GOLD ASK 0000.00 0.00
SILVER ASK 00.00 0.00

Metal Market Report October 2019 - Week 3 Edition

October 2019 - Week 3 Edition

Unprecedented Gold Buying by China

In their October newsletter, the Aden sisters say gold “truly is building up for a huge market,” citing “unprecedented” buying in China, where the People’s Bank of China just added to their reserves for the 10th consecutive month, with reserves now standing at 1,770 metric tons of gold. Since China’s gold holdings are low compared to their currency reserves, they say, “China is still far from reaching their goal, and their gold buying will be ongoing.”

The U.S. Mint Celebrates October 24-25 with Industry Gathering

Once again, I was invited to attend the United States Mint’s 2019 Numismatic Forum, its annual meeting with industry leaders and the nation’s leading numismatists and coin business leaders to be held October 24-25 this year at Independence Mall in Philadelphia. I have attended four times, including the last three years in a row, but I will need to decline their gracious invitation this year, due to business conflicts.

The program this year includes the many changes and challenges facing the Mint since David Ryder has become the permanent Mint Director. I believe David Ryder will make an excellent director of the Mint. (He also served as Mint Director during the 1992-93 transition from President George H.W. Bush to President Clinton.) In the business world, he has valuable experience as CEO of Secure Products Corp., in developing highly advanced anti-counterfeiting technologies for the protection of global currencies and other valued documents. This experience fits right in with President Trump’s stated desire to stop China’s assault on America with counterfeit products, including counterfeit rare and circulating coins.

Other program subjects include updates on the Mint’s new programs and their service improvements to dealers, followed by their usual breakout discussions, which provide excellent ways for industry leaders to help the Mint understand customer needs better. There will also likely be discussions of the much-anticipated Centennial Minting of the 2021 Morgan and Peace dollars in honor of the 1921 minting of both those silver dollars – the final year of Morgan silver dollars and the first year of Peace silver dollars.

This year also marks the 50th anniversary of the current Mint building. Although the U.S. Mint was first built in 1792, the current headquarters mint in Philadelphia is the fourth mint in that city. The current Mint building was finished in August 1969 and is currently the world’s largest Mint, producing an average of over 35 million coins per day with a capacity to produce up to 50 million coins per day.

When Monitoring the News, Pay Attention to what is NOT Said…

Gold is down early this week but will likely rise again when impeachment momentum returns. In discussions with my Congressman, I have learned that more Democrats in the House are supporting impeachment proceedings. While it appears that the President is safe in the Senate – since it takes two-thirds (67) of Senators to convict, the process of impeachment in the House should have the same effect on the metals (bullish) and the stock market (bearish) that it had when the House impeached Nixon in 1974 and tried to impeach Reagan in 1987: Precious metals and rare coins soared while stocks collapsed.  I call this the impeachment bull market phenomenon.

We’ve never seen anything like this – a President threatened with impeachment and investigations from before he even took the oath of office. What is it about the mainstream press and the Washington beltway establishment that never gave this President a chance? I got the answer from a friend who looked up the county-by-county 2016 vote for Trump. He looked at the 3,000+ American counties, focusing on the blue states with high population centers, looking for the counties with ultra-low voting percentages for Trump.

There were five U.S. communities that voted under 10% for Trump in 2016. Counting down, they were:

#5: Manhattan, New York, where only 9.71% voted for Trump

#4: The Bronx, New York, where 9.46% voted for Trump

#3: San Francisco, California, where 9.29% voted for Trump

#2: Prince George’s County, Maryland (a suburb of Washington, DC) where 8.40% voted for Trump

        And the winner (by a long shot) is:

#1: Washington, DC, where only 4.09% voted for Trump.

That means the only counties where 90% or more voted the other way were in:

  • New York City, where the bulk of the national media is centered.
  • San Francisco, which is represented by Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and
  • Washington DC (and suburban Maryland), where much of “the swamp” lives.

In addition, the other major suburban counties feeding Washington, DC, which house most of our federal government workers, voted under 20% for Trump: Arlington County, Virginia voted just 16.64% for Trump, and Montgomery County, Maryland voted 19.36% for Trump. (Nearby Baltimore, Maryland voted only 10.53% for Trump). That means 80% to 95% of government workers voted for someone else, nearly all for Hillary Clinton. No wonder there are multiple “Whistleblowers” and “leakers” delivering dirt on the President and his staff, and no end of media watchdogs willing to print rumor and innuendo.

When you read the heavily biased Washington Post or New York Times, or watch CNN or any major network (NBC, ABC or CBS), pay attention to what is not said, as much as what is said. They often state the worst case without interviewing the other side, or else editing out or constantly interrupting those on the other side. No matter what the subject, they often present only one side, as advocates, rather than both sides. Small town media is often more balanced.

In gun control, for instance, they attack “assault weapons,” while seldom defining what the term means, or asking politicians to define the term or defining the difference between semi-automatic and fully automatic. They do not mention that the vast majority of murders involve handguns, not rifles. They typically do not mention the many mass murders in Europe, where all such weapons are banned. They don’t mention the lives saved by honest, law-abiding citizens bearing arms against criminals. They often don’t mention deaths by many other causes greater than rifles, including alcohol, swimming pools, smoking, drugs, knives and speeding automobiles.

That’s just one example, but when nearly all of the large city media and government workers come from one side of the political fence, it’s too much to expect them to be fair and unbiased in their reporting. They may become a “mob” of their own making. Any reporter who comes from the other side is sometimes liable to be shunned, so they join the left-wing mob, or they may be suddenly out of a job or not hired. Keep that in mind as you watch the news.

The same is true in the government swamp. There were constant “leaks” of classified information in the first year of the Trump administration, feeding the Mueller investigation, which still could find no Trump collusion. There were multiple work slowdowns and subversions of Presidential orders when employees too often expressed “disgust and shock” at the President’s executive orders. Of course, they typically don’t have the courage to quit, since government jobs are the best paid jobs in America – the three richest counties in America are all suburbs of Washington DC – so some just subvert Trump and wait for the next Democrat to win.

In other words – impeachment proceedings may be good for our business and our customers, perhaps, but not so good for America.

(Recommended Reading for further information: “Resistance (at All Costs): How Trump Haters are Breaking America,” a new book by Kimberly Strassel, to be published this week)

 

Metals Market Report Archives

Important Disclosure Notification: All statements, opinions, pricing, and ideas herein are believed to be reliable, truthful and accurate to the best of the Publisher's knowledge at this time. They are not guaranteed in any way by anybody and are subject to change over time. The Publisher disclaims and is not liable for any claims or losses which may be incurred by third parties while relying on information published herein. Individuals should not look at this publication as giving finance or investment advice or information for their individual suitability. All readers are advised to independently verify all representations made herein or by its representatives for your individual suitability before making your investment or collecting decisions. Arbitration: This company strives to handle customer complaint issues directly with customer in an expeditious manner. In the event an amicable resolution cannot be reached, you agree to accept binding arbitration. Any dispute, controversy, claim or disagreement arising out of or relating to transactions between you and this company shall be resolved by binding arbitration pursuant to the Federal Arbitration Act and conducted in Beaumont, Jefferson County, Texas. It is understood that the parties waive any right to a jury trial. Judgment upon the award rendered by the Arbitrator may be entered in any court having jurisdiction thereof. Reproduction or quotation of this newsletter is prohibited without written permission of the Publisher.