to new lows. Let’s talk about some of the companies that could survive in this new reality and their strategies.

JK: A number of strategies can help a company survive and investors can do well if they ride out this downturn.

Probe Mines Limited (PRB:TSX.V) is a junior with a new, low-grade gold system discovery in an Ontario greenstone belt where no significant gold had ever been discovered and mined. The company did not publish an expected preliminary economic assessment (PEA) in Q1/13 based on its 4 million ounces (4 Moz) 1 gram/tonne gold. Instead, its drilling last December discovered a new aspect to the existing gold zone. This opened up the potential for underground gold mining at a higher grade and may indicate that the low-grade gold system is part of something much bigger and richer.

Probe gives you a dual hedge. If gold turns around, the low-grade, open-pittable resource becomes very valuable again. Or if we have a brand-new discovery play on our hands, nobody will care about the gold price because the grade will work at even lower gold prices.

TGR: When do you expect a PEA?

JK: At the end of 2013, with a resource estimate issued in September 2013. Probe Mines is closing some property agreements to consolidate ownership of the land position. The stock is in a holding pattern. Once these loose ends are tied up, the stock will stand out.

TGR: Could Probe be a takeover target for Agnico-Eagle Mines Ltd. (AEM:TSX; AEM:NYSE)?

JK: Agnico-Eagle has bought just below 10% already. Probe still owns its Borden project 100%, but Agnico-Eagle has an equity foothold and is in a position to provide technical advice. When a takeover bid becomes justifiable, Agnico-Eagle would have a head start on any competitors, but it would still be an auction among any interested producers. Incidentally, Probe Mines has $39M in working capital.

TGR: What is another strategy and company?

JK: Midas Gold Corp. (MAX:TSX) has the Golden Meadow project in Idaho, a gold-and-antimony story for which a PEA was published in September 2012 that envisions an open-pit mine producing 5 million ounces gold and 90 million pounds antimony. It recently sold a royalty on the gold to Franco-Nevada Corp. (FNV:TSX; FNV:NYSE) for $15M, giving Midas $25M in cash. On July 2 Teck Resources Ltd. (TCK:TSX; TCK:NYSE) bought a 9.9% equity stake for $9.8M, boosting working capital to about $35M. That puts Midas Gold in a strong position to complete a prefeasibility study during the first half of 2014.

Last year Midas Gold was a $4–5/share stock, now, it is trading $0.70–0.80/share. The company has good management. Significant exploration potential exists beyond the zones it wants to put into production as an open-pit mine. Idaho is perceived as a difficult place to permit a mine, but this is a former mining district, where tungsten was produced during World War II. That left behind a mess, which developing Golden Meadows as an open pit would clean up. Still, management estimates permitting will take three to five years.

The antimony component presents a security of supply aspect, given that 85% of global antimony supply comes from China. While antimony’s main use is as a fire retardant, it has potential new applications in battery storage devices. This could become a strategic reason to accelerate development at Golden Meadows.

TGR: Do you look for a variety of metals to balance and diversify the risk?

JK: When the metals are very different it can be helpful, especially when the demand cycles are not correlated. It used to be good to have gold and copper in a system because copper is traditionally strong during an economic boom when gold is weak.

But today, the destinies of gold and base metals are pretty much twinned. If there is a major global downturn, gold and copper prices will be weak. In an upturn, both will be stronger. Byproduct credits go up and down roughly in tandem these days.

However, during the past decade we have seen supply volatility from regions such as China that are well endowed with certain metals such as zinc, molybdenum, rare earths, tungsten and antimony. In the case of rare earth, supply was curtailed, resulting in a price bubble during 2011. But in the other cases China has ramped up supply, the sustainability of which is in question. South Africa with regard to platinum is another example. Byproduct metals whose primary supply has a geographical skew, such as is the case with antimony, do interest me.

TGR: How about another strategy and another company?

JK: Clifton Star Resources Inc. (CFO:TSX.V; C3T:FSE) has the Duparquet project in Québec. This was a high-flying stock promotion several years ago, which was mismanaged. The regulators halted the stock until the company brought on new management.

Clifton Star is an example of a junior looking to change its mining model to mitigate heavy upfront costs. The market perceives it as a relatively high-cost open-pit gold mine that would produce 1.5 Moz over a 10-year period. Based on the PEA published in December 2012, the project as envisioned is marginal at the current gold price. Management is rethinking its mining model, moving from a pressure oxidation unit to simply producing a concentrate for shipment to China for smelting. That could eliminate substantial capital costs and reduce operating costs.

The company still has $9M, which it deems sufficient capital to deliver a prefeasibility study in Q1/14 that incorporates these changes. Clifton Star will not have title until it has made a series of balloon property payments totaling $52M that come due between December 2014 and the end of 2017.

The market is pricing companies like Clifton Star on the premise that current or weaker gold prices will prevail in the foreseeable future. Such companies need to find an audience willing to take the view that within a year gold will be back in an uptrend underpinned by a sustainable narrative that promises higher real gold prices. Once gold has stabilized, these stocks with an overhang should be accumulated at incrementally higher prices that cleans out the hostile, angry shareholder base without attracting algo traders. This is why another year of bear market could be healthy for the sector. It would allow rotation of the audiences for these stocks, so when the uptrend starts, they will accelerate quickly.

TGR: Under that scenario, what other name could do well?

JK: Shifting to silver, a junior called Maya Gold & Silver Inc. (MYA:TSX.V) is returning the Zgounder mine in Morocco to production on a fairly small operating scale of 200 tons per day (200 tpd), producing 1 Moz/year. In itself this mining plan is not very interesting, especially with silver now below $20 per oz, but it is part of a substantial company-building exercise. Noureddine Mokaddem, who was a heavyweight in the Moroccan mining industry, has put together a group of projects for this Canadian junior. Several are owned by the Moroccan government’s mining entity, which is privatizing them.

Part of the deal in earning an 85% interest in this project is that the company must put Zgrounder back into production. The cost is relatively modest. It only needs to spend another $3.5M to commission by the end of the year.

The real game here is that this system could be similar to Morocco’s Imiter silver mine, which also started as a small, underground, 1 Moz/year operation. Then management realized that the material between the high-grade lenses was also mineralized and went into production as an open-pit mine. Imiter now produces 10 Moz/year, has already produced 100 Moz and has 100 Moz to go. As part of restarting the underground mine Maya must conduct exploration drilling, which will be done at an angle that will make or break the hypothesis that it is vesting for 85% of another potential Imiter.

TGR: How about another name?

JK: Diamonds are a commodity whose price is not only difficult to track, but whose price comes in hundreds of variations based on the crystal shape, color, clarity and carat weight of individual diamonds. Peregrine Diamonds Ltd. (PGD:TSX) is in a holding pattern while it waits for De Beers to make a decision by the end of 2013. Thirty-five percent of the stock is owned by Robert and Eric Friedland. Its 100%-owned Chidliak project has a significant diamond resource on Baffin Island. In the last four years, with the help of BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP:NYSE; BHPLF:OTCPK), Peregrine has found six high-grade pipes within a field of many more diamondiferous pipes.

In April, rather than just wait for De Beers to make up its mind, Peregrine took a 500-ton surface sample at its own expense from the CH-6 pipe, where it estimates the presence of 20M carats. If the 3 carats/ton global grade holds up in this sample, the resulting 1,500 carat parcel would be large enough to allow valuation.

TGR: Do you look for different fundamentals in a diamond company than a gold company?

JK: Yes. The fundamentals for diamonds are trickier. With gold, as soon as you have an intersection, you know the value per ton of the material. With diamonds, you need to spend many millions to get a large enough parcel to assess the value. Diamonds are a statistical game. There is a big spectrum of quality related to size, crystal shape and color.

If the diamonds turn out to be valued at more than $100/carat on average, that would set in motion a prefeasibility study on CH-6. The hang-up is the deal Peregrine did last year that allows De Beers to acquire 50.1% by spending $52M, of which $38M would be a firm commitment. DeBeers has until the end of this year to make this election. Anglo American Plc (AAUK:NASDAQ), which owns 85% of De Beers, has its own problems these days.

Whether De Beers walks away or elects to earn 50.1%, Peregrine Diamonds will process the bulk sample, and the market will finally know how to quantify the potential economic value of the diamond pipes on Baffin Island. It will not do so until De Beers is in or out. In either case Peregrine will have saved its shareholders a year waiting for that crucial information, the value of the diamonds at Chidliak. If the quality is high, Peregrine will benefit from two Friedlands as major stakeholders.

TGR: How about rare earths?

JK: Rare earths are still trying to find a bottom. With Mountain Pass and Mount Weld coming onstream this year, there will be meaningful supply of light rare earths outside of China. End users are waiting to see a stable, non-Chinese supply of rare earth elements before they start incorporating rare earth oxides (REOs) back into their products. Meanwhile the arrival of non-Chinese supply will weigh on rare earth prices.

The heavy rare earth (HRE) problem has not been solved. Some of the more advanced companies with large deposits, such as Quest Rare Minerals Ltd. (QRM:TSX; QRM:NYSE.MKT) and Tasman Metals Ltd. (TSM:TSX.V; TAS:NYSE.MKT; TASXF:OTCPK; T61:FSE), are doing costly metallurgical studies. Their projects will probably not come on-line until late this decade, assuming they can clear the pilot plant studies and fund what are likely to be high capital costs.

Namibia Rare Earths Inc. (NRE:TSX, NMREF:OTCQX) is an interesting alternative. The company owns the Lofdal carbonatite complex in Namibia. It has developed a small, low-grade, HRE-dominated deposit that could provide a bridge supply over the next 5–10 years. This fills a space that neither Lynas Corp. (LYC:ASX) nor Molycorp Inc. (MCP:NYSE) are able to fill.

Namibia Rare Earths has $20M in working capital. Its shareholder base recently changed when Endeavour Mining Corp. (EDV:TSX; EVR:ASX:TSX) sold its block to a couple of venture capitalists. Namibia Rare Earths has a solid management team and a supportive shareholder base. It is looking for rare earth elements and other specialty metals within this carbonatite complex. More metallurgical studies will tell us whether it will can process and produce HREs from the Lofdal deposit.

TGR: When do you expect that?

JK: We expect news on that front in Q3/13. The key will be the ability to remove the radioactive thorium from the heavy rare earth concentrate so that it can be shipped to processors in Japan or Europe. The next step would involve spending $5M on a PEA expected some time in 2014.

TGR: What about another name?

JK: Southern Arc Minerals Inc. (SA:TSX.V; SOACF:OTCQX) has been working in Indonesia for the past decade and has $14M in cash. The company expects to produce an NI 43-101 resource estimate for its primary project. Once it has delivered its resource estimate, the company plans to stop working in Indonesia and to seek farm-out partners for its more advanced assets. It is looking for opportunities to acquire a distressed asset, perhaps in a different jurisdiction with fewer political issues. The company has a decent management team, including John Proust and Mike Andrews, and substantial backing from the Qatar Sovereign Wealth Fund. On June 28 Southern Arc announced that it had spent half its treasury to acquire a 26% equity stake in another junior, Eagle Hill Exploration Corp, owner of the high-grade Windfall gold deposit in Quebec. That is not my preferred way for a cash-rich junior to deploy its capital, but it is an example of opportunism at work in a distressed gold equity market.

TGR: Another company?

JK: Golden Arrow Resources Corp. (GRG:TSX.V; GAC:FSE; GARWF:OTCPK) just produced a resource estimate for a silver-zinc-lead deposit that has more than $3B worth of metals, the Chinchillas project. Its black mark right now is that it is in Argentina. Golden Arrow’s exit strategy is that its project is near and similar to Silver Standard Resources Inc.’s (SSO:TSX; SSRI:NASDAQ) Pirquitas mine. The company will continue basic work and, hopefully, be bought out by Silver Standard.

Golden Arrow also has projects in Peru, $10M working capital, not a lot of shares outstanding and an experienced, well-rounded management group. It is the sort of company that I would expect to survive and possibly deliver a windfall sometime in the next few years.

TGR: In addition to silver, this is zinc-lead play. Is that a good thing?

JK: Yes. Zinc is one of the few base metals where, because mines are shutting down and new mines are slow to come onstream, zinc will be in deficit in the next three to five years. Today, there are mountains of zinc in warehouses, but zinc consumption is also much higher and increasing.

Zinc is one of the few metals I expect to rise over the next couple of years regardless of the macroeconomic trends. We could see stronger zinc prices in the next year or so. That would attract capital to zinc plays, of which there are very few.

TGR: Golden Arrow plans to release a PEA early next year. What do you hope to see from that?

JK: We hope to see a positive net present value (NPV) and reasonable capital and operating cost estimates.

The market does not trust many of the cost numbers used in PEAs. That is one reason that even though these companies show significant NPVs at trailing average metal prices lower than spot price, the market has been unwilling to assign anything near the value implied by the economic study. The recent bad press about the quality of cost assumptions in economic studies will hopefully make future economic studies more reliable.

TGR: What number do you use for the gold price when you look at feasibility studies?

JK: I use the whole range: the trailing average, lower and higher numbers.

I treat juniors as leveraged options on the future price of the metal. If you plug in $2,000/oz gold, some projects end up being 10 or 20 times more valuable than they are now. If gold continues at its current price, these companies may have an intrinsic value of zero. I like to see at what gold price the internal rate of return drops below 15%, and the net present value drops to zero. I prefer using a 10% discount rate rather than the 5% rate favored by many analysts.

Painful as this market has been to my picks and portfolio, it has a certain beauty. The valuations of the juniors are so cheap, that if we did get a positive outcome or if the economy started to grow again and metal prices rose for reasons that are perceived as sustainable over the longer term, these companies would see very rapid price increases. And there is an abundance of information available through the 400+ economic studies we have picked apart.

But you have to buy these stocks without knowing when the metal price will turn up. Once it turns, there is no stock available. If you want to bottom fish, you have to take the timing risk.

TGR: What topic excites you most?

JK: Nevada remains my favorite topic. Nevada has produced 250 Moz gold since 1970, and 100 Moz of medium-grade gold remain in the ground, largely controlled by Newmont Mining Corp. (NEM:NYSE) and Barrick Gold Corp. (ABX:TSX; ABX:NYSE). But every outcrop in Nevada has been explored, and the perception is that if there is anything more to be found, it is under cover and probably on ground controlled by Barrick and Newmont. My contrarian view is that this perception is wrong, that hundreds of million gold ounces remain to be found in shallow bedrock covered by gravel on land not controlled by the majors.

Nevada Exploration Inc. (NGE:TSX.V) has collected more than 5,000 groundwater samples, mainly from gravel-covered basins in northern Nevada. The company identified at least 80 gold-in-groundwater anomalies along with Carlin-type pathfinder elements outside the main trends controlled by Barrick and Newmont. It has at least 20 targets that it regards as high priority. This suggests dozens of gold deposits are to be found under the gravels. These targets are interesting because of the nothingness that sampling has revealed about the surrounding area. This junior has the keys to their locations. It will still take conventional exploration—gravity, seismic and other geophysical surveys and stratigraphic drilling—to map the bedrock geology and home in on these systems.

Nevada could well experience an exploration boom—$200M of grassroots exploration capital to deliver an additional 200–300 Moz—in the next 5 to 10 years, driven by juniors exploring these anomalies. This could become a distributed area play attracting risk capital. Given what Carlin-type deposits are like, the gold price will not matter.

TGR: Has the gold-in-groundwater sampling method been proven?

JK: The science behind it is sound. It is the basis for the Environmental Protection Agency’s water quality monitoring rules. A 20-Moz deposit called Twin Creeks had a study that showed a gold-in-groundwater anomaly associated with that deposit’s location under basin gravels, along with other Carlin-type pathfinder elements deemed as poisonous to humans. Nevada Exploration sampled nearly 30 known deposits and established halos that correlate reasonably well with a deposit’s location. What it has not done is deliver its own significant discovery using its methodology.

The ability to measure gold at such diluted levels has only existed for 10 years. Nobody has had an opportunity to apply gold-in-groundwater sampling on a large scale except Nevada Exploration.

TGR: Will there be a moment of truth when we will know if this approach works?

JK: Nevada Exploration has one play, Grass Valley, poised for a $600K three-hole stratigraphic program. If this program gets done and it intersects lower plate hosted gold mineralization within the context of the anomaly and the other data sets that have been built up, that would kick off the next great gold rush in America.

TGR: Does it have enough funding to do that drill program and report on it?

JK: The project is 70% owned by McEwen Mining Inc. (MUX:NYSE), which is responsible for all exploration costs, but which is now losing money on several smallish gold and silver projects thanks to the recent drop in gold and silver prices.

Does Rob McEwen have the courage to divert some of his shrinking capital into drilling high-risk, high-reward discovery holes? It appears that McEwen Mining does not want to risk spending money on any exploration. It is now concerned with keeping its ship afloat. On the bright side, if we see a further deterioration in gold and silver prices, McEwen Mining may have no choice but to swing for the fences with a wildcat drill program on a company-maker scale target.

TGR: What did you think of the Rye Patch Gold Corp. (RPM:TSX.V; RPMGF:OTCQX) settlement announced recently?

JK: The settlement disappointed the market. Rye Patch will get $10M cash, and the net smelter royalty at $20/oz silver is worth about $26–30M. It will kick in at the start of 2014. At that point, Rye Patch could probably sell it to a royalty company at a discounted price that would leave Rye Patch with $25–30M in working capital.

Rye Patch, headed by Bill Howell, has a number of other exploration projects in Nevada. Its approach is old-fashioned: We have a target, we’re going to drill for it and make a discovery.

I like the company and its situation, though I am not so keen about the Oreana Trend properties in the current gold-silver price environment. Rye Patch is active in the Cortez-Battle Mountain Trend, which is where I am hopeful it will start exploring aggressively rather than just sit on the cash.

Rye Patch has changed from a company with $700K in working capital, a number of projects and a fair number of shares outstanding, into a cash-rich junior with motivated management in a position to deliver discoveries during a bear market.

TGR: Any final advice for investors trying to keep their own ships afloat?

JK: In the resource sector, you need to consider whether a company can survive a potential two- to three-year bear market. You want to have a mix of companies in different commodities, companies that have determined management, money or at least a story that can raise money, assets, ounces or pounds in the ground and do not have a high carrying cost for the company to keep title. Also look for stories that can stand out in a sideways metal price market, either because of a unique twist or because of a compelling exploration target. When a junior is willing to fire its bullets at a target knowing that the bullet factory is on strike, that is a reason in itself to look a little closer.

TGR: John, it is always a pleasure and an education talking with you.

John Kaiser, a mining analyst with 25+ years of experience, produces Kaiser Research Online. After graduating from the University of British Columbia in 1982, he joined Continental Carlisle Douglas as a research assistant. Six years later, he moved to Pacific International Securities as research director, and also became a registered investment adviser. He moved to the U.S. with his family in 1994.

Want to read more Gold Report interviews like this? Sign up for our free e-newsletter, and you’ll learn when new articles have been published. To see a list of recent interviews with industry analysts and commentators, visit our Streetwise Interviews page.

DISCLOSURE:

1) JT Long conducted this interview for The Gold Report and provides services to The Gold Report as an employee. She or her family own shares of the following companies mentioned in this interview: None.

2) The following companies mentioned in the interview are sponsors of The Gold Report: Probe Mines Limited., Franco-Nevada Corp., Clifton Star Resources Inc., Tasman Metals Ltd., Namibia Rare Earths Inc., Southern Arc Minerals Inc., Golden Arrow Resources Corp., Silver Standard Resources Inc., Rye Patch Gold Corp. Streetwise Reports does not accept stock in exchange for its services or as sponsorship payment.

3) John Kaiser: I or my family own shares of the following companies mentioned in this interview: Peregrine Diamonds Ltd., Rye Patch Gold Corp., Tasman Metals Ltd., Nevada Exploration Inc. I personally am or my family is paid by the following companies mentioned in this interview: None. My company has a financial relationship with the following companies mentioned in this interview: None. I was not paid by Streetwise Reports for participating in this interview. Comments and opinions expressed are my own comments and opinions. I had the opportunity to review the interview for accuracy as of the date of the interview and am responsible for the content of the interview.

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Case for Gold “Unchanged” as Asia Buys, Western ETFs Fall to 2010 Levels

London Gold Market Report
from Adrian Ash
BullionVault
Tuesday, 9 July 08:45 EST

The PRICE of gold slipped from 1-week highs at $1260 per ounce lunchtime Tuesday in London, as European stock markets cut earlier gains and commodity prices held flat.

 Fresh gold investing demand in Asia was strong overnight, according to dealers.

 Traders also cited new Chinese inflation data – which came in above analyst forecasts for June at 2.7% – plus “stops being triggered” as gold prices rose through $1240.

 “We are now back to the levels of last week,” says broker Marex Spectron, “pre-NFP.”

 Friday’s non-farm US payrolls data saw gold drop $20 per ounce – “a pointless move down to 1210,” says Marex. “Although it gave us the opportunity to buy the dip!”

 Despite being “medium-term bearish” overall, “We still believe that an interim low is in place,” says the latest technical analysis from Axel Rudolph at Germany’s Commerzbank.

 “A corrective move higher towards the 1321.50 April low is currently underway.”

 On a fundamental level however, “No sustainable price recovery is likely” says Rudolph’s colleague Eugen Weinberg at Commerzbank’s commodities team “for as long as ETF outflows continue on this scale.”

 Exchange-traded gold trust funds lost another 15 tonnes on Monday as investing positions were reduced again.

 That took global gold investment through ETFs below 2,000 tonnes for the first time since May 2010 according to Bloomberg data.

 “Money managers are also retreating further from the gold market,” says Weinberg.

 Latest data from US regulator the CFTC last night showed speculators in gold futures and options cutting their “net long” investing position as a group to just 108 tonnes equivalent.

 Down four-fifths from the start of this year, the net long position of non-industry players in US gold derivatives has now fallen 89% from the record peak of summer 2011.

 Gold investing in China in contrast – now the world’s second-largest consumer market for bullion – has been strong, market-maker HSBC notes.

 “An indicator of good demand from China is bullion’s premium on the Shanghai Gold Exchange,” HSBC said in a note Friday, “which more recently stood at $34/oz, significantly higher than the $10-25/oz range seen in May.”

 The Shanghai Gold Exchange this week began an overnight trading session, extending trade until 2.30am.

 The 2013 price drop has also spurred net gold bullion buying by Japanese households, according to Tanaka – the country’s largest chain of bullion retailers – the first such net addition to private holdings since 2004.

 Japan’s gold ETF sector has bucked the global trend too, Bloomberg reports today, with gold investing positions expanding 10% by weight against a 25% drop in Western ETF stocks.

“A lot of [Western] investors are starting to exit their hedge against unorthodox monetary policy in the US,” the newswire today quotes Dominic Schnider at UBS Wealth Management in Singapore.

 “As an insurance asset, gold, which worked out so well for people in the past few years, is not attractive anymore.”

 But “policymakers should be cautious in interpreting the plunge in gold prices as a vote of confidence in their performance,” counters academic economist and author Kenneth Rogoff at Project Syndicate.

 “The case for or against gold has not changed all that much since 2010,” Rogoff believes, pointing to when prices were last at this level.

 “The real case for [gold investing], then as now, was never a speculative one. Rather, gold is a hedge…a form of insurance against war, financial Armageddon, and wholesale currency debasement.”

Adrian Ash

BullionVault

Gold price chart, no delay | Buy gold online

Adrian Ash is head of research at BullionVault, the secure, low-cost gold and silver market for private investors online, where you can buy gold and silver in Zurich, Switzerland for just 0.5% commission.

 

(c) BullionVault 2013

Please Note: This article is to inform your thinking, not lead it. Only you can decide the best place for your money, and any decision you make will put your money at risk. Information or data included here may have already been overtaken by events – and must be verified elsewhere – should you choose to act on it.

 

The Inflation Trades Are Your Friend

By markettrendforecast.com

Ignore the pundits and pay attention to the action and what you see around you. Last time I walked down the cereal aisle I thought maybe I needed glasses, but no… the boxes keep shrinking. That’s inflation as seen in food being priced in via smaller servings at the same or higher prices. Gold has likely put in a massive cyclical bottom in the 1180′s with 1156 the likely support now for any further pullback and analysts continue to downgrade the better Gold miners right near the cycle bottom.

Copper has also bottomed in my opinion near $3 and will continue higher than most think as its cycle works back to the north. Coal stocks are looking like massive bottoms if you take a look at WLT, ANR, BTU and others. Freeport Mc-Moran is probably in the process of a bottom near $27 per share as well for another Oil-Gold sample.

Chips stocks remain strong as well and solar pricing is improving for the solar producers… all signs of stronger economies soon to emerge and inflation coming back into play.

Fortune will favor the Bold

78 copper

 

78 nat gas

 

78 anr article

 

Join us either at www.activetradingpartners.com for real time trades or www.markettrendforecast.com for Gold and SP 500 forecasts updated daily

 

The 30 Second Technical Flash Chart Report on US Equities

By Chris VermeulenGoldAndOilGuy.com

US Equities opened higher this morning and are setting up for a sharp pullback based on technical analysis using trends, cycles, momentum, volume, market breadth and key resistance zones.

Take a look at the charts below for a quick flash of what I think.

Barchart Market Momentum Index

This chart I look at daily. In short if its price is at 101 or higher I expect the broad market to pause or pullback within the next day.  It tells me if stocks have moved to far in one direction on a daily basis and if so sellers (big money players) are likely to re-align stocks by taking profits or shorting during these times.

Momentum1

 

Stock Trading Above the 50 Day Moving Average

Here we can see that while the SP500 has been rising over the past 6 months less stocks are trading above their 50 day moving average. This means a smaller group of stocks is holding the market up and it’s just a matter of time before those stocks burn out and roll over also.

Broadmarketstrength2

 

SPY Swing Trading Analysis – Daily Chart

With the SP500 breaking down from its trend channel and testing a short term resistance trend line. Odds favor sellers should become more active and pull the market down as they unload any remaining long positions and possibly get short the market. Both of these actions will put pressure on US Stocks.

SPYswingTrend

 

Big Picture Outlook – Don’t Get Me Wrong!

This chart is just to show you what is possible. I am not a perma-bear nor do I want another bear market like this to happen. But knowing what is possible still has to be known. Major market tops are a lengthy process and tends to take several months. If this is the case then it could be a wild and choppy market for the rest of 2013 and a great way to play this is through writing options. Do not expect price to just collapse and free fall for 18 months… Dreams like that do not happen. Bear markets must be actively traded as they carry a lot of risk.

SP500LongTermTop

 

Flash Chart Analysis Conclusion:

This week is do or die for US stocks. We need sellers to step in here and pull stocks down. With the SP500 trading at resistance, stocks being overbought on a short term basis and the holiday week behind us which typically favors higher prices it is now time for sellers to become active once again.

Get more timely updates at: www.GoldAndOilGuy.com

Chris Vermeulen

 

Greece gets aid approval as Europe shares rises

By HY Markets Forex Blog

The European stocks were seen at green on Tuesday, supported by the release of Greece 3 billion euros ($3.9 billion) emergency aid by the euro zone finance ministers. The first installment of 2.5 billion euros will be made to Greece this month, while the rest will be made by October, according to reports.

The pan-European Euro Stoxx rose 0.80% to 2,672.00 as the market opened, while the French CAC 40 gained 0.73% to 3,852.10. In Germany, the DAX index advanced 1.08% to 8,054.30, while the UK FTSE 100 edged up 1.16% to 6,524.00.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) will give 1.8 billion euros by August, while the central banks in the euro zone will give 1.5 billion in July and October.

“Greece is on the right track in many ways, but there have been delays in some areas,” German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble   said to reporters after the euro group meeting. “It is right to proceed on a cash-on-delivery basis and step by step and make the disbursements as Greece’s financing needs arise.”

Finance ministers from the EU are expected to meet at the Economic and financial affairs council in Brussels later today, to finalize whether Latvia will be a part of the euro zone by next year.

The euro zone economy has minimized since the fourth quarter of 2011. Unemployment rates in Spain are at 26.9% high and lower in Austria with 4.7%.

The post Greece gets aid approval as Europe shares rises appeared first on | HY Markets Official blog.

Article provided by HY Markets Forex Blog

Asian shares rises on Profit Outlook

By HY Markets Forex Blog

Shares in the Asian market were seen climbing on Tuesday, recovering from the previous fall from the last session.

The broader Topix closed 2.1% higher at 1,196.89, while the Nikkei 225 gained 2.60% at 14,472.90.

The Hong Kong Hang Seng climbed 0.53% to 20,692.86, while the Chinese Shanghai Composite gained 0.31% at 1,963.71.

The S&P/ASX 200 rose 1.66% higher at 4,889.30, while in South Korea, the Kospi index closed 0.74% higher at 1,830.35 at the time of writing.

Aluminum company Alcoa, shifted earnings of ¢7 per share, while the revenue for the company dropped to $5.85 billion in the second quarter, compared to previous record of $5.96 billion last year.

In China, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) advanced by 2.7% in June year-on-year, increased by 2.1% from previous month, according to the reports released by the National Bureau of Statistics.  Although there have been a rise in prices, analysts predict China is not likely to attain its target of 3.5% for the year.

Yellow Metal in China advanced to $1,254.67 an ounce, highest since July 1 and exceeding yesterday’s 1.1% increase.  While silver rose 1.5% to $19.3874 an ounce.

The MSCI Market Index rose 0.5%, recovering from its 14 percent loss for the past two days.

Meanwhile, investors are looking forward to the outcome of the upcoming Fed mid-June meeting due on Wednesday. The meeting may possibly hint the next step the US Federal Reserve plan to take with the slowdown of its asset-purchase program.

The post Asian shares rises on Profit Outlook appeared first on | HY Markets Official blog.

Article provided by HY Markets Forex Blog

Why This Non-Gold Commodity Is Essential for Your Portfolio

By Profit Confidential

080713_PC_lombardiAs readers of Profit Confidential already know, I have been bullish on both gold bullion and silver prices. I believe these two precious metals have great futures ahead of them, in spite of all the negativity about them in the mainstream media and their recent price slump—especially silver.

According to the mainstream media, that’s because the Federal Reserve is about to stop pumping money into the economy. The U.S. economy is getting better, and the global economy isn’t doing as poorly as many thought it would. Under those conditions, metals like gold bullion and silver would not be wise investments.

But what many don’t realize is that those conditions are not prevailing. In fact, the fundamentals for increases in the value of gold bullion and silver are actually very strong. And that has reinforced my original belief that increases in silver prices will outperform gold bullion prices.

Here’s what you need to know: silver prices will see an uptick because of the most basic of economic reasons—demand will outstrip supply.

Take a look at the chart below. It shows the number of one-ounce silver coins sold at the U.S. Mint this year compared to the same period last year. Clearly, demand from investors appears to be robust and growing.

2013-Monthly-Silver-Coin-Sales-U-S-Mint

As silver prices declined, investors bought more than 25 million ounces of it in the first half of this year, compared to just 17.3 million ounces in the first half of 2012—an increase of almost 44%.

Keep in mind that the people who buy physical silver are generally not speculators looking for a quick buck. Instead, they buy when the silver prices are low and hold onto it for the long term.

And it’s not just investors who drive demand for silver.

Silver is also used for a wide variety of industrial purposes. According to a report from Thomson Reuters GFMS commissioned by the Silver Institute, the average demand for silver for industrial use is expected to be 483.3 million ounces each year from 2012 through 2014. (Source: Thomson Reuters GFMS, November 2012.)

Silver is also used in the health care sector, automobiles, and various different technologies—many of which are experiencing growth.

Also working to drive up the price is the fact that production of silver from U.S. mines continues to slow. From 2010 to 2012, silver production declined from 1,280 tons to 1,050 tons—a slide of almost 18%. (Source: U.S. Geological Survey, January 2013.)

And with silver prices taking a nosedive in the paper market lately, it’s likely that production will remain at the same level this year as in 2012, as producers slow or shut down their mines to cut costs.

These days, the bears seem to have forgotten that precious metals like gold bullion and silver have proven to be a store of value for thousands of years. And with silver demand staying staggeringly high, and supply expected to decline over the short term, investors are presented with the same kind of buying opportunity like the one we saw in early 2008.

Michael’s Personal Notes:

Suddenly, the automotive sector is red hot. According to Autodata Corporation, 1.4 million cars and light trucks were sold in the U.S. economy in the month of June. In fact, auto sales in the U.S. economy have increased 9.2% over the same period a year ago, and they are on pace to have their best year since 2007. (Source: Wall Street Journal, July 2, 2013.)

Since the beginning of the year, 7.7 million cars and light trucks have been sold in the U.S. economy.

But is that proof there’s real economic growth? Should we break out our “Dow to 20,000” party hats?

Based on our opinion, those numbers represent a good step in the right direction for the U.S. economy. Traditionally, auto sales figures are a strong indicator of consumer spending. The current trend indicates that Americans are spending money again. But there are a few reasons why I remain skeptical about any real economic growth in the U.S. economy.

The first reason is that according to TransUnion Corp., a credit information company, in the first quarter of 2013, the delinquency rate on auto loans 60 days or more past due increased from 0.82% a year ago to 0.88%.

Even more troubling is the fact that sub-prime borrowers—individuals with lower credit ratings—made up 15% of all auto loans made during the first quarter of 2013. (Source: MarketWatch, June 25, 2013.)

Could we see a sub-prime auto loan crisis in the U.S. economy? It’s not impossible. Over the last two years, balances in accounts from sub-prime auto loans borrowers have increased 11%.

The second reason is that consumer spending, aside from autos, is still very much suppressed in the U.S. economy. And the jobs market report from June showed that the number of people working part-time increased, with the majority of the jobs created in the low-wage sectors. That’s not likely to be a force that drives the U.S. economy towards economic growth.

And finally, while we have already heard enough about how the Federal Reserve will be stepping away from its quantitative easing, it will have a profound effect on interest rates. As I have said many times in these pages, the housing market in the U.S. economy will suffer as lower-wage earners will be faced with higher mortgage costs. And auto sales will be no different; just as it will become more expensive to buy a home, it will become expensive to buy a car.

In the short term, I expect automakers in the U.S. economy to continue to profit from this increased demand created by easy monetary policy; but in the long run, their troubles will become more evident. For example, the eurozone is still a mess, and China’s economic growth continues to become less stable.

Of course, basing your opinion on economic growth on one number—like auto sales—is not advisable when other indicators are suggesting the opposite.

Article by profitconfidential.com