Possible Boom in Precious Metals due to Saudi Arabia Unrest

As any seasoned investor knows, precious metals are often used as a hedge against political unrest, and economic instability worldwide.  We've all seen how protests in Libya and Egypt have boosted the value of metals, as well as many other hard asset investments.  With signals of protest and rebellion peaking over the horizon in Saudi Arabia, we could very well see a jump in the price of metals in the near future if the situation in Saudi Arabia escalates.  An article from the Sydney Morning Herald describes the situation:

One witness said police fired stun grenades to disperse the crowd of around 200 people from the Shi'ite minority. Another witness and a Shi'ite activist said shots were fired.
"There was firing, it was sporadic," the witness said. It was not immediately clear whether rubber bullets or live ammunition were fired. Witnesses and activists said up to four people were wounded.
Activists in Saudi Arabia have made unprecedented calls for mass protests against the kingdom's absolute monarchy. Protests are forbidden as being against Islam and it was not clear whether people would take to the streets en masse on Friday.
"By showing a willingness to use force early, the Saudi authorities are likely hoping they will be able to deter people from joining the protests, but such actions could just as easily embolden the protesters," the political risk consultancy Statfor said.

The big red-flag in this situation is the fact that Saudi authorities show "a willingness to use force early".  In the past few weeks, we've seen both Egypt and Libya under an enormous amount of scrutiny for the forceful actions they've taken against local protesters, and it's certainly plausible that Saudi Arabia might be next in line.  If so, look out for a huge boost in any hard asset investment.

The original article can be found here

This material is for informational purposes only. Although it is obtained from sources believed to be reliable, Leland National Gold does not guarantee its accuracy, or being all-inclusive. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. There are risks in buying and selling physical metals. The potential for loss as well as gain increases by leveraging physical precious metals transactions. Never trade with more money than you can afford to lose, and always be sure to read the Risk Disclosure provided in your account documents.

Want to know what a billion dollars looks like?

Here's what one billion US dollars looks like:

If you've ever wondered what a billion looks like, well here it is.  Now, take 14,000 of those, stack them in a warehouse, and you wouldn't have enough money to pay down the US National Debt.

If you were to deposit 5 of those billion-dollar stacks in the bank every single year since year 0, you still wouldn't have enough this day to pay the debt down.




This material is for informational purposes only. Although it is obtained from sources believed to be reliable, Leland National Gold does not guarantee its accuracy, or being all-inclusive. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. There are risks in buying and selling physical metals. The potential for loss as well as gain increases by leveraging physical precious metals transactions. Never trade with more money than you can afford to lose, and always be sure to read the Risk Disclosure provided in your account documents.  - Leland National Gold Exchange

Potential for Silver to spike above $50 says Forbes

In an article on Forbes.com, author Robert Lenzner reveals the possibility that silver could "spike to $50" due to possible "violations to the Commodity Exchange Act". From the article:

As a result of Chilton’s public statement, several individual investors brought lawsuits against JP Morgan and HSBC, claiming they lost money on positions they took in silver futures on the Comex. One such suit claims that in August, 2008 JP Morgan and HSBC controlled over 85% of the commercial net short position in COMEX silver futures, and that this represented a short interest of 169 million troy ounces of silver, equal to about 25% of annual world mine production.

The author describes recent speculation that JP Morgan and HSBC have been manipulating the silver market:

“For months and in some cases years, conspiracy theorists and market pundits have been speculating about the manipulation of the silver market by large banks, including JP Morgan and HSBC,” Thangavel wrote today. “Recently, these theories have been given significant weight as CFTC Commissioner Bart Chilton stated his belief that the silver market was being manipulated.” Chilton stated that “there have been fraudulent efforts to persuade and deviously control” prices in the silver market, which “should be prosecuted.”

This manipulation of the silver market has the potential of causing phenomenal gains in silver. In the weeks before the article was written, silver had seen a price jump from $18 to $30 per ounce:

A chart of silver prices shows that silver in recent weeks has outshone the rise in gold prices by jumping 50% from around $18 to nearly $30 and then backed off to $27.16 today. This extraordinary increase in the price of silver suggests that short covering might explain part of the gain.

The original article can be found here.

This material is for informational purposes only. Although it is obtained from sources believed to be reliable, Leland National Gold does not guarantee its accuracy, or being all-inclusive. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. There are risks in buying and selling physical metals. The potential for loss as well as gain increases by leveraging physical precious metals transactions. Never trade with more money than you can afford to lose, and always be sure to read the Risk Disclosure provided in your account documents.

J.P. Morgan Chase accepts physical gold as collateral

J.P. Morgan Chase & co recently announced that it will accept physical gold bullion as collateral "for investors that want to make short-term borrowings of cash or securities"
Apparantly, they aren't the first one to jump on the bandwagon. From the article:

Presenting gold to satisfy demands for performance bond collateral has been allowed on the London CME in a limited way since October 2009. As of November 22, 2010, the Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (ICE) has accepted gold bullion as collateral on all credit default swaps and energy transactions.
I don't recall the G-20 declaring gold a new currency. Yet JPMorgan Chase and a couple of financial market exchanges have effectively declared that gold is an alternative currency.
In other words, gold is money.

The original article can be found here

This material is for informational purposes only. Although it is obtained from sources believed to be reliable, Leland National Gold does not guarantee its accuracy, or being all-inclusive. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. There are risks in buying and selling physical metals. The potential for loss as well as gain increases by leveraging physical precious metals transactions. Never trade with more money than you can afford to lose, and always be sure to read the Risk Disclosure provided in your account documents.

Standard Bank's Ikemizu predicts silver at $40

In an article on Bloomberg, Bruce Ikemizu describes how new applications for silver will fuel demand pushing silver to prices as high as $40 in 2011. Quoted from the article:

'Silver, the leading performer in metals this year, is likely to repeat its success in 2011, reaching $40 an ounce on new applications and industry demand, said the head of commodity trading in Japan at Standard Bank Plc.'

'The precious metal will likely outpace next year’s gains in gold, which should surpass $1,500 an ounce, and palladium, Bruce Ikemizu said today in an interview in Tokyo. “Unexpected” new applications for silver, such as in solar batteries, and industrial use that underpins 80 percent of demand, make the metal attractive to “a lot of famous investors, especially in the U.S.,” Ikemizu said, without giving more details.'

The original article can be found here

This material is for informational purposes only. Although it is obtained from sources believed to be reliable, Leland National Gold does not guarantee its accuracy, or being all-inclusive. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. There are risks in buying and selling physical metals. The potential for loss as well as gain increases by leveraging physical precious metals transactions. Never trade with more money than you can afford to lose, and always be sure to read the Risk Disclosure provided in your account documents.

Equity Correction Fuels Soaring Gold Prices

An article from The Street describes a correction in the equity market, and other factors, as the fuel for today's boost in gold prices. From the article:

There was a slew of factors pushing gold higher Friday. First, the metal had been under a barrage of technical selling in 2011. The word capitulation, however, was being thrown around Friday after reports circulated that SHK Asset Management sold gold future positions that came with a $850 million price tag. Open interest of 81,000 came out of gold on Monday. The Wall Street Journal first broke the news and said that Daniel Shak, who runs the fund, got spooked by a margin requirement increase and gold's recent selloff and decided to ditch his positions.

The shakeout of the "fast" money led many investors to see this week's selloff as a bottom, which was prompting a flood of money into the metal.

The article re-enforces that gold (and other precious metals - silver platinum palladium) will remain a portfolio stabilizer in the future.

This material is for informational purposes only. Although it is obtained from sources believed to be reliable, Leland National Gold does not guarantee its accuracy, or being all-inclusive. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. There are risks in buying and selling physical metals. The potential for loss as well as gain increases by leveraging physical precious metals transactions. Never trade with more money than you can afford to lose, and always be sure to read the Risk Disclosure provided in your account documents.

GLD and SLV ETFs VS. Bullion

The distinction between investing in an ETF and investing in physical metal bullion is unclear to many. In an article on Seeking Alpha, Trace Mayer describes the differences.

Quoted from Seeking Alpha:

The ETFs GLD and SLV are commonly represented as being bullion. Accepting this assertion is naive and with potential financially lethal consequences. While GLD and SLV track the relative prices that is where the similarities with bullion end.

On May 20, 1999, Alan Greenspan testified before Congress, “Gold is always accepted and is the ultimate means of payment and is perceived to be an element of stability in the currency and in the ultimate value of the currency and that historically has always been the reason why governments hold gold.”

The ETFs GLD and SLV are not this ultimate form of currency. I will raise only a few essential issues, although there are many.

Read more by visiting the original article here.


This material is for informational purposes only. Although it is obtained from sources believed to be reliable, Leland National Gold does not guarantee its accuracy, or being all-inclusive. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. There are risks in buying and selling physical metals. The potential for loss as well as gain increases by leveraging physical precious metals transactions. Never trade with more money than you can afford to lose, and always be sure to read the Risk Disclosure provided in your account documents.