Precious metals news

n September, the president of the Dutch central bank wrote what may have been the most remarkable letter of his career: it said that the ECB’s interest rate hikes will lead to losses for De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) for the first time since 1932.

Early earnings reports for the September quarter show that profit margins are feeling the squeeze as costs are rising and consumer appetite for some products has waned.

The European Central Bank in the coming week will tread into territory last visited in the run-up to the global financial crisis as it raises interest rates during what looks likely to be a recession.

Prime Minister Liz Truss is on her way out, just as markets wanted. But the huge economic and fiscal headwinds ahead spell further pain for the pound regardless of who wins the contest to become the UK’s next leader.

Asia’s two tech-heavy economies South Korea and Taiwan are facing an uphill battle in trying to stem losses in what are already among the world’s worst-performing assets this year. They are hit particularly hard by a global growth slowdown and US chip restrictions.

Japan intervened in the foreign exchange market on Friday to buy yen for the second time in a month after the currency hit a 32-year low near 152 to the dollar, a government official and another person familiar with the matter told Reuters.

China's central bank chief Yi Gang is likely to step down after he was dropped from an elite body of the ruling Communist Party, with a former central banker a leading contender to succeed him, sources close to the central bank said.

LONDON (AP) — In Romania, protesters blew horns and banged drums to voice their dismay over the rising cost of living. People across France took to the streets to demand pay increases that keep pace with inflation.

The world loves dollars. Whenever there is a problem, people flock to the dollar as a safe haven. But the US has problems of its own. In a podcast, Peter Schiff said America's problems will eventually catch up to the dollar and at that point, the greenback will crash.

Ben Bernanke was one of the architects of the inflation you're suffering from today. He won a Nobel Prize for his efforts.
Bernanke rolled out quantitative easing to rescue the economy in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. At the time, he swore it was a temporary emergency measure and that the Fed would eventually sell all of the bonds it was accumulating on its balance sheet. He insisted that it was not a debt monetization scheme.

The US government ran a $1.38 trillion budget deficit in fiscal 2022 despite government receipts at near-record levels. This further highlights the federal government's out-of-control spending problem. It's also a big problem for the Fed as it tries to fight inflation.

The U.S. Administration's Energy Security Policy is heading for failure as it won't be sustainable in the years ahead.  The draining of the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve and the inability of the U.S. to grow it's domestic oil production spells BIG TROUBLE for Americans...

The Federal Government ran a $430 billion deficit in September. It was the largest monthly deficit since March 2021 when the last Covid stimulus bill was passed. The massive surge this month was due to another Biden giveaway in the form of $437 billion in student loan forgiveness.

Something BIG is happening with Gold & Silver coin premiums.  This week, I decided to focus this Metals Update just on the Big Trend Change in precious metals premiums.  Most of the gold and silver coin premiums are seeing the highest levels ever... and there ISN'T a FINANCIAL CRISIS...

The price analysis of gold and silver last month discussed the technical damage done and highlighted how support had become resistance. It concluded, "When everything is so lopsidedly bearish, it can signify capitulation. That said, beware of trying to catch a falling knife. Because of the technical drivers in gold and silver, moves tend to extend beyond what seems possible as momentum carries the move forward… The paper market is driving prices and the spec traders don’t see a Fed pivot anywhere, which suggests more time before a turnaround."
The short-term picture is still rather mixed despite the incredible physical demand on the Comex. The data below helps provide some context.

The Silver EFP is currently 5 cents negative implying the physical buying is even stronger as the paper price drops. If it isn’t obvious by now that someone is pulling all the above ground silver off the market at these prices then we don't know what to say. This is the most criminally under-reported Supply-chain/ Russian War/ Sanction story of the year. And there are many stories to chose from.

Gold advanced, trimming a second weekly decline as the dollar and Treasury yields pushed lower on expectations that large-sized interest-rate hikes by the Federal Reserve may soon be over.

Gold-supplying banks have cut back shipments to India ahead of major festivals in favour of focusing on China, Turkey, and other markets where better premiums are offered, three bank officials and two vault operators said.

The signs the global economy is heading into recession continue to mount. If you haven't seen them, you're about to.

Trust in government officials and the products they promote is collapsing. One of their worst products is the dishonest paper version of the dollar.