Market Watch

Bits and Pieces of Commodities Everywhere

Just some random articles from today that together make Deth soup….


While we have become used to the almost daily trading-halts in Japanese government bonds, when the CME reports that Silver trading was halted four times overnight, it is increasingly clear that this market is anything but ‘normal’:

*SILVER TRADING WAS HALTED FOUR TIMES OVERNIGHT, CME GROUP SAYS

*SILVER TRADING WAS STOPPED FOUR TIMES IN 20-SECOND HALTS

*SILVER TRADING WAS HALTED IN `STOP-LOGIC EVENTS’, CME SAYS

From Hedge

India Finance Minister Begs Citizens To Stop Buying Gold

*CHIDAMBARAM APPEALS TO PEOPLE TO CONTAIN PASSION FOR GOLD, and

*CHIDAMBARAM: MORE STEPS PLANNED TO CURB GOLD IMPORTS IF NEEDED

From Hedge

George Soros switches from physical gold to gold stocks.

Ever the investor who loves to confuse markets – remember how his description of gold as the ‘ultimate bubble’ confused some folk as he bought the metal himself – George Soros has done it again with his gold ETF sales.

Today the global financial press is awash with reports that Mr. Soros has sold gold again. True. But he has reinvested that money in a far more risky investment in gold miners whose performance is leveraged against the gold price. They go up faster than the gold price and they fall further when it comes down too.

The Soros Investment Fund’s 13F filing does indeed show the sale of 12 per cent of his total investment in GLD. But it also reveals that he then used $40 million of that cash to buy shares of the Market Vectors Gold Miner Major ETF (GDX).

Then he also bought $25 million worth of call options on the Market Vectors Gold Miner Junior ETF (GDXJ). As all gold mining stocks are leveraged plays on the price of gold and the juniors are the most leveraged bet of all, this is very bullish. The second investment in the juniors is about as bullish on the gold price as anybody could get.

How typical of Mr. Soros to put the cat among the pigeons again. He likes of course to throw up a smokescreen in one direction while moving off in another. The true mark of the master trader.

From arabianmoney HERE

The World’s Central Banks Added To Their Gold Stockpiles Even As Prices Tumbled

Gold prices are down about 12.5% since the start of April. But global central banks have been increasing their reserves of the yellow metal.

A new report from the World Gold Council shows that central banks bout 109 tonnes of gold in the first quarter.

This was the seventh straight quarter in which they purchased over 100 tonnes of gold.

Central banks held 31,735.4 tonnes of gold as of May 2013. This was up from 31,694.8 tonnes as of April 2013.

From businessinsider HERE

The crisis in bullion markets is worse than it was before. A good example of how little physical stock there is can be gained by tracking bullion deliveries on the Shanghai Gold Exchange. In the last few weeks they have dwindled to virtually nothing, having been a truncated 190 tonnes in April and 297 tonnes in March. Yet we know from reports that retail demand in China has taken off; so it is only a matter of time before prices are bid up on the Shanghai Gold Exchange enough to replace lost inventory.

From Hedge HERE

Gold crush: U.S. ready to shut down gold sales to Iran

The U.S. is trying to stop the gold rush to Iran in a bid to undermine the Islamic Republic’s plummeting currency, but critics say the move is more likely to hurt ordinary citizens than the rogue regime’s leadership.

A top Treasury Department official told lawmakers that, starting July 1, the U.S. plans to crack down on all transfers of gold to the Iranian government or its citizens. The move appears aimed largely at banks and gold brokers in Turkey and the United Arab Emirates. Companies operating from within those nations have shipped large amounts of gold to Iran as Tehran attempts to stabilize its currency, the rial, amid increasing international economic isolation.

“We have been very clear with the governments of Turkey and the UAE and elsewhere, as well as the private sector that is involved in the gold trade, that as of July 1 all must stop, not just the trade to the government,” Treasury Undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence David Cohen told members of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee last week.

From Fox HERE

We know, because we have all been told, what is and is not Money.