Gold & Silver Education Center

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....

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 greatl...

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

Precious metals investors were a bit surprised recently when the latest inflation rate at 5% was announced with no apparent significant impact on gold and silver prices. Since it is normal for higher inflation expectations to boost gold and silver prices, it makes sense for investors to be confused at the lack of reaction in the precious metals. But perhaps there is an explanation. Let's analyze it. In this situation we may have a case of markets simply shrugging off this news for now pending more info later. For one thing, higher inflation rates were expected and perhaps already priced in by markets. We all know that in 2020 the economy was shut down and prices dropped in many cases in Q2 2020. So, as the economy reopens we would expect to see higher demand putting upward pressure on many prices. Markets expected all this and were not surprised at the higher inflation rates. Going forward there is much debate about whether this jump in inflation is sustainable or just due to the ...

If you are new to precious metals, a question you might ask is -- Just how much gold does the US have? It's a reasonable question and you would think the answer would be pretty simple. Surely, the US would keep a record of how much gold it has and everyone who wanted to know would be able to get that information. The US does in fact publish a record of it's gold holdings which you can review here in the most recent Status Report of US Government Gold Reserve published as of 4-30-2021. Pretty simple, right? The US clearly states that as of 4-30-2021. it had 261,498,926.24 ounces of gold reserves. By my math, that comes to about 8,171 tons of gold. But, like many things related to precious metals, some feel the answer is not so simple.  For decades, the true amount of gold the US actually owns has been questioned by skeptics and doubters. This is not a new phenomenon. Back in the 1970's, there was so much public doubt about whether "the gold is really there" in For...

Recently I received the email below from the US Mint. In the email they acknowledge that "the global silver shortage has driven demand for many or our bullion and numismatic products to record heights." I added the underline below for emphasis. "The United States Mint is committed to providing the best possible online experience to its customers. T he global silver shortage has driven demand for many of our bullion and numismatic products to record heights . This level of demand is felt most acutely by the Mint during the initial product release of numismatic items. Most recently in the pre-order window for 2021 Morgan Dollar with Carson City privy mark (21XC) and New Orleans privy mark (21XD), the extraordinary volume of web traffic caused significant numbers of Mint customers to experience website anomalies that resulted in their inability to complete transactions. In the interest of properly rectifying the situation, the Mint is postponing the pre-order windows for t...

It seems that more and more creative ways to use silver are being explored. One determined poster in the Wall Street Silver forum actually came up with a list of 100 uses for silver . One interesting new potential use is described in a recent publication released by the Silver Institute . They ask if battery free wearables might be part of our future. Below is an excerpt from the publication explaining how silver factors in to the equation. Are Battery-Free Wearables Possible?  "What if wearables could be powered by electricity generated by the body’s own heat?  Researchers at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) are studying whether an ordinary thermocouple -- two different pieces of metal that generate electricity when sandwiched together in the presence of heat -- could generate enough electrical energy to operate a wearable device like heart rate or blood pressure monitors without the need for batteries.  Thermocouples are common in devices like fire a...

  Silver is a key component used in solar panels and may also emerge as an important catalyst for new and improved long life batteries. Solar power generation systems need long life batteries to store energy for use when the sun isn't shining. Clearly there is plenty of reason to believe that demand for silver for use in solar power systems will be strong in the coming years. In this article we will review offer up some excellent articles and resources on this topic. We'll start with this Barron's article on the potential impact on silver from the growing use o solar panels. here is an excerpt: "Goldman Sach’s Mikhail Sprogis explained in a note last month that  silver is a key component in the solar industry , which is poised for big growth. Solar investments account for 18% of silver industrial demand and about 10% of overall demand for the metal. Sprogis has a $30 price target on it." . . . . .  "Goldman estimates solar installation will jump 50% from 20...