Cross Currency Table – (Bloomberg)

In volatile trade in New York yesterday, gold rose sharply prior to falling and ended $4.40 lower or 0.27% and closed at $1,651.70/oz. Gold initially took a dip in Asia and then recovered losses by the time European trading opened and has ticked higher. 

Gold’s safe haven appeal is gradually rekindling as concerns deepen about Spain and the other periphery eurozone economies and a realisation that the eurozone debt crisis is far from over.

With the situation in Europe and globally set to deteriorate, the lacklustre demand of recent weeks, particularly in western markets may change to renewed robust physical demand.

There are signs of this already with inflows into gold-backed exchange traded products the most in five weeks last week, and silver holdings in the iShares Silver Trust, the biggest ETF backed by silver, rose 45.3 metric tons yesterday alone to 9,636.69 tons.

Gold 1 Year Chart – (Bloomberg)

This demand should support bullion prices at these levels and there is support at $1,600/oz. There is extremely strong support above the $1,500/oz level after prices consolidated between $1,500/oz and $1,800/oz since last September.

Spain T-Bill yields jumped at auction, meaning short-term debt costs surged higher despite strong demand.  Spain is to use the used and abused cliché “too big to bail” and the scale of the problem is so huge that most realistic observers warn that we remain in the early stages of this crisis.

The US Fed policy meeting next week may clarify the Fed’s ostensible position regarding further QE.

The weaker than expected March unemployment report is leading to further Wall Street demands for more stimulus plans. Wall Street and its institutions’ addiction to debt is leading to the continuing debasement of the dollar. Further QE is almost inevitable which will support gold.

US housing starts for March are released at 12.30 GMT which may lead to speculative price movements.

"People Have Lost Faith In the 20th Century Religion Of Government Backed Fiat Money"
Matthew Bishop, the US Editor of The Economist, has been interviewed by the Wall Street Journal TV about gold and why “people have lost faith in the 20th century religion of government backed fiat money."

http://www.goldcore.com/commentary/future-gold-and-money

He says that he has become an agnostic or an atheist with regard to his belief in government-backed money as he fears that governments are in a position whereby they are going to debase currencies such as the “paper dollar and “paper euro” “in a big way.” Gold becomes one of the “alternative religions” in that environment.

History shows that a deleveraging downturn takes a long time and can take 7 or 8 years. Inflationary pressures are building and will be seen in the second half of the cycle, according to Bishop.

Bishop says he would put some of his money into gold but is prohibited from this due to the investment policies of The Economist.

He advocates owning gold as a “portfolio of money” and diversification and advocates having 5% to 10% of one’s money in gold.

Bishop is reluctant to give price predictions but believes gold will be higher at the end of the year and higher in 5 years.

The Economist magazine has a strong Keynesian bias and has been one of the most anti-gold publications in the world with many simplistic, unbalanced and ill-informed articles.

There have been a few more nuanced and balanced articles pointing out gold’s safe haven qualities primarily by “Buttonwood” however most coverage of gold has been negative.

The publication has suggested on many occasions since 2008 that gold is a bubble. Clients of GoldCore have told us that they were prompted to sell their gold bullion as long ago as 2009 after reading such articles in The Economist.

Indeed, there has often been a suggestion that those who buy gold are irrational “gold bugs” who are anti-technology and anti-progress. Indeed, some who have bought gold have been framed as “doom and gloom” merchants who are hoping for a collapse of the financial and monetary world so that they can profit from their dramatically revalued gold.

The Economist’s US Editor’s conversion and growing belief in gold as money and a superior form of money is an important development and is another step towards gold moving from the fringe to the mainstream.

It is another step towards gold being accepted, respected and trusted as a safe haven asset and safe haven finite currency.  

For breaking news and commentary on financial markets and gold, follow us on Twitter.

OTHER NEWS
(Bloomberg) -- iShares Silver Holdings Jumped 45.3 Metric Tons Yesterday
Silver holdings in the iShares Silver Trust, the biggest exchange-traded fund backed by silver, rose 45.3 metric tons yesterday to 9,636.69 tons, according to figures on the company’s website.

(Bloomberg) -- ETF Securities Says Gold ETP Inflows Were Most in Five Weeks
ETF Securities Ltd. said inflows into its gold-backed exchange traded products was the most in five weeks last week.

(Bloomberg) -- Shanghai Futures Exchange Announces Silver Contract Draft Plan
The Shanghai Futures Exchange announced a draft plan for a silver contract, setting daily trading limits at 5 percent and margins at 7 percent, according to an e-mailed statement from the bourse.

Trading lot size was set at 15 kilograms, according to the statement. The draft plan was published to solicit public feedback, according to the statement, without saying when the contract would start trading.

 (Bloomberg) -- Cash Gold, Futures in Shanghai Rebound from Yesterday’s Drop
Gold for December delivery on the Shanghai Futures Exchange opened 0.6 percent higher at 337.64 yuan a gram, rebounding from a 2 percent decline yesterday. Cash bullion of 99.99 percent purity on the Shanghai Gold Exchange climbed 0.8 percent to 338 yuan a gram at 9:01 a.m. Singapore time, after dropping 1.6 percent yesterday.

(Bloomberg) -- India's RBI Toughens Rules for Credit to Gold-Loan Non-Banks
India's central bank increased regulatory rules for bank credit to finance companies that take gold as collateral.

Banks have been asked to reduce their regulatory ``exposure ceiling'' in a single non-bank finance company having gold loans to the extent of 50 percent or more of its financial assets to 7.5 percent from 10 percent, Reserve Bank of India said in a statement in Mumbai today.

The limit will be 12.5 percent if the additional lending is on account of ``fund on-lent'' by the finance company to build ports, power plants and roads, according to the statement.

 (Bloomberg) -- Peru’s Gold Export Revenue Jumps 46% to $963 Million in February
Peru’s gold-export revenue jumped 46 percent in February as prices and shipments rose from a year earlier, the central bank said. Gold sales of 551,700 ounces rose to $963 million from $659 million a year ago, the bank said today in a statement posted on its website. Copper sales of 112,100 metric tons fell 5.7 percent to $909 million in February as prices declined, the bank said. Total metal exports rose 8 percent to $2.29 billion, it said.

NEWS
Gold edges down with euro; Spain in focus - Reuters

Gold futures slip in electronic trading - MarketWatch

Gold Sales Drop in March on Signs of Stability, Perth Mint Says - Bloomberg

Savers rush for gold as eurozone debt fears drive up price – This is Money

COMMENTARY
Embry - What’s Happening in China is Wildly Bullish for Gold – King World News

The Implications Of A Failed Monetary System – Zero Hedge

Doug Casey on the US Constitution - GoldSeek

“Too big to fail” banks even bigger now – Hot Air

Golden Eye of Hurricane – Financial Sense

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-- Posted Tuesday, 17 April 2012 | Digg This Article