We began this Gold Commentary in January 1996.
Due to many requests, we began to archive them in May 2000.
Dec 29 - Three Years - And Counting
"We do not expect the "lid" to remain clamped on Gold for another year. 2001 is shaping up as the year when Gold finally does manage to get back above $US 300, and so establish a new BULL market."
Dec 22 - Pssst! - Get Your Rate Cut Here
"While few inside the U.S. seem to be able to see any danger from the falling Dollar, you can bet your last Krugerrand that many OUTSIDE the U.S. see it."
Dec 15 - Gold - "Fixed" To The Dollar
"Mr Greenspan has to try to rescue the markets while not causing a big Dollar sell off AND not causing the $US Gold price to come to life. We don't think he can do it, but it will be fascinating watching him try."
Dec 8 - The First Rescue Act - Greenspan Speaks
"Mr Greenspan knew EXACTLY what the effect of his speech would be. It was not long in coming. The Nasdaq soared 10.5% with the Dow up 3.2%. Even the $US index was up 0.81 points (113.65 to 114.46)."
Dec 1 - First Alert From The Privateer
"It is this inter-establishment fight which presents Gold with its best opportunity to rally in many years. We haven't seen it yet, but we ARE seeing the first signs of it."
Nov 24 - Frozen Solid, One Month And Counting
Gold is the "political" metal because it is the only form of money which effectively blocks a political establishment from "running" an economy - and therefore a country.
Nov 17 - Frozen Solid
"... we don't think there is a three week period in the entire history of "free market" Gold (ie - Gold since 1971) when this chart has not moved up or down for three solid weeks."
Nov 10 - Who Gets To RUN The Country Now?
Gold has been a barbarous relic for decades. Now, the Electoral College is being pushed into the same category, with Mrs Clinton reportedly heading the charge. If nothing happens to change the present direction of the U.S., the next barbarous relic will be the Constitution itself."
Nov 3 - The End Of An Era
Mr Clinton has now done as much as a President can do, he has served two full terms in office. By the time the next Gold commentary appears on this page, the U.S. will have a new President. Oops! - not by Nov. 10, anyway.
Oct 27 - Governing Prices
"Gold is a political metal. In the true meaning of the word, its price is governed." One can argue forever about HOW this is done. What matters is WHY it is done. And the answer is simple - as stated in the introduction to this page and throughout this part of our website.
Oct 20 - A New President?
"Yes, I know, of course there will be a "new" President. The question I meant to ask was will he be from the same party as the one who has hit his 'use by date'?"
Oct 13 - Whew - That Was Close!
Outside the U.S., Gold has been a very good preserver of capital this year. Inside the U.S., it beats the stock market hollow, but it doesn't beat the Dollar. If and when the situation comes where it DOES beat the Dollar, then the jig is up.
Oct 6 - Strains All Over The System
In the midst of all this, Gold has been shunted firmly off the stage. Not at all surprising, when you consider the fact that the very LAST thing that anyone in the U.S. financial establishment (or anyone elses financial establishment) wants people to look at is the Gold price when they are trying to manipulate the exchange level of the world's Reserve Currency.
Sept 29 - Big Brother Is Watching Over You
Clinging to an outlook that it doesn't matter how bad things look, "they" will fix it is what has led to every governmental interference with the private lives and liberties of its citizens. The "Emperor" is flagrantly unclothed, and with every new storm on the surface of the financial system, his nakedness becomes harder to ignore. Yet still, it is ignored.
Sept 22 - "Montagu" Summers
Central Bank intervention (especially JOINT Central Bank intervention) is the ultimate means of manipulating the relative exchange rates between currencies.
Sept 1 - Summer Goes Out With A Bang
Finally, the rally on the $US Index which had been going on since the end of June managed to punch through its May 2000 highs on August 31. The Index hit an intraday high of 112.88 (previous high 112.66) and closed at a high of 112.57 (previous high 112.15).
August 25 - Whotta Currency!
But the Dollar stubbornly refuses to crack its May highs, and Gold stubbornly refuses to crack its May lows. There can be no guarantees, but all indications point to the conclusion that unless and until the first happens, the second will not happen.
August 18 - Of Elections And Olympics
All over the world in the last half of September this year, the word "Gold" will be emblazoned in front page headlines. Everyone will be talking about "Gold". Everyone will be eager for their nation to amass as much "Gold" as they possibly can.
August 11 - Up Three Bucks On A Friday
If the Gold markets could have closed a day early this week, the $US Gold price would have set some kind of a record by falling for six weeks in a row - on a week to week basis.
August 4 - Back To Square One - Almost
There's no denying it, the $US Gold charts look shaky and are at critical support levels. On the other side, we have indisputable proof that many non-US investors are expecting an upmove on Gold - soon. The last time they did so, they were proven right.
July 28 - $US Up And Gold Down
In light of the absolute dearth of interest in the noble metal, it would have been quite remarkable for the $US Gold price to hold its ground in the face of this big run up of the Dollar.
July 21 - Thinking Outside The Box
Gold is doing vastly better in terms of every other major currency in the world than it is in terms of the U.S. Dollar. Gold stocks in other major Gold producing nations are not crashing as are U.S. Gold stocks.
July 14 - A Sustainable Rally? - Chapter Two
So how can a "Gold rally" be sustainable? It can't, as long as governments maintain complete control over both domestic and international financial system. But such complete control sometimes slips, and that is when Gold does rally.
July 7 - "A New Item Enters The 'Gold Mix'"
... the local (Australian Gold) index has staged a significant rally - IN THE FACE OF A LOWER $US GOLD PRICE."
June 30 - "A Sustainable Rally?"
In the current issue of The Privateer, we go into detail on why we expect this rally, unlike the last two rallies, to be sustainable. This has investment implications, not least on Gold stocks, and we go into all that too."
June 23 - "Pulling The 'Emergency' Cord"
"I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the United States of America ...hereby
declare a national emergency."
June 16 - "Won't Get Fooled Again"
"The gist of the report (from a Fed economist) was that it is about time that the world's Central Banks stop messing about and get together and sell ALL their Gold."
June 9 - "A 'Wait And See' Week"
"Contrarians don't always make money, but when they are right, they make a lot of it. With trading discipline firmly in place, it's a very good time to be a Gold Contrarian."
June 2 - "Good Heavens - Gold is UP!"
"And so, finally, it was off to check the Precious Metals. Spot future Gold UP $US 8.90 to $US 281.40! BINGO!"
May 26 - "Interest Rates DO Matter"
"It is much too early to call the Gold close of $US 270.70 on May 25 a "bottom". All we can say is that it was certainly a selling climax, and that the Dollar fell - precipitously - the very next day."
May 19 - "Another Habit, Not Broken Yet"
"The Big habit we refer to above is the ingrained tendency to look to the Dollar and more specifically to interest-bearing Dollar instruments as THE place to go to protect capital."
May 12 - "Breaking The Habit"
"If the Fed DOES raise by 0.5% on May 16, they will be breaking a quite long-standing habit."