Gold & Silver Education Center

Below I have pasted in an article from another blog I have which watches for potential monetary system changes. Since the value of the US dollar is one key factor impacting precious metals prices, I decided to post this article here as well. Also, there is a lot of speculation about the IMF moving towards a "digital SDR" to replace the US dollar as the global reserve currency. I asked Dr. Warren Coats about that and his reply is in the added comments section below. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Readers here know we have long covered monetary system reform proposals from Dr. Warren Coats. Dr. Coats is formerly the head of the SDR Division and is in my view a leading expert in the world on the SDR along with IMF rules and regulations. So we have featured him as the best source of information on this topic.  Dr. Coats recently sent me his new article,  The IMF's $650bSDR Allocation and a future 'd

  In comments to the US Senate, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell admitted inflation is running higher than they expected and that how to react to that is a "challenge". His comments are reported in  this article on Kitco . Below is a couple of excerpts from the article and then a bullet point list of his key comments. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "We don't have another example of the last time we reopened a $20-trillion economy with lots of fiscal and monetary support," Powell said. "The challenge we are confronting is how to react to this inflation, which is larger than we expected. To the extent it is temporary, it wouldn't be appropriate to react to it. But to the extent it gets longer and longer, we" have to continue to revaluate the risks that would affect inflation expectations, and that is what we are monitoring." . . . . .  Debt was another

                        Silver Ore Getting More Expensive to Mine                                    In this new analysis from JP Morgan on global silver supply trends , they confirm that mines supplying the world with silver will face several challenges going forward to stem the recent trend of decreasing mine supply. This lines up with comments often heard from mining CEO's when questioned on this topic. The bottom line is that while there are adequate silver reserves out there to be mined, many factors are combining to make it more expensive to extract them for global supply. Obviously, that would suggest it will take higher silver prices (as well as strong lead, zinc, copper , and gold prices) to create incentive for miners to risk the new capital constantly required to replace existing reserves as they are mined (silver is often a by product of lead, zinc, copper, and gold mines). Below is an excerpt from the JP Morgan analysis. -----------------------------------------------

Pawn shops have traded in gold and silver for a long time. Perhaps the most famous pawn shop around is the one featured on The History Channel series titled Pawn Stars . In the interview below ( on Kitco ), Rick Harrison of Pawn Stars talks about gold and silver and predicts they will see higher prices. He also explains how hard it is for him to find physical silver. Home    About Us    Gold&Silver Market info      Metals News      Coin Info      One Gold Info

We have reported for some time (on another older blog) that despite constant speculation about the Fed moving towards a so called FedCoin CBDC (Central Bank Digital Currency), we did not see any evidence such a thing was on the horizon any time soon. Now we have a Fed official questioning why they need one at all as quoted in this article in Yahoo Finance . This fits with all the other evidence we have seen and direct input received from experts in the field. Below are a couple of excerpts from the article. ============================================================= "A top Federal Reserve official on Monday advocated against creating a digital version of the U.S. dollar, questioning the use cases and security of a Fed-issued digital currency. “The potential benefits of a Federal Reserve CBDC [central bank-issued digital currency] are unclear. Conversely, a Federal Reserve CBDC could pose significant and concrete risks,” Randal Quarles told the Utah Bankers Association Monday.&qu

Until now, most articles on the potential impact of Basel 3 on the gold market in the next few months have been on alternative media sites. Now Marketwatch has published   this article by Myra P. Saefong   on the topic. The article is a pretty well balanced summary of the various views on what the potential impact on the gold price will be. Below are a couple of excerpts from the article and then a few added comments. ========================================================== "New banking rules, part of a sweeping international accord known as Basel III, will come into effect on Monday and mark a big change for European banks and their dealings with gold — potentially altering the landscape for precious metal demand and prices." . . . .  "Under the new rules,  paper  gold would  be classified as  more risky  than physical gold , and no longer counted as an asset equal to  gold bars or coins ." . . . .  "Analysts, meanwhile, differ greatly when it comes to their

The Bank of International Settlements (BIS) in Switzerland is sometimes referred to as "the central bank of central banks" given it's role in the global monetary system . The BIS has an interesting history that includes a long involvement with gold. Today, most financial media ignore gold and any involvement with it at the BIS or other central banks around the world.  Since gold is no longer utilized to anchor currencies in the present monetary system, most people under 50 years old likely don't have much knowledge of the days when gold was a major focus of activity at the BIS. The purpose of this article is to provide some educational resource links for anyone who wants to learn about some interesting history related to BIS gold operations.  The BIS itself published informational notes on its gold transactions with Germany before, during, and after World War II. You can find a summary of their report here with some more detailed information here .  For those wonder

This recent article appearing in News-Medical reports that studies have shown the potential for silver nonoparticles to help prevent COVID both in healthcare workers and the general public. Here we have yet another interesting and innovative potential use for silver. Below are some excerpts from the article. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "People who come in contact with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients are high-risk individuals for becoming infected with its causative agent, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Viral transmission in hospitals is a particular area of concern, as the close interaction between the healthcare personnel and the patients helps the transmission of the virus – between them, their families and subsequently to their communities." . . . . .  "In a recent study by a team of researchers in Mexico, Russia and Spain, sil

If it seems like silver has been stuck in a trading range for some time, the chart below seems to confirm it. Do we have a trading range within a range within a range over the past year? For now the latest narrow range seems pinned to the upward part of the longer term trading ranges. Chart courtesy of Stock Charts