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U.S. stocks are moderately higher in early Monday action to kick off the new trading week. Positive trade developments have been tagged as the primary catalyst for stronger equity markets this morning. Over the weekend, China reportedly released a document that discussed one of the major sticking points of trade talks-intellectual property rights-and called for more protection of those rights. In addition to that, comments from U.S. national security adviser Robert O’Brien also may be playing played a role. O’Brien reportedly stated that a phase 1 deal may still be reached before the end of the year, and he reiterated the notion that the U.S. would not, however, turn a blind eye to other developments involving China, such as ongoing unrest in Hong Kong or the South China Sea, or any other geographical area that China may have operations.

Over the weekend, pro-democracy elections in Hong Kong produced a sound result.

The pro-democracy opposition won many seats in Hong Kong that could help elect the next legislature and chief executive of the region. The vote was viewed as a defeat to Beijing, which has pushed for controls and a crackdown on protesters.

American investors are also cheering on some positive M&A news. Stock brokerages Morgan Stanley and TD Ameritrade have reportedly agreed to join forces, with Morgan paying some $26 billion in stock for TD. In other news, eBay is reportedly close to a deal to sell its ticketing business, StubHub, for $4 billion to Viagogo.

Although some of the weekend’s news may be genuinely positive, a lot of the positivity seems like more of the same.

Stocks and risk assets may continue to move higher on more of the same, but unless things really change, will likely decline once all is said and done. That may be when the gold market finally makes a sustained move higher. Of course, the ideal time to get involved is before gold starts moving sharply higher. Doing so has never been easier, and perhaps never more important.

Simply pick up the phone and speak with an Advantage Gold account executive today about the potential benefits of gold ownership and to learn more about the key role it may play in the years and decades ahead. The importance of gold has never been higher, and additional central bank easing may only serve to add to its importance in the years ahead.  Our associates are here to answer any questions you may have and can even show you how to set up an IRA account to build a significant allocation in the metal.

Buying gold for less than $1500 per ounce is favorable to paying $2000 per or more per ounce. The time to act is now. Don’t wait for the next major global recession to take hold and send stocks sharply lower. Explore your options for gold ownership today. Call Advantage Gold at 1-800-341-8584 to get started now.

The post Heard This Before appeared first on Advantage Gold.

Wall St. has seen major stock indexes make fresh all-tine highs recently. Stocks have pulled back a bit in recent trade, however, and are lower again today. The primary reason for the lack of upside follow through could be a lack of progress in U.S./China trade negotiations. Recent headlines on trade have taken a slightly more mixed tone, while ongoing unrest in Hong Kong could also potentially upset things further

The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday passed two bills that may have upset Beijing.

The bills were supportive to Hong Kong protesters and those who are guarding human rights. The latest debacle between the globe’s first and second-largest economies could potentially continue for quite some time. Over a year has gone by already, with little tangible progress to show for ongoing talks. The angst surrounding trade talks had the S&P 500 as well as the Dow Jones Industrial Average set for their longest losing streak since August. The tech-heavy Nasdaq was set for its largest two-day decline in over a month.

The major stock indexes have all rallied as earnings have been largely supportive and as hopes for a “phase 1” trade deal have been on the rise. AS earnings season winds down, however, and as hopes for a trade deal fade further, equity markets may find themselves lacking any significant bullish catalysts to take prices even higher. A period of sideways to lower trade could follow, and the markets could become increasingly vulnerable to a widespread sell-off if no upside is seen for an extended period.

Adding to ongoing concerns over trade, the Trump administration is now also considering action against the EU as the auto tariff window has now closed.

An investigation into the EU could potentially clear the road ahead for non-national security import duties to be paid to the U.S. Whatever the case may be, a new trade war with the EU is not likely to assist equity markets at all, but rather could fuel a rising degree if overall risk aversion in the marketplace that could possibly benefit gold and other alternative asset classes.

As the potential for a trade spat with the EU looks increasingly possible and as hopes for a long-term U.S./China deal fade, now may be the ideal time to build a significant allocation in alternative asset classes that could potentially outperform during the next global recession. Physical gold must be at or near the top of the list for choices.

Unlike other asset classes, gold carries zero counter-party risk. It cannot default, declare bankruptcy or otherwise hose investors. The gold market not only comes with significant and unlimited upside price potential but may also provide an effective hedge against a declining dollar, lower stocks and accelerating inflationary pressures. There is simply no reason that gold should not make up a significant allocation of your portfolio.

Adding gold to your holdings has never been easier, and perhaps never more important than it is today. Just pick up the phone and speak with an Advantage Gold account executive today about the potential benefits of gold ownership and to learn more about the key role it may play in the years ahead. Our associates are here to answer any questions you may have and can even show you how to build a significant allocation in this key asset class using an IRA account.

Don’t wait for the next major global recession to hit stock prices or for gold to take off without you before acting. Explore your options for gold ownership today. Call Advantage Gold at 1-800-341-8584 to get started now.

The post Trade Talks Maybe Not Going So Well? appeared first on Advantage Gold.

Bloomberg/Justina Vasquez/1-12-2020

“A volatile week ended in favor of gold investors, with geopolitical tensions reigniting haven demand for the metal.”

USAGOLD note:  This Bloomberg piece reinforces the point made in the USAGOLD note to the post immediately below. It is not really a matter of ‘sticking to one’s guns’ as it is a deeper understanding of the ever-present need to hedge uncertainties of which geopolitical tensions are just one.

Credit Bubble Bulletin/Doug Noland/1-11-2020

“When I began posting the CBB in 1999, I expected ‘Bubble’ to be in the title for no longer than a year or two. It was to be the ‘Credit Bulletin,’ inspired by Benjamin Anderson’s ‘Economic Bulletin’ from the 1920’s. Yet here we are in 2020 with Bubbles everywhere, including in my blog title. In 1999, I would have said that was an impossibility.”

USAGOLD note:  “The probability of a global crisis during 2020 is the highest since 2008,” says Noland. In the modern-day financial system, bubbles are a way of life, so to speak, and something that needs to be accounted for and managed in the overall portfolio.  That, in our view, is where gold’s safe-haven attributes come into play.  If you are among those who believe, like Noland, that the current stock market bubble is destined to burst, you will want to have your hedge in place before it happens.  We got a good idea in the early part of January how quickly gold can rise once danger is recognized. And sometimes the gains stick. . . . . . .

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‘No one questions its value. . .’

“No one refuses gold as payment to discharge an obligation. Credit instruments and fiat currency depend on the credit worthiness of a counter-party. Gold, along with silver, is one of the only currencies that has an intrinsic value. It has always been that way. No one questions its value, and it has always been a valuable commodity, first coined in Asia Minor in 600 BC.” – Alan Greenspan, former chairman of the Federal Reserve

Image courtesy of the British Museum Collection/Lydia, croesid, ca 550 BC

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“Thank you! It has been a pleasure doing business with your Company! You’ve treated the small investor (me) just like you would a millionaire. Best wishes, and I hope I can make some purchases in the future.” – L.W., Savannah, Georgia

We also treat millionaires . . . well. . . like millionaires – whether they admit to being millionaires or not [smile].

We receive unsolicited testimonials like L.W.’s routinely. Please see our Client Testimonials page for more feedback, and be sure to visit the Better Business Bureau for even more in the way of FIVE-STAR reviews.  Don’t do business with any gold company until you have checked it out.

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KingWorldNews/James Turk/1-6-2020

“Currency debasement – or currency destruction in the case of Venezuela and dozens of other countries – means higher gold prices. The Iranian situation is just the trigger causing this latest jump in the gold price. And when people seek protection of their wealth from geopolitical events, they don’t want paper gold, they want the real thing – physical metal.

USAGOLD note: Turk says gold is in a bull market and sheds light on the ‘whale versus whale’ confrontation developing in the gold futures market.

On October 24, 2019, I posted a bullish flag pattern, wherein gold appeared ready to break out to new highs, above the $1500 level.  It did not. Prices fell from there.  However, as prices fell, they did not violate the flag pattern.  They merely extended the pattern.

Recently, though, gold prices did break out of the flag pattern to the upside, as can be seen in the graph .  As noted in the prior post, “This pattern is especially bullish because gold has been moving up since 2015, meaning a continuation move to the upside.”

As I also noted in the October 24 post, “It will be interesting to follow the price of gold over the next few months.”  Not only interesting, but quite profitable to investors who added to their gold holdings.  In the recent move, gold touched $1600 intraday.

To “save the world’s economy” in the 2008 World Financial Crisis (WFC), the Federal Reserve led the world’s central banks in printing money, hiking its holdings of T-bills and other bonds – some quite specious – from $900 billion to $4.5 trillion, a five-fold increase.Fed spokespersons repeatedly said that its Quantitative Easing (QE) was only an emergency, and that the Fed would later “normalize” its balance sheet by selling off some of its holdings.

And, starting in early 2018, the Fed did sell, as indicated in the chart above.

However, in September 2019, the Fed reversed its position and again fed (pun intended) money into the system.  But it wasn’t another QE, we were assured.  The Fed was only using repo agreements to bring down the fed funds rate from 10%, which it had spiked to.

Not much talked about, though, is that the Fed is now buying $60 billion a month and will continue to do so into the second quarter of 2020.  It’s objective: to rebuild the level of reserves in the system to nearly $1.5 trillion that prevailed in early September.  Not QE, though, according to the Fed.

Money printing is the mother’s milk of precious metals bull markets.  While it took the US’s killing of a top Iranian general to propel gold to a new five-year high, recognition of renewed money printing will keep it well above $1500 in my opinion.  This is a bull market that started in December 2015.

As can be seen in the graph, the world’s central banks were sellers of gold up until the 2008 World Financial Crisis (WFC).  After which, they became strong buyers, with the last six quarters seeing significant buying.

Canada’s CB sold all its gold, despite being the 5^th largest producer of the yellow metal.  The Bank of England sold about 395 tons of gold over 17 auctions from 1999 to 2002 at an average of price of $275.

Prior to that, in the late 1970s,  the US Treasury and the IMF coordinated auctions.  The US excuse was that it would ameliorate the balance of payment problem; the IMF said it was going to use the proceeds to provide relief to poor nations.

That was at a time when balance of payments was an issue of concern.  That is no longer the case, but the sales did suppress the price of gold.

The BoE announced before-hand that the auctions would take place, which put huge pressure on the price of gold.  The IMF and US Treasury sales were widely publicized.  In actuality, Establishment central banks were attempting to “manage” (suppress) the price of gold.

Now, though, non-Establishment CBs are big buyers of gold.

Russia is the 3rd largest gold producer and the 5^th largest holder.  And, it is a regular buyer.  A Russian central bank executive has noted that gold is a “100% guarantee from legal and political risks.”  The US has imposed economic sanctions on Russia and many of its oligarchs, sanctions that make it difficult to do business anywhere in the world.

Consequently, Russian holdings of US debt are declining as Russia’s central bank sells T-bills to buy gold.

Turkey, Poland, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kazakhstan, Kenya, and the Kyrgyz Republic were other countries adding to their gold reserves.

As for China, the #1 gold producer, there is no way of knowing exactly how much gold it holds, despite their reporting (from time to time) how much gold the Bank of China has purchased.  China, the largest gold producing country, prohibits the exportation of gold, which means that the nearly 400 tons it produces annually remains in China.

Here are the largest gold producing countries:

• China – 399.7 tons, accounting for 12% of global mine production.
• Australia – 312.2 tons. …
• Russia – 281.5 tons. …
• United States – 253.2 tons. …
• Canada – 193.0 tons. …
• Indonesia – 190.0 tons. …
• Peru – 155.4 tons. …
• South Africa – 123.5 tons.

Only bars with hallmarks approved by the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA), stamped 99.5% purity or higher, and weigh 350 to 430 troy ounces are eligible to be counted as reserves.  It is suspected that China holds much gold that has not yet been refined to “good delivery” standards or that it has chosen not to update its holdings.

Further, there is speculation that the reason the US’s gold has not been audited since the Eisenhower administration is that much of its gold does not meet good delivery standards.  This is a reasonable speculation in that millions of ounces in 90% gold coin were turned in during the Franklin Roosevelt “gold call-in.”  At the time, the US hinted that it would someday return to the gold standard, under which paper dollars could again be redeemed in gold coins.  But, as we know, that did not happen.

If another World Financial Crisis hits, China could announce its updated holdings, which would result in the renminbi (yuan) increasing in valuation while the dollar drops.  Such an announcement could result on the renminbi competing with the dollar as the world’s reserve currency, which would definitely weaken the dollar on world markets and make US debt less desirable.

Such developments, of course, would result in gold (and silver) appreciating in price.