GOLD: $1328.00 UP $3.40

Silver: $16.57 DOWN 3 cents

Closing access prices:

Gold $1329.50

silver: $16.57

SHANGHAI GOLD FIX: FIRST FIX 10 15 PM EST (2:15 SHANGHAI LOCAL TIME)

SECOND FIX: 2:15 AM EST (6:15 SHANGHAI LOCAL TIME)

SHANGHAI FIRST GOLD FIX: $1324.85 DOLLARS PER OZ

NY PRICE OF GOLD AT EXACT SAME TIME: $1323.60

PREMIUM FIRST FIX: $1.25

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SECOND SHANGHAI GOLD FIX: $1334.47

NY GOLD PRICE AT THE EXACT SAME TIME: $13235.40

Premium of Shanghai 2nd fix/NY:$9.07

 

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LONDON FIRST GOLD FIX: 5:30 am est $1329.40

NY PRICING AT THE EXACT SAME TIME: $1329.90

LONDON SECOND GOLD FIX 10 AM: $1325.35

NY PRICING AT THE EXACT SAME TIME. $1326.00

For comex gold:

FEBRUARY/

NUMBER OF NOTICES FILED TODAY FOR FEBRUARY CONTRACT: 0 NOTICE(S) FOR NIL OZ.

TOTAL NOTICES SO FAR:1783 FOR 178300 OZ (5.458 TONNES),

For silver:

FEBRUARY

89 NOTICE(S) FILED TODAY FOR

445,000 OZ/

Total number of notices filed so far this month: 215 for 1,075,000 oz

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Bitcoin: BID $8508/OFFER $8576: DOWN $351(morning)

Bitcoin: BID/ $8602/offer $8671: DOWN $255  (CLOSING/5 PM)

end

 

There are 4 tools used by the manipulators to raise stock prices while stocking down gold and silver:

 

1. increasing the value of the USA dollar index
2.  shorting yen  (buying usa/yen) which is your carry trade ie. buy stocks, short yen gold
3.  hammer vix (the volatility index) which states that everything is OK. ie. short volatility and gold buy stocks
4.  contain the 10 yr USA treasury yield below 2.80%

we are beginning to see fractures in all of them.  today it was the yen that rose and that drove gold/silver higher.

Let us have a look at the data for today\

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In silver, the total open interest FELL BY A TINY SIZED 453 contracts from 195,964  FALLING TO 195,511  DESPITE  YESTERDAY’S SOLID 40 CENT GAIN IN SILVER PRICING.  WE  HAD MINIMAL COMEX LIQUIDATION. HOWEVER, WE WERE AGAIN NOTIFIED THAT WE HAD ANOTHER GOOD SIZED NUMBER OF COMEX LONGS TRANSFERRING THEIR CONTRACTS TO LONDON THROUGH THE EFP ROUTE:  1862 EFP’S FOR MARCH AND AND 0 EFP’S FOR MAY AND ZERO FOR ALL  OTHER MONTHS  AND THUS TOTAL ISSUANCE OF 1864 CONTRACTS.  WITH THE TRANSFER OF 1862 CONTRACTS, WHAT THE CME IS STATING IS THAT THERE IS NO SILVER (OR GOLD) TO BE DELIVERED UPON AT THE COMEX AS THEY MUST EXPORT THEIR OBLIGATION TO LONDON. ALSO KEEP IN MIND THAT THERE CAN BE A DELAY OF 24 HRS IN THE ISSUING OF EFP’S. THE 1862 CONTRACTS TRANSLATES INTO 9.32 MILLION OZ.  WITH THE HUGE DROP IN OPEN INTEREST AT THE COMEX. WE SHOULD EXPECT BIGGER GAINS IN EFP TRANSFERS IN THE NEXT FEW DAYS WITH THE LARGE LOSS AT THE COMEX AS LONGS GAVE UP SEEKING METAL AT THIS EXCHANGE.

ACCUMULATION FOR EFP’S/SILVER/ STARTING FROM FIRST DAY NOTICE/FOR MONTH OF FEBRUARY:

32,254 CONTRACTS (FOR 10 TRADING DAYS TOTAL 32,254 CONTRACTS OR 161.270 MILLION OZ: AVERAGE PER DAY: 3225 CONTRACTS OR 16.125 MILLION OZ/DAY)

TO GIVE YOU AN IDEA AS TO THE HUGE SUPPLY THIS MONTH IN SILVER:  SO FAR THIS MONTH:  161.3 MILLION PAPER OZ HAVE MORPHED OVER TO LONDON. THIS REPRESENTS AROUND 23.0% OF ANNUAL GLOBAL PRODUCTION

ACCUMULATION IN YEAR 2018 TO DATE SILVER EFP’S:  409.6 MILLION OZ.

ACCUMULATION FOR JAN 2018: 236.879 MILLION OZ

RESULT: A TINY SIZED GAIN IN OI SILVER COMEX DESPITE THE SOLID  40 CENT GAIN IN SILVER PRICE.  WE HOWEVER HAD A GOOD SIZED EFP ISSUANCE OF 1862 CONTRACTS WHICH EXITED OUT OF THE SILVER COMEX AND TRANSFERRED THEIR OI TO LONDON AS FORWARDS. SPECULATORS CONTINUED THEIR INTEREST IN ATTACKING THE SILVER COMEX FOR PHYSICAL SILVER . FROM THE CME DATA 1862 EFP’S  FOR  MONTHS MARCH AND MAY WERE ISSUED FOR MONDAY  FOR A DELIVERABLE FORWARD CONTRACT OVER IN LONDON WITH A FIAT BONUS.   WE GAINED  1883 OI CONTRACTS i.e. 1862 open interest contracts headed for London (EFP’s) TOGETHER WITH A INCREASE OF 21  OI COMEX CONTRACTS. AND ALL OF THIS HAPPENED WITH THE CONSIDERABLE RISE IN PRICE OF SILVER OF  40 CENTS AND A CLOSING PRICE OF $16.60 WITH RESPECT TO YESTERDAY’S TRADING. YET WE STILL HAVE A FAIR AMOUNT OF SILVER STANDING AT THE COMEX.

In ounces AT THE COMEX, the OI is still represented by just UNDER 1 BILLION oz i.e. 0.980 BILLION TO BE EXACT or 140% of annual global silver production (ex Russia & ex China).

FOR THE NEW FRONT FEBRUARY MONTH/ THEY FILED: 89 NOTICE(S) FOR 445,000 OZ OF SILVER

In gold, the open interest  FELL BY A TINY 590 CONTRACTS DOWN TO 510.150 DESPITE THE GOOD SIZED RISE IN PRICE OF GOLD WITH YESTERDAY’S TRADING ($12.00). HOWEVER, IN ANOTHER DEVELOPMENT, WE RECEIVED THE TOTAL NUMBER OF GOLD EFP’S ISSUED FOR MONDAY AND IT TOTALED A FAIR SIZED  3381 CONTRACTS OF WHICH  APRIL SAW THE ISSUANCE OF 3381 CONTRACTS AND  JUNE SAW THE ISSUANCE OF 0 CONTRACTS AND THEN ALL OTHER MONTHS ZERO.    The new OI for the gold complex rests at 510,150. ALSO REMEMBER THAT THERE WILL BE A DELAY IN THE ISSUANCE OF EFP’S.  THE BANKERS REMOVE LONG POSITIONS OF COMEX GOLD IMMEDIATELY.  THEN THEY ORCHESTRATE THEIR PRIVATE EFP DEAL WITH THE LONGS AND THAT COULD TAKE AN ADDITIONAL 48 HRS SO WE GENERALLY DO NOT GET A MATCH WITH RESPECT TO DEPARTING COMEX LONGS AND NEW EFP LONG TRANSFERS. DEMAND FOR GOLD INTENSIFIES GREATLY AS WE CONTINUE TO WITNESS A HUGE NUMBER OF EFP TRANSFERS TOGETHER WITH THE MASSIVE INCREASE IN GOLD COMEX OI  TOGETHER WITH  THE TOTAL AMOUNT OF GOLD OUNCES STANDING FOR FEBRUARY COMEX. EVEN THOUGH THE BANKERS ISSUED THESE MONSTROUS EFPS, THE OBLIGATION STILL RESTS WITH THE BANKERS TO SUPPLY METAL BUT IT TRANSFERS THE RISK TO A LONDON BANKER OBLIGATION AND NOT A NEW YORK COMEX OBLIGATION. LONGS RECEIVE A FIAT BONUS TOGETHER WITH A LONG LONDON FORWARD. THUS, BY THESE ACTIONS, THE BANKERS AT THE COMEX HAVE JUST STATED THAT THEY HAVE NO APPRECIABLE METAL!! THIS IS A MASSIVE FRAUD: THEY CANNOT SUPPLY ANY METAL TO OUR COMEX LONGS BUT THEY ARE QUITE WILLING TO SUPPLY MASSIVE NON BACKED GOLD (AND SILVER) PAPER KNOWING THAT THEY HAVE NO METAL TO SATISFY OUR LONGS. LONDON IS NOW SEVERELY BACKWARD IN BOTH GOLD AND SILVER (BIG RISE IN BOTH GOFO AND SIFO) AND WE ARE WITNESSING DELAYS IN ACTUAL DELIVERIES. IN ESSENCE TODAY DESPITE YESTERDAY’S TRADING IN GOLD,  WE HAVE A GAIN OF 2791  CONTRACTS: 590 OI CONTRACTS DECREASED AT THE COMEX AND A FAIR SIZED  3381 OI CONTRACTS WHICH NAVIGATED OVER TO LONDON.(2791 oi gain in CONTRACTS EQUATES TO 8.68 TONNES)

FRIDAY, WE HAD 6968 EFP’S ISSUED.

ACCUMULATION OF EFP’S/ GOLD(EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICAL) FOR THE MONTH OF FEBRUARY STARTING WITH FIRST DAY NOTICE: 102,277 CONTRACTS OR 10,227,700  OZ OR 318.10 TONNES (10 TRADING DAYS AND THUS AVERAGING: 10,227 EFP CONTRACTS PER TRADING DAY OR 1,022,700 OZ/DAY)

TO GIVE YOU AN IDEA AS TO THE HUGE SIZE OF THESE EFP TRANSFERS :   SO FAR THIS MONTH IN 9 TRADING DAYS: IN  TONNES: 318.10 TONNES

TOTAL ANNUAL GOLD PRODUCTION, 2017, THROUGHOUT THE WORLD EX CHINA EX RUSSIA: 2200 TONNES

THUS EFP TRANSFERS REPRESENTS 318.10/2200 x 100% TONNES =  14.5% OF GLOBAL ANNUAL PRODUCTION SO FAR IN FEBRUARY ALONE.

ACCUMULATION OF GOLD EFP’S YEAR 2018 TO DATE:  951.63 TONNES

ACCUMULATION OF GOLD EFP’S FOR JANUARY 2018: 653.22  TONNES

Result: A  TINY SIZED DECREASE IN OI AT THE COMEX DESPITE THE STRONG SIZED GAIN IN PRICE IN GOLD TRADING YESTERDAY ($12.00). IT IS WITHOUT A DOUBT THAT MANY OF THE DEPARTED COMEX LONGS  RECEIVED THEIR PRIVATE EFP CONTRACT  FOR EITHER  APRIL OR JUNE. HOWEVER, WE HAD ANOTHER GOOD SIZED NUMBER OF COMEX LONG TRANSFERRING TO LONDON THROUGH THE EFP ROUTE: 3381 AS THESE HAVE ALREADY BEEN NEGOTIATED AND CONFIRMED.   THERE OBVIOUSLY DOES NOT SEEM TO BE MUCH PHYSICAL GOLD AT THE COMEX AND YET WE ALSO OBSERVED A HUGE DELIVERY MONTH FOR THE MONTH OF DECEMBER. I GUESS IT EXPLAINS THE HUGE ISSUANCE OF EFP’S…THERE IS HARDLY ANY GOLD PRESENT AT THE GOLD COMEX FOR DELIVERY PURPOSES. IF YOU TAKE INTO ACCOUNT THE 3381 EFP CONTRACTS ISSUED, WE HAD A NET GAIN IN OPEN INTEREST OF 2791 contracts ON THE TWO EXCHANGES:

3381 CONTRACTS MOVE TO LONDON AND  590 CONTRACTS DECREASED AT THE COMEX. (in tonnes, the GAIN in total oi equates to 8.68 TONNES).

we had: 0 notice(s) filed upon for NIL oz of gold.

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With respect to our two criminal funds, the GLD and the SLV:

GLD

WITH GOLD UP $3.40 TODAY, THE CROOKS DECIDED NOT THE RAID THE COOKIE JAR/INVENTORY REMAINS CONSTANT/

Inventory rests tonight: 820.71 tonnes.

SLV/ 

NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV/ AGAIN WITH TODAY’S HUGE RISE IN SILVER PRICE:   NO CHANGE IN INVENTORY

/INVENTORY RESTS AT 314.045 MILLION OZ/

can someone please explain why GLD behaves differently to SLV????

end

First, here is an outline of what will be discussed tonight:

1. Today, we had the open interest in silver FELL BY A TINY 453  contracts from 195,964 UP TO 195,511 (AND now A LITTLE FURTHER TO THE NEW COMEX RECORD SET ON FRIDAY/APRIL 21/2017 AT 234,787) DESPITE  THE STRONG SIZED  RISE  IN PRICE OF SILVER  (40 CENTS WITH RESPECT TO  YESTERDAY’S TRADING).   OUR BANKERS USED THEIR EMERGENCY PROCEDURE TO ISSUE ANOTHER GOOD 1862 PRIVATE EFP’S FOR MARCH AND 0 EFP CONTRACTS OR MAY  (WE DO NOT GET A LOOK AT THESE CONTRACTS AS IT IS PRIVATE BUT THE CFTC DOES AUDIT THEM) AND 0 EFP’S FOR ALL OTHER MONTHS .  EFP’S GIVE OUR COMEX LONGS A FIAT BONUS PLUS A DELIVERABLE PRODUCT OVER IN LONDON. WE HAD SOME COMEX SILVER COMEX LIQUIDATION. IF WE TAKE THE  OI LOSS AT THE COMEX OF  453 CONTRACTS TO THE 1862 OI TRANSFERRED TO LONDON THROUGH EFP’S, WE OBTAIN A GAIN OF  1409  OPEN INTEREST CONTRACTS .  WE STILL HAVE A GOOD AMOUNT OF SILVER OUNCES THAT ARE STANDING FOR METAL IN JANUARY (SEE BELOW). THE NET GAIN TODAY IN OZ ON THE TWO EXCHANGES:  7.04 MILLION OZ!!!

RESULT: A TINY SIZED DECREASE IN SILVER OI AT THE COMEX DESPITE THE CONSIDERABLE SIZED RISE OF 40 CENTS IN PRICE (WITH RESPECT TO YESTERDAY’S TRADING ). BUT WE ALSO HAD ANOTHER GOOD 1862 EFP’S ISSUED TRANSFERRING COMEX LONGS OVER TO LONDON. TOGETHER WITH THE GOOD  SIZED AMOUNT OF SILVER OUNCES STANDING FOR FEBRUARY, DEMAND FOR PHYSICAL SILVER INTENSIFIES AS WE WITNESS MAJOR BANK SHORT COVERING ACCOMPANIED BY INCREASES IN GOFO AND SIFO RATES INDICATING SCARCITY.

(report Harvey)

.

2.a) The Shanghai and London gold fix report

(Harvey)

2 b) Gold/silver trading overnight Europe, Goldcore

(Mark O’Byrne/zerohedge

and in NY: Bloomberg

3. ASIAN AFFAIRS

i)Late MONDAY night/TUESDAY morning: Shanghai closed UP 30.83 points or 0.93% /Hang Sang CLOSED UP 379.90 or 1.29% / The Nikkei closed DOWN 137.94 POINTS OR .65%/Australia’s all ordinaires CLOSED UP 0.63%/Chinese yuan (ONSHORE) closed DOWN at 6.3448/Oil DOWN to 59.08 dollars per barrel for WTI and 62.49 for Brent. Stocks in Europe OPENED DEEPLY IN THE RED EXCEPT LONDON .   ONSHORE YUAN CLOSED DOWN AGAINST THE DOLLAR AT 6.3448. OFFSHORE YUAN CLOSED UP AGAINST  THE ONSHORE YUAN AT 6.3395//ONSHORE YUAN A LOT WEAKER AGAINST THE DOLLAR/OFF SHORE A LOT STRONGER TO THE DOLLAR/. THE DOLLAR (INDEX) IS  MUCH WEAKER AGAINST ALL MAJOR CURRENCIES INCLUDING ON SHORE CHINA YUAN.  CHINA IS  HAPPY TODAY STRONGER MARKETS IN CHINA 

 

 

3a)THAILAND/SOUTH KOREA/NORTH KOREA

b) REPORT ON JAPAN

3 c CHINA

4. EUROPEAN AFFAIRS

5. RUSSIAN AND MIDDLE EASTERN AFFAIRS

ii)Not good:  Iran unveils two nuclear capable ballistic missiles right after Israel’s attack on Syria

( zerohedge)

6 .GLOBAL ISSUES

7. OIL ISSUES

ii)Crude oil and gasoline drop after bigger and expected buildup

8. EMERGING MARKET

9. PHYSICAL MARKETS

10. USA stories which will influence the price of gold/silver

i)Trump proposal to end food stamps and that send the big Dollar Stores tumbling

( zerohedge)

 

ii)Interesting: nobody is reporting their crypto profits to the IRS

( zerohedge)

 

iii)Trump threatens a reciprocal tax on imported goods  (border tax adjustments). However White House officials denies if they are pursuing this

( zerohedge)

iv)The White House will now add Pakistan to its list of terror financing nations

(courtesy zerohedge)

 

v)A must read..how the rise in the 10 yr treasury yield will kill off much of Wall Street

(courtesy David Stockman)

 

vi)Interbank lending plummets:  banks are refusing to lend to one another.  Why? Answer: the rise in the 10 yr interest rate as the Fed rolls off maturing bonds.

( MishShedlock/Mishtalk)

 

vi)SWAMP STORIES

( zerohedge)

b)Interesting:  Comey and FBI agents including Peter Strzok did not think that Flynn had lied to them.  Any inaccuracies were just unintentional. So why was he charged?

( zerohedge)

c)and the next one to go will be General Kelly

(courtesy zerohedge)

d)Very strange indeed!! Susan rise emails herself an email on a secret meeting held on Jan 5.2017, two weeks before inauguration. In that meeting there was Susan Rice, Obama, James Comey, Assist Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates and Joe Biden.  What was this meeting all about..unmasking? Grassley wants to know…

(courtesy zerohedge)

 PRELIMINARY COMEX VOLUME FOR TODAY: 197,095 contracts

CONFIRMED COMEX VOL. FOR YESTERDAY:  225,883 CONTRACTS

comex gold volumes are RISING AGAIN

Here is a summary of the latest gold trading volumes at the Comex per year

certainly the introduction of EFP’s has certainly had an effect:

Trading Volumes on the COMEX

Meanwhile, gold-trading volumes on the COMEX have never been higher:

end

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And now for the wild silver comex results.

Total silver OI FELL  BY A TINY SIZED 590  CONTRACTS FROM 195,964 UP TO  195,511 DESPITE YESTERDAY’S STRONG SIZED 40 CENT RISE IN TRADING).   HOWEVER,WE WERE ALSO INFORMED THAT WE HAD ANOTHER FAIR SIZED 1862 EMERGENCY EFP’S FOR MARCH ISSUED BY OUR BANKERS (WITH 0 EFP CONTRACTS FOR MAY AND ZERO FOR ALL OTHER MONTHS) TO COMEX LONGS WHO RECEIVED A FIAT BONUS PLUS A DELIVERABLE PRODUCT OVER IN LONDON: THE TOTAL EFP’S ISSUED: 1862.   THE SILVER BOYS HAVE STARTED TO MIGRATE TO LONDON FROM THE START OF DELIVERY MONTH AND CONTINUING RIGHT THROUGH UNTIL FIRST DAY NOTICE JUST LIKE WE ARE WITNESSING TODAY. USUALLY WE NOTED THAT CONTRACTION IN OI OCCURRED ONLY DURING THE LAST WEEK OF AN UPCOMING ACTIVE DELIVERY MONTH AS WE HAVE JUST SEEN IN GOLD TODAY. THIS PROCESS HAS JUST BEGUN IN EARNEST IN SILVER STARTING IN SEPTEMBER 2017. HOWEVER, IN GOLD, WE HAVE BEEN WITNESSING THIS FOR THE PAST 2 YEARS. NICK LAIRD WAS KIND ENOUGH TO SUPPLY US THE TOTAL FOR 2017 GOLD EFP’S AND IT WAS 6600 TONNES FOR THE ENTIRE YEAR.  WE OBVIOUSLY HAD MINIMAL LONG COMEX SILVER LIQUIDATION AND A GOOD SIZED GAIN IN TOTAL SILVER OI. WE ARE ALSO WITNESSING A FAIR AMOUNT OF SILVER OUNCES STANDING FOR COMEX METAL IN THIS NON ACTIVE JANUARY AS WELL AS THAT CONTINUAL MIGRATION OF EFPS OVER TO LONDON. ON A PERCENTAGE BASIS THERE ARE MORE EFP’S ISSUED FOR GOLD THAN SILVER.  ON A NET BASIS WE GAINED 1409  SILVER OPEN INTEREST CONTRACTS:

453 CONTRACT LOSS AT THE COMEX COMBINING WITH THE ADDITION OF 1862 OI CONTRACTS NAVIGATING OVER TO LONDON.

NET GAIN TWO EXCHANGES: 1409 CONTRACTS 

We are now in the poor non active delivery month of FEBRUARY and here the front month LOST 15 contracts DOWN TO  142 contracts.  We had 16 notices filed upon yesterday so we GAINED 1 contract or 5,000 ADDITIONAL oz will stand for delivery at the comex

The March contract lost 3942 contracts DOWN to 92,463

April GAINED 38 contracts UP to 99 .

.

We had 89 notice(s) filed for 80,000 OZ for the FEBRUARY 2018 contract for silver

For FEBRUARY:
Today, 0 notice(s) were issued from JPMorgan dealer account and 0 notices were issued from their client or customer account. The total of all issuance by all participants equates to 0 contract(s) of which 0 notices were stopped (received) by j.P. Morgan dealer and 0 notice(s) was (were) stopped/ Received) by j.P.Morgan customer account.

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To calculate the INITIAL total number of gold ounces standing for the FEBRUARY. contract month, we take the total number of notices filed so far for the month (1783) x 100 oz or 178,300 oz, to which we add the difference between the open interest for the front month of FEB. (1148 contracts) minus the number of notices served upon today (0 x 100 oz per contract) equals 293,100 oz, the number of ounces standing in this active month of FEBRUARY

Thus the INITIAL standings for gold for the FEBRUARY contract month:

No of notices served (1783 x 100 oz or ounces + {(1148)OI for the front month minus the number of notices served upon today (0 x 100 oz )which equals 293,100 oz standing in this active delivery month of February (9.116 tonnes). THERE IS 12.08 TONNES OF REGISTERED GOLD AVAILABLE FOR DELIVERY SO FAR.

WE LOST 1 CONTRACT OR AN ADDITIONAL 100 OZ WILL NOT STAND IN THIS ACTIVE DELIVERY MONTH OF FEBRUARY.

THE COMEX IS NOW UNDER STRESS AS THE REGISTERED GOLD FALLS BELOW 13 TONNES AS WELL AS HUGE NUMBER OF TONNES LEAVING THE CUSTOMER ACCOUNT

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IN THE LAST 17 MONTHS 70 NET TONNES HAS LEFT THE COMEX.

end

And now for silver

AND NOW THE DECEMBER DELIVERY MONTH

FEBRUARY FINAL standings

we had one inventory movement at the dealer side of things

i) into Brinks:  443,526.420 oz

total inventory movement dealer: 443,526.420 oz

we had 2 inventory deposits into the customer account

i) into J.P.MORGAN:655,789.316 oz  ***

ii) into CNT:: 2812,800 oz

total inventory deposits: 658,702.116 oz

 

*** JPMorgan is continually adding to its inventory almost every single day.

we had 3 withdrawals from the customer account;

i) Out of Brinks: 5010.635 oz

ii) Out of CNT: 384m686,290

iii) Out of Scotia: 528,601.580

 

total withdrawals;  928,298.505  oz

we had 0 adjustment

total dealer silver:  43.384 million

total dealer + customer silver:  251.591 million oz

The total number of notices filed today for the FEBRUARY. contract month is represented by 89 contract(s) FOR 445,000 oz. To calculate the number of silver ounces that will stand for delivery in FEBRUARY., we take the total number of notices filed for the month so far at 304 x 5,000 oz = 1,520,000 oz to which we add the difference between the open interest for the front month of FEB. (142) and the number of notices served upon today (89 x 5000 oz) equals the number of ounces standing.

.

Thus the INITIAL standings for silver for the FEB contract month: 304(notices served so far)x 5000 oz + OI for front month of FEBRUARY(142) -number of notices served upon today (89)x 5000 oz equals 1,785,000 oz of silver standing for the FEBRUARY contract month. 

WE GAINED 1 CONTRACT OR AN ADDITIONAL 5,000 OZ WILL  STAND AT THE COMEX

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ESTIMATED VOLUME FOR TODAY: 83,107 CONTRACTS

CONFIRMED VOLUME FOR YESTERDAY: 95,227 CONTRACTS

YESTERDAY’S CONFIRMED VOLUME OF 95,2278 CONTRACTS EQUATES TO  476 MILLION OZ OR 68.0% OF ANNUAL GLOBAL PRODUCTION OF SILVER

COMMODITY LAW SUGGESTS THAT OPEN INTEREST SHOULD NOT BE MORE THAN 3% OF ANNUAL GLOBAL PRODUCTION. THE CROOKS ARE SUPPLYING MASSIVE PAPER TRYING TO KEEP SILVER IN CHECK.

The record level of silver open interest is 234,787 contracts set on April 21./2017 with the price at that day at $18.42
The previous record was 224,540 contracts with the price at that time of $20.44

end

NPV for Sprott 

1. Sprott silver fund (PSLV): NAV RISES TO -1.98% (FEB 13/2018)
2. Sprott gold fund (PHYS): premium to NAV RISES TO -0.03% to NAV (FEB 13/2018 )
Note: Sprott silver trust back into NEGATIVE territory at -1.98%-/Sprott physical gold trust is back into NEGATIVE/ territory at -0.03%/Central fund of Canada’s is still in jail but being rescued by Sprott.
Sprott WINS hostile 3.1 billion bid to take over Central Fund of Canada

(courtesy Sprott/GATA)

3.SPROTT CEF.A FUND (FORMERLY CENTRAL FUND OF CANADA): NAV FALLS TO -4.46%: NAV 13.74/TRADING 13.12//DISCOUNT 4.41%

END

And now the Gold inventory at the GLD/

Feb 13/WITH GOLD UP $3.40 WE HAD NO CHANGE IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD/INVENTORY REMAINS AT 820.71 TONNES

Feb 12/STRANGE!!WITH GOLD RISING BY 12.00 DOLLARS, THE CROOKS DECIDED AGAIN TO WITHDRAW 5.6 TONNES OF GOLD FOR EMERGENCY USE ELSEWHERE/INVENTORY RESTS AT 820.71 TONNES

Feb 9/AGAIN WITH HUGE TURMOIL ON THE MARKETS, THE CROOKS WITHDREW 2 TONNES OF GOLD FROM THE GLD INVENTORY/INVENTORY RESTS AT 826.31 TONNES

Feb 8/DESPITE THE GOOD GAIN IN PRICE FOR GOLD TODAY/THE CROOKS REMOVED .96 TONNES FROM THE GLD INVENTORY/INVENTORY RESTS AT 828.31 TONNES

FEB 7/AN UNBELIEVABLE 12.08 TONNES WAS REMOVED BY THE CROOKED BANKERS AND THIS GOLD WAS USED IN THE ASSAULT THESE PAST FEW DAYS/INVENTORY RESTS AT 829.27 TONNES

Feb 6/AGAIN VERY STRANGE: WITH TODAY’S TURMOIL, THE CROOKS DID NOT ADD ANY GOLD INVENTORY INTO THE GLD/INVENTORY REMAINS AT 841.35 TONNES

Feb 5  Strange,with all of today’s turmoil, the crooks at the GLD decided to add zero ounces into GLD inventory/inventory rests at 841.35 tonnes

Feb 2/no change in gold inventory at the GLD/Inventory rests at 841.35 tonnes

Feb 1/with gold up by $8.00/the crooks decided not to add any new physical gold metal into the GLD./inventory rests at 841.35 tonnes

Jan 31/with gold up $3.15 today, GLD shed another 5.32 tonnes of gold from its inventory/inventory rests at 841.35 tonnes

jan 30/with gold down by $4.85/GLD shed another 1.47 tonnes of gold from its inventory/inventory rests at 846.67 tonnes

JAN 29/with gold down $11.25, the GLD shed 1.18 tonnes of gold/inventory rests at 848.14 tonnes

jan 26/2018/no changes in gold inventory at the GLD/inventory rests at 849.32 tonnes

jan 25/no changes in gold inventory at the GLD/inventory rests at 849.32 tonnes

Jan 24/A HUGE DEPOSIT OF 2.65 TONNES OF GOLD INTO GLD/INVENTORY RESTS AT 849.32 TONNES

Jan 23/NO CHANGE IN GOLD INVENTORY DESPITE GOLD’S RISE/INVENTORY RESTS AT 846.67 TONNES

Jan 22/a huge deposit of 5.71 tonnes of gold despite a drop in price/inventory rests at 846.67 tonnes. In 3 trading days, the GLD has added 17.71 tonnes/the bankers are now in trouble!!

Jan 19/no change in gold inventory at the GLD/Inventory rests at 840.76 tonnes

Jan 18/SHOCKINGLY A HUGE DEPOSIT OF 11.80 TONNES WITH GOLD DOWN ALMOST $12.00/INVENTORY RESTS AT 840.76

Jan 17/no changes in gold inventory at the GLD/inventory rests at 828.96 tonnes

Jan 16/NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD/INVENTORY RESTS AT 828.96 TONNES

Jan 12/no changes in inventory at the GLD despite the rise in gold price/inventory rests at 828.96 tonnes

Jan 11/ANOTHER IDENTICAL WITHDRAWAL OF 2.95 TONNES FROM THE GLD INVENTORY/INVENTORY RESTS AT 828.96 TONNES

 

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Feb 13/2018/ Inventory rests tonight at 820.71 tonnes

*IN LAST 324 TRADING DAYS: 120.44 NET TONNES HAVE BEEN REMOVED FROM THE GLD
*LAST 258 TRADING DAYS: A NET 36.87 TONNES HAVE NOW BEEN ADDED INTO GLD INVENTORY.

end

Now the SLV Inventory

Feb 13./NO CHANGE IN SILVER INVENTORY TODAY/INVENTORY RESTS AT 314.045 MILLION OZ/

Feb 12/AGAIN, WITH TODAY’S HUGE RISE IN SILVER PRICE, IN TOTAL CONTRAST TO GOLD: NO CHANGE IN SILVER INVENTORY/INVENTORY RESTS AT 314.045 MILLION OZ/

Feb 9/AGAIN WITH TURMOIL ON THE MARKETS, STRANGELY IN TOTAL CONTRAST TO GOLD: NO CHANGE IN SILVER INVENTORY/INVENTORY RESTS AT 314.045 MILLION OZ/

Feb 8/DESPITE THE TURMOIL TODAY AND A PRICE RISE: NO CHANGE IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV/INVENTORY RESTS AT 314.045 MILLION OZ/

FEB 7/no change in silver inventory at the SLV/Inventory rests at 314.045 million oz/

Feb 6/WITH ALL OF TODAY’S TURMOIL/NO CHANGE IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV/INVENTORY RESTS AT 314.045 MILLION OZ/

Feb 5/ we had HUGE change in silver inventory at the SLV/ A DEPOSIT OF 1.131 MILLION OZ INTO THE SLV/Inventory rests at 314.045 million oz/

Feb 2/we lost 982,000 oz from the SLV inventory /inventory rests at 312.914 million oz/

Feb 1/no change in silver inventory at the SLV/Inventory rests at 313.896 million oz/

Jan 31/ no change in inventory at the slv in total contrast to gold/inventory rests at 313.896 million oz/

Jan 30/no change in inventory/SLV inventory rests at 313.896 million oz/

Jan 29/no change in inventory/SLV inventory rests at 313.896 million oz/

Jan 26.2018/inventory rests at 313.896  million oz

Jan 25/with silver up today and yesterday, the SLV could only muster a gain of 848,000 oz

Inventory rests at 313.896 oz

jan 24/NO CHANGE IN SILVER INVENTORY DESPITE THE GOOD ADVANCE IN PRICE/INVENTORY RESTS AT 313.048 MILLION OZ/

Jan 23/ANOTHER HUGE WITHDRAWAL OF 1.131 MILLION OZ OF SILVER DESPITE THE TINY LOSS/THE CROOKS ARE USING THE INVENTORY TO RAID ON SILVER.

JAN 22.2018/with silver down by 5 cents/ the crooks at the SLV liquidate 1.321 million oz of silver/inventory rests at 314.179 million oz/

Jan 19/ no changes in silver inventory at the SLV/inventory rests at 315.500 million oz/

jan 18/A WITHDRAWAL OF 848,000 OZ OF SILVER FROM THE SLV/INVENTORY RESTS AT 315.500 MILLION OZ/

Jan 17/no changes in silver inventory at the SLV/inventory rests at 316.348 million oz/

Jan 16/NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV/INVENTORY RESTS AT 316.348  MILLION OZ

Jan 12/no changes in silver inventory at the SLV/inventory rests at 316.348 million oz/

 

Feb 13/2017:

Inventory 314.045 million oz

end

6 Month MM GOFO
Indicative gold forward offer rate for a 6 month duration

+ 1.69%
12 Month MM GOFO
+ 2.09%

end

Major gold/silver trading /commentaries for TUESDAY

GOLDCORE/BLOG/MARK O’BYRNE.

GOLD/SILVER

 Sovereign Wealth Funds Investing In Gold For “Long Term Returns” – PwC – GoldCore

January 13

February 2018

– Gold has outperformed equities and bonds over the long term – PwC Research
– Gold is up 6.7% and 6.8% per annum over 10 and 20 year periods; Stocks and bonds returned less than 5.2% respectively over same period (see PwC table)
– From 1971 to 2016 (45 years), “gold real returns were approximately 10% while inflation increased 4%”
– Gold also valuable due to lack of correlation and hedge against inflation, currency devaluation and uncertainty
– Sovereign wealth funds investing 23% of assets under management to alternative investments including gold
– Gold being diversified into by HNW, family offices, institutions, pensions, sovereign wealth funds and central banks

Source: PwC  Research via Bloomberg and WGC data

In new research, entitled ‘The rising attractiveness of alternative asset classes for Sovereign Wealth Funds‘ PwC explain how gold is viewed as an important diversifier by sovereign wealth funds, as both an important hedge and for long term returns.

PwC now class gold as a ‘re-emerging asset class’ on the basis of its long-term out performance of stocks and bonds, low correlation with traditional assets, resilience and high liquidity.

Gold along with private equity, real estate and infrastructure now accounts for 23% of a total $7.4 trillion of assets under management by sovereign wealth funds.

The report notes that from a peak of 40% in 2013, sovereign wealth funds’ investment into fixed income instruments such as government bonds declined to 30% by 2016. Due to record low bond yields, the funds decided to turn their attention to alternative assets to enhance returns.

The report notes the impressiveness of both gold’s long-term performance and low correlation to other assets in the long-term, compared to other alternatives.  In the short- term the benefit of gold’s liquidity is noted:

“[It] has one of the highest rates of daily volumes exchanged and can provide protection against short and medium term market corrections.”

The 23% allocation is expected to increase going forward, despite slight increases in rates recently and because of the likelihood of continuing very low interest rates.

This report comes at a time when we are seeing a growing interest by both large institutions and family offices in gold investment.

Like sovereign wealth funds, they are encouraged by gold’s long-term returns, high liquidity and resilience against economic shocks.

Long term outperformance to traditional asset classes

As we have seen in recent years gold, like all assets, has periods when it underperforms. This has been in the short-term in the last 3 to 5 years, but in the long-term – such as a 10, 20 or 40 year period, it is an entirely different story.

Indeed, gold’s recent underperformance, makes its long term outperformance all the more impressive.

The report shows that in the last ten years, gold delivered returns of 6.7% per annum, outperforming equities and bonds which returned just 4.9% and 4.5% respectively. This return was slightly greater over a 20-year period when gold returned 6.8% per annum, compared to equities and bonds which returned just 5.2% and 5.2%.

Over the long term, gold is one of the top three performing assets along with real estate and private equity.

“Gold’s long- term performance is attributed to three factors: increased demand from emerging markets, central banks becoming net buyers, and the emergence of new products, such as gold- based ETFs, which have simplified investing and made the material more accessible.” – PwC

PwC also note the importance of gold when it comes to protecting against currency devaluation:

“By introducing alternatives into the portfolio, the value of investments can be protected against a possible decrease in purchasing power of the currency the investments are denominated in. This can be done through instruments whose returns are somehow linked to inflation or have perceived intrinsic value. Assets with perceived intrinsic value, such as commodities, should increase in price alongside CPI. In cases of extreme inflation for example, gold has historically performed well, outpacing that inflation by 10%…gold performed well during inflationary periods.  For example, from 1971 to 2016, gold real returns were approximately 10% while inflation increased 4% year- over-year.”

Gold doesn’t follow: Low correlation with traditional asset classes

“Gold can be a useful addition to investment portfolios compared to other commodities, due to lower correlation with traditional asset classes. Between June 1997 and June 2017, the correlation between gold and equity returns was close to zero (-0.07), thus showing its diversification benefit. The asset class maintains only a negative correlation over a ten-year period as well, standing at -0.05. Gold is more correlated with bond returns, standing at 0.58 on a ten-year basis, and at 0.28 on a twenty-year correlation (see Figure 27)…Gold has, over all considered time periods, no statistically significant correlation with hedge funds, private equity, infrastructure, and real estate.”

As with the other factors discussed by PwC this is pertinent for all considering investing in gold, from retail and pension investors, larger institutions and family offices. Much of gold’s low correlation is due to the fact that it is less affected by economic cycles and geo-political risks than other financial assets. This means it shows resilience at times when others are showing weakness.

This has been seen in recent days when stock markets saw massive volatility and very sharp corrections and gold was essentially flat. Year to date in 2018, gold is nearly 1.7% higher while many stock indices are down sharply – Euro Stoxx 50 is down more than 4%  year to date.

Resilient asset class during crises and instability

The gold price performs well in times of financial crises and extreme market events. During these times the correlation benefits become even more important, so it can provide portfolio insurance since it minimises portfolio losses.  PwC explain that this is what distinguishes gold from other assets:

 

“Gold has delivered negatively correlated returns when equity indices, such as S&P 500, have plummeted. Figure 28, 29, and 30 show gold’s performance during episodes of acute market crisis (GFC and the Sovereign Debt Crisis I and II). In these cases, the gold price started to rise significantly as the S&P 500 index decreased. Generally speaking, the gold price per ounce rose as investors perceived uncertainty in the stock markets, and decreased as these markets gave signs of normalisation.”

After the bloodbath of the last week, S&P500 investors will be interested to hear how gold correlates to the market”

“Among alternatives, when examining the correlation of returns with the S&P 500 index, gold is an excellent diversifier presenting the lowest correlation on a five-, ten-, and twenty- year basis (0.04, -0.05, -0.07 respectively).”

Liquid gold

The asset is particularly liquid in contrast to many of the other assets considered by SWFs, this is something very beneficial according to PwC:

” Stabilization funds may, in particular, benefit from adding gold among their holdings as they are required to hold highly liquid assets to counter the effects of sudden macroeconomic shocks.

Gold has distinguished itself from other alternative asset classes as it has been more liquid, with USD 224 bn traded on average on a daily basis in 2016?.

Conclusion: Investment and pension case for gold is strong

PwC do not beat about the bush when it comes to their positivity towards  gold as an investment. They synopsise and elucidate many of gold’s benefits which we have long been highlighting in recent years:

“All these features suggest that gold as an investment class can offer reliable support, not only during uncertain market and political conditions, such as periods of high inflation, stock market crashes, and geopolitical instability, but also under normal market conditions.”

They clearly see gold as playing a crucial role in the portfolios of sovereign wealth funds and indeed the majority of investors across the spectrum.

“The investment case for gold, during periods of market uncertainty, has proven to be strong, with the price of gold having surged rapidly and having countered the negative effects of adverse market conditions. Hence, investors can consider gold for diversification and long-term performance.”

Pwc Report on gold can be accessed here

Watch the PwC World Gold Council interview about the report here

-END-

END

Giant Barrick is facing a grilling from its shareholders and they deserve to be at the bottom of the pack

 

(courtesy GATA/Bloomberg)

Gold giant Barrick faces grilling after fall to the bottom of the pack

END

You need a whistleblower to tell the CFTC that the VIX causes manipulation in the markets?

 

(courtesy Bloomberg/GATA)

 

 

VIX manipulation costs investors billions, whistle-blower tells CFTC

No wonder the price of gold is being capped:  Robert Lambourne  reports on a huge increase in gold swaps in January.

total bank exposure 580 tonnes which is huge!

(courtesy Robert Lambourne/GATA)

 

(GATA) Robert Lambourne: Gold market intervention by BIS increased substantially in January

Submitted by cpowell on 03:08PM ET Tuesday, February 13, 2018. Section: Daily Dispatches
By Robert Lambourne
Tuesday, February 13, 2018

The Bank for International Settlements substantially increased its use of gold swaps and other gold-related derivatives during January, according to the bank’s statement of account for the month:

https://www.bis.org/banking/balsheet/statofacc180131.pd f

This increase follows a large decline in the bank’s gold swaps in December. In recent months the BIS has been actively trading gold derivatives.

The information provided in the BIS monthly statement of account is not sufficient to calculate a precise amount of gold-related derivatives, including swaps, but it appears that the bank’s total exposure as of January 31, 2018, was 580 tonnes of gold. This compares to estimates of 450 tonnes, 600 tonnes, and 570 tonnes, respectively, at the December, November, and October month-ends and an audited swaps figure of 438 tonnes as of March 31, 2017.

When it comes to its activities in the gold market, the BIS provides little information on what it is doing. The lack of transparency fuels suspicion that this activity is related to official efforts to suppress the gold price.

END

---

3. ASIAN AFFAIRS

i)Late MONDAY night/TUESDAY morning: Shanghai closed UP 30.83 points or 0.93% /Hang Sang CLOSED UP 379.90 or 1.29% / The Nikkei closed DOWN 137.94 POINTS OR .65%/Australia’s all ordinaires CLOSED UP 0.63%/Chinese yuan (ONSHORE) closed DOWN at 6.3448/Oil DOWN to 59.08 dollars per barrel for WTI and 62.49 for Brent. Stocks in Europe OPENED DEEPLY IN THE RED EXCEPT LONDON .   ONSHORE YUAN CLOSED DOWN AGAINST THE DOLLAR AT 6.3448. OFFSHORE YUAN CLOSED UP AGAINST  THE ONSHORE YUAN AT 6.3395//ONSHORE YUAN A LOT WEAKER AGAINST THE DOLLAR/OFF SHORE A LOT STRONGER TO THE DOLLAR/. THE DOLLAR (INDEX) IS  MUCH WEAKER AGAINST ALL MAJOR CURRENCIES INCLUDING ON SHORE CHINA YUAN.  CHINA IS  HAPPY TODAY STRONGER MARKETS IN CHINA 

3 a NORTH KOREA/USA

/NORTH KOREA

 

3 b JAPAN AFFAIRS

c) REPORT ON CHINA

4. EUROPEAN AFFAIRS

 

England/Ecuador embassy

 

The judge rejects Assange’s bid to drop his UK arrest warrant and now he is still stick inside the embassy

(courtesy zerohedge)

Judge Rejects Julian Assange’s Bid To Drop UK Arrest Warrant

In a pivotal moment for Wikileaks’ founder Julian Assange’s long-running legal battle to regain his freedom after spending the last six years without sunlight at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, a UK judge delivered a disappointing ruling for Assange’s defense team.

After repudiating Assange’s lawyers characterization of the circumstances of his confinement, the judge has rejected his bid to have the warrant dropped, upholding the state’s case against the renown political dissident – who violated the terms of his bail in 2012 to show up at the Ecuadorian embassy disguised as a motorcycle courier.

 

Julian Assange @JulianAssange

Judge refuses to withdraw Julian Assange arrest warrant. https://www.theguardian.com/media/2018/feb/13/judge-refuses-to-withdraw-julian-assange-arrest-warrant?CMP=twt_gu …

9:41 AM – Feb 13, 2018

Judge refuses to withdraw Julian Assange arrest warrant

WikiLeaks founder continues to face arrest if he leaves Ecuadorian embassy as judge rejects request to quash warrant

theguardian.com

 

Though the process isn’t over yet, the judge’s ruling that he had no reason to fear extradition to the US is a huge blow to his case for having the UK warrant dropped. In particular, the judge said Assange could leave the embassy whenever he liked, could have unlimited visitors, could choose when he eats and sleeps and exercises and even had access to sunlight via a balcony. Assange’s lawyers had also argued that his years inside the embassy were “adequate” punishment for any crimes he may or may not have committed.

 

Lisa Millar

✔@LisaMillar

Gasps in public gallery as judge says Assange can ‘leave the (Ecuadorian Embassy) whenever he likes, have unlimited visitors unsupervised, can choose when he eats, sleeps and exercises’. She’s knocking down most of Assange case to have arrest warrant dropped #Assange #wikileaks

 

Sweden dropped rape charges against Assange nearly 10 months ago, but the UK has refused to let him off the hook. In fact, reporters discovered that Sweden wanted to drop its pursuit years ago, but was persuaded to continue by Assange…

According tothe Guardian, Assange also suspects there is a secret US grand jury indictment against him and American authorities will seek his extradition.

 

 

Julian Assange @JulianAssange

Jonathan Cook: The UK’s hidden role in Assange’s detention https://www.jonathan-cook.net/blog/2018-02-12/the-uks-hidden-role-in-assanges-detention/ …

 

It appears as if the UK arrest warrant will be left in place, as Assange suggested in a tweet.

 

Julian Assange @JulianAssange

Not looking good. So far, judge is just defending UK state actions.

 

 

A bid to lift the arrest warrant last week was rejected when Judge Emma Arbuthnot rejected the notion that Sweden’s dropping of the case against Assange meant that the British authorities should no longer want him in custody. His defense team is arguing that Assange’s further detention would not serve justice. Assange has argued that if he hadn’t fled to the embassy, he would have been extradited to the US to face an unfair trial for his work, which he believes is essentially not different from investigative journalism.

In December, Assange received Ecuadorian citizenship, but the UK indicated it would not recognize his diplomatic status if requested by the Latin American nation, denying Assange the diplomatic immunity that would’ve allowed him to leave.

The UN has twice ruled that Assange is being improperly detained in the UK, and investigative work done by an Italian journalist uncovered malfeasance at the Crown Prosecution Service.

The judge also said that, if extradition motions were taken against Assange, he would be able to contest those.

To be sure, the process isn’t over yet. Assange noted that even if he loses the first point, the hearing may immediately continue on another…

 

Julian Assange @JulianAssange

Today, 2pm GMT, 9am EST, judge rules on whether to lift my UK arrest warrant following revelations of improper conduct by the UK government. Note that a win is a win, but even if we lose the first point today the hearing may immediately continue on another https://www.theguardian.com/media/2018/feb/13/julian-assange-saga-judge-to-rule-on-arrest-warrant …

7:50 AM – Feb 13, 2018

Julian Assange saga: judge to rule on arrest warrant

After six years holed up in Ecuadorian embassy, WikiLeaks founder faces a pivotal moment

END

5. RUSSIAN AND MIDDLE EASTERN AFFAIRS

We now hear that two Russian fighters were killed last week in the uSA led attack in the Deir al Zor province, in the north west part of the country.  Let us see if Russia has restraint on this one!

(courtesy zerohedge)

Russian Fighters Killed In Clash With US-Led Coalition Forces In Syria

With the calm of global capital markets shattered in the past two weeks, the ongoing military conflict in the Middle East has taken an understandable back seat to monetary matters. And yet, tensions involving Syria, Iran and Israel continue to escalate, most notably with this weekend’s outright attack by Israel on Syria, allegedly in retaliation for an Iranian drone launch from a Syrian army base, and which led to the first downing of an Israeli F-16 jet in decades.

Yet what has so far prevented the proxy way from spinning out of control, was that Putin – as guarantor of the Syria-Iran axis on one hand, and Netanyahu as his nemesis on the other, had expressed restraint. For now.

That may change, however, following a Reuters report  that Russian fighters were among those killed when U.S.-led coalition forces clashed with pro-government forces in Syria earlier this month.

While Russia’s Defense Ministry said at the time that pro-government militias involved in the incident had been carrying out reconnaissance “and no Russian servicemen had been in the area”, the story changed on Monday when it emerged that at least two Russian men fighting informally with pro-government forces were killed in the incident in Deir al-Zor province, their associates told Reuters.

One of the dead was named as Vladimir Loginov, a Cossack from Russia’s Kaliningrad exclave. Maxim Buga, a leader of the Cossack community there, said Loginov had been killed around Feb. 7 along with “dozens” of other Russian fighters.

The other man killed was named as Kirill Ananiev, described as a radical Russian nationalist. Alexander Averin, a spokesman for the nationalist party he was linked to, told Reuters Ananiev had been killed in shelling in the same fighting on Feb. 7.

If the deaths are confirmed, it could turn into a political scandal for Putin, with the public demanding why the government is keeping military deaths under wraps. Already Grigory Yavlinsky, a veteran liberal politician who is running for president in elections next month, has called on Putin to disclose how many Russians had been killed in Syria and in what circumstances.

“If there was large-scale loss of life of Russian citizens, the relevant officials, including the commander-in-chief of our armed forces (Putin), are obliged to tell the country about it and decide who carries responsibility for this,” Yavlinsky said in a statement released by his Yabloko party.

Of course, if indeed Russian soldiers were killed while fighting under covert circumstances – in the same way as killed US “military advisors” are kept under seal – that is the last thing Moscow would like to publicize. Unless of course the political calculus shifts, and Putin decides that it is time for a full-blown military escalation, in which case the deaths will be used as the justification behind any armed conflict.

end

Not good:  Iran unveils two nuclear capable ballistic missiles right after Israel’s attack on Syria

(courtesy zerohedge)

 

Iran Unveils Two Nuclear-Capable Ballistic Missiles After Israel Attack On Syria

Following Israel’s dramatic airstrikes on Syria on Saturday, seen by many as a “dramatic escalation” in regional tensions, and the most direct threat against Tehran in years, over the weekend Iran unveiled a series of new homemade nuclear-capable ballistic missiles during military parades, in a move that experts said was a bid to bolster the hardline ruling regime while cautioning Israel against any further escalation.

Describing the missile, Iran’s state-run Fars  news agency described one of the rockets, the Ghadr , as a 2000km-range, liquid-fuel and ballistic missile which can reach territories as far as Israel.

The missile can carry different types of ‘Blast’ and ‘MRV’ (Multiple Reentry Vehicle) payloads to destroy a range of targets.

Meanwhile, the new version of the Qadr H ballistic missile “can be launched from mobile platforms or silos in different positions and can escape missile defense shields due to their radar-evading capability.”

As the Washington Free Beacon adds,  Iranian military leaders rolled out the latest ballistic missile technology, which includes a nuclear-capable medium-range missile that appears to share similarities with North Korean technology on the heels of an encounter between what Israel claimed was an Iranian drone and Israeli forces.

The missiles are capable of reaching Israel even when fired from Iranian territory, raising concerns about an impending conflict between Tehran and the Jewish state that could further inflame the region.

While it was meant to deter further aggression by Israel, the demonstration of nuclear force by Iran could further inflame tensions between the two countries. Concerns that this nuclear-capable technology could be shared by Iran with its terrorist proxies are fueling longstanding concerns among the Israelis that an attack is imminent.

Iran’s ruling regime continues to invest millions of dollars it received as part of the landmark nuclear deal with the United States on its military technology, specifically ballistic missiles, which are subject to a ban under international statutes, even as Iranian dissidents continue to protest over the country’s ailing economy. According to conservative estimates, the Iranian regime has spent at least $16 billion in recent years on its military buildup and rogue operations in Syria, as well as other countries.

Some more details on the newly unveiled weapons: the two new nuclear-capable missiles unveiled over the weekend by Iran include the Ghadr missile, a medium-range rocket that was recently modified and upgraded by the Islamic Republic.

“The Ghadr can strike Israel when fired from Iranian territory, and in March 2016, was flight-tested while bearing genocidal slogans against the state of Israel,” according to Ben Taleblu, who has researched Iranian missile procurement.

Iranian military leaders also rolled out a rocket called the Fajr-5, which is becoming a new favorite of Iranian-backed terror proxy groups operating against Israel.

“The Fajr-5 is an Iranian rocket that has been proliferated to anti-Israel groups like Hamas and Hezbollah. It can travel up to 75 km, and is therefore a long-range artillery rocket. It uses solid fuel for propulsion,” Ben Taleblu explained. “Both the Qadr missile and Fajr rocket represents Iran’s commitment to developing stand-off weaponry that it uses for purposes of deterrence and coercion.”

As the Free Beacon notes, the new weaponry “could fuel ongoing efforts by Congress to crackdown on Iran’s continued proliferation of ballistic missile technology, a large part of which has been incubated by the North Korean regime, which continues to have a technology-sharing agreement with Tehran.”

Iran already has the region’s largest arsenal of ballistic missiles and is seeking to continue building this technology.

END

 

TURKEY/CYPRUS/ISRAEL

A little background to this story:  A few years ago Israel discovered natural gas off the coast of Israel (off of Haifa) and the gas field headed right into Cyprus waters.  Israel told the Cyprus government of their find and from that day forward, both Israel and Cyprus started to develop these fields.  You will recall that Cyprus is divided into two sections:  The Greek side to the south and the Turkish side is to the north. In the 197o’s civil war broke out between the two sides and bad blood exists between the two ever since.

Turkey is not happy that the southern side has discovered riches and they are doing everything in their power to block development of Cypriot gas fields

(courtesy zerohedge)

Turkish Warships Block Cypriot Drilling Rig In Dispute Over Mediterranean Gas Field

Amid escalating tensions between Cyprus and Turkey in the Mediterranean Sea, the two countries could be headed towards a resource war.

On Monday, the Cypriot government released a report according to which Turkish warships continue to heavily restrict one of its deepwater drilling rigs from reaching its intended site off the Cyprus coast, where Italian energy company Eni is planning to conduct a drilling operation.

Cyprus officials announced on Monday that Turkey is breaching “international law” by blocking the Italian ship from the drilling site, said the Russian Times. According to the Cyprus News Agency, Italy’s energy giant Eni S.p.A. said that its gas drilling ship was ordered to halt its travels by Turkish warships last Friday, citing “military activities in the destination area” as it sailed through Cyprus’ exclusive economic zone.

Cyprus Government Spokesperson Nicos Christodoulides told state broadcaster RIK that the rig remains moored about 30miles (50 kilometers) from the drill site located off the island’s southeastern coast. Christodoulides further noted that Turkey’s military maneuvers expire Feb. 22. Nevertheless, Cyprus strongly condemns the illegal actions by Turkish warships. According to Marine Traffic, the rig’s status remains in “restricted maneuverability” with two other support vessels.

“We are keeping calm in order to avoid any crisis and taking all diplomatic steps necessary so that finally the Republic of Cyprus’ sovereign rights can be respected,” President Nicos Anastasiades told reporters on Sunday adding that “we are handling the situation by trying to avoid anything that could worsen the situation without ignoring the fact that Turkey’s actions are in breach of international law.”

Euripides Evriviades

✔@eevriviades

When a powerful country doesn’t have a legal leg to stand on, it resorts to gunboat diplomacy & bullying to achieve its otherwise unattainable claims. #Turkey War Ships Harass Drillship off #Cyprus coast http://www.ekathimerini.com/225726/article/ekathimerini/news/turkey-ships-harass-drillship-off-cyprus-coast …#EEZ#EastMed#RuleofLaw#Lawofthesea#UNCLOS

RT explains the Cyprus–Turkey maritime zones dispute which has been ongoing for 45 years:

Turkey, which does not have diplomatic relations with Cyprus, says that some areas of the so-called exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of Cyprus are under Turkish jurisdiction. The island was split some 45 years ago between the internationally-recognized, Greek Cypriot Republic of Cyprus in the south and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, recognized only by Turkey.

However, Turkey’s foreign ministry in Ankara criticized Cyprus over the “unilateral hydrocarbon-related activities” by the European Union’s most easterly member. “It does so in disregard of the inalienable rights on natural resources of the Turkish Cypriot people, who are the co-owners of the island,” a statement said.

The dispute over resources in the Mediterranean Sea is nothing new between the Greek Cypriot Republic of Cyprus in the south and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. This has been an ongoing argument for over four decades. Meanwhile the sea grab for resources has recently included three other regional rivals, Israel, Lebanon and Hezbollah, who are similarly fighting over resources not too far away.

end

ISRAEL

Israeli police after a long investigation has now recommended that Prime Minister Metanyahu be indicted for bribery

(courtesy zerohedge)

Israeli Police Recommend Netanyahu Be Indicted For Bribery

After a 14-month-long investigation, Israeli police have reportedly recommended that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu be indicted on charges of bribery and breach of trust.

As The Jerusalem Post reports, police say they have found enough evidence to recommend the state’s prosecution to indict Netanyahu in Case 1000, the “gifts affair” and Case 2000, the “Yediot Aharanot Affair.”

In Case 1000, the “gifts affair,” it is alleged that Netanyahu improperly accepted expensive gifts from different businessmen.

In Case 2000, the “Yediot Aharonot affair,” Netanyahu allegedly negotiated with publisher Arnon “Noni” Mozes for favorable coverage of himself in Yediot Aharonot in exchange for support of a bill to weaken Israel Hayom, the largest circulation Hebrew-language paper and Yediot’s biggest competitor.

At this stage, the prosecution and Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit will examine the evidence that police collected throughout the investigations, and will later decide whether to actually indict the prime minister or not.

Netanyahu will not be required at this point to resign from office. The law says that only after a peremptory Supreme Court verdict (meaning after an appeal was submitted and rejected), the prime minister must resign from office.

No response so far from Netanyahu’s office or from his “good friend” Trump.

As we noted previously, relations between Netanyahu and police have grown sour throughout the investigations, nearly a year after they became public knowledge. As Bloomberg reports, the prime minister and his supporters have accused police of deliberately leaking information about the investigations to Israeli media, claiming he’s the target of an organized campaign by the press and left-wing opponents to unseat him. Thousands of Israelis have taken to the streets in recent weekends, rallying against government corruption and calling on Netanyahu to step down.

Sara Netanyahu

Meanwhile, Benjamin Netanyahu’s wife, Sara, is mired in three legal disputes; two involving the receipt of illegal gifts and favors from businessmen in exchange for advancing their interests

6 .GLOBAL ISSUES

END

 

7. OIL ISSUES

Basket case Venezuela must now import crude oil from Russia as its production continues to cascade

(courtesy Z. Calcuttawala/OilPrice.com)

Venezuela To Accept More Crude Oil From Russia As Production Falters

Authored by Zainab Calcuttawala via OilPrice.com,

Russian crude oil exports to Venezuela are rising as Caracas struggles to produce enough crude to supply refineries in its contracted network, according to a new report by S&P Global Platts.

Russian Urals crude is now entering Venezuela at a rate of 335,000 barrels per day to supply PDVSA’s refinery in Curacao.

So far this year, Caracas has purchased 3 million barrels of Urals crude from Swiss trader Glencore.

Four tankers are scheduled to reach Curacao from Russian ports just this month, trading sources said.

PDVSA has been the contractual operator of Curacao for many years, but the contract is set to expire in 2019. Shell, the facility’s owner, has said PDVSA will not be the facility’s operator beyond the existing contract due to its failure to meet contractual obligations to perform upgrades.

According to OPEC’s Monthly Oil Market Report published this week, secondary sources – the ones the cartel uses to monitor compliance and official stats – pegged Venezuela’s crude oil production in January 2018 at 1.6 million bpd, down by 47,300 bpd compared to December 2017. This was the largest monthly decline in oil production among OPEC’s 14 member states. Venezuela, allowed to pump as much as 1.972 million bpd under the deal, surely did not make that cut voluntarily – its economy is collapsing and oil production has been in freefall for months now.

Venezuela, for its part, self-reported to OPEC that its oil production last month increased by 148,300 bpd over December to 1.769 million bpd.

Last week, a report by Reuters quoted internal documents that said PDVSA had restarted imports to its Isla Curacao facility after a seven-month hiatus as Venezuela tries to staunch the bleeding of its dwindling fuel output.

The credit ratings agency Moody’s sees “a negative feedback loop between declining production across all economic sectors, accelerating scarcity of hard currency, and an economic policy mix defined by price controls and forced discounting that exacerbate supply shortages and hyperinflation.”

 end

Crude oil and gasoline drop after bigger and expected buildup

(courtesy zerohedge)

WTI/RBOB Drop After Bigger Than Expected Crude Build

An ugly week or two for WTI/RBOB continued today ahead of tonight’s inventory data and after API reported big builds in crude, gasoline, and distillates; both WTI and RBOB dropped further.

API

• Crude +3.947mm (+3.05mm exp)
• Cushing -2.319mm (-1.7mm exp)
• Gasoline +4.634mm
• Distillates +1.1mm

3rd weekly crude build in a row and big builds in products too…

 

Not been a pretty week or two for the record spec longs… and it just got a little worse…

 

Of course the big story on traders’ minds is surging US production and sudden questions about potential global growth spooked by stocks…

 

Business Finan

8. EMERGING MARKET

And now your more important USA stories which will influence the price of gold/silver

TRADING IN GRAPH FORM FOR THE DAY

HARVEY