{"id":41863,"date":"2013-09-10T13:28:25","date_gmt":"2013-09-10T17:28:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/countingpips.com\/forex-news\/?p=41863"},"modified":"2013-09-10T13:28:25","modified_gmt":"2013-09-10T17:28:25","slug":"these-two-charts-tell-a-golden-story-for-investors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex-news\/2013\/09\/10\/these-two-charts-tell-a-golden-story-for-investors\/","title":{"rendered":"These Two Charts Tell a Golden Story for Investors"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By <a href=\"http:\/\/www.centralbanknews.info\/\"><u>www.CentralBankNews.info<\/u><\/a> <span style=\"background-color: white;line-height: 16px\"><span style=\"font-family: inherit\">&nbsp;(Following article is written by Michael Lombardi of Profit Confidential for Central Bank News, which occasionally will carry articles by guest contributors if they are of interest to our readers.)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Arial;font-size: 12pt;line-height: 115%\">&nbsp; &nbsp; By<\/span><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;line-height: 115%\">&nbsp;<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.profitconfidential.com\/author\/michael-lombardi\/\"><span>Michael Lombardi<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;line-height: 115%\">,&nbsp;<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial;font-size: 12pt;line-height: 115%\">for Profit Confidential<\/span><\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: -webkit-auto\"><span style=\"text-align: justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial\"><span style=\"line-height: 18px\">&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;<\/span><\/span>In these pages, I have written extensively on how <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.profitconfidential.com\/central-banks\/\" style=\"text-align: justify\">central banks<\/a><span style=\"text-align: justify\">will ultimately be the ones who drive gold bullion prices much higher. The phenomena of these banks getting back into gold (after they were net sellers for years) started in mid-2009.<\/span><\/div>\n<p><\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify\">&nbsp; &nbsp;The chart below clearly shows the rise in gold bullion reserves held by central banks across the global economy; its trend is quite impressive, even for a gold bug like me.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify\">&nbsp; &nbsp;Central banks\u2019 gold reserves have increased about 6.4% since the first quarter of 2008 to the first quarter of 2013. (Source: World Gold Council, last accessed September 6, 2013.) While on the surface that sounds like a small number, the actual increase is 1,717 tonnes of gold\u2014equal to about 64% of the total amount of gold produced annually.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both;text-align: center\"><a href=\"\/\/71D6EE63-5BED-432C-B3A2-1784BC957DCA\/image.tiff\" style=\"margin-left: 1em;margin-right: 1em\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" border=\"0\" height=\"208\" src=\"\/\/71D6EE63-5BED-432C-B3A2-1784BC957DCA\/image.tiff\" width=\"400\" \/><\/a><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify\">      <!--[if gte mso 9]&gt;   0  0  1  91  522  PNCN  4  1  612  14.0 &lt;![endif]--> <!--[if gte mso 9]&gt;   Normal  0          false  false  false    EN-US  JA  X-NONE                                                                    &lt;![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]&gt;                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    &lt;![endif]--> <!--[if gte mso 10]&gt; \/* Style Definitions *\/ table.MsoNormalTable  {mso-style-name:\"Table Normal\";  mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;  mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;  mso-style-noshow:yes;  mso-style-priority:99;  mso-style-parent:\"\";  mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;  mso-para-margin-top:0in;  mso-para-margin-right:0in;  mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt;  mso-para-margin-left:0in;  line-height:115%;  mso-pagination:widow-orphan;  font-size:11.0pt;  font-family:Calibri;  mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;  mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;  mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;  mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} &lt;![endif]-->   <!--StartFragment--> <\/div>\n<p>&nbsp; &nbsp; And the buying continues. In the second quarter of this year, central banks bought more gold. They purchased 71 tonnes of the yellow metal. (Source: World Gold Council, August 15, 2013.)<br \/>&nbsp; &nbsp; Why are these banks running towards gold bullion? It\u2019s because they are getting out of U.S. dollars as their reserve currency. The chart below tells that story.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp; &nbsp;This chart is something gold bears refuse to acknowledge. It shows the percentage change from a year ago in U.S. dollar reserves at central banks around the world. You can see how, since 2007, the U.S. dollar has become less of a reserve currency for these banks.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p><\/p>\n<div class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both;text-align: center\"><a href=\"\/\/8F1DDE68-8CA3-4B77-BA78-A1120A0FBB8F\/image.tiff\" style=\"margin-left: 1em;margin-right: 1em\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" border=\"0\" height=\"208\" src=\"\/\/8F1DDE68-8CA3-4B77-BA78-A1120A0FBB8F\/image.tiff\" width=\"400\" \/><\/a><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp; <br \/>       <!--[if gte mso 9]&gt;   0  0  1  466  2658  PNCN  22  6  3118  14.0 &lt;![endif]--> <!--[if gte mso 9]&gt;   Normal  0          false  false  false    EN-US  JA  X-NONE                                                                    &lt;![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]&gt;                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    &lt;![endif]--> <!--[if gte mso 10]&gt; \/* Style Definitions *\/ table.MsoNormalTable  {mso-style-name:\"Table Normal\";  mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;  mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;  mso-style-noshow:yes;  mso-style-priority:99;  mso-style-parent:\"\";  mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;  mso-para-margin-top:0in;  mso-para-margin-right:0in;  mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt;  mso-para-margin-left:0in;  line-height:115%;  mso-pagination:widow-orphan;  font-size:11.0pt;  font-family:Calibri;  mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;  mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;  mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;  mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} &lt;![endif]-->   <!--StartFragment--> <br \/><b>&nbsp; &nbsp; Michael\u2019s Personal Notes:<\/b><br \/>  &nbsp; &nbsp; The U.S. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.profitconfidential.com\/national-debt\/\">national debt<\/a> has increased significantly over the last few years, especially after the credit crisis struck the U.S. economy.<br \/>&nbsp; &nbsp;To stop the economy from totally collapsing, the U.S. government incurred several trillion-dollar budget deficits in a row as it spent to revive the economy. As yearly budget deficits piled on, the U.S. national debt rose. Today, the U.S. economy has the biggest debt in monetary terms than any other country in the global economy. In fact, if you add together the national debt of Greece, Spain, Portugal, and Japan, collectively, their debts are less than the national debt of the U.S. economy.<br \/>&nbsp; &nbsp; What happens next?<\/p>\n<p>  &nbsp; &nbsp; At present, the U.S. government is making payments on its old debt by simply borrowing more debt. Hands down, this is the biggest Ponzi scheme in play. But as I have written before in these pages, our national debt-to-gross domestic product (GDP) is only 105%. In Japan, the national debt-to-GDP is 205%. Hence, if we follow Japan\u2019s example, our debt could double from here.<br \/>&nbsp; &nbsp; The U.S. government should hit its debt limit in October. And Congress will increase that debt limit as it always does.<br \/>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Eventually, the only way to reduce the national debt, especially if interest rates rise, is to raise taxes. &nbsp; &nbsp;<br \/>&nbsp; &nbsp;But it is a double-edged sword. Raise taxes and you stifle the U.S. economy, as higher taxes negatively affect <span class=\"MsoHyperlink\">consumer spending<\/span>. Don\u2019t raise taxes and you still have a problem with a mounting national debt.<br \/>&nbsp; &nbsp; Will the U.S. come out with some law that if a group of citizens or a corporation has a certain amount of cash, they will get a special tax assessment on capital? This action makes more sense than an across-the-board tax increase.<br \/>&nbsp; &nbsp; It happened in Cyprus. Now we hear something similar is being done in Poland. To help its national debt situation, the Polish government has decided on reforms that move bond assets from private to state funds. Private pension funds are saying the move is unconstitutional. Crazy, but true; this is what is happening in Poland. (Source: Reuters, September 4, 2013.)<br \/>&nbsp; &nbsp; In the case of the U.S., I don\u2019t think we have to worry about special tax assessments right now. They will be a thing of the future, not today. If we follow Japan\u2019s route\u2014and it looks like we are\u2014we can add another $15.0 trillion in debt before the government gets desperate (save and except sharply higher interest rates or a total collapse in the value of the U.S. dollar).<\/p>\n<p>  <b>&nbsp; &nbsp; What He Said:<\/b><br \/><b>&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;<\/b>\u201cI\u2019ve been writing to my readers for the past two years claiming the decline in the U.S. property market would not be the soft landing most analysts were expecting, but rather a hard landing. My view remains unchanged. The U.S. housing bust will be cut deeper and harder than most can realize today.\u201d Michael Lombardi in <i>Profit Confidential<\/i>, June 13, 2007. While the popular media was predicting a bottoming of the real estate market in 2007, Michael was preparing his readers for worse times ahead.<\/p>\n<div class=\"MsoNormal\"><\/div>\n<p><!--EndFragment--><\/p>\n<p>  <!--EndFragment--><\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify\"> <!--EndFragment--><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify\"><\/div>\n<p><!--EndFragment--><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By www.CentralBankNews.info &nbsp;(Following article is written by Michael Lombardi of Profit Confidential for Central Bank News, which occasionally will carry articles by guest contributors if they are of interest to our readers.) &nbsp; &nbsp; By&nbsp;Michael Lombardi,&nbsp;for Profit Confidential &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;In these pages, I have written extensively on how central bankswill ultimately be the ones who &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex-news\/2013\/09\/10\/these-two-charts-tell-a-golden-story-for-investors\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;These Two Charts Tell a Golden Story for Investors&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-41863","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41863","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41863"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41863\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41863"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41863"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41863"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}