Big Metal News Items and New Orleans Investment Conference 2010

I attended the New Orleans Investors Conference Oct. 26-Oct. 30 and there were some very important highlights that I would like to share with you:

During a workshop with GATA’s Bill Murphy, Chris Powell and Adrian Douglas, Adrian gave a compelling presentation on the manipulated gold market. He used the data from 3 articles he has recently written, to draw the following conclusion: The Gold Market is not “Fixed”, it’s Rigged. Here is one of the articles written by Cambridge educated Adrian Douglas who is a 20 year Schlumberger oil and gas industry veteran . I promise you that you won’t look at the gold market the same way again after reading this compelling argument:
https://marketforceanalysis.com/articles/latest_article_081310.html

Adrian asserted that if you own unallocated bullion, the custodian likely only has 2.3% of what you own on-hand, and opportunity to get your investment to be transferred to 100% allocated bullion is closing rapidly. Because there is strong indication that the long term suppression of the gold market could be ending, and the rise of a suppressed market can be very rapid when the schemes like this unravel, take heed as there is a true “gold rush” fast approaching that we can truly benefit from. I stress to anyone reading this right now to re-examine any investments in unallocated metal, and begin researching fully allocated bullion custodians like Anglo Far East Bullion Company.
Eric Sprott of Sprott Asset Management, gave an amazing speech on how the reported global silver supply is grossly overstated and that their demand numbers have been too low. Eric mentioned that in one year, Sprott bought more silver than GFMS has accounted for for their investment global demand number for that year. Sprott has been very bullish on Silver and has acted accordingly for the last decade and has gotten all the big moves right. Eric told everyone that GATA has been right for the last 10 years and gave special kudos to Adrian Douglas, Director of GATA for his extraordinary work and articles of late. Eric finally laid out how he thinks that silver will be making an upward move to $50 in the next 4 to 5 months. Eric has raised $500 million for a physical silver trust that will be listed in both Toronto and New York. Go here for more on that.

Shortly before the conference, Bart Chilton of the CFTC went on record mentioning that the precious metals markets, particularly silver have been manipulated. This is a precedent moment as Bart Chilton is a US Government Official and GATA has not had anyone in power officially admit to the rigged market until now. Bart Chilton's statement can found here:

As well, since Oct. 27, 2010, there has been 3 class action suits filed against JP Morgan Chase for the manipulation of the market. Since then, there has been a rally in the gold silver market coinciding with these law suits. Spot price of Gold/Silver on Oct 27: 1324.50 / 23.77 and the spot price today, Nov. 5, 2010: 1394.10 / 26.76. There really is no other explanation other than these lawsuits that introduced even more speculation and intrigue into an already incredibly bullish market.

Lawsuit articles:
1) Morgan, HSBC sued over silver price suppression.
2) Silver class action invokes RICO against Morgan, HSBC.
3) Kaplan Fox Sues JP Morgan and HSBC on Behalf of Investors for Silver Futures and Options Contract Losses Caused by Market Manipulation

I had the opportunity to personally interview Bill Murphy, Chairman of GATA and Peter Schiff, President of Euro Pacific Capital over the course of the conference. Here are the videos:




By Kirsty Hogg
YOUnique Gold Tribe Memberhttp://www.fundsingold.com/
Goldvestments Copyright © 2010

Tons of gold imports turn to dust on arrival: WHAT CAN WE DO???

Another case for keeping your bullion within the "Chain of Integrity" - Allocated, private gold bullion ownership.

CHAIN OF INTEGRITY: AN AGE-OLD PROBLEM By Simon Heapes

During the Spanish occupation of many South and Central American countries in the 15th through 17th Centuries, much Gold was taken back to Spain via Fort San Lorenzo in Panama. Panama held the Gold awaiting shipment back to Spain under heavy artillery guard. When Spanish galleons would arrive at Fort San Lorenzo, they would be quickly loaded and sent on their way bound for Spain's refinery. On their journey back to Spain, the galleons would be attacked by pi-rates, normally British. However, when the pirates acquired the Gold, they had difficulty selling it even on the black market because its authenticity of purity would come into question.

This issue of authenticity guarding against counterfeiting is as old as the subject of precious metals them-selves.

COUNTERFEITS

For most of history, coins were valued based on the precious metal they contained. Whether or not a coin was actually made by the claiming party was of secondary importance com-pared to whether or not it contained the correct amount of metal, i.e., correct weight and fineness (purity).

Unlike Silver, Gold is denser than al-most all other metals; hence, when something is made of Gold, it is extremely hard to fake. Simple determination of weight and volume should be sufficient. A coin that is the right size but is not Gold (or has too much base metal) will be "light" alternately, a coin that weighs correctly will be somewhat larger.

Platinum was unknown in ancient times. Platinum is denser than Gold, but since the price of platinum is currently higher than that of Gold, making a fake coin out of platinum would make no sense. In theory, fake coins could be made of uranium, but this also is not a practical solution. One element that has approximately the same density as Gold is tungsten. Alloying Gold with tungsten would not work for several reasons, but a coin with a tungsten core and Gold all around it could not be detected as counterfeit by density measurement alone. This would take extra scrutiny with possibly an X-ray test to scan the interior of the coin. The other ultimate test is to have the coin re-refined.

BITE TEST

An old practice to test whether a Gold coin was counterfeit was to bite down on it. Since pure Gold is relatively soft, any base metals mixed with the Gold to lessen its value will also harden the coin, and thus make it harder to bite on.

The majority of bullion counterfeits (of all types) are rare and fairly easy to detect when comparing their weights, colors and sizes to authentic pieces. This is because the cost of reproducing any given coin precisely can easily exceed the market value of the originals.

SMALL COIN & BAR MARKET

Everyone needs to realize that Gold must go through the refiners fire before becoming pure enough to be money and a store of wealth. Without a refinery stamp on the Gold guaranteeing authenticity of purity (such as Spain's stamp in the earlier pirate example), people simply don't trust it. This has been an age-old problem going as far back as ancient Egypt. So be careful what type of Gold pieces you purchase lest retesting or even re-refining may need to take place for authentication purposes.

BANK BARS

The standard Gold bar held as Gold reserves by central banks and traded among bullion dealers is the 400-troy-ounce (12.4 kg or 438.9 ounces) Good Delivery Gold bar. These bars are for the larger purchasers totaling at cur-rent prices of approximately half a million US$ dollars each. There is no sure way to actually test the interior of these large bars with a depth thickness near 2 inches per bar. Not even new methods of X-ray are dependable enough to ensure purity all the way through to detect an inferior metal such as tungsten. The only sure way is by putting the bar back through the refiner's process and melting it back down at great expense to the owner.

SECURITY VAULTING AND TRANSPORT

There are three vaulting and security companies within the LBMA system that meet approval to be accepted. They are:

VIA MAT International Limited

G4S International

Brink's Limited


INSURANCE

I know personally that VIA MAT‟s security vaulting and transport is insured by an underwriter of Lloyd's of London insurance. In walking around VIA MAT‟s vaults, each vault is segregated by two-foot thick security vault doors. The actual insurance on each vault door is US$50Million. When the contained metal value exceeds this insurance value, an-other vault is required to remain within insurance parameters. By having insurance initiated in this manner, the insurance covers the replacement of the Gold itself. In comparison, many insurance companies only insure safe deposit boxes by dollar value. When the Gold exceeds this value, the insurance will not be sufficient to replace total ounces of Gold in storage.

SYSTEMIC RISK

So how does someone purchase large quantities of Gold given the current systemic risks within the banking system today? Many banks over the past few years have simply collapsed or been taken over by larger banks, because their balance sheets have been written down by many billions and trillions of dollars. Not only that, there is also large counter-party risk on the bank's books. If a bank offers storage of Gold, yet on the other side of their business their assets are be-coming less valuable or worthless, this puts the Gold in storage under consider-able risk in the case of a write down of the bank's assets, or worse, collapse through bankruptcy.

THE CHAIN OF INTEGRITY

Large investors are looking for solutions to take Gold outside of the system away from systemic risk. This is achievable by vaulting with companies that are able to keep large bank bars within the LBMA chain of integrity yet outside of the banks. The informed and educated large purchaser seeking wisdom in this area soon realizes it's a two-way street.

It's one thing to purchase the metal but entirely another matter when it comes to liquidating large quantities. So long as the bars remain within this chain of integrity and the investor has access to a company that has a refinery account (very hard to obtain), the bar can be trucked back to the refinery. So long as the refinery can verify the bar has not left the LBMA chain of integrity (with supporting documents to prove it has not), the authenticity will not be questioned. This then saves the bar from being re-refined, saving the investor a considerable amount of time and money.

TAKE NOTE

Within today's current system there are many accredited investors who lack the sophistication to realize that by not staying within the chain of integrity, they will have issues in liquidating metal holdings of large quantity. Even in the recent past there have been particular banks which have asked their clients to re-move their Gold and Silver holdings outside of the system not realizing that they have broken the LBMA chain of integrity.

Until next time,

Simon Heapes, Treasury Secretary
Anglo Far East Bullion and YOUnique

When Is A Good Time to Buy Gold and Silver?

Why Is It Now Crucial To Our Finances And Future To Buy Gold and Silver?
One of the things I encounter regularly is the overall lack of awareness by the general population on why we should be buying gold and silver. And not just buying it here and there like some kind of hobby or collectors’ item, but transferring a good portion of your savings into tangible metals. I feel compelled to write this entry to address this immediately. Simply stated everyone needs to begin doing this now for the following reasons.

Inflation:
We need to protect our savings from a silent economic cancer that robs us of our prosperity even while we sleep; inflation! Alan Greenspan (Before he went over to the dark side) said in his famous essay, "Gold and Economic Freedom", "In the absence of the gold, there is no way to protect savings from confiscation through inflation. There is no safe store of value.”

We work hard for our money and are already faced with a long list of taxes that already cut into our earnings. Overtime, inflation eats into your savings and your hard earned money, robbing you the natural opportunity to keep up with the cost of living. Inflation exists due to global central banking systems and fractional reserve banking. This is a sophisticated system where the issuing government allows their central banks to create non-gold or silver backed currency at their discretion. It is plainly and cleverly deconstructed here in Chapter 8 of Chris Martenson's Crash Course. Essentially, it becomes a massive counterfeit printing press where paper money is loaned back into the market. It is this influx of additional money in the market place that causes an increase in prices.

Gold and silver over many millennia have proven to be inflation-proof. They are not subject to inflation like paper money and hold their purchasing power. When our money was backed 100% by the the gold standard, there was little to no inflation per the inflation chart above (bear in mind also President Nixon completely denied and abandoned all gold backing in 1971).

You can find out more here why the little square pieces of paper in your wallet are actually worthless in this piece called "What is Money"? by Jeff Nielson.

National Debt Crisis: The national debt has now been conservatively estimated at 13 Trillion Dollars. In the 1950's the USA lead the world in manufacturing and were the world's largest creditor. Now, the table has completely turned and they are the world's largest debtor! Since the USA no longer has a strong manufacturing base and simultaneously has extravagant government spending habits, this debt has grown so big that there is no way the current generation can pay it off. Enter the morality issue. This debt now belongs to our children and their children. Is that fair to them? When speaking about any debt, it is important to understand the power of compounding math. As the interest compounds on this size of debt, its steady growth can suddenly shoot up to parabolic proportions like this graph. Considering that the US Government is doing nothing drastic to stop unnecessary spending and eliminate national debt, where do think this graph will go from here? This is the bubble of all bubbles! The Debt Bubble. The US has been borrowing from the rest of the world for years now. What happens when its creditors call in that debt? This will burst the bubble.

This is why it's crucial to be financially prepared for the worst. Just because our lives are seemingly not being affected that much right now, but due to the exponential growth factor of a massive debt and no sign of anything being done to correct it, the debt will continue to rapidly grow. Without much warning, things can go from bad to much worse very suddenly. Consider also that the US Government really has no means of paying this debt off and of course, eventually, China and other countries will stop lending them the money.

Buying gold and silver will protect you from this kind of economic fallout as well as the debasement of our currency and hyperinflation.

"As the sovereign debt crisis deepens and the debasement of national currencies at the hands of central bankers and politicians becomes increasingly recognized, more and more people are starting to understand the true nature of gold. It is not only money, but a better money than any national currency." James Turk

The Long Term Manipulation of the Price of Gold and Silver.

Finally, we are going to address this not much talked about but very important factor in why NOW more than ever it is the right time to buy gold.

The Governments and central banks along with other players such as Federal Reserve and Treasury, various other central banks, and bullion banks like Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan Chase in a couple of different ways are surreptitiously suppressing the spot price of gold and silver in the market every day. They do this to satisfy their agenda of maintaining their positions and the status quo. It can be summed up quite nicely in this Daily Bell interview with Chris Powell of GATA.

Gold and Silver are Honest Money
They are elements of the earth that have always reflected man's labour to extract and refine them into a useable product and therefore have always had real value. Gold and Silver are an enemy of Wall Street because in history, when gold prices go up, it means the economy is going in the toilet and it is a sign of the devaluation of the currency. Governments and central banks don't like them because they can't print them into existence like they can fiat currency. I wanted to point out that despite this outside manipulation, gold has still risen 400% in the last 10 years, so the central banks scheme in stopping the driving force of gold constantly asserting itself as true money is failing. Several experts in the industry have pointed out that gold is still very undervalued today and without this daily tampering on the spot price, it should be almost twice as much as it is now and will continue to go up from there accordingly.

Today's prices are artificially low and there will come a day when the long arm of manipulation will be exposed to the point where it will stop. When you push something down for years that has its own life and propulsion in the global market, it stores up energy and when that interference ends, like a coiled spring, the market will explode and the price of gold will go up very quickly. This is all illustrated very nicely in this video of Mike Maloney interviewing Bill Murphy, Chairman of GATA.

The only good thing about this situation is that it creates a buying opportunity for people to get into the gold and silver market before it soars.

By Kirsty Hogg

YOUnique Gold Tribe Member

http://www.fundsingold.com/

Goldvestments Copyright © 2010

Why Does the Price of Gold Go Up?

Traditionally, there are many variables that have affected the price of gold in the market place. Here are some fundamental guidelines:

-When the US Dollar goes up, Gold goes down
-When stocks go down, Gold goes up
-When oil goes up, Gold goes up

Because there is so much volatility in the market place today and signs show we are in an inflationary period, the rules above no longer seem to really apply and the gold market has now taken on a life of its own.

There are other things that affect the price of Gold like knee-jerk reaction buying and selling based on fear and greed. Collapsing currencies, countries going bankrupt, rumors of war and war, etc. have always affected the price of Gold. People flock to gold as a safe haven during these times.

Of course, there is also the long-term manipulation of the price of gold. The spot price of gold and silver have been manipulated and suppressed for many decades by the central banks, governments and JP Morgan. This was something that was dismissed as conspiracy theory bunk only a year ago and now that the Andrew McGuire story broke through to the international main stream media, thanks to Bill Murphy of GATA, it is being accepted more and more as fact throughout the world.

Recent comments by the media and people such as George Soros that gold is the ultimate bubble seem asinine to me when you consider the following:
- Federal Reserve and other central banks printing money (out of control) causing inflation.
- Gold for millennia has been a safe storage of value – Historically, all civilizations and cultures go back to gold after they debase their currencies. Washington is allowing the Federal Reserve to print money into existence and there are no signs on the horizon that this will end or slow down. - If you look at any historical gold chart, gold has risen with small corrections and pull-backs along the way and in the big picture, steadily climbed. This is a classic sign that gold has been chronically bullish with no bubble in sight.
- Basic Supply and Demand Fundamentals: There is less than 1/2 an ounce of gold above the ground per person alive on the planet right now. What does that mean when failing currencies prompt everyone at once to turn to something more sound?
- Jim Rogers was quoted that he is not selling any of his gold. If gold goes down, he’ll buy more. If it goes up, he’ll still get more. He is certain that due to the imbalances in the world economy and financial system right now, we are heading towards a currency crisis in the next year. Does this sound like the actions of someone who has heavily invested in a commodity that is in a bubble status?
- China has already said that their demand for gold will double in the next 10 years. Is this bubble talk?
- Looming currency crises globally - You cannot open a newspaper or turn on your TV today without being told about the declining Euro and other failing currencies. This will become more prevalent in the media in the coming months.

Finally, because we know gold is inflation-proof, we know that the price of gold isn't actually going up or increasing in value, it is the value of the dollar that is decreasing. An ounce of gold purchases the same today as what it did 2000 years ago. It is the purchasing power of the dollar that is decreasing.

As Simon Heapes said “You cannot study the subject of Gold and Silver without studying its counterfeit, that being the world’s paper currencies.” Simon also recently reminded us that “Taking time to study history gives you the "jump on the crowd." History repeats. Consider King Solomon who said, "There is nothing new under the sun, that that is, is that that will be again." This is particularly true with markets and the emotional reactions of the crowd”.

In history, we have learned that in times of economic hardship and despair, there is also great opportunity. Ask me how you can participate and position yourself for the “Great Wealth Transfer”, which will accompany the looming financial crash.

By Kirsty Hogg
YOUnique Gold Tribe Member
http://www.fundsingold.com/
Goldvestments Copyright © 2010

MELTUP - A New Documentary by The National Inflation Association

Hello Everyone,

I just thought I would post the new documentary by NIA – “Meltup” for all to view. Any discussion or comments are welcome.

SECRETS OF THE WEALTHY SERIES: Debt Slave vs Gold Save

Debt Slave Vs. Gold Save

Generally speaking, most people feel that saving or investing in 999.9 fine Swiss minted bullion is not something that they are in a position to do. What I have discovered is that it is totally possible for EVERYONE TO SAVE IN GOLD starting now.

If you’re reading this, I know you are already attracted to the shiny stuff and for good reason! It could be the recent spotlight on gold in the media that it is “about to soar” or the hedge against inflation and God forbid, protection against hyper-inflation .

People reject the notion that they can begin tangible gold ownership today for several reasons. They may feel they cannot afford it, or perhaps they are single mindedly bullish on silver. Some people are stretched and don’t have any money left over for savings or investing.

Let’s address the last point first. Simon Heapes, Director Treasurer of Anglo Far East said, “If you do not save, the seeds of success are simply not in you”. An ancient secret of the wealthy is that they ALWAYS put aside some of their income NO MATTER WHAT into a form of savings and forget about it. Western culture overtime has lost this knowledge. In a matter of a few generations, we have gone from a culture of savers to a culture of spenders and debt slaves.
What is a debt slave?
“The borrower becomes servant to the lender”. When we allow ourselves to go into debt for luxury items, we postpone the inevitable; paying for something we couldn’t afford in the first place. Many face that when in debt, we feel pressure to work more hours, or two jobs to make the payments. Some feel they are not in a position to ever pay it down. In this situation, your options are diminished and you become “servant” to the lender. You are simply trading hours of your life to work for money to pay the lender, you are debt slave. The daily stress of that in peoples' lives has very negative consequences on their health and happiness.

Our grandparents and great grandparents grew up in a society that if you had debt, people would literally look at you side-ways. This was not an acceptable way of life to them and people in debt were even looked upon as unsavoury company. Our great grandparents were people who worked hard and saved their money. If they wanted a better car, they would save for it. This goes for holidays, jewellery, renovations, real-estate, also. I’m using this example to point out that we now accept heavy debt as a fact of life, where as a mere three or four generations ago, it was taboo.

We need to get back to the fundamentals of saving as a culture. We can draw a lot of power and protection in our lives by doing this. From birth to adulthood, through a very sophisticated, multi-media, systematic bombardment of messages, we have been programmed to reject the obvious benefits of saving and go into debt for a variety of consumer items, that by and large, we simply DO NOT NEED.

Let’s get back to the topic of gold. Saving in gold has a multitude of benefits:

1. It is an inflation-proof asset-In the media, it has been named as the right asset at the right time.
2. It is a great hedge against inflation and protect against hyper-inflation (An insurance policy that you and your family can cash in on and benefit if we have a drastic currency event in our life-time.
3. Per many media sources, it is a great investment. Marc Faber continues to beg people to buy gold every month here.
4. When you save in gold, you are less likely to spend your savings. E.G. If you are in a crunch and need to cash in some of your gold, it takes a couple of extra steps to get it out of the safe or safety deposit box, march down to the local coin exchange shop to make the transaction. You won’t be able to impulsively spend it on that pair of shoes or electronic gadget you see at the mall.

Now that we understand the importance of saving and the benefits of saving in gold, now let’s look at why a savvy smaller investor should begin to buy gold once per month as well. I hear many people who are asserting that silver is a better investment for a variety of reasons. There is no question that silver is a sweet deal right now and that it is about to make a spectacular move. I do not contest this in any way and I too love to buy silver. If this strikes a chord in you, I ask you to consider the following. Silver may be perched and bullish right now, but here is why you should begin a set and forget savings plan and buy small amounts of gold along the way as well.

Some people plan that when they get large sum of money, they'll buy a lot of gold. Others prefer to stick with silver because it is more affordable and they like where it’s heading. They plan to buy it later when they have more money or when they swap their silver at the right time. Well, by the time the average person saves enough money for a large gold transaction, or same person is ready to do a swap with their silver, what makes you think there will a supply of gold to buy from? Remember, everyone will be thinking the same thing, and by then, it may be too late. Of course, there will be gold available, but at HUGE premium. As Franklin Sanders said, "This is what happened in 1978 and 79. People were trying to find some way to protect themselves; they ran into gold and silver. What most people don’t realize is that it’s a real small door, and when everyone tries to run in there at once, the price has to skyrocket to clear the market."

If you accumulate it slowly, you will be averaging out the price, capitalizing on buying on the dips as well. E.G. If you buy a 10th coin per month, you will have a one ounce of gold in 10 months! If you don't, you'll have ZERO ounces of gold in 10 months.

Gold is a good thing to constantly acquire as well due to its higher value and what that means in terms of storage. I have experienced first-hand that you need a lot more storage when it comes to silver. Let’s look at the sheer weight of $10K worth of silver x $20 per ounce compared to the same amount in gold coin, you could easily put $20K worth of gold in a safety deposit box and find room for 33 times that amount and not have to worry. Try that with silver and the bank storage fees would be ridiculous.

If you want to begin a set and forget savings plan in gold or silver, I can get you started on an affordable and flexible savings plan in a tangible form of wealth. Let me know if you are ready to take action and diversify!

By Kirsty Hogg
Goldwars.blogspot.com
http://www.fundsingold.com/
Goldvestments Copyright © 2010

SECRETS OF THE WEALTHY SERIES: Why Buy Gold?

Why Buy Gold?

A hedge against Inflation - Hyperinflation Survival - To Protect My Family
One of things I learned from reading the incredible book, “Stories from the Desk of a Bullion Banker”, written by Phillip Judge, on what is going on in our lives today is that there is a global need to combat inflation; the silent economic cancer that plagues our lives on every continent of the planet.

What is inflation?

Our first thought is to think that inflation means prices increasing. In the context of general conversation, this sounds correct, but it isn't. Inflation in the economic sense means to inflate money. By this I mean to increase the availability of money, or plainly putting it, printing more money into existence. When we increase the circulation of money but the availability of goods and services remain the same, this causes an increase in prices. So, when you hear the word inflation, it isn’t prices mysteriously getting higher, it means that the prices are higher AS A RESULT of an increase in the money supply. Inflation is a silent tax that robs people of their savings, purchasing power and prosperity.

In order to combat inflation, we need to find something that will always hold its value. We need to find something that is not subject to the effects of an increased money supply. For many millennia, gold and silver have remained a stable currency; their purchasing power has never changed and they have proved to be inflation-proof assets.

To demonstrate, in 600 AD, 3 grams of silver (a silver Dirham) would buy a chicken. Guess what, in England today, 3 grams of silver will still buy a chicken. We can demonstrate this further by looking to ancient Roman times. Around 1 AD in the Roman world, for one ounce of gold; one could buy a fine toga, a wool coat, handcrafted leather sandals and belt. Today in 2009, for once of gold (1100 USD March 2010 AD) a man can buy a tailored suit, cotton shirt, tie, belt and a pair of leather shoes.

Silver and gold are a reliable, solid safe haven to store your wealth and protect it against inflation. By keeping your money in fiat currency – Dollars, Euro, Pounds, etc. you are subjecting your hard earned savings to both inflation and devaluation.

Question
Where are you storing your hard earned money now? In a savings account? "High Interest" account? At all times, inflation is eating away at your savings, even while you sleep.

In the absence of gold, there is no way to protect savings from confiscation through inflation. There is no safe store of value.” Alan Greenspan

Let me know if you are ready to save your money in tangible gold and silver. I buy gold and silver in a variety of forms to protect my family.

By, Kirsty Hogg
YOUnique Gold Tribe Memberhttp://www.fundsingold.com
Goldvestments Copyright (c) 2010

Sources:
anglofareast.com
"Millenium Money" DVD Australia Fair Publishing.
Judge, P. "Stories from the desk of a Bullion Banker
chrismartenson.com

I leave you with this installment from Chris Martenson's Crash Course, Chapter 10 "Inflation".

Why Are There Premiums on Gold and Silver Coins?

This is a quick update with some buying tips in the area of premiums, for the first-time, small investor looking to purchase small denomination tradable coins or bars. I often get asked why smaller coins have a higher premium, etc. Or why gold/silver coins are not available at spot price of the metal. There is always premium on 999 fine gold and silver bullion.

Part of the premium, of course is a result of the refining, minting, administration and distribution fees for the actual manufacture of the coin. When you go to the gas station to fill up, you are not paying the spot price for a barrel of oil at the pump. There are many costs involved in the refining and distribution of fuel. We just expect that as a fact of life. It is the same for precious metal coins.
When the spot price of silver dropped considerably last year, the high premiums we were paying at the time reflected what was considered as a natural correction of what a more realistic price of silver should be based on supply and demand. The low price seems farcical as many people wanted to buy silver at that price, but there was low supply and long waiting times. Suppliers were charging 40% premiums. So if an economic event occurs that will spike the demand for an American Silver Eagle, and the mint has only regular reserves available, the high demand and low supply will push the premium higher.

SOME BEGINNERS TIPS:

Always research what premium you should expect to pay before buying. There's a few simple ways to do that:

1) Here's a website where you can see what to expect: 24hGold. Scroll down all the way to the bottom on the left hand side until you see "Let's Get Physical - BULLION - METAL VALUE AND PRICE" On the right hand side of the chart in green text, it lists the average percentage of premium to expect. Use this information to compare and shop around for similar products and rounds. There are other premium research tools at the top right of the site under the tab "BUY AND SELL GOLD ON EBAY"

2) Another good thing to do is a quick comparison directly on the Ebay site for a similar item. So for whatever you are looking for, type it into the Ebay search field. For example, type “100g bar silver”. It will come up with what they are being sold for that day/week.

3) If you have the time, take a saunter down to you local coin or precious metals exchange shop. Prices will change daily.
Your goal should be to accumulate the maximum oz's of gold and silver for your money as possible. Part with extra premium for a premium product that will offer added insurance. As an example you may consider paying extra margin for a smaller denomination or non-legal tender private mintage. Buy before the rush! When everybody is rushing into the bullion market at one time, premiums soar very quickly.

This will get you up and running to begin buying right away. Now for all of you seasoned gold and silver buyers reading this article, I welcome your comments and additional personal tips you can pass on to everyone.

Find out why I prefer privately minted bullion rounds and coins here.

Kirsty Hogg

First Grocery Store to Accept Silver

The National Inflation Association recently posted a video that really struck a chord with me. Take a look at this portrayal of an actual purchase of regular convenience store items with tangible silver.

Although my favourite form of tangible silver is of the privately minted bullion round or bar variety (due to the pristine 999 fine silver and the low premium), I will now be taking a second look at junk silver.

This video conveys two powerful points:
1) We are not too far off from this type of business to be as commonplace in every city.
2) These low-budget, educational videos are a really powerful tools to portray some pretty complex issues in very uncomplicated way. So let's get out there and make some videos.

You can view the video HERE.
I think I’m going to buy my first bag of junk silver!

The Eve of Destruction?

Well it’s been 2 years since the whole notion of the importance of acquiring inflation proof assets entered my world, and let me tell you, it couldn't have happened at a more opportune time. I sat wide-eyed as I watched the whole Fanny Mae and Freddy Mac saga unfold before my eyes. This was what the likes of Richard Martin, Peter Schiff and Marc Faber had been predicting for months, and I had just finished taking it all in when it hit the mainstream media. I was on the phone with a friend when the news feeds hit the net. We could not believe our ears. “Is this it?”, I thought, “is this the beginning of the end of life as we know it?”

Then the ensuing images of regular families who so ill-advisedly “bit off more than they could chew” ending up in homeless shelters, motels, parking lots, or “tent cities” were unbearable. And to watch the audacity of the media as they blamed the families for purchasing something they couldn't afford, all the while, begging for a bail out for Fanny and Freddie; the culprits who caused the crisis to begin with.

Well it turns out that that the sky was not falling that day, but it was definitely a warning shot. With the Federal Reserve continuing to print money into existence, and the Federal debt growing exponentially, the foundation of this 100 year experiment called “non-gold backed, fiat currency” has been eroded and the economy is definitely on its slow decent into hyper-inflation.

Many seem to argue that things are turning around, the economy is getting better. We are told to cheerfully continue buying stocks and watch the stock market “rally”. But common sense simply dictates to take a look around you. What are we actually seeing in our lives today? Increased unemployment, record inflation, increased homelessness and the existence of “modern day shanty towns” N.America.

Can we rely on the government to rebalance the economy? As Chris Martenson so succinctly described it in the “Crash Course”, he states we are now in a situation with an outcome, and it is just a matter of how we are going to handle the “outcome”. What are some things we can do to lessen the blow of the outcome?

More and more it makes sense to store your wealth in something that is inflation proof. I for one will be buying gold and silver in a variety of forms.

Kirsty Hogg
http://www.goldvesting.com/
http://www.fundsingold.com/
http://www.goldvestments.com/