“Paper Gold” and Its Effect on the Gold Price
The news that the price of gold recently dropped to historical lows – as low as $1,130 USD per ounce – surprised many, including some very savvy investment professionals. Bud Conrad of Casey Research was not one of them however.
According to Conrad, the facts that both India and China are still very much big players in the industry and the general interest in gold bullion coins has not really waned are offset by a sector of the gold futures market often referred to as ‘paper gold’.
‘Paper gold’ actually only involves the movement of paper representations of gold, very little actual gold itself changes hands, making it a quick, easy way to trade, so much so that it can affect the overall gold prices by a whopping $20 a second.
Not sure why this should be the case? In his op-ed piece Conrad breaks down just why he believes ‘paper gold’ has such an ongoing effect on the gold market.
Read the Full Article here.
Swiss Regulator Fines UBS For Silver Price Manipulation
For a long time now there has been a great deal of speculation about the behavior of certain traders working for the Swiss investment house UBS in relation to the silver market. Consumers claiming to have been swindled by these traders have only ever had these speculations to back up their claims of fraud though. Until now.
Earlier this month, the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority confirmed that after an investigation of their own they are satisfied that there is evidence of ‘serious misconduct’ by UBS employees in trading silver and other precious metals and along with regulators in both the USA and the UK will be fining UBS around $3.3 billion in relation to their employees activities. But what will happen to those who claim the were defrauded, will they receive compensation? That remains unclear.
Read the full article here.
Primary Silver Miners Losing Nearly $3.00 For Every Ounce Of Production
Rogue traders. Paper silver and allegations of market manipulation by some major players in the precious metals industry. According to Steve St. Angelo of SRSrocco Report all of this is leading to primary silver miners losing up to $3 for every ounce of silver they are now producing.
St. Angelo’s opinions, especially about the involvement of major banks and even the Fed in the US, are controversial. In this latest piece though, he begins to lay out the facts and figures that he believes back up his assertions.
Read the full article here
James Turk on Gold Manipulation
Recently Greg Hunter of GoldMoney.com sat down (via Skype anyway) with British author and financial markets expert James Turk. The half hour interview covers a number of subjects but first on the agenda is a very hot topic within the precious metals industry right now; the manipulation of the gold and silver markets and the fines recently levied on UBS by Swiss, British and American regulatory agencies.
When asked by Hunter if he was at all surprised by the news Turk responds that he certainly was not. In fact, he asserts, that anyone working within the industry should have expected the move as the manipulation of the markets has been an open secret for some time.
However, Turk feels that the fines are simply not enough, calling the penalties levied on UBS ‘a hand slap’. Comparing the situation to the Savings and Loan crisis some twenty five years ago, in which a number of US based parties served significant jail time, Turk asserts that this will not be the case here, as the banks, and Wall St itself, extends such a strong influence over the banks and regulators that even with these nominal fines, the manipulation is likely to continue.
Watch the video to hear more of Turk’s arguments and opinions on the issue.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSo1gVYUk8Q
