Interview on Banks, Gold, Inflation and More

Christopher K. Potter (of Northern Border Capital Management Inc.) gives his thoughts on the gold world and where he thinks the price might go.

21st Century Alchemy

Poor Mr. Buck

I and many other gold/silver folks believe there is a long term, concerted move away from the dollar - by the Chinese, the Russians and even regular investors that don't think it will be a good vehicle for saving. These two articles are just a couple of examples of the bearish outlook for the dollar.

The first is just a general prognostication by some investment folks at PIMCO and the second is about how Russia is looking to get away from exposure to the dollar, just like the Chinese. In this case, they are shorting the dollar in a kind of indirect way that would not be quite as obvious as if they were to alter their central bank reserves.

I hope more people begin to see the US dollar as only a medium of exchange for goods and services but not a way of saving. People ought to save with things that will retain their value, like precious metals (in sensible quantities) and land, which is real wealth.

Dollar to Extend Slide as Global Economy Recovers, Pimco Says

Russia Prepares to Short $18 Billion USD

Currencies and Rumours of Currencies

There has been a lot of talk about a new currency for the world, something to act as an alternative to the dollar. The article I am linking to today is just one out of countless articles now swirling around the net where some official person or bureaucracy calls for a new currency.

The one thing I can say on all this is that we should not get ahead of ourselves. By that I mean : Yes the US dollar is and will continue to decline into insignificance, but that is a long process. The world has been using the greenback for oil and other things for quite some time now and you don't just switch over to something else in one fell swoop. Moreover, China and others have significant dollar holdings and though they would like to get out of them, that too cannot happen instantaneously.

I'm sure many gold bugs are pleased as punch to see gold now well over 1000$ but this process we have been predicting will happen over years.

UN calls for new reserve currency

Interview with Byron King

This fellow worked as a geologist in the exploration and production division of a major oil company, so he has some views on gold from a 'geological' point of view. I never looked into the concept of 'peak gold' that much but it is something I've heard before. Byron King brings it up in this interview. In response to a question about why gold would go to 2000$ he said :

"Because we're in a world that appears to have encountered peak gold as well as peak oil. If you look at historical production, worldwide gold output reached a top right around the year 2000–2001. Overall output has declined and we're not replacing output from the big mines of the past. Despite discoveries here and there, miners have to dig deeper and deeper into the reserves."

He also mentioned inflation and interest in gold from China as reasons for being long gold.

His opinion on silver is that it should outperform gold percentage wise, an opinion I agree with. In fact I think many of us overlook silver, perhaps because decades of watching the Olympics have conditioned us into thinking gold is somehow better. I think everyone should have at least a sock full of coins stashed somewhere in their house.

Endless Stimulus and 2000$ Gold

Even More on China and Gold

Yet another article on the influence the Asian elephant could have on gold.

Interesting how it is mentioned that gold is being promoted to the common man in China. (I bet Jim Cramer is giving the ole' bullish 'boo-yeah' to some financial stock as we speak) :

"As recently as 2002, the private ownership of gold was prohibited in China. You could be jailed if caught with any in your possession. Beginning in 2009, in a stunning about-face, the central government removed all restrictions. In fact, as Mineweb and other sources report now it’s actively pushing folks to buy some personal metal, with China's Central Television, the main state-owned television company, running news programs cum[sic] infomercials, letting the public know just how easy it is to purchase gold and silver as an investment."

Article : What The Heck Is Going On With China

More on China, the Dollar and Gold ...

This article confirms what many have been saying about China edging towards the exit door at the dollar party.

Two important points I want to emphasize :

1) China wants to decrease their exposure to the dollar (bearish for the dollar)

2) China is looking at gold as one of the many places they could park all that money (bullish for gold)

Here's an interesting excerpt. (The man quoted is Cheng Siwei, a former vice-chairman of the Standing Committee in China) :

"“Gold is definitely an alternative, but when we buy, the price goes up. We have to do it carefully so as not to stimulate the markets,” he added.

The comments suggest that China has become the driving force in the gold market and can be counted on to buy whenever there is a price dip, putting a floor under any correction."

Peter Schiff on the Gold/Silver Rally

He makes the important point near the end that China is planning on dumping the dollar. That is sure to be a gradual process so perhaps 'dumping' is not quite the right verb to user but he is absolutely right.

It's good to see guys like this doing an end run around the talking heads of CNBC and speaking straight to the people. Viva la internet!

Link to Video

China, Russia and Others to Increase Gold Holdings?

Jeff Nichols believes some big players in the world have much gold buying to do in the future. Moreover, he uses the fancy-sounding phrase "over stimulative monetary policy", which means lots of trees are being cut down so your bank account can depreciate in value.

Nichols : "We are bullish on gold for the next few years, largely because of our reading of the macroeconomic situation - and the high probability of an overly stimulative monetary policy for years to come. But a more positive official section attitude - with some countries wishing to increase the proportions of official reserves held in gold - is simply one more support for a much higher price over the next several years."

Article

Gold in the News ...

Gold has been going sideways for awhile now and somethings gotta give. Here's an article speculating on where the give might go.

More crystal ball peering here.