GOLD: $1338.95  DOWN $17.40  (COMEX TO COMEX CLOSINGS)

Silver: $16.50 DOWN 27 CENTS (COMEX TO COMEX CLOSINGS)

Closing access prices:

Gold $1335.20

silver: $16.46

For comex gold:

APRIL/

NUMBER OF NOTICES FILED TODAY FOR APRIL CONTRACT:0 NOTICE(S) FOR nil OZ.

TOTAL NOTICES SO FAR 660 FOR 66000 OZ (2.053 tonnes)

THE COMEX IS OUT OF GOLD

For silver:

APRIL

0 NOTICE(S) FILED TODAY FOR

nil OZ/

Total number of notices filed so far this month: 144 for 720,000 oz

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Bitcoin: BID $7445/OFFER $7579: up $586(morning)

Bitcoin: BID/ $7642/offer 7742: up $752  (CLOSING/5 PM)

 

end

Let us have a look at the data for today

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

In silver, the total open interest SURPRISINGLY FELL AGAIN  BY A CONSIDERABLE  2989 contracts from 227,175  FALLING TO 224,186  DESPITE YESTERDAY’S 16 CENT RISE IN SILVER PRICING. . WE AGAIN HAD CONSIDERABLE COMEX LIQUIDATION.  BUT DUE TO THE RISE IN PRICE, WE MUST HAVE AGAIN WITNESSED CONSIDERABLE COMEX SHORT COVERING BY OUR BANKERS AS THEY HAVE NOW CAPITULATED AND WE SHOULD START TO SEE SILVER MOVE ON A HUGE NORTHERLY TRAJECTORY. WE WERE AGAIN NOTIFIED THAT WE HAD ANOTHER HUMONGOUS SIZED (ATMOSPHERIC?) NUMBER OF COMEX LONGS TRANSFERRING THEIR CONTRACTS TO LONDON THROUGH THE EFP :  8408 EFP’S FOR MAY AND 153 FOR JULY AND ZERO FOR ALL  OTHER MONTHS  AND THUS TOTAL ISSUANCE OF 8561 CONTRACTS.  WITH THE TRANSFER OF 8561 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 24-48 HRS IN THE ISSUING OF EFP’S. THE 8561 CONTRACTS TRANSLATES INTO 42.80 MILLION OZ  ACCOMPANYING THE FALL IN OPEN INTEREST IN SILVER AT THE COMEX AND THE STRONG AMOUNT OF SILVER OUNCES STANDING FOR APRIL COMEX DELIVERY.

ACCUMULATION FOR EFP’S/SILVER/J.P.MORGAN’S HOUSE OF BRIBES, / STARTING FROM FIRST DAY NOTICE/FOR MONTH OF APRIL:

28,301 CONTRACTS (FOR 9 TRADING DAYS TOTAL 28301 CONTRACTS) OR 141.505 MILLION OZ: AVERAGE PER DAY: 3,144 CONTRACTS OR 15.722 MILLION OZ/DAY

TO GIVE YOU AN IDEA AS TO THE HUGE SUPPLY THIS MONTH IN SILVER:  SO FAR THIS MONTH:  141.505 MILLION PAPER OZ HAVE MORPHED OVER TO LONDON. THIS REPRESENTS AROUND 20.21% OF ANNUAL GLOBAL PRODUCTION (EX CHINA EX RUSSIA)

ACCUMULATION IN YEAR 2018 TO DATE SILVER EFP’S:  859.99 MILLION OZ.

ACCUMULATION FOR JAN 2018:                        236.879 MILLION OZ

ACCUMULATION FOR FEB 2018:                        244.95 MILLION OZ

ACCUMULATION FOR MARCH 2018:                236.67 MILLION OZ

RESULT: WE HAD A CONSIDERABLE SIZED LOSS IN COMEX OI SILVER COMEX OF 2989  DESPITE THE 16 CENT RISE IN SILVER PRICE. WE MUST HAVE HAD A LOT MORE SHORTCOVERING BY THE BANKERS.  WE ALSO HAD ANOTHER STRONG SIZED EFP ISSUANCE OF 8561 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 8408  EFP’S  FOR THE  MONTH OF MAY AND 153 EFP CONTRACTS FOR JULY,  WERE ISSUED FOR  A DELIVERABLE FORWARD CONTRACT OVER IN LONDON WITH A FIAT BONUS.   WE GAINED A CONSIDERABLE 5572  OI CONTRACTS ON THE TWO EXCHANGES: i.e. 8561 open interest contracts headed for London (EFP’s) TOGETHER WITH AN DECREASE OF 2989  OI COMEX CONTRACTS. AND ALL OF THIS HAPPENED WITH THE RISE IN PRICE OF SILVER OF 16 CENTS AND A CLOSING PRICE OF $16.77 WITH RESPECT TO YESTERDAY’S TRADING. YET WE STILL HAVE A GOOD AMOUNT OF SILVER STANDING AT THE COMEX FOR DELIVERY IN THIS NON ACTIVE APRIL DELIVERY  MONTH.

In ounces AT THE COMEX, the OI is still represented by WELL OVER 1 BILLION oz i.e. 1.120 BILLION TO BE EXACT or 160% of annual global silver production (ex Russia & ex China).

FOR THE NEW FRONT APRIL MONTH/ THEY FILED: 0 NOTICE(S) FOR nil OZ OF SILVER

IN SILVER, WE HAVE NOW SET THE NEW RECORD OF OPEN INTEREST AT 243,411 AND AGAIN THIS HAS BEEN SET WITH A LOW PRICE OF $16.51 WITH TRADING ON APRIL 9.2018.

ON THE DEMAND SIDE WE HAVE THE FOLLOWING:

1. HUGE AMOUNTS OF SILVER STANDING FOR DELIVERY  (MARCH 27 MILLION OZ AND APRIL 1.8 MILLION OZ)
2. HUGE OPEN INTEREST IN SILVER  243,411 CONTRACTS (OR 1.217 BILLION OZ/
3. HUGE ANNUAL EFP’S ISSUANCE EQUAL TO 2.9 BILLION OZ OR 400% OF SILVER ANNUAL PRODUCTION

AND YET WE HAVE A CONTINUAL LOW PRICE OF SILVER DESPITE THE ABOVE HUGE DEMAND.  TO ME THE ONLY ANSWER IS THAT WE HAVE SOVEREIGN  (CHINA) WHO IS ENDEAVOURING TO GOBBLE UP ALL AVAILABLE PHYSICAL SILVER NO MATTER WHERE, EXACTLY WHAT J.P.MORGAN IS DOING. AND IT IS MY BELIEF THAT J.P.MORGAN IS HOLDING ITS SILVER FOR ITS BENEFICIAL OWNER..THE USA GOVERNMENT WHO IN TURN IS HOLDING THAT SILVER FOR CHINA.(FOR A SILVER LOAN REPAYMENT). IT ALSO LOOKS LIKE BANKER CAPITULATION IN SILVER AS THEY STRUGGLE TO REMOVE SOME OF THEIR HUGE OBLIGATIONS.

In gold, the open interest  ROSE BY AN ATMOSPHERIC SIZED 32,161 CONTRACTS UP TO 531,749 WITH THE GOOD SIZED GAIN IN PRICE/YESTERDAY’S TRADING ( GAIN OF $13.85).  WE ARE NOW IN THE ACTIVE DELIVERY MONTH OF APRIL. THE CME RELEASED THE DATA FOR EFP ISSUANCE AND IT TOTALED AN UNBELIEVABLY SIZED 21,936 CONTRACTS :   JUNE SAW THE ISSUANCE OF 21,786 CONTRACTS , MAY SAW THE ISSUANCE OF 150 CONTRACTS  AND ALL OTHER MONTHS ZERO.  The new OI for the gold complex rests at 533,931. 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  AND WE ARE WITNESSING DELAYS IN ACTUAL DELIVERIES. IN ESSENCE WE HAVE A FAIRY TALE  OI GAIN IN CONTRACTS ON THE TWO EXCHANGES: 32,161 OI CONTRACTS INCREASED AT THE COMEX AND AN ATMOSPHERIC  SIZED 21,936 EFP OI CONTRACTS WHICH NAVIGATED OVER TO LONDON.THUS  TOTAL OI GAIN: 54,097 CONTRACTS OR 5,409,700 OZ =168.26 TONNES

YESTERDAY, WE HAD 5003  EFP’S ISSUED.

ACCUMULATION OF EFP’S GOLD AT J.P. MORGAN’S HOUSE OF BRIBES: (EXCHANGE FOR PHYSICAL) FOR THE MONTH OF APRIL : 94,115 CONTRACTS OR 9,411,500  OZ OR 292.73 TONNES (9 TRADING DAYS AND THUS AVERAGING: 10,457 EFP CONTRACTS PER TRADING DAY OR 10,45,700 OZ/ TRADING 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: 292.73 TONNES

TOTAL ANNUAL GOLD PRODUCTION, 2017, THROUGHOUT THE WORLD EX CHINA EX RUSSIA: 2555 TONNES

THUS EFP TRANSFERS REPRESENTS 292.73/2550 x 100% TONNES =  11.47% OF GLOBAL ANNUAL PRODUCTION SO FAR IN MARCH ALONE.*** THE ACCUMULATION OF EFP CONTRACTS IS RISING PER MONTH.

ACCUMULATION OF GOLD EFP’S YEAR 2018 TO DATE:  2,337.21 TONNES

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

ACCUMULATION OF GOLD EFP’S FOR FEBRUARY 2018:         649.45 TONNES

ACCUMULATION OF GOLD EFP’S FOR MARCH 2018:                741.89 TONNES

WHAT IS ALARMING TO ME, ACCORDING TO OUR LONDON EXPERT ANDREW MAGUIRE IS THAT THESE EFP’S ARE BEING TRANSFERRED TO WHAT ARE CALLED SERIAL FORWARD CONTRACT OBLIGATIONS AND THESE CONTRACTS ARE LESS THAN 14 DAYS.  ANYTHING GREATER THAN 14 DAYS, THESE MUST BE RECORDED AND SENT TO THE COMPTROLLER, GREAT BRITAIN TO MONITOR RISK TO THE BANKING SYSTEM.  IF THIS IS INDEED TRUE, THEN THIS IS A MASSIVE CONSPIRACY TO DEFRAUD AS WE NOW WITNESS A MONSTROUS TOTAL EFP’S ISSUANCE AS IT HEADS INTO THE STRATOSPHERE. 

Result: AN UNBELIEVABLY SIZED INCREASE IN OI AT THE COMEX WITH THE  GAIN IN PRICE // GOLD TRADING YESTERDAY ($13.85 GAIN). WE HAD A FAIRY TALE  SIZED NUMBER OF COMEX LONG TRANSFERRING TO LONDON THROUGH THE EFP ROUTE: 21,936 CONTRACTS AS THESE HAVE ALREADY BEEN NEGOTIATED AND CONFIRMED.   THERE OBVIOUSLY DOES NOT SEEM TO BE MUCH PHYSICAL GOLD AT THE COMEX.  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 21,936 EFP CONTRACTS ISSUED, WE PROBABLY HAD THE LARGEST NET GAIN IN  RECORDED HISTORY OF TOTAL OPEN INTEREST OF 54,097 contracts ON THE TWO EXCHANGES:

21,936 CONTRACTS MOVE TO LONDON AND 32,161 CONTRACTS INCREASED AT THE COMEX. (in tonnes, the GAIN in total oi equates to 168.26 TONNES).

we had: 0 notice(s) filed upon for nil oz of gold at the comex.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

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

GLD

WITH GOLD DOWN  $17.40 :  WE HAD NO  CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD/

Inventory rests tonight: 859.99 tonnes.

SLV/

WITH SILVER DOWN 27 CENTS TODAY: NO  CHANGES/ 

/INVENTORY RESTS AT 320.196 MILLION OZ/

end

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

1. Today, we had the open interest in silver FELL BY A CONSIDERABLE 2989 CONTRACTS from 227,175 DOWN TO 224,186 (AND AWAY FROM THE  NEW COMEX RECORD SET YESTERDAY/APRIL 9/2017). THE PREVIOUS RECORD OTHER THAN WAS ESTABLISHED AT: 234,787, SET ON APRIL 21.2017 ALMOST ONE YEAR AGO.  THE PRICE OF SILVER ON THAT DAY: $17.89.

TODAY’S TRADING WITH THE RATHER LARGE COMEX LOSS OF CONTRACTS, SURPRISINGLY OCCURRED AGAIN WITH THE  RISE IN PRICE OF SILVER (16 CENTS//). THUS FOR THREE STRAIGHT DAYS WE MUST HAVE HAD SOME CONSIDERABLE BANKER SHORT COVERING AT THE COMEX.  OUR BANKERS ALSO USED THEIR EMERGENCY PROCEDURE TO ISSUE ANOTHER 8408 EFP CONTRACTS FOR MAY  (WE DO NOT GET A LOOK AT THESE CONTRACTS AS IT IS PRIVATE BUT THE CFTC DOES AUDIT THEM) AND 153 EFP’S FOR JULY AND ALL OTHER MONTHS. EFP’S GIVE OUR COMEX LONGS A FIAT BONUS PLUS A DELIVERABLE PRODUCT OVER IN LONDON. WE HAD AGAIN ZERO COMEX SILVER COMEX LIQUIDATION. IF WE TAKE THE  OI LOSS AT THE COMEX OF 2989 CONTRACTS TO THE 8561 OI TRANSFERRED TO LONDON THROUGH EFP’S, WE OBTAIN A  HUMONGOUS GAIN  5577  OPEN INTEREST CONTRACTS.  WE STILL HAVE A GOOD AMOUNT OF SILVER OUNCES THAT ARE STANDING FOR METAL IN APRIL (SEE BELOW). THE NET GAIN IN OI TODAY IN OZ ON THE TWO EXCHANGES:  27.860 MILLION OZ!!!

RESULT: A LARGE SIZED DECREASE IN SILVER OI AT THE COMEX DESPITE THE  RISE IN SILVER PRICING / YESTERDAY (16 CENTS/BANKER SHORTCOVERING) . BUT WE ALSO HAD ANOTHER VERY FAIRY TALE SIZED 8561 EFP’S ISSUED TRANSFERRING COMEX LONGS OVER TO LONDON. TOGETHER WITH THE STRONG  SIZED AMOUNT OF SILVER OUNCES STANDING FOR APRIL, DEMAND FOR PHYSICAL SILVER INTENSIFIES AS WE WITNESS SEVERE BACKWARDATION IN SILVER IN LONDON.

(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)WEDNESDAY MORNING/TUESDAY NIGHT: Shanghai closed DOWN 27.92 POINTS OR 0.87%  /Hang Sang CLOSED DOWN 66.43 POINTS OR 0.43%   / The Nikkei closed DOWN 26.82 POINTS OR 0.12%/Australia’s all ordinaires CLOSED DOWN .24% /Chinese yuan (ONSHORE) closed UP at 6.2844/Oil UP to 66.71 dollars per barrel for WTI and 71.83 for Brent. Stocks in Europe OPENED IN THE GREEN    .   ONSHORE YUAN CLOSED UP AT 6.2844 AGAINST THE DOLLAR. OFFSHORE YUAN CLOSED UP ON THE DOLLAR AT 6.2786 /ONSHORE YUAN TRADING WEAKER AGAINST OFFSHORE YUAN/ONSHORE YUAN TRADING STRONGER AGAINST USA DOLLAR/OFFSHORE YUAN TRADING  MUCH STRONGER AGAINST THE DOLLAR /CHINA RETALIATES WITH TARIFFS/ TRUMP RESPONDS TO NEW TARIFFS AND IT NOW LOOKS LIKE A FULL TRADE WAR IS BEGINNING/

SOUTH KOREA/NORTH KOREA

i)North Korea/South Korea

b) REPORT ON JAPAN

3 c CHINA

4. EUROPEAN AFFAIRS

5. RUSSIAN AND MIDDLE EASTERN AFFAIRS

6 .GLOBAL ISSUES

7. OIL ISSUES

8. EMERGING MARKET

9. PHYSICAL MARKETS

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

Trading Volumes on the COMEX

PRELIMINARY COMEX VOLUME FOR TODAY:377,297  contracts

CONFIRMED COMEX VOL. FOR YESTERDAY: 517,871 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:

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

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
And now for the wild silver comex results.

Total silver OI FELL AGAIN BY A TOTALLY UNEXPECTED 2989 CONTRACTS FROM 227,175 DOWN TO 224,186 (AND AWAY FROM THE NEW RECORD OI FOR SILVER SET APRIL 9.2018) DESPITE ANOTHER 16 CENT RISE IN SILVER PRICING. WE  ALSO WERE ALSO INFORMED THAT WE HAD A STRONG 8408 EMERGENCY EFP’S FOR MAY ISSUED BY OUR BANKERS, 150 EFP CONTRACTS ISSUED FOR JULY 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: 8561.   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 SURPRISINGLY AND SHOCKINGLY HAD CONTINUAL LONG COMEX SILVER LIQUIDATION WITH OUR HIGH SILVER OPEN INTEREST .  AS A RESULT WE HAVE A HUMONGOUS SIZED GAIN IN TOTAL SILVER OI FROM OUR TWO EXCHANGES. WE ARE ALSO WITNESSING A STRONG AMOUNT OF SILVER OUNCES STANDING FOR COMEX METAL IN THIS  NON ACTIVE OF APRIL AS WELL AS THE 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 6047 SILVER OPEN INTEREST CONTRACTS AS WE OBTAINED A  2989 CONTRACT LOSS AT THE COMEX COMBINING WITH THE ADDITION OF 8561 OI CONTRACTS NAVIGATING OVER TO LONDON.

NET GAIN ON THE TWO EXCHANGES:5572 CONTRACTS 

AMOUNT STANDING FOR SILVER AT THE COMEX

We are now in the non active delivery month of April and here the front month LOST 4 contracts LOWERING TO  217 contracts.  We had 4 notices filed upon  so in essence we GAINED 0 contracts or NIL additional ounces of silver will stand for delivery in this non active delivery month of April.

The next big active delivery month for silver will be May and here the OI LOST 8885 contracts DOWN to 118,807. June saw a GAIN of 6 contracts to stand at 54.  The next big delivery month for silver is July and here the OI ROSE by 5213 contracts UP to 68497.

We had 0 notice(s) filed for nil OZ for the APRIL 2018 contract for silver

IN THE LAST 18 MONTHS 72 NET TONNES HAS LEFT THE COMEX.

end

And now for silver

AND NOW THE APRIL DELIVERY MONTH

APRIL INITIAL standings/SILVER

we had 0 inventory movement at the dealer side of things

total dealer deposits:  nil oz

we had 1 deposits into the customer account

i) Into JPMorgan: nil oz

*** JPMorgan for most of 2017 and in 2018 has adding to its inventory almost every single day.

JPMorgan now has 140 million oz of  total silver inventory or 53.4% of all official comex silver. (140 million/263 million)

JPMorgan did not  deposit  into its warehouses (official) today.

ii) into Delaware:995.098  oz

total deposits today: 995.098  oz

we had 0 withdrawals from the customer account;

total withdrawals;  nil   oz

we had 0 adjustment

total dealer silver:  59.452 million

total dealer + customer silver:  263.567 million oz

The total number of notices filed today for the APRIL. contract month is represented by 0 contract(s) FOR nil oz. To calculate the number of silver ounces that will stand for delivery in APRIL., we take the total number of notices filed for the month so far at 144 x 5,000 oz = 720,000 oz to which we add the difference between the open interest for the front month of April. (217) and the number of notices served upon today (0 x 5000 oz) equals the number of ounces standing.

.

Thus the INITIAL standings for silver for the APRIL contract month: 140(notices served so far)x 5000 oz + OI for front month of April(217) -number of notices served upon today (0)x 5000 oz equals 1,805,000 oz of silver standing for the April contract month 

WE GAINED 0  SILVER CONTRACT OR NIL ADDITIONAL OUNCES WILL STAND IN THIS NON ACTIVE DELIVERY MONTH OF APRIL 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

ESTIMATED VOLUME FOR TODAY: 116,933 CONTRACTS

CONFIRMED VOLUME FOR YESTERDAY: 169,344 CONTRACTS

YESTERDAY’S CONFIRMED VOLUME OF 169,344 CONTRACTS EQUATES TO  846 MILLION OZ OR 120.9% 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 -1.96% (APRIL 12/2018)
2. Sprott gold fund (PHYS): premium to NAV RISES TO -0.67% to NAV (APRIL 12/2018 )
Note: Sprott silver trust back into NEGATIVE territory at -1.96%-/Sprott physical gold trust is back into NEGATIVE/ territory at -0.67%/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 -2.27%: NAV 13.73/TRADING 13.42//DISCOUNT 2.27.

END

And now the Gold inventory at the GLD/

April 12/WITH GOLD DOWN $17.40/NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD/INVENTORY RESTS AT 859.99 TONNES

April 11/WITH GOLD UP $13.85/NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD/INVENTORY RESTS AT 859,99 TONNES

APRIL 10/WITH GOLD UP $5.25/NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD/INVENTORY RESTS AT 859.99 TONNES

APRIL 9/WITH GOLD UP$4.50/NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD/INVENTORY RESTS AT 859.99 TONNES

APRIL 6/WITH GOLD UP $7.50 ,A HUGE CHANGE IN INVENTORY AT THE GLD/ A DEPOSIT OF 5.90 TONNES/INVENTORY RESTS AT 859.99 TONNES

APRIL 5/WITH GOLD DOWN $8.20 WE HAD TWO ENTRIES: 1) TINY WITHDRAWAL OF .28 TONNES TO PAY FOR FEES AND 2) A DEPOSIT OF 2.06 TONNES//INVENTORY RESTS AT 854.09 TONNES

April 4/WITH GOLD UP $2.90 WE HAD NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD/INVENTORY RESTS AT 852.31 TONNES

APRIL 3./WITH GOLD DOWN $9.30 WE HAD NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD/INVENTORY RESTS AT 852.31 TONNES

APRIL 2/WITH GOLD UP $19.50, WE HAD A BIG  CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD A DEPOSIT OF 6.19 TONNES/INVENTORY RESTS AT 852.31 TONNES

MARCH 29/WITH GOLD DOWN $3.20 AND OPTIONS EXPIRY FINISHED, WE HAD NO CHANGE IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD/INVENTORY RESTS A 846.12 TONNES

March 28/WITH GOLD DOWN $16.70, ANOTHER RAID ORCHESTRATED, AGAIN NO SURPRISES AS WE WITNESS ANOTHER 1.18 TONNES OF GOLD REMOVED/INVENTORY RESTS AT 846.12 TONNES

MARCH 27/WITH GOLD DOWN $11.70 AND A RAID INITIATED, IT WAS NO SURPRISE TO SEE THAT A MASSIVE WITHDRAWAL OF 3.24 TONNES WAS USED IN THE ABOVE RAID/INVENTORY RESTS AT 847.30 TONNES

MARCH 26./WITH GOLD UP $4.60/NO CHANGE IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD/INVENTORY RESTS AT 850.54 TONNES

MARCH 23/WITH GOLD UP $23.30/NO CHANGE IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD/INVENTORY RESTS AT 850.54 TONNES

MARCH 22.WITH GOLD UP $5.90, NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD/INVENTORY RESTS AT 850.54 TONNES/

MARCH 21/WITH GOLD UP $9.65 NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD/INVENTORY RESTS AT 850.54 TONNES

March 20/WITH GOLD DOWN $5.75, A SURPRISING HUMONGOUS DEPOSIT OF 10.32 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD/INVENTORY RESTS AT 850.64 TONNES/

SO FAR, FOR THE MONTH OF MARCH, THE GLD HAS ADDED 19.61 TONNES WITH A NET LOSS OF $17.45

March 19/WITH GOLD UP $5.25: ANOTHER HUGE DEPOSIT OF GOLD TO THE TUNE OF 2.07 TONNES/GOLD INVENTORY RESTS TONIGHT AT 840.22 TONNES

MARCH 16/WITH GOLD DOWN $5.65/OUR CROOKS DEPOSITED ANOTHER 4.42 TONNES INTO GLD INVENTORY/INVENTORY RESTS AT 838.15 TONNES

FOR THE WEEK: GOLD LOST  $11.80, BUT GOLD INVENTORY ADVANCED:4.42 TONNES

MARCH 15/WITH GOLD DOWN $7.85, NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD/INVENTORY RESTS AT 833.73 TONNES

MARCH 14/WITH GOLD DOWN $1.55/NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD/INVENTORY RESTS AT 833.73 TONNES

MARCH 13/WITH GOLD UP $6.25/NO CHANGES IN GOLD INVENTORY AT THE GLD/INVENTORY RESTS AT 833.73 TONNES

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

APRIL 12/2018/ Inventory rests tonight at 859.99 tonnes

*IN LAST 361 TRADING DAYS: 81.05 NET TONNES HAVE BEEN REMOVED FROM THE GLD
*LAST 311 TRADING DAYS: A NET 75.25 TONNES HAVE NOW BEEN ADDED INTO GLD INVENTORY.

end

Now the SLV Inventory/

April 12/WITH SILVER DOWN 27 CENTS/NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV/INVENTORY RESTS AT 320.196 MILLION OZ/

April 11/2018/WITH SILVER UP 16 CENTS:  NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV/INVENTORY RESTS AT 320.196 MILLION OZ/

APRIL 10/WITH GOLD UP 8 CENTS/NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV/INVENTORY RESTS AT 320.196 MILLION OZ/

APRIL 9/WITH SILVER UP 12 CENTS/WE HAD NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY/INVENTORY RESTS AT 320.196 MILLION OZ/

APRIL 6/WITH SILVER UP 4 CENTS, WE HAD A HUGE DEPOSIT OF 1.319 MILLION OZ INTO THE SLV INVENTORY/INVENTORY RESTS AT 320.196 MILLION OZ

APRIL 5/WITH SILVER UP 6 CENTS/NO CHANGES IN INVENTORY AT THE SLV/INVENTORY RESTS AT 318.877 MILLION OZ/

April 4/WITH SILVER DOWN 11 CENTS/A SMALL CHANGE IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV/ A WITHRAWAL OF 135,000 OZ AND THIS IS PROBABLY TO PAY FOR FEES/INVENTORY RESTS AT 318.877 MILLION OZ/

APRIL 3./WITH SILVER DOWN 16 CENTS/NO CHANGE IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV/INVENTORY RESTS AT 319.012 MILLION OZ/

APRIL 2/WITH SILVER UP 34 CENTS/NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV/INVENTORY RESTS AT 319.012 MILLION OZ/

MARCH 29/WITH SILVER UP 6 CENTS, THE CROOKS DECIDED THAT THEY HAD BETTER ADD SOME 943,000 PAPER OZ TO THEIR INVENTORY/INVENTORY RESTS AT 319.012 MILLION OZ

March 28/WITH SILVER DOWN 27 CENTS/AGAIN NO CHANGE IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV/INVENTORY RESTS AT 318.069 MILLION OZ

MARCH 27/WITH SILVER DOWN 14 CENTS/NO CHANGE IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV/INVENTORY RESTS AT 318.069 MILLION OZ/

WITH SILVER UP 11 CENTS/NO CHANGE IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV/INVENTORY RESTS AT 318.069 MILLION OZ/

MARCH 23/WITH SILVER UP 19 CENTS, A HAD A BIG WITHDRAWAL OF 1.602 MILLION OZ.INVENTORY RESTS AT 318.069 MILLION OZ/

MARCH 22/WITH SILVER DOWN ONE CENT, NO CHANGE IN SLV INVENTORY/INVENTORY RESTS AT 319.671 MILLION OZ/

March 21/WITH SILVER UP 21 CENTS/NO CHANGE IN SLV INVENTORY/INVENTORY RESTS AT 319.671 MILLION OZ/

March 20/WITH SILVER DOWN 13 CENTS/NO CHANGE IN SLV INVENTORY/INVENTORY RESTS AT 319.671 MILLION OZ/

March 19/WITH SILVER UP 5 CENTS, THE SLV ADDS A SMALL 659,000 OZ TO ITS INVENTORY/INVENTORY RESTS AT 319.671 MILLION OZ/

MARCH 16/WITH SILVER DOWN 15 CENTS/NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV/INVENTORY RESTS AT 319.012 MILLION OZ.

FOR THE WEEK;  SILVER IS DOWN 42 CENTS YET ADDS 943,000 OZ OF SILVER INTO THE SLV/

MARCH 15/WITH SILVER DOWN 11 CENTS/NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV/INVENTORY RESTS AT 319.012 MILLION OZ/

MARCH 14/WITH SILVER DOWN 8 CENTS/NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV/INVENTORY RESTS AT 319.012 MILLION OZ/

MARCH 13/WITH SILVER UP 10 CENTS/NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY AT THE SLV/INVENTORY RESTS AT 319.012 MILLION OZ/

HAD ANOTHER HUGE ADDITION OF 1.315 MILLION OZ/INVENTORY RESTS AT 316.590 MILLION OZ/

APRIL 12/2018:  A NO CHANGES IN SILVER INVENTORY:  

Inventory 320.196 million oz

end

6 Month MM GOFO 2.07/ and libor 6 month duration 2.49

Indicative gold forward offer rate for a 6 month duration/calculation:

G0FO+ 2.07%

libor 2.49 FOR 6 MONTHS/

GOLD LENDING RATE: .42%

XXXXXXXX

12 Month MM GOFO
+ 2.71%

LIBOR FOR 12 MONTH DURATION: 2.47

GOFO = LIBOR – GOLD LENDING RATE

GOLD LENDING RATE  = +.24

end

Major gold/silver trading /commentaries for THURSDAY

GOLDCORE/BLOG/MARK O’BYRNE.

GOLD/SILVER

Trump Tweets Russia “Get Ready” For Missiles In Syria – Gold, Oil Rise and Stocks Fall

11, April

– Dow set to drop 300 points at open after Trump tweet today
– Stocks see sell off and gold pops to test resistance at $1,350/oz
– US stock futures suggest over 1% losses at New York open
– Oil surged to a two-week high and has surged nearly 7% this week
– U.S. bombing Syria may provoke escalation of conflict with Russia and wider conflict in volatile Middle East

President Donald Trump warned Russia in the last hour to “get ready” as U.S. missiles would soon be sent into Syria in response to a suspected chemical weapons attack.

Donald J. Trump

✔@realDonaldTrump

Russia vows to shoot down any and all missiles fired at Syria. Get ready Russia, because they will be coming, nice and new and “smart!” You shouldn’t be partners with a Gas Killing Animal who kills his people and enjoys it!

Oil prices surged and extended gains after touching their highest levels in more than three years as geopolitical concerns and concerns of war in the Middle East rose.

Brent crude, the international benchmark, was up 1 per cent to over $71.68 per barrel. West Texas Intermediate, the US benchmark, was 1.3 per cent lower to $66.37.

Spot gold was up 0.8 per cent to $1,349.60 an ounce. Spot silver rose just 0.2% to $16.67/oz. Platinum and palladium were both 0.4% higher.

Listen on SoundCloud , Blubrry & iTunes. Watch on YouTube below

Related Content

Trump Making ‘Major Decisions’ on Syria, Iran and Russia Response ‘Very Quickly’

 

News and Commentary

Gold up a third session to settle at 1-week high (MarketWatch.com)

Gold up on a softer dollar; U.S. CPI, Fed minutes in focus (Reuters.com)

Stocks Rally Amid U.S., China Conciliatory Remarks (Bloomberg.com)

Sterling basks at 2-week highs but risks grow (Reuters.com)

Global Debt Hits Record $237 Trillion, Up $21TN In 2017 (Bloomberg.com)

It’s time to buy gold, sell U.S. chip companies as U.S.-China trade dispute intensifies (MarketWatch.com)

Blain: “Market Stability Worries Me: It Feels Like We’re Sitting On Top Of A Volcano” (ZeroHedge.com)

Gold’s Dot Plot Is Positive for Gold (Tocqueville.com)

US Congressman Pushes Bill To Reinstate Gold Standard (ZeroHedge.com)

Trump Is About To Make Us Gold Bugs Very Wealthy Again (ZeroHedge.com)

Is Silver Setting Up to Outshine Gold in the Near-Term? (Bloomberg.com)

Gold Prices (LBMA AM)

10 Apr: USD 1,335.95, GBP 942.25 & EUR 1,083.46 per ounce
09 Apr: USD 1,328.50, GBP 941.91 & EUR 1,082.33 per ounce
06 Apr: USD 1,325.60, GBP 946.08 & EUR 1,082.75 per ounce
05 Apr: USD 1,327.05, GBP 943.67 & EUR 1,080.75 per ounce
04 Apr: USD 1,343.15, GBP 955.52 & EUR 1,092.79 per ounce
03 Apr: USD 1,336.60, GBP 949.65 & EUR 1,085.99 per ounce

Silver Prices (LBMA)

10 Apr: USD 16.49, GBP 11.65 & EUR 13.38 per ounce
09 Apr: USD 16.34, GBP 11.59 & EUR 13.32 per ounce
06 Apr: USD 16.28, GBP 11.61 & EUR 13.30 per ounce
05 Apr: USD 16.31, GBP 11.59 & EUR 13.28 per ounce
04 Apr: USD 16.46, GBP 11.72 & EUR 13.40 per ounce
03 Apr: USD 16.52, GBP 11.78 & EUR 13.44 per ounce

Recent Market Updates

– Trump Making ‘Major Decisions’ on Syria, Iran and Russia Response ‘Very Quickly’
– Gold Out Performs Stocks In 2018 and This Century By Ratio Of Two To One
– Jamie Dimon Warns Of Potential ‘Market Panic’
– Silver Bullion: Should We Be Worried About Silver?
– Martin Luther King Jr. Anniversary: Reminds Us Of Costs Of War To Society and Financial System
– Gold Outperforms Stocks In Q1, 2018
– Brexit, Stagflation Pressures UK High Street
– Gold Is Money While Currencies Today Are “IOU Nothings”
– “Stars Are Slowly Aligning For Gold” – Frisby
– Uncle Sam Issuing $300 Billion In New Debt This Week Alone
– Eurozone Faces Many Threats Including Trade Wars and “Eurozone Time-Bomb” In Italy
– Silver Futures Report and JP Morgan Record Silver Bullion Holding Is Extremely Bullish
– London House Prices Falling Sharply – UK’s Much Needed Wake-Up Call

end

April 12/Goldcore

EU and Euro Exposed To Risks Including Trade Wars and War With Russia In Middle East

– EU and euro face growing risks including trade wars, energy independence and war with Russia in Middle East
– Middle East war involving Russia may badly impact energy dependent & fragile EU
– Trade and actual wars on European doorstep show the strategic weakness of the EU
– Toxic combination due to growing anti-EU and anti-Euro sentiment in many EU nations
– Investors should diversify to hedge investment, currency and systemic risk

Source: Bloomberg

Recent economic data in the Eurozone has pointed to slowing economies. Retail sales and industrial production is down in many nations (see Bloomberg chart above – source). Germany, the prime driver of growth in the region has seen  exports plunge due to the euro strengthening against the dollar and due to the risk of tariffs and a potential global trade war on the horizon.

Brexit has disappeared from the headlines, debt crises are yesterday’s news and frequent terrorist attacks in different EU nations seem to be taken in their stride. So one might think that things are on the up for the European Union.

This could not be further from the truth. The single-economic area has a major flaw: it is in a permanent state of dependence. Whether on democratically elected national leaders to tow the EU line, governments not to overspend, the rest of the world to tolerate the EU’s current account surpluses, Russia to supply energy and the powder keg that is the Middle East not to explode into a major conflagration and war.

Not to mention many chronically indebted nations with still fragile banks and banking systems. Contrary to perceptions, systemic risk has not gone away.

Many events going on both within and around the EU have exposed these major cracks in what is supposed to be the answer for peace and economic prosperity in Europe. The dangers to the union right now are manifold and look soon to manifest.

Going to war with our energy supplier

In recent days, we have covered the tragic state of affairs that is Syria, Trump tweets and the risks that a ‘Franz Ferdinand’ moment leads to a wider world war involving many nations who appear gung ho to eschew diplomacy and adopt military options.

Many western governments, media and indeed social media such as Facebook are keen to finger blame on Russia for literally everything they don’t like right now – whether a chemical attack on civilians or meddling in national elections on Facebook and Twitter.

One problem the EU in particular has with adopting a very aggressive U.S. military stance with Russia in Syria is that it is the EU’s largest supplier of gas. There is also the risk from the fact that Turkey appears to be breaking away from the EU and this could result in war at the borders of the EU. War, terrorism and new immigrant crisis on a scale of what was seen in recent years would be very destabilising.

Russia supplies of gas have been growing each year.  2017 was a stellar year for Gazprom who delivered record stocks of gas to the EU, with Germany and Austria responsible for record sales. This is despite sanctions.

The EU is much more dependent on Russia then is realised in this regard. For all the talk by France’s and the UK’s foreign secretaries of coming down hard on Russia’s involvement in Syria, Putin knows they can only go so far given the gas tap is in his backyard.

Politico reminds us:

Of far greater concern should be the fact that Slovakia, the Czech Republic and even Hungary, are nearly wholly reliant on Russian gas imports to fuel their economies — an arguably far greater risk to their economies and to their security. 

Trade surplus and wars are a danger to the EU

Last week European stocks tanked as China and the US traded angry words with one another regarding tariffs. Europe is firmly caught in the crossfire. The threat is twofold – firstly we are hugely exposed to any trade war between the world’s biggest economies but secondly Trump may decide to impose his own sanctions on the EU too.

Jack Ewing in the New York Times explains the dilemma currently facing the single-market:

One is a good customer, a military ally and an old friend, although lately its behavior has been erratic.

The other is also a good customer, and despite a few spats and some lingering mistrust, it’s getting to be a more lucrative and dependable business partner all the time.

A spiralling war of tariffs and counter-tariffs would interfere with the global flow of raw materials and components for manufactured goods, disrupting the European economy. And some European companies, like the German carmaker BMW, manufacture in the United States and export to China. Such companies would see their sales suffer if China were to slap tariffs on American goods.

The EU cannot afford to have its trading relationships screwed up by Trump or Xi Jinping. The recovery, post-crisis, is now losing momentum and industrial production figures are slowing down. There is a danger that countries within the EU will be forced to negotiate separately with both China and the US, rather than collectively, as each fights to protect their economy.

As a collective the EU will have to work hard to persuade trading partners that it should not face trade tariffs. But this will be tricky given its trade surplus and Germany’s trade surplus in particular, which (until now) countries have  put up with.

The macroeconomic dependency is more subtle, but it shows up in trade policy. The eurozone had a current account surplus of 3.5 per cent of GDP in 2017 — almost €400bn — a sum that needs to be absorbed by offsetting deficits in the rest of the world. The trade surplus explains why the EU is not keen to impose counter-sanctions to the US steel and aluminium tariffs once the temporary exemption ends on May 1. Wolfgang Munchau, FT.

Collective action with singular mindsets

The fault with the EU (and one that so many in Brussels are keen to ignore) is that the model only works if based on a singular mindset. However, how can this work when it is formed of so many small countries with their own singular mindsets and national interests?

When the Dutch far-right party failed to win the election in 2017, many Eurocrats decided this signalled that populism and the anti- establishment movement were in decline. In fact, this couldn’t be further from the truth

Take, for example, Victor Orban in Hungary. His eight-year rule has established him as the role-model for the anti-establishment movement that is sweeping across Europe, from Poland to Serbia to France.

The two-thirds parliamentary majority secured on Sunday by Orban is something the EU would like to make go away, so polar opposite to its own values is the Fidesz party.

But some politicians of the EU are not so sure. Following the victory French National Front leader Marine Le Pen said Orban’s win was rejection of “the change of values and the mass immigration extolled by the EU.”

Even in Germany there was some support from on high as reported by Bloomberg:

“I’m pleased with the election victory, it’s once again a very clear win for Viktor Orban,” Horst Seehofer, German federal interior minister, told reporters in Munich. He fired a volley at the EU to stop lecturing the Hungarian government over its shift to the right, adding: “I’ve always thought that this policy of arrogance and paternalism with respect to other member states is wrong.” 

Italy is another example. And an extreme one. It is a country that has a serious tug-of-war with its own mindset and that of the EU. The tug-of-war that is the country’s current coalition government is made up of various parties, elected because of discontent regarding pretty much everything that is going on in Italy.

The same can be said in Hungary and Poland.

Poland has been at loggerheads with the EU establishment for over two years now over Polish national interests. Like Orban’s party, the ruling Law and Justice Party (PiS) has capitalized on the frustration with the post- communist transition. They are fed up with what they view as unequal economic paths and a lack of progress in catching up with the advances of the West.

In Italy they are tired of falling behind. The March 4 vote saw the anti- establishment 5-Star Movement take the most votes for a single party, but it wasn’t enough to secure leadership. Meanwhile a rightist alliance, including the League, Brothers of Italy and Berlusconi’s Forza Italia (Go Italy!) group won the biggest bloc of seats.

Coalitions have been formed but egos are now firmly in the way, in both the Italian parliament and in Brussels which is determined to prevent the 5 Star Movement from having any power, at all.

The problem is that no one comes close to the 5-Star Movement’s 26-30% majority. But this doesn’t seem to matter to the ivory tower residents in Brussels, who are deaf to the cries of the unemployed and economically fed up and blind to see the irony with which they bang on about democracy while ignoring the wishes of the citizens of the member states.

Even if the rightist alliance does manage to secure power, the major flaw is that Berlusconi and the League’s Salvini do not see eye to eye on much at all. Not the euro, taxes or immigration…

Salvini is an admirer of Orban. Following Sunday’s victory the party leader tweeted: “Hungary voted with the heart and with the head, ignoring the threats of Brussels and Soros’s billions…”

For all of the EU’s dismissal of these parties, they fail to miss one vital point – they keep winning elections and gaining in popularity.

We’re forgetting one important risk …the Euro

A few years ago we were considering how the euro itself might be the downfall of the Eurozone. It still might well be. Amongst the rising populism, outside threats and trade wars, the risks posed by the single currency will also challenge the EU in the coming months and years. As Sebastian Mallaby recently wrote in the Washington Post:

“The economic obstacles, including the reality that a single currency and a single interest rate are unlikely to serve a territory as large and varied as Europe. The monetary policy that suits Germany at any given time probably won’t be the one that happens also to suit Italy or Ireland. To manage this problem, you need large budgetary transfers from booming areas to depressed ones. You also need central insurance against banking crises in weak countries.”

The EU has economists, policy wonks and many and varied proposals as to how best to protect the euro. The problem is they all rely on everyone agreeing.

Why would the wealthier economies such as Germany allow their currency to continue to be debased in order to keep a dysfunctional monetary union intact?

The EU and indeed the monetary union in its current state is totally unsustainable. The political uprisings across the Union are one of the results of the single currency union itself, the union of political rule and the union of values – none of which have worked.

This weakness now leaves Europe hugely exposed to wider global events such as trade wars and actual wars on our doorstep in the Middle East.

This is the absolute opposite of the initial goals and vision of those who dreamt up this economic ‘solution’ post World Wars.

It is now not difficult to see the looming threats to the stability of the European financial and political systems.

Protect yourself from EU banking and euro risk

Investors and savers in the EU should be aware that these risks have not gone away and are merely dormant.

They should focus their energies on diversifying and protecting themselves from banks in the EU, the ongoing debasement of the euro and the not inconsequential risk of European monetary dis-union.

European banks, including Deutsche bank in Germany, remain vulnerable and the risk of bail-ins and the confiscation of deposits from savings account remains real.

Two years ago, the ECB approved the bail-in tool. In simple terms it gave them the right to bail out banks using the cash of unsecured creditors including individuals’ and companies.

Besides banking and currency risk, there is also the risk of  national stock markets, bond markets and property markets under performing as they did during the financial crisis.

Savers need to consider counter party risk and diversify accordingly. Gold and silver bullion, if owned in the safest manner, remain one of the best options in this regard as if owned in the safest ways, it is very difficult indeed to confiscate them.

Physical, allocated and segregated bullion coin and bars ownership ensures all important liquidity, gives outright legal ownership and protection from counter party risk.

There is no dependency on single company websites and platforms and there are no counter parties who can claim it is legally theirs or legislation that rules that deposits can be confiscated to bail out failing banks.

Gold and silver bullion are important hedges and financial insurance against bail-ins, political mismanagement, and overreaching government and financial institutions.

-END- 

Andrew Maguire’s Kinesis money which is a “bitcoin” but backed 100% by allocated gold and silver is set to go.

it think it would be a great idea to look at this!

please read at:  https://kinesis.money/#/

(Andrew Maguire)

END

The Bundesbank is going to showcase German gold and prove that it is real.  The problem is that only half is real…the other half at the FRBNY is nothing but paper obligations

(courtesy Bloomberg/Look/GATA)

3. ASIAN AFFAIRS

i)WEDNESDAY MORNING/TUESDAY NIGHT: Shanghai closed DOWN 27.92 POINTS OR 0.87%  /Hang Sang CLOSED DOWN 66.43 POINTS OR 0.43%   / The Nikkei closed DOWN 26.82 POINTS OR 0.12%/Australia’s all ordinaires CLOSED DOWN .24% /Chinese yuan (ONSHORE) closed UP at 6.2844/Oil UP to 66.71 dollars per barrel for WTI and 71.83 for Brent. Stocks in Europe OPENED IN THE GREEN    .   ONSHORE YUAN CLOSED UP AT 6.2844 AGAINST THE DOLLAR. OFFSHORE YUAN CLOSED UP ON THE DOLLAR AT 6.2786 /ONSHORE YUAN TRADING WEAKER AGAINST OFFSHORE YUAN/ONSHORE YUAN TRADING STRONGER AGAINST USA DOLLAR/OFFSHORE YUAN TRADING  MUCH STRONGER AGAINST THE DOLLAR /CHINA RETALIATES WITH TARIFFS/ TRUMP RESPONDS TO NEW TARIFFS AND IT NOW LOOKS LIKE A FULL TRADE WAR IS BEGINNING/

3 a NORTH KOREA/USA

North Korea/South Korea

 

3 b JAPAN AFFAIRS

c) REPORT ON CHINA/HONG KONG

HONG KONG

The extremely high libor in the uSA is causing havoc to the Hong kong dollar as investors borrow heavily against a low HIBOR and buying higher yielding assets like the uSA dollar

(courtesy zerohedge)

4. EUROPEAN AFFAIRS

GREAT BRITAIN/ GERMANY, ITALY/FRANCE

Smart move on the part of Germany and Italy as they will not join the Syrian airstrikes as the do not want to confront Russia that supplies a major portion of their heating natural gas

(courtesy zerohedge)

Germany, Italy Refuse To Join Syria Airstrikes

There are at least two European nations which remember that when it gets cold in the winter, there is one country they call on to provide the natural gas they need for heating.

One of them is Germany, which realizing that any strike on Syria would further jeopardize its relationship with the Kremlin, said that it will not join any military strikes against Syria in response to the alleged chemical gas attack on an opposition enclave which Russia claims was a “white helmet” false flag, but supports Western efforts to show the use of chemical weapons is unacceptable, Chancellor Angela Merkel said.

“Germany will not take part in possible – there have not been any decisions yet, I want to stress that – military action,” Merkel said after meeting Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen in Berlin. “But we support everything that is being done to show that the use of chemical weapons is not acceptable,” she added.

Of course, Merkel could have simply said “we are happy to do anything except whatever puts us on Putin’s black list: the rest of you can do that.”

Meanwhile in Dublin, Germany’s new Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said Germany expects to be consulted before any Western allies conduct an attack on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s forces as the allies must be united on the matter.

Earlier, Merkel spoke with French President Emmanuel Macron about the suspected gas attack and expressed her concern that the international community’s ability to ban chemical weapons was eroding, her spokesman said. Norbert Roettgen, chairman of the German parliamentary foreign affairs committee and an ally of Merkel’s, said: “Shamefully, there is still no policy from the EU – or even individual EU states – for the Middle (East) countries.

“If it came to military strikes with the participation of France and Britain, that is still not a policy.”

Amusingly, instead of focusing on the nature of the schism between Germany and its allies, Europe’s most powerful nation deflect to the lack of a coherent European policy on the matter: an easy excuse in a continent in which there is virtually no cohesion on any matter:

Roettgen urged the European Union to develop a policy for the Middle East as a whole, adding: “Germany should work together with others for a Middle East peace conference. We have various diplomatic options to not let the topic rest.”

He called for a “step-by-step approach”, which could start with humanitarian access in Syria. “The situation is so burdened with multiple conflicts that one can only proceed gradually.”

Asked about such a conference, Merkel told reporters: “We know a lot of things are linked in the Middle East, no question, but now we must urgently deal with a situation where there is a lot of evidence that the Syrian regime again used chemical weapons.”

Another option floated by Germany would be to use what oil-importing leverage Europe has over Iran to pressure Syria. Roettgen said Europe could talk to Iran in connection with its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, which Trump has criticised as “the worst deal ever negotiated”.

Iran needed to understand that its economic prospects would be constrained if it “pursues a permanent bellicose expansion of power,” he said, adding Turkey should be told “there cannot be a warrant for warfare in Syria.”

In other words, Europe would stop importing Iranian oil (for Euros) if Tehran refused to betray its Syrian friends.

“But there is no country – neither the U.S. nor a European country – that is taking the initiative. That’s the shameful thing about Western politics,” Roettgen said.

* * *

The other country, which moments after Germany said would not participate any Syrian strikes, said it took would refuse to participate in any military action against Russia Assad, was Italy:

• ITALY WILL NOT TAKE PART IN ANY MILITARY ACTION IN SYRIA

However, just like Germany…

• ITALY WOULD PROVIDE LOGISTICAL SUPPORT TO ALLIES -PRIME MINISTER’S OFFICE

Which means that the two nations that will lead the attack on Syria when it inevitable comes – whether with or without the US – will be the UK, whose subs are already on location off the coast of Syria, and most likely France.

 end

Germany/Deutsche bank

Our good friends over at Deutsche bank are not having a good month.  Today S and P is warning them of a possible downgrade:

(courtesy zerohedge)

S&P Puts A- Rated Deutsche Bank On CreditWatch Negative

On Thursday afternoon, just days after Deutsche Bank unceremoniously fired CEO John Cryan, and replaced him with DB retail banking lifer, Christian Sewing, the bank’s 6th CEO in the past decade following year after year of abysmal results, S&P warned that the change in CEO may lead to adjustment in the bank’s existing strategy or how it is executed, and although S&P doesn’t currently expect any radical change, it placed the bank’s A- rating on Watch Negative. This means that the bank’s already sharply higher interest costs, are about to increase some more, adding liquidity risk to viability (and solvency) concerns.

Here are the details from the report:

• On April 8, Deutsche Bank announced a change of CEO, following a fortnight of board-level tensions over a perceived lack of progress in executing the group’s multi-year restructuring.
• We anticipate that this could lead to adjustment in the existing strategy or to how it is executed, although we do not currently anticipate any radical change.
• We are placing our ‘A-‘ long-term issuer credit rating on Deutsche Bank and its core operating subsidiaries on CreditWatch with negative implications as we consider that a prolonged, deepened, or more costly restructuring would lead the bank to remain a negative outlier for an extended period.
• We are affirming our ratings on Deutsche Bank’s subordinated debt issues, including our ‘BBB-‘ rating on its senior subordinated (also known as senior non-preferred) instruments.
• We plan to resolve the CreditWatch placement by end-May at the latest, at which point we expect more details on the strategy to have been unveiled.

And the full report below:

LONDON (S&P Global Ratings) April 12, 2018–S&P Global Ratings said today that it placed its ‘A-‘ long-term issuer credit rating (ICR) on Deutsche Bank AG, and its core subsidiaries, on CreditWatch with negative implications.

At the same time, we affirmed our ‘A-2’ short-term ICR and our ‘trAAA/trA-1’ Turkish national scale ratings on Deutsche Bank. We also affirmed our issue credit ratings on all the hybrid instruments issued or guaranteed by the bank, including our ‘BBB-‘ rating on the bank’s senior subordinated debt instruments.

The CreditWatch placement reflects our view that Deutsche Bank might be subject to a longer lasting and/or significantly more costly restructuring of the business model than we currently expect. This could lead to deeper underperformance compared with peers, from a financial and customer franchise point of view. It also reflects our expectation that we will be better placed to assess the implications of the management change on strategy and execution in the coming weeks, once more details on the new CEO’s priorities are known.

The appointment of Christian Sewing, previous co-deputy CEO and head of the personal and commercial banking (PCB) division, as CEO ends a fortnight of speculation and tensions played out in the media. In our view, the circumstances surrounding the change of leadership–notably the apparent dissatisfaction among key stakeholders on the speed of progress–imply a mandate for a possible update to strategy, particularly relating to the corporate and investment banking (CIB) division, or regarding how it is executed. We believe that Mr. Sewing and his new leadership team have the expertise and the intimate knowledge of the company and its various businesses to lead this long and complex task. Therefore, this change could still act as a springboard for the bank to move more rapidly toward a sustainable, solidly profitable business model. However, in our view, it also implies that the bank may need to broaden the restructuring effort.

Deutsche Bank is not alone in this restructuring task; key peers such as Barclays, Commerzbank, Credit Suisse, and the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) have all been wrestling with a similar, often difficult restructuring and business model optimization. However, we see the breadth of Deutsche Bank’s restructuring–across both key divisions–as substantial. We also note that most of the peers have almost reached the end of this transition, whereas it could take until 2020 before Deutsche Bank sees the full benefits of its restructuring.

While we do not rule out revising down Deutsche Bank’s ‘bbb’ stand-alone credit profile (SACP), we continue to see less pressure on it than on the ‘A-‘ ICR as the relativities versus peers look less strained. This is why we have not placed the bank’s subordinated and capital instruments on CreditWatch negative; under our methodology we notch these instruments from the SACP to reflect our view that they would likely default if the bank became nonviable.

The SACP remains underpinned by the actions that management took in 2017 to strengthen the balance sheet (in terms of capitalization, liquidity, and asset quality). It is also supported by the progress that management has demonstrated regarding the now-completed partial IPO of DWS and the important Postbank integration, which appears on track for completion in the second quarter of 2018. It also reflects our continued view that management  can build on Deutsche Bank’s existing franchise strengths and mould them to achieve sufficient and balanced profitability between German PCB, global CIB, and to a lesser extent, asset management. While litigation risks remain–the main outstanding case, in our view, is a US Department of Justice investigation into mirror trades in Russian equities–we see them as having reduced significantly and no longer a source of material downside risk. The ‘bbb’ SACP is on a par with that of RBS, albeit RBS is on an improving trend, and one notch below Commerzbank’s and Barclays’ SACPs.

We anticipate that Deutsche Bank will demonstrate modestly supportive profitability in the first quarter of 2018 amid somewhat improved market conditions, although only a low-single-digit return on equity for the full year. We assume that asset quality will remain robust, liquidity buffers strong, and the bank’s capitalization–whether measured on a regulatory basis or our risk-adjusted capital (RAC) methodology–will be little-changed on end-2017. The bank reported a fully-loaded Common Equity Tier 1 ratio of 14.0% at end-2017, and we estimate a RAC ratio of around 9.5% at the same date.

In terms of execution, we particularly look for the completion of the Postbank integration in the coming months and, over the course of the coming 12 months, a strong sense that the PCB division is well on track to deliver much-enhanced profitability in the German retail market. This will be no mean feat in what will likely remain a highly competitive environment, marked by sustained ultra-low interest rates.

We continue to consider a well-performing CIB division as ultimately supporting Deutsche Bank’s creditworthiness. However, the task is already complex, and we anticipate that the division would be the main focus of any further refinements to strategy.

Following the action on Deutsche Bank, we have also placed on CreditWatch with negative implications our long-term ICRs on the bank’s rated subsidiaries in Luxembourg and the U.S. Our ratings on the bank’s Mexican subsidiaries are unaffected.

The CreditWatch negative placement of the long-term ICR reflects our view that these managerial changes demonstrate the difficulty for Deutsche Bank to sustainably improve its earnings profile, a task which is probably  more complex than previously anticipated. Still, we believe we will be better placed to assess the implications of the management change on strategy and execution in the coming weeks, once more details are known about the group’s first key initiatives, and so to resolve the placement before the end of May.

We could lower the ICR, most likely through a negative adjustment notch, if, in our view, Deutsche Bank appears set for a period of significantly deeper or longer underperformance in its core businesses compared with peers than we currently anticipate. While far less likely, we could also lower the ICR (though not our ratings on the senior subordinated debt and regulatory capital instruments) if we reduce the current two-notch uplift for additional loss-absorbing capacity (ALAC). This would happen if we anticipate that the bank’s ALAC ratio will fall below our 8.5% threshold.

At this stage, we expect that if we were to lower the ICR, it would be limited to one notch. While less likely, we could revise downward the SACP and also lower the ICR if, for example, Deutsche Bank comes under renewed market pressure or if litigation charges significantly exceed our already cautious expectations. A downward revision of the SACP would lead us to lower the issue ratings on senior subordinated debt and regulatory capital instruments.

We could affirm the ratings if we gain greater confidence in Deutsche Bank’s execution such that it appears set to achieve a more stable and predictable business model, thereby narrowing the gap with its global peers in terms of revenue generation and cost control. Notably, we look for evidence not only of delivery against our expectations above, but also of strong support from key stakeholders (management, the board, key shareholders, and key clients).

end

5. RUSSIAN AND MIDDLE EASTERN AFFAIRS

The move by Russia to cause its warships to leave Tartus is meant to avoid losing multiple ships on an incoming barrage of missiles

(courtesy zerohedge)

Russian Lawmaker Warns Warships Left Syria Port To Prepare For Attack

We detailed yesterday the fact that satellite images showed 11 Russian warships leaving the Syrian port of Tartus. The market initially kneejerked higher on the basis of the belief this was a ‘withdrawal’ or backing-down of tensions, but, as we noted, it was anything but – and now a Russian lawmaker has confirmed this was more offense than defense.

A snapshot of the port of Tartus, shows the Russian warships at anchor before, according to ISI:

And after: a single Russian submarine remains at Tartus.

Interfax now reports that Vladimir Shamanov, the head of the Defense Committee at Russian State Duma, told lawmakers that Russian military ships left Tartus naval base in Syria to ensure their security..

Confirming what we pointed out yesterday, Shamanov noted that it is usual practice for ships to leave naval base and disperse when there’s risk of attack.

This is done to ensure that one enemy munition round doesn’t damage more than one vessel at a time.

Additionally, a Russian lawmaker has confirmed that Moscow is in direct contact with US military staff for Syria.

All of which seems to suggest that the chance of a US (or allies) missile attack is increasing, not decreasing, as Russia’s foreign ministry warned that Washington’s statements threatening use of force are “extremely dangerous.”

END

Good reason to whack gold today: Russia cannot exclude the possibility of war with the USA

(courtesy zerohedge)

Russia Warns “Cannot Exclude The Possibility” Of War With United States

Shortly after CNBC reported that the US is planning to strike 8 targets in Syria, including two airfields, a research center and a chemical weapons facility, after US officials told a reporter they were “fairly confident” the Syrian regime had been behind a gas attack in a rebel-held suburb of Damascus, Sky News reported – citing Russian officials – that the Russian military would protect its people on the ground in Syria if missile strikes are launched by the US and its allies.

Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for the Russian foreign ministry, said the current situation is a “test for each and every country in the world to protect its people on the ground.”

“Russia should protect its people on the ground of course…we came to Syria at the invitation of the people,” Zakharova told Sky News Presenter Dermot Murnaghan in Moscow.

Earlier in the day, Secretary of State nominee Mike Pompeo intimated during his confirmation that hundreds of Russian mercenaries had been killed by airstrikes during a clash on Feb. 7. Meanwhile, media reports said the US would give Russia fair warning of the sites it plans to attack.

Meanwhile, Vitaly Churkin, Russia’s ambassador at the United Nations, said he unfortunately “cannot exclude any possibilities” when asked about the danger of war between the US and Russia.

6 .GLOBAL ISSUES

7. OIL ISSUES

8. EMERGING MARKET

end

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

TRADING IN GRAPH FORM FOR THE DAY

HARVEY