02/08/2019
With a Global recession on the horizon, along with lower rates here in the U.S. what asset should be viewed as "worthy"? You're right if you guessed Gold; and yes, precious metals are my business, but you don't need to be a rocket-scientist to see that. The Central Banks around the world that have been buying gold in recent years in preparation for this global recession, are sitting pretty... And Central Banks that haven't been buying gold, well... they're going to have some problems... Why is that you say? Here's an article explaining what's slowly happening behind the curtain. It's from Forbes magazine - May, 2016.
"On April 19, the Shanghai Gold Fix officially began. The pricing mechanism is intended to be a replacement for the London Gold Fix, the primary price-discovery mechanism for gold bullion today. The London “bullion” market is not a market in bullion. Rather, it is a market in “unallocated” gold, defined as an unsecured liability of banks.
In short, it looks suspiciously like an exercise in paper-hanging. The London Bullion Market Association claimed 21.95 million ounces of “net” clearing per day on average in 2013, worth about $27 billion. Estimates of “gross” trading are considerably higher than this. Supposedly, one might be able to call in these unsecured liabilities of banks, and receive real bullion. However, when people actually try this, banks have a pattern of shunting clients into cash settlement.
The Shanghai Exchange appears to be a real market in bullion, with immediate physical delivery on every contract. Curiously, the opening of the Shanghai gold fix coincided with a dramatic admission by Deutschebank that it had been rigging the London gold and silver markets, accompanied by promises that it would help authorities identify other market manipulators.
Many have considered the phony “paper gold” markets, including the U.S. Comex futures market and also, potentially, gold ETFs, to be a significant impediment to using gold as a standard of currency value. Is China laying the framework for a new world gold standard system? One Chinese analyst called it “the culmination of a two-year plan to move away from a U.S.-centric monetary system.”"
So from my cheap seat, the countries of BRIC are ready for the turmoil the global recession will cause - at least they think they are. But where are you? Can you withstand what looks to be the worst economic downturn since the watershed depression of 1893. Consider adding a 15% buffer of "real" gold & silver American Eagles and/or Canadian Maple Leafs to your portfolio. And store them within easy reach.
Well, that's it for today. make it a good one!