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Category - Precious Metals / Commodities

Hedge funds bet on gold as refuge from 'unfettered' currency printing

Thanks to a subscriber for this article by Laurence Fletcher and Henry Sanderson for the  Financial Times which may be of interest. Here is a section:

Paul Singer’s Elliott Management, Andrew Law’s Caxton Associates and Danny Yong’s Dymon Asia Capital are all bullish on the yellow metal, which has risen about 12 per cent this year. They are wagering that moves to loosen monetary policy and even directly finance government spending, intended to limit the economic damage from the virus, will debase fiat currencies and provide a further boost to gold.

“Gold is a hedge against unfettered fiat currency printing,” said Mr Yong, founding partner at Dymon Asia, which is up 36 per cent this year, helped by its bet on the gold price.

New York-based Elliott, which manages about $40bn in assets, told its investors last month that gold was “one of the most undervalued” assets available and that its fair value was “multiples of its current price”.

In a letter, Elliott cited the “fanatical debasement of money by all of the world’s central banks” as well as low interest rates and disruption to mining caused by coronavirus. Profits from gold positions helped the hedge fund to a gain of about 2 per cent in the first quarter.



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Email of the day - on gold volumes

Like you, I follow the PMs, particularly gold and silver. I noticed a remarkably consistent pattern in spot gold trading volume. Going back 10 years, the volume has picked up and dropped back on alternate months. During the summer doldrums there is a hiatus, as one would expect. The alternating pattern then resumes around the end of October each year. I am very interested to hear your explanation for this.



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Email of the day on junior gold miners

Is there any chance you can add Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners (GDXJ) LONDON quote to the chart library please? It seems to trade at a $5-$6 difference to the US quote. I assume this is the same underlying fund - I hope it’s not too dumb a question to ask why the difference? However, it looks like an interesting ETF but I can only by the London listed entity in my fund and therefore I'd like to be able to track it in your superb chart library. Thanks so much.



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Email of the day on gold and negative real interest rates

Eric Basmajian has much to say about the dominant deflationary forces of the past 40 years and how the recent monetary and fiscal policies are more likely to add to that problem by suppressing the velocity of money.  Most of us, more or less, understand that argument.  He then, surprisingly, includes gold in his recommended portfolio because of falling real interest rates in either deflation or inflation.  All very difficult for average investors to comprehend. Your view would be appreciated.



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China Rolls Out Pilot Test of Digital Currency

This article by Jonathan Cheng for the Wall Street Journal may be of interest to subscribers. Here is a section:

In Xiangcheng, a district in the eastern city of Suzhou, the government will start paying civil servants half of their transport subsidy in the digital currency next month as part of the city’s test run, according to a government worker with direct knowledge of the matter.

Government workers were told to begin installing an app on their smartphones this month into which the digital currency would be transferred, the worker said.

Civil servants were told that the new currency could be transferred into their existing bank accounts, or used directly for transactions at some designated merchants, the person said.

China is ahead of many other countries in preparing the launch of an official digital currency. In recent years, the use of traditional paper bills and cash has declined sharply, and smartphone payments have become so ubiquitous that many Chinese people, particularly younger urban dwellers, no longer carry their wallets or cash for shopping. Instead, they use Tencent Holdings Ltd. ’s WeChat Pay and Alipay, operated by Ant Financial Services Group, an affiliate of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.



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'Instead of Coronavirus, the Hunger Will Kill Us' A Global Food Crisis Looms

This article by Abdi Latif Dahir for The New York Times may be of interest to subscribers. Here is a section:

The coronavirus has sometimes been called an equalizer because it has sickened both rich and poor, but when it comes to food, the commonality ends. It is poor people, including large segments of poorer nations, who are now going hungry and facing the prospect of starving.

“The coronavirus has been anything but a great equalizer,” said Asha Jaffar, a volunteer who brought food to families in the Nairobi slum of Kibera after the fatal stampede. “It’s been the great revealer, pulling the curtain back on the class divide and exposing how deeply unequal this country is.”

Already, 135 million people had been facing acute food shortages, but now with the pandemic, 130 million more could go hungry in 2020, said Arif Husain, chief economist at the World Food Program, a United Nations agency. Altogether, an estimated 265 million people could be pushed to the brink of starvation by year’s end.

While the system of food distribution and retailing in rich nations is organized and automated, he said, systems in developing countries are “labor intensive,” making “these supply chains much more vulnerable to Covid-19 and social distancing regulations.”



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Don't lose sight of what you actually own

Thanks to a subscriber for this report from Canaccord Genuity focusing on Australia. Here is a section:



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Email of the day - on dividend paying gold companies

Mr. Treacy has mentioned in one of his previous articles:

http://www.fullertreacymoney.com/general/gundlach-sounds-alarm-on-paper-gold-etfs-raking-in-billions-/    

...There are 1145 precious metals miners listed on Bloomberg and 123 of those pay dividends. Some of the largest miners have tied the size of their dividend to the gold price and almost all have All-In-Sustaining-Costs significantly below prevailing gold prices....

I searched Bloomberg for the 123 metal miners that pay dividends but could not find the list.

Would Mr. Treacy be able to point me to the list?



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Chapter 1: The Big Picture in a Tiny Nutshell

I read the first two chapters of Ray Dalio’s latest book yesterday. Here is an important section from Chapter 1:

The quicker the printing of money to fill the debt holes, the quicker the closing of the deflationary depression and the sooner the worrying about the value of money begins.  In the 1930s US case, the stock market and the economy bottomed the day that newly elected President Roosevelt announced that he would default on the government’s promise to let people turn in their money for gold, and that the government would create enough money and credit so that people could get their money out of banks and others could get money and credit to buy things and invest. 



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Email of the day on Australian banks and debt

Australia has announced they are increasing petroleum reserve stocks. Small steps in the global oil market. We have lots of gas not much Oil. Government argument oil prices are low. Think I can see political / defense US / Australian ambitions in this move.

The Governor of the RBA made a speech a few months back the RBA will support all local banks. That investors should feel confident about the security of their bank deposits and securities. Can I trust these comments? I almost fell out of my chair when Glenn Stevens made this statement



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