Clint Siegner

Traders with an obligation to deliver physical bars in the U.S. have found the available inventory is in short supply. They have been rushing to import supplies from London and/or paying hefty premiums to secure the bars they need. Others have been capitalizing on arbitrage opportunities.

Americans got an eyeful of the waste and fraud which has been rampant in federal spending last week. A barrage of announcements by the Trump administration included putting the brakes on a $50 million program to buy and supply condoms to people in Gaza.

Longtime bullion investors have been evaluating whether to buy, sell, or hold in recent months. The change in leadership in Washington DC has prompted some searching as to the direction of the markets. Demand for precious metals tends to come in three broad categories: inflation hedging, safe-haven buying, and speculation.

Many Americans are rooting for Donald Trump and his appointees to succeed in their herculean task of slowing or reversing government growth. There is much discussion about how runaway big government might be stopped. But there hasn’t yet been talk about how to keep it that way.

Elon Musk offered to include Ron Paul in the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) – a presidential advisory commission headed by Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy. DOGE is tasked with finding waste, fraud, and abuse in the federal government and making recommendations for how to eliminate it.

Gold and silver futures speculators began selling contracts in anticipation of a Trump victory. Thus far, the selling continues after his win. The markets may have simply been overbought after big moves higher in October. However, the impact of the election cannot be discounted.

Donald Trump is picking up steam in recent polling. Bullion investors are tuned into presidential politics, this year perhaps more than ever. They wonder what the November election might mean for markets. Absent some radical development, either Trump or Harris will be president come January. And Gold investors better be ready!

One of the primary reasons that investors turn to physical gold and silver is to eliminate counterparty risk. Bullion.Directory precious metals analysis 30 September, 2024 By Clint Siegner Director of […]

Industrial demand for silver has been surging in recent years. Solar panel manufacturers were largely behind the 11% jump in demand for 2023 versus the prior year. Forecasters predict another 9% jump this year. For silver investors, however, the future of demand from manufacturers may be even brighter than the recent past.

Americans are questioning all sorts of government functions these days. For example, the majority of people, according to polls, have doubts as to whether U.S. elections are free and fair. Some believe the federal justice system has been weaponized and used against those in political opposition.

The rapidly eroding confidence in our institutions gets plenty of news coverage. We expect it will be a dominant theme for investors in the years ahead. Investing success may require correctly answering the question about what to own in a world where free market forces are taking a back seat to crooked politicians and incompetent central planners.

Confidence in institutions such as the Federal Reserve may be falling, but it hasn’t fallen nearly as far or as fast as it should. Trillions of dollars, yen, euros, and yuan are invested according to central bank policy and propaganda. It isn’t going well. The U.S. economy is massively distorted, unhealthy, and hopelessly dependent on Fed stimulus.

The Silver Institute released its 2024 World Silver Survey last week. According to the data, silver demand outstripped supply in 2023, for the fifth year in a row. The deficit was just over 142 million ounces. And the forecast for 2024 indicates that the annual production shortfall will nearly double to 265 million ounces.

Even after all this country has seen in recent years, some still consider those stocking up on food, ammo, bullion, and other emergency essentials as a little bit nuts. Despite some close brushes with disaster, including the 2008 financial crisis and disruptions associated with COVID-19, it somehow seems hard to believe the nation’s critical systems are at risk.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott gave up on the Biden administration doing much to secure his state’s border with Mexico. As an estimated 6 million people, including large numbers of fighting age men, have been pouring illegally into border states over the past 3 years, Abbot has started using the Texas national guard and state police to put up barriers.

Bullion investors are naturally concerned about unsound monetary and fiscal policy. Many of them buy precious metals, in part, because they recognize the federal government is out of control when it comes to borrowing and spending. This makes the most recent betrayal by the Republicans in the House of Representatives relevant to our readers.

Some proponents still market the crypto asset as “digital gold.” That combined with the dramatic rally in bitcoin prices over the past year means there are plenty of interested investors. There are good reasons to own bitcoin, but they are not the same reasons to own physical gold…

The outlook for pension systems is growing increasingly dire. Promises made to retirees have been generous and they can only be kept if prices for all kinds of assets move consistently higher. The trouble is that the past three years don’t look like the first twenty years of the century…

Demand for copper has been rising at bullion dealers. The number of products available has also risen dramatically in recent years. Mints and refiners are responding to increased demand with a wide variety of new copper rounds and bars with some interesting designs. The number of questions we get from clients has been rising, along with the interest.

Americans might be well served to contemplate how safe cash really is. Money market funds aren’t going to keep pace with inflation over the long run. Nor are they immune from credit risk, which could manifest at any time. Bullion investors would like to see some of this capital pour into the gold and silver markets.

Silver production is failing to keep up with rising demand. But you wouldn’t know it by looking at the silver price. Phillips Baker, CEO of Hecla Mining and Chairman of the Silver Institute, the metal’s most prominent industry trade group, recently made a presentation at the London Bullion Market Association Global Precious Metals conference in Spain…

Gold prices are flirting with all-time highs once again and investors are wondering if this time might be different. Perhaps gold (and silver) can finally break out of the range where they have been mired over the past 3-½ years? A breakout to higher prices is, in our view, both overdue and inevitable, however, the timing of a breakout remains impossible to predict

Gold bugs hold a different definition of risk free, but for most of Wall Street and the investing public the assumption has been that there’s zero chance the U.S. government will ever default on its debt. The truth is finally dawning on this crowd. There is more than one way for the U.S. to default. The government might not welch on payments, but…

Representatives in the U.S. House have raised the curtain on the latest round of budget theater in Washington DC. The actual conservatives in Washington can once again be seen fighting a futile rear-guard action to hold the line on spending. The only real question is whether they will relent before House Speaker Kevin McCarthy cuts another deal with Democrats

Liberty Safe, the nation’s largest manufacturer of gun safes, recently fell into hot water. The company provided the access code for a customer’s safe to FBI agents who were executing a search warrant. Some were not happy to hear the company cooperated with the FBI’s request, particularly given that many perceive case as politically driven and illegitimate.

The assault on individual rights is accelerating, and investors would be wise to think about the assets they hold in a world where the rule of law is failing. Last week, New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham banned citizens from carrying firearms in Albuquerque, neither bothered nor slowed by recent U.S. Supreme Court affirmations of the 2nd Amendment.

Making an investment in physical gold and silver is easy. Insuring these new valuables stored at home is more difficult. It may be outright impossible in larger amounts. The standard homeowner’s insurance policy provides little, if any, coverage for precious metal coins, rounds, and bars…

There aren’t many bullion investors who haven’t thought about using their stash to buy groceries one day. Most of them bought metal in the first place because they know something important about history. Fiat currencies eventually die at the hands of irresponsible leaders, and it can happen fast.