Silver to Surge to $450/oz and Gold to $12,000/oz – Cazenoves Robin Griffiths

(May 13, 2011 – International Business Times  by Mark O’Byrne)

Gold and silver are higher this morning with the dollar, the British pound and commodity currencies falling in value. It is too early to tell whether the recent margin driven, paper sell off on the COMEX is over but physical supply remains limited while demand remains robust, particularly in China, India and wider Asia.

Knowledgeable experts continue to urge investors to own gold and silver due to the likelihood of much higher prices, currency and inflation risk.

One of the most respected global technical and macro strategists in the world, Robin Griffiths has said that silver and gold could rise to $450 and $12,000 per ounce respectively due to the debasement of paper currencies.

Griffiths was chief technical strategist with HSBC for over 20 years, has 44 years investment experience and now works for Cazenove Capital, one of the oldest investment houses in the world tracing its origins back to the 17th century. It manages money on behalf of blue blooded clients and is widely believed to manage some of the British Royal family’s wealth.

When asked by King World News if his $350 target was a realistic price level for silver Griffiths stated, "That is absolutely not unrealistic. If you adjust the old all-time high for inflation...that gives you $450 for silver. Then you add in the fact that they are printing money, you can take it higher than that without any difficulty at all."

Griffiths told King World News that "Bulls (bull markets) are very successful at wobbling people out at the wrong time. "

Griffiths has previously said that not owning gold today is a form of insanity and "may even show unhealthy masochistic tendencies, which might need medical attention.

He has also critiqued the western media’s superficial coverage of gold and their resort to Warren Buffett’s ignorant comments on gold despite money printing and international currency debasement on a scale never before seen in history .

Meanwhile perhaps the leading commodity expert of our time, Jim Rogers, has said that silver was not and is not a bubble.

Regarding the recent price correction he said, "I don’t know what caused it maybe it was short covering, maybe it was rumors. I have no idea." He continued "silver went down a great deal but if you raise margin requirements 150%-200% you would expect something to collapse," he added.

"I hardly see how silver could be a bubble when, even at its top, it’s still below its all-time high. That’s not much of a bubble."

If it goes to $150 this year, all other things being equal, then I’d say you better sell your silver. If it goes to $150 in 10 years then I would say that’s a normal progression up and that’s the way things work. But if the U.S. dollar suddenly turns into confetti then you better hold your silver at $200. So it depends on the circumstances and the timing more than anything else.

Since 2003, GoldCore have said that gold and silver would reach their inflation adjusted highs of $2,400/oz and $130/oz. Our estimates appear increasingly conservative especially given the fact that the official inflation statistics have been debased over the years and are not an accurate reflection of real inflation.

Predicting the future price of any asset class is impossible. Predicting that gold and silver will continue to protect against financial and economic shocks and crashes and global currency debasement is possible.

The current correction should be used as another buying opportunity in order to protect against the continuing extraordinary degree of macroeconomic, monetary and geopolitical risk in the world.