Los Pepes

Dichotomy in W. European Gold and Silver Prices

gigem - That sounds reasonable. Like I said, I really don't know what to think. The dealers are probably scared s***less to buy ahead because they're getting whipsawed all over the place.

I do think that it's in the best interest of central banks to have low gold and silver prices... but I'm not entirely convinced of their ability to collude and control those markets.

The "proof in the pudding," so to speak, will occur when a lot of people begin to take delivery on their COMEX contracts, and force the shorts to actually produce the metal at a low price (providing that physical metal is actually more expensive).

As for me, my metals are a savings account. I just wanted to keep money in a form that I wouldn't blow, and also protect me from a declining currency. The increase in value over the past few years (or rather the decrease in dollar value) has been great, but it's not my prime motivator.

Dichotomy in W. European Gold and Silver Prices

I've been buying bullion for perhaps 4 or 5 years. About a month or so ago I put in an order with a company that I've been buying from week after week since I began (online).

These guys have always had good prices, great shipping, and super-fast delivery. I would say on average it takes 4-5 days for my stuff to get to me. But I digress...

This last order that I placed was very, VERY small. How small? It was a total of TWO coins: a 10th ounce (1/10 oz.) Gold Eagle, and a single 2008 Silver Eagle. Compared to almost every order I've placed in the last several years, this was a non-issue, small order just for the sake of ordering.

It took me almost 4 weeks to get my order.

Look - I don't know what's going on. I don't know if it's a simply a matter of fabrication delays, or if there really is a shortage. I do know that the amount of physical silver in the COMEX warehouses is peanuts compared to the amount of buy/sell contracts in the silver futures market, likewise with gold. Very few people that trade in those markets have any intention of actually touching any metal, ever.

The only thing that I do know is that something isn't right. If fabrication isn't keeping up with demand, the price of the metal should bid up enough to convince more people to bring their already fabricated products back to the marketplace, and that clearly isn't happening. Everyone is buying new silver and gold becuase there is no old product around, which is unusual.
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How to Explain Fiat Currency to Silverbugs

The only reason are standard of living is as "good" as it is (and that's debatable... there's a lot of people out there with nothing), is because the US has been on what amounts to a 30-year credit card binge.

The old mystics used to say "as above, so below." If the citizens of this country think its ok to finance themselves into oblivion by endlessly purchasing things they don't really need with money they don't rally have, then why wouldn't the government do the same?

I'm a silver bug. I've been one ever since the day that I walked out my front door and noticed that my neighbors that make half as much as me have a standard of living twice as high as mine. How could that be? It's easy, my wife and I don't use credit (although we have a mortgage).

This can't go on like this. And now everyone is out of cash from their freaking HELOCS, and waking up to a mega-hangover and realizing that we, as a country, really don't have a whole lot left that's ours. Our banks are failing and our industry is shot.

That's what this whole gold and silver thing is about: If you want to spend money, you need to have money. Period. It might not be glamourous, but it keeps everyone honest.

Keep an Eye on Precious Metals

I've been a technical trader since I was 18 years old (20 years ago...). The precious metal investments I've been making for the last 3 years are seriously the first time I have ever made investments based solely on fundamentals, and not supply-and-demand investments either, but out-of-control goverment fundamentals and unsustainable standard of living fundamentals.

I started buying gold the day (no kidding, the same day) that I noticed that most of my neighbors made half as much as me (or less), but had houses that cost more than mine and drove cars that cost 4 times as much as mine.

I've noticed that generally speaking, many people seem to think that they're entitled to these things, income be damned, and the federal gov't and the FED seem to support that view.

I guess what I'm getting at is this: I don't care what the chart does, not only am I holding, I'm buying more. And if the price of silver drops back down to $4 an ounce and the price of gold $280, I'll smile ear-to-ear as I'm trading stacks of paper for real money. This rouse has gone on long enough, we produce next to nothing and walk around acting entitled to everything. How long do you think that can continue?