When it comes to investing in gold, for the most part, the U.S. Gold Market is completely insane.  I am not blaming Americans, as they have been totally brainwashed by the U.S. Treasury and Federal Reserve into believing that gold is something you wear, not invest in.

This is certainly proven by the data shown in the chart below.  These figures come from the World Gold Council Full Year Demand Trends Reports, and while it may be true that the data is manipulated or incomplete, it’s the best we can go by.  And I believe it gives us a pretty good idea of the insanity taking place in the good ole US of A.

From 1999 to 2007, Americans purchased a staggering 3,196 metric tons (mt) of gold jewelry for adornment purposes.  That translates to an amazing 103 million ounces(Moz).  The reason Americans purchased so much gold jewelry during this nine-year period was due to the low price of gold (especially 1999-2005):

During this same time period, Americans purchased 231 mt of gold for investment.  This turns out to be a

whopping 7.4 Moz.  As the chart above shows, gold investment was a lousy 7% of the pie, whereas gold jewelry stole the show by consuming 93% of these two markets.

If we look at the next bar in the middle of the chart (2008-2014), we can see a distinct change in American gold buying habits.  First, as the price of gold skyrocketed, less Americans could afford to purchase gold jewelry for adornment bragging rights.  Secondly, more Americans were starting to buy gold as an investment due to the near collapse of the U.S. financial system in 2008.

From 2008 to 2014, gold jewelry demand fell considerably to 992 mt, while gold investment more than doubled to 545 mt.  Thus, retail gold investment over this eight-year time period was 35% of these two markets, while jewelry declined to 65%.  In 2010, retail gold investment peaked at 45% of the total as jewelry fell to 55%.

Even though retail gold investment picked up in the United States after 2007, the total since 1999 was 776 mt compared to 4,188 mt of gold jewelry purchases.  Again, this translates to 25 Moz of retail gold investment versus 135 Moz of gold jewelry for adornment purposes.

Now, I say adornment because as the financial situation became rough for Americans after 2007, the market experienced a huge increase in the”Scrap Gold for Money” market.  Americans no longer enjoyed the bragging rights to wear gold, instead they pawned Billions of Dollars worth of scrap gold over the next several years.  Do you think the folks in India pawned off their gold jewelry when prices declined… LOL.

Before I end this short article with the last TIDBIT that really proves the point that the U.S. Gold Market is completely insane… I want to explain why I have cut back on publishing articles on the site recently.

I am working on my actual first soon to be published PAID REPORT on the Silver Market.  I mentioned before that I had planned to publish a U.S. GOLD MARKET REPORT, which the chart in this article was a part of, but did not do so because the information I received from the USGS on NY Fed gold withdrawals was incorrect.  I am not going to get into the details, but just to say the main assumption of the report was no longer valid.  I had planned to rewrite the report because there is a lot of valuable and interesting information, but I decided to start working on some PAID SILVER REPORTS instead.

I plan on publishing three paid reports on the Silver Industry and Market.  This is where a great deal of my time is being sucked into.  However, I believe my followers, readers and new guests to the site will find the data and information in these reports well worth the money and time to read.

I plan on publishing the first report next month as the report is currently two-thirds written.  I will update the status of the publication date as I complete the report.

Okay…let’s get back to the lunacy of the U.S. Gold Market.  As I mentioned, Americans were buying more gold as an investment after the collapse of the U.S. Investment Banking Market in 2008 and less gold jewelry as the price skyrocketed.  However, something changed in 2014.

As the rest of the world (mainly China, Asia & India) took advantage of bottom basement gold prices in 2014 by adding gold to their investment stash, what did Americans do?  LOL…. you got it.  Americans increased their gold jewelry buying once again, to a hefty 179 mt.  The last year Americans purchased more was in 2008 at 188 mt. 

And of course, if Americans are going to take advantage of low gold prices to purchase more gold jewelry, why then it makes perfect sense for U.S. citizens to also cut back on investing in that yellow barbarous relic.  Which they did.  In 2014, Americans bought a pathetic 47 mt of retail gold investment, down from 67 mt in 2013.

Finally, the United States is heading for serious trouble.  Because we have the world’s best printing press, we have been able to postpone the inevitable for a while.  Unfortunately, there is way too much INSANITY taking place in every aspect of our society, economy and financial system that the TRUTH will not set us FREE, but rather cause the greatest collapse the world has ever seen.

I really don’t know how events are going to unfold when we finally HEAD OVER THE CLIFF, but I know enough to purchase gold as an investment rather than highly marked-up gold jewelry so I look better buying that $5 cup of coffee at Starbucks.

Please check back for new articles and updates at the SRSrocco Report.  You can also follow us at Twitter:

Precious Metals continue to be a conundrum. While Gold has trended lower it has failed to break below $1100 as so many expect. It is very strong against foreign currencies and did not break to a new low even as the US$ index rallied from 87 to 100. On the other hand, Gold has failed to sustain any bullish momentum. The gold stocks are even more oversold and have formed some higher lows since last November. Yet, they have failed to sustain any bullish developments and are far from reaching a higher high. Only time will tell which way the sector will break and how its bear market will conclude.

There are several things in the chart below to discuss. Aside from the price action in Gold, we plot the net speculative position in the COT and Gold’s volatility index (GVZ). The immediate weekly resistance for Gold is $1220 followed by $1250-$1260, where there is a strong confluence of resistance. Support is at $1180 and $1150.

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One reason Gold has struggled to get traction to the upside could be the relatively high net speculative

position. If the net position was much lower then Gold would encounter much less selling after every rally or pop higher. Whether by time or price, the speculative position needs to decline for Gold to have a better shot at sustaining a rebound.

Gold’s volatility has declined since last November and is nearing the important lows seen in summer 2014 and early 2013. Periods of low volatility will ultimately lead to periods of rising volatility. That can accelerate market moves. Keep an eye on May and June as to when volatility could begin to increase.

Meanwhile, the gold miners are looking more constructive than Gold and that should not be a surprise. The mining sector peaked months before Gold in 2011 and also should benefit from the collapse in Oil as well as severe weakness in local currencies.

The key for the miners (GDX in this case) is the confluence of resistance at $22.50. The 80-week moving average has been very important support and resistance dating back to 2010. If GDX can break above $20 then it would have a chance to test the 80-week moving average for the third time in the past 11 months. That would be the sign of a market transitioning from bear to bull.

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The bear market in precious metals is essentially four years old and a change is soon to be at hand. The question is will it end through a slow transition in the months ahead or will it end soon after Gold loses $1150 and plunges below $1100? Either scenario presents an opportunity. If Gold breaks lower, that would ultimately provide an excellent buying opportunity. If the miners can rally up to the 80-week moving average then that would indicate the sector is in gradual transition from bear to bull. In either case, traders and investors will need to have some patience.

Good Luck!

An asset class: commodities. Do you think they have bottomed or is it that there would be a long trough for this asset class? 

Marc Faber : We have to distinguish because the price of oil has very little to do with the price of orange juice or coffee. So each commodity has its own price dynamics driven by global production and global demand.

Now industrial commodities have performed miserably along with emerging markets over the last couple of years because the demand was slowing down especially from China. So, you have prices of iron ore and steel and copper and oil that have collapsed. I happen to think that at this level a lot of commodities are reasonably priced, does not mean they will go up right away. But they come now into a buying rate and I have been buying some oil stocks recently.

Here are today’s videos and charts (double click to enlarge):

Silver Triangle Action Video Analysis

Gold Volume & MACD Video Analysis

GDX Two Triangles Video Analysis

GDXJ Triangle Breakout Video Analysis

Key Junior Stock Buy Signals Video Analysis

Thanks,

Morris 

Friday, Apr 17, 2015 Super Force Signals special offer for Money Talks Readers:
Send an email to trading@superforcesignals.com and I’ll send you 3 of my next Super Force Surge Signals free of charge, as I send them to paid subscribers. Thank you!

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Stay alert for our surge signals, sent by email to subscribers, for both the daily charts on Super Force Signals at www.superforcesignals.com and for the 60 minute charts at www.superforce60.com

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Apr 17, 2015
Morris Hubbartt

As people continue to digest breaking news out of Greece and around the world, the Godfather of newsletter writers, 90-year-old Richard Russell, warned that we will see skyrocketing prices for gold and silver as the global crisis accelerates.  He also discusses Silver Scarcity.

Richard Russell:  “I note that many advisors are warning of massive movements in the stock and bond markets ahead. Some are warning of a crash in the US dollar. The rising dollar has hurt US exports.

The Truth, QE4 And Silver Scarcity

My suspicions are that the government and the Fed have praised the US economy beyond reality. In due time, the truth will come out. The US economy is sadly lagging and a few observers have even suggested that the US economy is in recession. If this turns out to be true, the dollar will crash and the Fed may even turn to QE 4. It’s a dramatic situation unlike anything I’ve ever seen. Physical silver will be scarce in the coming months and is now priced below the cost of production…...continue reading a viewing charts HERE