According to CME reports, J.P. Morgan accounted for nearly all of the physical gold sales at Comex in the last three months, writes blogger Mark McHugh. The sales, representing nearly 2M ounces, is 74% more gold than the U.S. Mint delivered through its American Eagle program in all of 2012. The very idea of "broad-based" selling is a farce, says McHugh. “One thing’s very clear: When it comes to selling physical gold, J.P. Morgan is acting alone.” [View news story]
The movement of large value-quantities in and out of warehouses and controlled by financial entities doesn't tell us anything, except the fact that JPM is the primary intermediary entity.
What is referenced by the linked article is almost meaningless except in that it proves that the financialization of gold is handled primarily by a single entity in the US. It doesn't tell us who was really buying or selling, only that JPM constituted the endpoint and startpoint of the transaction.
That commodities are heavily controlled by the large financial institutions is also not much of a revelation, although it is good to see more people talking about it.
A recent article on SA had an awesome comment in it: http://seekingalpha.co... "Aluminum expert Jorge Vazquez of HARBOR Aluminum commented to us recently that the North American LME Aluminum market is owned by traders and financiers; end users have not turned to delivery points in Detroit or New Orleans for a year or more."
We know already that GS controls the aluminum market, and we also know for example that oil and copper are quite well controlled in the same manner.
Anyway, my point is only that JPM isn't the only entity selling and we know this from multiple recent reports, but it is clear that JPM is the one primarily concerned with controlling gold movements from those selling.
The yen (FXY +1.6%) races higher, unwinding a bit of what had been about the world's most one-sided trade for the last 6 months. First comes price action then come excuses, and about the best reasons for today's slide in dollar/yen is the BOJ upping its economic forecast at last night's policy meeting, and the weak U.S. GDP print. The surging yen is hitting the year's hottest ETF, DXJ -1.7%. [View news story]
This week has seen a nice pickup in battered cyclical sectors, as the materials sector (XLB), the year’s second-worst performing group, began today as the week’s top gainer, rising 4.5%. Next was energy (XLE), the year’s third-weakest, up 3.2%. MKM Partners thinks it means the recent gains may morph into sustained momentum, and likes adding June calls in XLB and the oil service ETF (OIH). [View news story]
CLF already giving it back, Vale too, and XLE may be moving on geopolitics/Syria... not sure there the "momentum" is sustainable in materials/energy...
Could falling pump prices offset negative effects of the sequester? AAA shows the price of a gallon of regular gas in the U.S. averages $3.50, vs. $3.65 a month ago and $3.83 a year ago. If prices stay that low, the savings for drivers through a year could top $80B - roughly the same size as sequestration spending cuts that took effect last month - and mean economic growth may not be as bad as once feared. [View news story]
Used to be that oil traded inversely to equities, the theory being that lower energy costs equate to higher profitability for companies. Makes sense, doesn't it?
Nowadays the theory is that companies -have- to buy oil when they grow and that those purchases necessarily drive oil prices higher because supply is maxed. So you get 'speculators' buying the commodity when equities exhibit strength, moving oil pretty much in tandem with S&P instead of inversely to it.
I suspect this causes both equities and oil to rubber band between ranges, not allowing either to exhibit the real supply-demand in the market, as oil prices eventually increases to the point where it stops equities from growing on the way up, and falls in price to the point where it facilitates equity growth on the way down.... Which is the popular view these days of how it should be....
The beginning of a bigger move? Two of the year's three strongest performing sectors - healthcare (XLV) and consumer staples (XLP) - are down on the week as the three weakest sectors - energy (XLE), materials (XLB), and tech (XLK) - post gains of 3%-4.5%. [View news story]
Interesting. Perhaps it is positioning for expectations of a move later in the year but we are in shoulder season for energy, and nat gas for one seems to know it having pulled back from $4.50, but oil doesn't seem to get it...
I continue to favor healthcare and staples over energy and materials, although I am neutral to tech....
The bounce in precious metals continues, gold (GLD) +1.6% and silver (SLV) +2.1% as buyers of the physical apparently used the rout to load up and - if anything - global central banks are leaning towards even easier monetary policy. A survey shows low bond yields are no longer doing it for central bankers and they're now looking at loading their balance sheets with equities. [View news story]
20 years ago throwing money on the floor and walking away was an act of cultural significance in Greece.
I hope your thesis has more depth than betting on 'national character' over economic productivity and growth.
The UT endowment unloaded $375M of its $1.4B in physical gold (PHYS) in the quarter ended Feb. 28, reinvesting the proceeds in gold futures ($75M) and developed market equities ($300M). CEO Bruce Zimmerman - noting little's changed in the bullish thesis - says the fund's gold exposure remains the same due to the leverage involved with gold futures. [View news story]
It's not precisely paper, as the market current states, it is futures which provide leverage. Also, (PHYS) is an ETF and depending on how strong your gold buggery strain is, it can also be considered 'paper'. Theoretically, both signify ownership of the real underlying commodity.
The point to pay attention to, however, is that futures provide leverage, amplifying gains or losses, therefore allowing them to obtain what they believe is similar exposure with less capital, while using the remaining capital to obtain exposure to stocks.
And I think the key is there: they think stocks will perform, and much like everyone else right now, they think that the US is poised to outperform in most of the most likely macro scenarios so gold is less important to them.
The bounce in precious metals continues, gold (GLD) +1.6% and silver (SLV) +2.1% as buyers of the physical apparently used the rout to load up and - if anything - global central banks are leaning towards even easier monetary policy. A survey shows low bond yields are no longer doing it for central bankers and they're now looking at loading their balance sheets with equities. [View news story]
Interesting. Your thesis is that as China and India get wealthier they will buy up all the gold. Have you looked at how their economies are performing lately?
And out of curiosity, what impact does a non-productive asset like gold have on further enhancing and increasing their wealth? I mean, a gold hoard sure is nice and sparkly, but I'd sure rather have a bunch of workers employing their labor to produce stuff...
The bounce in precious metals continues, gold (GLD) +1.6% and silver (SLV) +2.1% as buyers of the physical apparently used the rout to load up and - if anything - global central banks are leaning towards even easier monetary policy. A survey shows low bond yields are no longer doing it for central bankers and they're now looking at loading their balance sheets with equities. [View news story]
The question you should be asking yourself if after such a massive liquidation you expect a similar amount of money to come in and take you back over 1540 or so. I suspect it'll move up as the small specs continue buying but then collapse again, to cries of woe and despair and claims of manipulation by big players and central banks....
Chart is short term bullish, long term bearish, good luck.
Delta Air Lines' (DAL) Trainer refinery lost $22M in Q1 following a $63M loss in 2012's Q4, but results will begin to change in Q2, Adam Levine-Weinberg says, as DAL begins moving domestic fuel to Trainer by rail and begins to benefit from Hess’ decision to close its Port Reading refinery. But however you slice it, ownership of Trainer means DAL has one more downside risk than its airline peers. [View news story]
Delta took a lot of negative press on this; it's interesting the loss decreased and if the unit starts being profitable may alter the dynamics of the industry. I'm very curious how this will play out.
After January's long-awaited touchscreen rollout, BlackBerry (BBRY) is ready for this year's Act Two: the physically keyboarded Q10, which might arrive in the U.K. Friday. The firm faced criticism by loyalists over its decision to release the touch-screen Z10 first (as well as reports of mass returns). But can the Q10 sell enough to loyal keyboarders and upgraders to make a splash in a consistently shrinking side of the market? [View news story]
Personally I found the news that Blackberry may reintroduce the protrait slider a la Torch in a BB10 form far more intriguing
AMD (AMD +2.6%) updates its G-Series embedded processor line by launching an SoC that combines a Jaguar CPU core (found in AMD's next-gen console processors) with a Radeon 8000 GPU - AMD claims a major performance edge over Intel's (INTC) Atom CPUs (naturally, Intel isn't standing pat), and says GE will use the SoC in new rugged embedded systems Also, an ARM-based embedded CPU is promised. AMD has promised 20% of its revenue will come from embedded/semi-custom solutions (includes console chips and SeaMicro, among other things), and has set a long-term goal of getting 40%-50%. Given PC industry conditions and Intel's aggressive spending, there's a logic to that strategy. [View news story]
Any company that has attempted to compete head to head with Intel on performance has been forced to eventually find a submarket to work with after being thrashed, and the low power segment is usually that submarket.
I still like what AMD does and how it does it and don't think it's out of the race but Intel seems to have secured a heady lead with regards to performance over all competitors. As Intel moves into the low power market, however, things stand to get much morinteresting.
Goldman closes its gold short, the metal's move back above $1,400 triggering a stop. Still bearish though: "Our bias is to expect further declines in gold prices on the combination of continued ETF outflows ... as well as our economists' forecasts for a re-acceleration in U.S. growth later this year." GLD -0.3% premarket. [View news story]
Poor GS, call it right, you get labeled manipulator, call it wrong you get labeled... a manipulator....
Goldman closes its gold short, the metal's move back above $1,400 triggering a stop. Still bearish though: "Our bias is to expect further declines in gold prices on the combination of continued ETF outflows ... as well as our economists' forecasts for a re-acceleration in U.S. growth later this year." GLD -0.3% premarket. [View news story]
i.e. they don't think the money that exited will come back in, and since gold is not productive, without money coming back in price won't hold/increase especially vis a vis other asset classes.
According to CME reports, J.P. Morgan accounted for nearly all of the physical gold sales at Comex in the last three months, writes blogger Mark McHugh. The sales, representing nearly 2M ounces, is 74% more gold than the U.S. Mint delivered through its American Eagle program in all of 2012. The very idea of "broad-based" selling is a farce, says McHugh. “One thing’s very clear: When it comes to selling physical gold, J.P. Morgan is acting alone.” [View news story]
What is referenced by the linked article is almost meaningless except in that it proves that the financialization of gold is handled primarily by a single entity in the US. It doesn't tell us who was really buying or selling, only that JPM constituted the endpoint and startpoint of the transaction.
That commodities are heavily controlled by the large financial institutions is also not much of a revelation, although it is good to see more people talking about it.
A recent article on SA had an awesome comment in it:
http://seekingalpha.co...
"Aluminum expert Jorge Vazquez of HARBOR Aluminum commented to us recently that the North American LME Aluminum market is owned by traders and financiers; end users have not turned to delivery points in Detroit or New Orleans for a year or more."
We know already that GS controls the aluminum market, and we also know for example that oil and copper are quite well controlled in the same manner.
Anyway, my point is only that JPM isn't the only entity selling and we know this from multiple recent reports, but it is clear that JPM is the one primarily concerned with controlling gold movements from those selling.
The yen (FXY +1.6%) races higher, unwinding a bit of what had been about the world's most one-sided trade for the last 6 months. First comes price action then come excuses, and about the best reasons for today's slide in dollar/yen is the BOJ upping its economic forecast at last night's policy meeting, and the weak U.S. GDP print. The surging yen is hitting the year's hottest ETF, DXJ -1.7%. [View news story]
This week has seen a nice pickup in battered cyclical sectors, as the materials sector (XLB), the year’s second-worst performing group, began today as the week’s top gainer, rising 4.5%. Next was energy (XLE), the year’s third-weakest, up 3.2%. MKM Partners thinks it means the recent gains may morph into sustained momentum, and likes adding June calls in XLB and the oil service ETF (OIH). [View news story]
Could falling pump prices offset negative effects of the sequester? AAA shows the price of a gallon of regular gas in the U.S. averages $3.50, vs. $3.65 a month ago and $3.83 a year ago. If prices stay that low, the savings for drivers through a year could top $80B - roughly the same size as sequestration spending cuts that took effect last month - and mean economic growth may not be as bad as once feared. [View news story]
Nowadays the theory is that companies -have- to buy oil when they grow and that those purchases necessarily drive oil prices higher because supply is maxed. So you get 'speculators' buying the commodity when equities exhibit strength, moving oil pretty much in tandem with S&P instead of inversely to it.
I suspect this causes both equities and oil to rubber band between ranges, not allowing either to exhibit the real supply-demand in the market, as oil prices eventually increases to the point where it stops equities from growing on the way up, and falls in price to the point where it facilitates equity growth on the way down.... Which is the popular view these days of how it should be....
The beginning of a bigger move? Two of the year's three strongest performing sectors - healthcare (XLV) and consumer staples (XLP) - are down on the week as the three weakest sectors - energy (XLE), materials (XLB), and tech (XLK) - post gains of 3%-4.5%. [View news story]
I continue to favor healthcare and staples over energy and materials, although I am neutral to tech....
The bounce in precious metals continues, gold (GLD) +1.6% and silver (SLV) +2.1% as buyers of the physical apparently used the rout to load up and - if anything - global central banks are leaning towards even easier monetary policy. A survey shows low bond yields are no longer doing it for central bankers and they're now looking at loading their balance sheets with equities. [View news story]
I hope your thesis has more depth than betting on 'national character' over economic productivity and growth.
The UT endowment unloaded $375M of its $1.4B in physical gold (PHYS) in the quarter ended Feb. 28, reinvesting the proceeds in gold futures ($75M) and developed market equities ($300M). CEO Bruce Zimmerman - noting little's changed in the bullish thesis - says the fund's gold exposure remains the same due to the leverage involved with gold futures. [View news story]
The point to pay attention to, however, is that futures provide leverage, amplifying gains or losses, therefore allowing them to obtain what they believe is similar exposure with less capital, while using the remaining capital to obtain exposure to stocks.
And I think the key is there: they think stocks will perform, and much like everyone else right now, they think that the US is poised to outperform in most of the most likely macro scenarios so gold is less important to them.
The bounce in precious metals continues, gold (GLD) +1.6% and silver (SLV) +2.1% as buyers of the physical apparently used the rout to load up and - if anything - global central banks are leaning towards even easier monetary policy. A survey shows low bond yields are no longer doing it for central bankers and they're now looking at loading their balance sheets with equities. [View news story]
And out of curiosity, what impact does a non-productive asset like gold have on further enhancing and increasing their wealth? I mean, a gold hoard sure is nice and sparkly, but I'd sure rather have a bunch of workers employing their labor to produce stuff...
The bounce in precious metals continues, gold (GLD) +1.6% and silver (SLV) +2.1% as buyers of the physical apparently used the rout to load up and - if anything - global central banks are leaning towards even easier monetary policy. A survey shows low bond yields are no longer doing it for central bankers and they're now looking at loading their balance sheets with equities. [View news story]
Chart is short term bullish, long term bearish, good luck.
Delta Air Lines' (DAL) Trainer refinery lost $22M in Q1 following a $63M loss in 2012's Q4, but results will begin to change in Q2, Adam Levine-Weinberg says, as DAL begins moving domestic fuel to Trainer by rail and begins to benefit from Hess’ decision to close its Port Reading refinery. But however you slice it, ownership of Trainer means DAL has one more downside risk than its airline peers. [View news story]
On the hour: S&P +0.12%. 10-yr -0.08%. Euro +0.11% vs. dollar. Crude +0.5% to $89.62. Gold +0.93% to $1421.95. [View news story]
After January's long-awaited touchscreen rollout, BlackBerry (BBRY) is ready for this year's Act Two: the physically keyboarded Q10, which might arrive in the U.K. Friday. The firm faced criticism by loyalists over its decision to release the touch-screen Z10 first (as well as reports of mass returns). But can the Q10 sell enough to loyal keyboarders and upgraders to make a splash in a consistently shrinking side of the market? [View news story]
http://engt.co/12fFX19
I'm using a Torch right now and will be getting a q10 but I far prefer the portrait slider form factor, hands down my favorite.
AMD (AMD +2.6%) updates its G-Series embedded processor line by launching an SoC that combines a Jaguar CPU core (found in AMD's next-gen console processors) with a Radeon 8000 GPU - AMD claims a major performance edge over Intel's (INTC) Atom CPUs (naturally, Intel isn't standing pat), and says GE will use the SoC in new rugged embedded systems Also, an ARM-based embedded CPU is promised. AMD has promised 20% of its revenue will come from embedded/semi-custom solutions (includes console chips and SeaMicro, among other things), and has set a long-term goal of getting 40%-50%. Given PC industry conditions and Intel's aggressive spending, there's a logic to that strategy. [View news story]
I still like what AMD does and how it does it and don't think it's out of the race but Intel seems to have secured a heady lead with regards to performance over all competitors. As Intel moves into the low power market, however, things stand to get much morinteresting.
Goldman closes its gold short, the metal's move back above $1,400 triggering a stop. Still bearish though: "Our bias is to expect further declines in gold prices on the combination of continued ETF outflows ... as well as our economists' forecasts for a re-acceleration in U.S. growth later this year." GLD -0.3% premarket. [View news story]
Goldman closes its gold short, the metal's move back above $1,400 triggering a stop. Still bearish though: "Our bias is to expect further declines in gold prices on the combination of continued ETF outflows ... as well as our economists' forecasts for a re-acceleration in U.S. growth later this year." GLD -0.3% premarket. [View news story]