Bloomberg: Gold Bears Dominant Again as U.S. Growth Quickens: Commodities

Gold traders are bearish for the first time in six weeks as accelerating U.S. economic growth and weaker sales of physical bullion curbed demand for the metal.

Twelve analysts surveyed by Bloomberg expect prices to fall next week, nine were bullish and four neutral. The metal retreated for a fifth day yesterday, the worst losing streak since May 17 and slipped below $1,300 an ounce earlier today for the first time since July 22. Physical demand slowed in the past several weeks, according to Standard Bank Group Ltd.

Gold is heading for the first annual drop in 13 years after some investors lost faith in the metal as a store of value. The slump that wiped $58.9 billion from the value of gold funds hurt investors including hedge fund billionaire John Paulson as well as Barrick Gold Corp. (ABX) and other mining companies. U.S. equities reached a record this week after data showed the nation expanded 1.7 percent in the second quarter, more than economists surveyed by Bloomberg had expected.

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The Motley Fool: Gold Absolutely Crushed These Dividends

The aftermath of gold's bloodbath last quarter continues. After falling a record 23%, gold isn't done ruining investor returns just yet. After it absolutely crushed the stock prices of many gold mining stocks last quarter, gold has set its sight on crushing the last remaining glimmer of hope for investors: dividends.

In addition to reporting multi-billion-dollar quarterly losses, gold miners Barrick Gold (NYSE: ABX ) and Kinross Gold (NYSE: KGC ) had one parting shot for investors. Both companies also announced dividend cuts, with Barrick slashing its dividend by 75% and Kinross completely eliminating its payout. Talk about adding insult to injury.

To say it was a rough quarter for the pair would be an understatement. Barrick's stock is down 43% since the start of the second quarter. Gold's collapse caused the company to take $8.7 billion of impairment charges for the quarter, which led to a reported loss of $8.56 billion on the quarter, or $8.55 per share. Also, its once steadily growing dividend of $0.20 per share was cut back to $0.05 per share, a level not seen in more than a decade.

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Wall Street Journal: Investors Get the Shaft From Gold Miners

A dividend cut at Barrick Gold Corp. is the latest setback for investors amid a brutal year for precious metals plays.

The price of gold has plunged 22% this year, as investors anticipating an end to the Federal Reserve's loose monetary policy sought out higher-yielding assets. But the carnage has been even worse for those seeking to benefit from investments in companies that mine the metal.

The NYSE NYX Arca Gold Bugs Index, which tracks 17 gold-mining companies, is down 45% in 2013. Barrick, the world's largest gold producer, on Thursday reported an $8.56 billion second-quarter loss, compared with a $787 million profit a year ago, and cut its dividend to five cents from 20 cents. The company's stock is off 53% this year, falling 16 cents, or 0.9%, to $16.81, in 4 p.m. New York Stock Exchange composite trading on Thursday.

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Reuters: Gold imports dropped in June and July - finance minister

Gold imports into India in June and July were lower compared to the same period last year, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said on Wednesday, without giving figures.

India is hoping to contain gold imports well below 845 tonnes that were shipped last year, Chidambaram said, a week after the central bank restricted imports further, by tying imports to exports volumes.

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The Age: Gold bull ANZ opens 50-tonne vault in Singapore

ANZ has started a second bullion vault in Asia to cater for growing physical demand that the bank sees driving prices as much as 13 per cent higher over two years.

The leased facility, which can hold 50 metric tonnes, opened in Singapore last month, adding to storage in Hong Kong, Perth and Zurich, according to Eddie Listorti, co-head of fixed income, currencies and commodities. The vault could keep $US2.13 billion ($2.36 billion) of metal at yesterday’s close, Bloomberg calculations show.

The bullish stance on gold from ANZ, which has forecast the metal at $US1400 an ounce in 2014 and $US1500 in 2015, contrasts with the outlook from Goldman Sachs, which predicts lower prices as the US Federal Reserve scales back stimulus.

Gold has plunged 21 per cent this year, tumbling into a bear market as stocks and the dollar rallied.

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The Telegraph: Never mind the Czech gold the Nazis stole...

The documents reveal a shocking story: just six months before Britain went to war with Nazi Germany, the Bank of England willingly handed over £5.6 million worth of gold to Hitler – and it belonged to another country.

The official history of the bank, written in 1950 but posted online for the first time on Tuesday, reveals how we betrayed Czechoslovakia – not just with the infamous Munich agreement of September 1938, which allowed the Nazis to annex the Sudetenland, but also in London, where Montagu Norman, the eccentric but ruthless governor of the Bank of England agreed to surrender gold owned by the National Bank of Czechoslovakia.

The Czechoslovak gold was held in London in a sub-account in the name of the Bank for International Settlements, the Basel-based bank for central banks. When the Nazis marched into Prague in March 1939 they immediately sent armed soldiers to the offices of the National Bank. The Czech directors were ordered, on pain of death, to send two transfer requests.

The first instructed the BIS to transfer 23.1 metric tons of gold from the Czechoslovak BIS account, held at the Bank of England, to the Reichsbank BIS account, also held at Threadneedle Street.

The second order instructed the Bank of England to transfer almost 27 metric tons of gold held in the National Bank of Czechoslovakia’s own name to the BIS’s gold account at the Bank of England.

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Bloomberg: Marathon Hires JPMorgan’s Gold to Boost Emerging-Market Trading

Marathon Asset Management LP, a hedge-fund operator that oversees more than $10.5 billion of assets, hired JPMorgan (JPM) Chase & Co.’s Jason Gold as it bolsters its emerging-markets trading effort.

Gold, who focused on Latin American sovereign debt as a senior trader at JPMorgan, will join Marathon in September, according to Andrew Rabinowitz, the company’s chief operating officer. Gold will be a senior trader based in New York and report to Gabriel Szpigiel, a partner and senior portfolio manager, Rabinowitz said.

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Bloomberg: Gold Extends Biggest Monthly Gain Since January 2012 Before Fed

Gold rose in London, extending the biggest monthly gain since January 2012, as a three-day drop spurred more buying and investors awaited results of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s policy meeting.

The Bloomberg U.S. Dollar Index, a measure against 10 major currencies, was little changed before the central bank ends a two-day meeting today that may give clues on its outlook for reducing stimulus. Bullion is up 8.1 percent in July, heading for the first monthly increase since March.

Gold dropped 20 percent this year after some investors lost faith in the metal as a store of value and on speculation the Fed may curb its bond-buying program. Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said this month that it’s too early to decide whether to begin curbing purchases in September, after saying on June 19 that buying could slow if the economy improves. Gold’s plunge to a 34-month low on June 28 spurred demand for jewelry and coins.

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The Motley Fool: Why Gold Is Trailing the Dow Today

After trading near record highs for much of the morning, the stock market has reversed course and pushed lower this afternoon, with the Dow Jones Industrials  down a mere eight points as of 2:55 p.m. EDT. Yet for gold investors who hope that bad news for stocks is good news for precious metals, the day has also been disappointing, as gold prices are also down by a modest $4 per ounce or so to rest just above the $1,325 level. Silver was down about a dime to $19.75 per ounce, while platinum fell $3 to $1,435 and palladium was the biggest loser, falling $15 per ounce to $727.

As ugly as those figures are, base industrial metals have also performed horribly recently, and that's where the Dow has some direct and indirect exposure. Alcoa  has suffered from the bear market in aluminum for years, and today is no different, with the stock down 0.3% on continuing weakness in the global economy and a lack of demand for the durable lightweight metal needed for construction and other industrial needs. Controversial practices regarding aluminum warehouses have also led investors to doubt the transparency of the market, scaring away potential investment.

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Reuters: PRECIOUS-Gold eases in quiet trade, all eyes on Fed meeting

Gold inched lower in quiet trading on Tuesday as participants largely stayed on the sidelines ahead of a Federal Reserve policy statement on Wednesday that may provide clues on the pace at which it plans to scale back its bond-buying program.

Bullion pared earlier losses on signs the U.S. economy maybe slowing as data showed home prices in May rose less than
expected and consumer confidence waned in July.

The Fed is scheduled to release a policy statement Wednesday afternoon after its two-day meeting. Traders will be looking for clues as to when the U.S. central bank will start tapering its $85 billion monthly bond purchases.

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The Guardian: Tanzanians sue African gold mining firms over deaths in 2011

Tanzanian villagers are suing two African gold mining companies after six people were killed by police and others injured.

On Monday, Leigh Day, the London law firm, served a claim on behalf of 12 villagers against African Barrick Gold (ABG), one of Africa's largest mining companies, and North Mara Gold Mine (NMGM), to highlight the allegedly serious human rights situation at the mine.

The claim alleges that the companies are liable for the deaths and injuries of villagers, including the killing of at least six men by police.

According to Leigh Day, villagers often try to gather rocks in the vicinity of the mine in the hope of finding small amounts of gold. "Police, which are an integral part of the mine's security, allegedly shoot at the villagers using tear gas and live ammunition," said Richard Meeran, a partner at the law firm.

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The Telegraph: Bank of England helped the Nazis to sell plundered gold

The Bank of England has admitted its role in one of the most controversial episodes in its history - helping the Nazis sell gold plundered from Czechoslovakia months before the outbreak of the Second World War.

An official history, written in 1950 but posted online for the first time on Tuesday, detailed how the "Old Lady" transfered gold held in its vaults to the Germans despite the UK Government of the day placing a freeze on all Czech assets held in London.

In the history, the Bank of England insists its role in an episode that "still rankled for some time" after 1940 but was "widely misunderstood".

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Yahoo Finance: Gold on the Rebound: Is the Bottom Finally In?

Of all the investment opportunities that exist in the world, few can claim to have the devoted fan base that gold seems to enjoy. And yet, for all its appeal with the so-called gold bugs, this precious metal has nearly as many skeptics, who never pass up an opportunity to trash the virtues of owning expensive rock.

But somewhere in between these polarized factions exists a cadre of opportunists, free of any bias, who simply follow trend lines to determine on where prices are heading. Jonathan Krinsky, chief market technical analyst at Miller Tabak & Co, is one of them.

"From a price level perspective, oftentimes when you break down from a level, you retrace and then there's a lot of overhead supply that makes it difficult to push materially higher," he says in the attached video. "I think that's where we're at right now."

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Reuters: India holds off on gold imports as new rules cause uncertainty

India's imports of gold have halted since July 22, sending premiums for scarce stocks soaring, as traders in the world's biggest bullion buyer try to puzzle out new central bank rules that tie imports to export volumes.

In its battle to rein in a record trade deficit, India has targeted gold, the second-biggest item in its import bill after crude oil.

India doubled its import duty to 8 percent from the 4 percent where it stood at the beginning of the year, and also requires a fifth of all gold imports to be used for export, usually in the form of jewellery.

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Bloomberg: Gold Advances in New York as Weaker Dollar Spurs Demand

Gold futures climbed for the second time in three sessions on signs of increased physical purchases.

Bullion futures have jumped 8.7 percent this month, set for the biggest monthly increase since January 2012. This month’s gain was driven by investors closing out bets on price drops and “opportunistic” buying from Asia, after the metal fell into a bear market in April, according to VTB Capital. Federal Reserve policy makers begin a two-day meeting tomorrow.

“There is some physical demand from the Far East” Peter Hug, the global trading director of Kitco Metals Inc., said in a report. “Traders and investors are looking ahead to the U.S. Federal Open Market Committee meeting that ends Wednesday for more guidance.”

Gold futures for December delivery rose 0.6 percent to settle at 1,329.60 an ounce at 1:44 p.m. on the Comex in New York. The precious metal gained 2.2 percent last week.

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Business Insider: MANKIW: It Makes Sense To Own A Sliver Of Gold In An Investment Portfolio

Harvard economist and former George W. Bush advisor Greg Mankiw has a new piece in the New York Times grappling with whether a smart investor should hold some gold.

Mankiw calls himself a "boring" investor — your standard 60% stocks 40% bonds kind of guy — who never really saw the value in hoarding gold.

But when a friend asked him if he should add gold his portfolio, Mankiw dove into the academic research. He came away with four main points:

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Seattle Times: Miami is a magnet for gold

Few people realize it is one of the hubs for the nation’s gold trade.Last year, gold for the first time was both the top import and export from the Miami Customs District.

Small gold bars glow red hot as they melt and mix together in a crucible. Then the molten gold is poured into a mold to form a larger bar that will undergo a complicated fire assay process, determining its purity.

On any given day in the downtown Miami office of Kaloti Metals & Logistics, a gold and precious-metals trading house, millions of dollars’ worth of gold arrives, is melted, formed into bars, assayed and shipped out.

Last year, the company handled 22 tons worth nearly $1 billion and is on its way to surpassing that in 2013.

Although Miami may have a reputation for glitz and bling, few people realize it is one of the hubs for the nation’s gold trade.

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Forbes: Analysts Expect Central Banks To Add To Gold Reserves Despite Turkey's Decline

News that nine central banks are selling some of their gold reserves is not expected to hurt gold prices, according to analysts.

According to monthly data released Thursday by the International Monetary Fund, Turkey, Germany, Suriname, Guatemala, Mexico, Zimbabwe, Costa Rica, Czech Republic and Denmark all sold some of their reserves. At the same time for the ninth straight month, Russia added to its reserves along with Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Greece, Belarus and Bulgaria.

Colin Cieszynski, senior market analyst at CMC Markets Canada, said he is not surprised that some banks are selling some gold, but added that he doesn’t expect the sales to impact global markets.

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Autoblog: World's Most Expensive Motorcycle has frame made from gold

This motorcycle embraces two very different dynamics. On the one hand, it's quite possibly the most expensive motorcycle ever built, with some experts speculating that the frame alone is worth $1 million. On the other hand, it looks old and beaten up, like a steampunk MadMax.



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Bloomberg: Gold Declines Before FOMC Meeting as Data May Point to Recovery

Gold fell after three weeks of gains on speculation that the U.S. Federal Reserve may scale back stimulus, with data due this week on growth and employment as central bank policy makers meet to assess the recovery.

Bullion for immediate delivery lost as much as 0.6 percent to $1,325.25 an ounce and was at $1,327.20 at 9:13 a.m. in Singapore. Prices are up 7.5 percent this month, and the run of three weekly advances is the longest since March.

Gold tumbled 21 percent this year after some investors lost faith in the metal as a store of value and on speculation the Fed may taper its bond-buying program that helped bullion cap a 12-year bull run in 2012. Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said this month that it’s too early to decide whether to begin scaling back debt purchases in September, after saying on June 19 that bond buying could slow if the economy improves. The Federal Open Market Committee starts a two-day policy meeting tomorrow.

“There’s a raft of U.S. data coming out over the next few days,” said David Lennox, a resource analyst at Fat Prophets in Sydney. “Everyone will be looking at that to show if the U.S. economy is continuing along at some sort of growth rate.”

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Bloomberg: Hedge Funds Raise Gold Bets as Goldman Sees Decline: Commodities

Hedge funds raised wagers on a gold rally as speculation that the Federal Reserve will hold off on curbing stimulus drove prices toward the biggest gain in 18 months. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. expects the rally to reverse.

Money managers increased their net-long position by 26 percent to 70,067 futures and options as of July 23, U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission data show. The fourth consecutive weekly gain is the longest streak since October. Bullish wagers across 18 U.S.-traded commodities gained 7.4 percent to 615,140. Investors more than doubled bets on lower corn prices to a record net-short holding.

Gold futures rose 8 percent in July, heading for the largest monthly gain since January 2012, as Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke damped speculation that a cut in bond purchases is imminent. The metal remains in a bear market reached in April and is heading for the first annual loss in 13 years after some investors lost faith in bullion as a store of value. Goldman said July 22 that prices are likely to decline.

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Fox News: India's seizure of smuggled gold soars

Seizure of smuggled gold in India soared 365 percent in the first quarter of the year, a report said Saturday, following curbs on imports of the precious metal to plug a yawning trade gap.

India, the world's largest buyer of gold, has twice hiked import taxes on bullion this year to discourage gold-buying and introduced other restrictions on purchases to rein in a record current account deficit, the broadest measure of trade.

Gold is hugely popular in India, especially during religious festivals and wedding seasons.

In the April to June quarter of this financial year seizure of smuggled gold rose 365 percent over the same period last year, the Business Standard newspaper quoted a government revenue department official as saying.

"This year, in the first quarter itself, we have seized almost 60 percent (in value terms) of what was seized in all of last year," an unnamed government revenue official was quoted as saying.

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BD Live: Struggling gold miners ‘missed boat on hedging’

SOUTH Africa’s struggling gold miners may have shot themselves in the foot by ignoring warnings at the tail end of the decade-long bull market to lock in historically high prices for the metal.

Instead, they followed their international peers in unwinding hedge positions, a report released on Thursday shows.

A hedge is an agreement by a producer to sell a commodity at a fixed price in the future. This is a means of protecting against price falls but limits gains when the price rises.

According to the Société Générale Thomson Reuters GFMS Global Hedge Book Analysis report, instead of producers rushing to lock in prices in a falling market, there had instead been a net reduction in global hedging.

"Where prices stand in recent weeks, and if prices were to fall further, it may be the case that many producers have already ‘missed the boat’ on locking in favourable hedging," it said.

"With many financial institutions and gold market commentators taking a more sanguine, bearish view of the price trajectory for the remainder of the year and into 2014 … if prices were to recover briefly upwards, companies may be tempted to put in place some price protection for their operations," it said.

AngloGold Ashanti completed the elimination of its gold hedge book in 2010, which then CEO Mark Cutifani said would "provide the company and its shareholders with full exposure to the prevailing gold price". The removal of the hedge created about $4bn in value for shareholders, he said.

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Reuters: Gold bears say charts point down toward a 3-year low

Spot gold's sharp tumble on Wednesday sent a bearish signal to many technical analysts, suggesting that the precious metal may slide further toward three-year lows.

Although gold was up for the week, the bears pointed to bullion's 2.65 percent slide on Wednesday off of an exact double top at its one-month high. They said this indicated that impetus to push above the $1,347.69 per ounce high had run out. Despite the bearish consensus, at least one analyst held out hope that gold could rebound to the highs of early this year around $1,700 an ounce.

Bullion has gained more than 9 percent in three weeks. On Friday, spot gold fell 0.2 percent to $1,330.30 per ounce by 3:46 p.m. Traders said some profit taking was seen after a session high of $1,340.

But gold's failure to scale the $1,350 peak of June 20, a day when gold dropped almost 6 percent, brought the bearish forecasts out. Chartists said they see targets down to $1,295, $1,265 and possibly lows last seen three years ago.

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NY Times: Budging (Just a Little) on Investing in Gold

A friend posed that question to me a few weeks ago, after watching gold’s wild ride over the last few years. The price of gold was less than $500 an ounce in 2005, but soared to more than $1,800 in 2011, before falling back to about $1,300 recently. He wasn’t sure what to make of it all.

My instinct was to say no. Like most economists I know, I am a pretty boring investor. I hold 60 percent stocks, 40 percent bonds, mostly in low-cost index funds. Whenever I see those TV commercials with some actor hawking gold coins, I roll my eyes. Hoarding gold seems akin to stocking up on canned beans and ammo as you wait for the apocalypse in your fallout shelter.

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Market Watch: Emerging markets lift gold reserves, IMF says

SYDNEY--Central banks in several emerging-market countries continued to boost their gold reserves last month, exploiting a plunge in the price of the precious metal to its lowest level in almost three years.

Regular gold buyers Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan were among those that added to their holdings in June, when many other central banks were also active in the market.

Not all were looking to buy, however. Germany and Guatemala both sold holdings, while Turkey's official reserves also fell, according to data from the International Monetary Fund.

Central banks, largely in developing economies, have increased their holdings of the precious metal over the past few years as sovereign-debt crises, like those in Europe, put pressure on reserve currencies such as the U.S. dollar and euro.

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The Motley Fool: Can Gold Keep Outpacing the Dow?

The stock market closed the week with modest gains, with the Dow Jones Industrials recovering from early losses to post a small gain and bring its total rise for the week to 15 points, or about 0.1%. Yet, in a reversal of trends over the past several months, gold and other precious metals rose much more substantially for the week, with the SPDR Gold ETF finishing with gains of almost 3%, and iShares Silver posting a better than 2% advance. Let's take a look at what influenced the gold market this week to get a sense of whether precious metals can keep climbing and outpace the soaring Dow.

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