April Gold News 2016

The U.S. economy is grinding to a halt as growth stalls and anxiety rises. The economy expanded by 0.1% in the first quarter down from 0.4% in the last quarter of 2015.

Growth in the United Kingdom has slowed to 0.4% as mainstream pundits blame uncertainty over July’s European referendum, while George Osborne feels it’s easier to blame the UK’s slowdown on a lackluster Chinese economy.

After endless rounds of money printing and monetary intervention it is becoming clear central banks don’t have the power to control the economic universe. If financial markets lose confidence in their economic masters there ...

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Those who thought Greece’s debt problems had been solved had better think again.  Tax revenues are lower than expected and a debt default in July is a real possibility unless the country’s creditors lend the bankrupt nation even more money.

Creditors are demanding the Greek government implements even more austerity, but instead the Greek Prime Minster Tsipras is calling for an emergency meeting with the European Commission President Donald Tusk to discuss an alternative.  Without additional funds Greece will default on a 3.5bn euro loan in July.

We have been here before, last year Greece agreed a last minute £60bn ...

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If Britons vote to leave the European Union on June the 23^rd gold priced in sterling has the potential to explode.

Historically, gold has been bought as an insurance policy to protect investors from currency debasement and political uncertainty. For this reason HSBC economist, James Steel, believes physical bullion could act as an effective hedging leading up to the referendum.

As the vote draws closer polls suggest the British population will vote to stay a member of 28 member Eurozone. Regardless of current predictions, until all the votes have been counted uncertainty will remain. Steel believes this uncertainty has the ...

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Clumsy interventions by central banks have the potential to bring the global economy to its knees. This is the view of the Societe Generale head economist, Albert Edwards.

On Friday Edwards attacked Janet Yellen for failing to see asset bubbles in the U.S. economy, Ben Bernanke for prompting the option of helicopter money and Mario Draghi for pretending quantitative easing works.

Instead Edwards aligned himself with the view of the German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, who earlier this month blamed European Monetary policy for the rising popularity of right wing political parties.

For the first time since the 2008 economic ...

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The gold price traded lower yesterday as the dollar traded sideways and the European Central Bank (ECB) held rates at historic lows.

The gold price traded in a broad range between $1,244.50 and $1,272.30, before closing at $1,252.70 per ounce. Despite yesterday’s slight decline the gold price is still up 17% since the start of 2016.

The gold price had been building momentum, but slipped following the ECB’S decision to keep interests rates unchanged. ECB president Mario Draghi also confirmed the bank will continue its 80 billion euro a month quantitative easing program through to March 2017, and longer if ...

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As the silver price soars so do the number of lawsuits accusing the world’s bullion banks of manipulating the silver price.

Yesterday lawyers acting on behalf of Canadian investors filed a class action lawsuits in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice. ScotiaMocatta, Barclays, Deutsche Bank, SBC Securities, UBS and Societe Generale have all be named in the suit.

This is this the second lawsuit to be filed in Canada since December and is separate from the two recently filed in U.S. courts. Last week Deutsche bank admitted to rigging the silver fix and confirmed they would help other plaintiff’s pursue ...

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After this week’s surge in the silver price it looks like something big is happening in the silver market. At one point yesterday the silver price broke out and surged 5%. Silver is one of the best performing commodities in 2016. Year to date the silver price is up 22%, outshining gold which has increased by 18%.

Since the gold:silver ratio hit a five year high of 83.68 in early March the ratio has plummeted to 74.9 as the silver price gained the ascendancy.

In the last six months silver stocks held at the U.S. based Comex have fallen from ...

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After years of planning the Chinese have launched a yuan denominated gold benchmark, as the rising superpower looks to exert greater control over the pricing mechanism for gold.

For centuries the gold price has been set twice a day in London by U.S. and London banks, but this now looks set to change.

In the last few years China has reformed its domestic gold market in a bid to become the premier center for trading bullion. China is the world’s largest producer and consumer of gold and have baulked at having to rely on a dollar pricing mechanism.

Four large ...

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As well as rigging the silver price Deutsche bank have also admitted to manipulating the gold price. Yesterday, Europe’s largest bank confirmed they had reached a settlement in a U.S. court over accusations they manipulated both the silver and gold price. Deutsche bank also agreed they would help the other plaintiff’s pursue similar claims against other financial institutions.

Lawyers representing the investors in the silver fixing suit confirmed Deutsche bank will hand over emails and instant messages to help future investigations.

This is not the first time banks have been successfully sued for precious metal manipulation. In 2014 a group ...

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Deutsche Bank has reached a settlement in a lawsuit which accuses the bank of conspiring with Bank of Nova Scotia and HSBC to manipulate the silver price.

Traders accused the bank of abusing their position on the daily silver fix at the expense of clients and industry participates. The lawsuit claims the banks manipulated the silver market which is worth $30 billion daily.

The lawsuit is one of many being heard in New York, which accuses a number of the world’s largest banks of manipulating the precious metals and commodity markets.

Deutsche Bank quit its seat on both the gold ...

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Silver has continued to rally this week, recovering 8.4% (+£0.87/ oz t) after a four week period of downward pressure to reach a 12-month high. The precious metal had faced some minor resistance having passed £11 per troy ounce in March, culminating in a month-low of £10.45 per ounce last Monday. Since the start of the year, silver has gained 20% (+£1.90/ oz t).

Over the course of the last week, however, there have been signs that this resistance was only short-term, rather than the end of the precious metal’s bullish start to 2016. Precious metals rallied last Tuesday as European stocks suffered losses across the board and ...

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Italian politicians and banking executives have agreed to create a 5 billion euro fund to protect the Italian banking sector and stop a full blown crisis. The fund will allow stressed banks to offload defaulting loans and raise capital.

The Italian government is desperate to restore confidence in the sector which has been plagued by under-performing loans. Share prices in the country’s leading financial institutions have plummeted and their credit spreads have widened as investors headed for the exits.

Earlier in the year the Italian government reached an agreement with the European Commission to allow banks to package up their ...

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The gold price rallied overnight to a three week high of £884 per ounce as Asian equity markets fell and the dollar continued its recent slide.

Worse than expected economic data and uncertainty over the direction of U.S. monetary policy sparked demand for the yellow metal and unexpectedly the Japanese yen.

Janet Yellen and the Federal Reserve are adding to the uncertainty. Prior to Christmas the Fed announced their intention to raise interest rates four times in 2016, however, this now seem unlikely. Keeping interest rates near zero should support the gold price and boost the commodity sector in the ...

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Time is running out for global leaders to heal the global economy from the scars of the 2008 economic crisis.

Head of the IMF, Christine Lagarde, warned urgent action is needed to stop the global economy falling to an environment of low growth. Lagarde stressed the world economy is not in crisis, but if policymakers fail to act the next generation will face a prolonged period of stagnated growth.

Lagarde used her speech in Frankfurt to urge governments to increase public spending by pumping money into infrastructure projects and R&D. Sovereign debt has ballooned and many governments will lose credibility ...

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An unprecedented leak of confidential documents, called the “Panama Papers” has revealed how the world’s elite use offshore tax havens to hide their wealth.

Information on more than 200,000 business, foundations and family trusts have been leaked from a small law firm based in Panama. The files apparently include the financial details of politicians, tax evaders and even Mafia members.   

The leak is a never before seen view inside the financial details of the world’s rich and famous and includes bank balances, property deeds, passports and other financial information. Nine head of states have been named along with 29 ...

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Set against an environment of falling commodity prices and increased financial volatility the gold price surged 16.1% in quarter one to record the yellow metal’s best start to a year since 1974.

Increased geopolitical tension, stock market sell offs and increased concerns over the health of the global economy has boosted gold appeal as the ultimate safe haven. It appears the barbarous relic has value after all.

In a low or even negative interest rate environment money managers may turn to gold to manage their portfolio and preserve their client’s wealth over the long run. This can only help support ...

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