News Articles

Palladium prices jumped to their highest level in 2½ years on fears that top exporter Russia would retaliate against U.S. sanctions by cutting exports of the precious metal. . .

One suspects that the days of the London Gold Fixing in its current form may be numbered – but what mechanism can be implemented to replace it has to remain uncertain. . .

In order for our current level of debt-fueled prosperity to continue, the rest of the world must continue to use our dollars to trade with one another and must continue to buy our debt at ridiculously low interest rates. Of course the number one foreign nation that we depend on to participate in our system is China. . . .

The World Gold Council just released its 2013 Gold Demand report showing that 2013 saw the largest volume increase in jewelry demand for 16 years as consumers across the globe reacted to lower gold prices. Full year demand was 2,209.5t, 17% above 2012 and the highest level since the onset of the 2008 financial crisis. These facts and many more are available in the World Gold Council report. Visit 2013 Gold Demand to read more.

Concerns about high debt and an overvalued currency are sucking gold imports into China, according to a new report from Lombard Street Research.

It adds that the authorities may possibly be moving in the direction of using gold in a plan to make the Yuan an international currency. . . .

Is it the beginning of the end for the Dollar? Comments from state-backed Xinhua that call for a "de-Americanized world" and a proposal to consider a new international reserve currency to replace the dollar mark a key event for gold prices . . . .

I just returned from the Florida United Numismatic (FUN) coin convention in Orlando. The activity level was as high as any rare coin convention that I have seen for the past 20 years. Prices in the auction for Gold and Silver rarities (valued over $50,000) were running at approximately 20-25% higher than last year. The prices realized for U.S. coins at public auctions this past year totaled nearly $393 million, the highest aggregate total anyone can recall. It is estimated that the overall rare coin market in the U.S. was at about . . . .

As bullish as I am on the price of gold, I am far more bullish on silver. Silver is the poor man’s gold. It has a richer history of functioning as money because it was more practical to use silver than gold for day-to-day purchases. It was a part of America’s monetary system throughout most of our nation’s history, and it has only been 50 years since the government decided to remove silver from quarters and dimes.

While silver may never be used as money again, I think every investor should hold some silver in his or her portfolio. Like gold, it is a store of value, an inflation hedge, and a hedge against economic chaos. But I think silver offers a better opportunity, and here are seven reasons why . . . .

Many shops selling gold in Beijing are catering to a steady stream of customers interested in buying the precious metal after gold prices started decreasing.

International gold prices were at US$1,696 per ounce at the beginning of 2013, but have fallen by 28% to less than US$1,200 on Dec 31, 2013, the largest drop since 1981 . . . .

No one does jewelry quite like an Indian bride, who by tradition wears all the gold she can stand up in and her family can afford. These days, though, even the most ambitious bridal budgets don’t bring the bling like they used to, thanks to hikes in import duties and a rise in local gold prices . . . .