Legendary Pierre Lassonde’s Shocking Predictions For Gold And Silver

With the price of gold and silver on the move, today legendary Pierre Lassonde stunned King World News with his shocking predictions about what to expect in the gold and silver markets.  Lassonde also spoke about what he is doing with his own money right now.  Lassonde is arguably the greatest company builder in the history of the mining sector.  He is past President of Newmont Mining, former Chairman of the World Gold Council and current Chairman of Franco Nevada. 

Lassonde is one of the wealthiest, most respected individuals in the gold world, and as always King World News would like to thank him for sharing his wisdom with our global readers during this critical period in these markets.

Eric King:  “It’s been a brutal 4 year bear market in silver and about 3 1/2 years for gold.  Bear markets will shake out as many people as possible so there are very few riders to the upside.  But the individuals who are left are people like us, and we’re not going to sell.  There aren’t really many people left to shake out, and you just wonder at this point:  Have we finally seen the end of this brutal bear market?  That's what I wanted to ask you today.”

Pierre Lassonde:  “What I take from the current environment is that the physical demand for gold has been strong enough that the paper gold market, which is really just the hedge funds and other private equity (playing in a casino), they recently tried a number of times to force the gold price lower.  And yet every time the gold price gets down to $1,130 – $1,140, the physical market just puts their hands out and says, ‘Just give it all to me, I’ll take it.’….

“So as long as you have that balancing factor, the $1,130 – $1,140 bottom is likely to hold.  But until you start to see a bit of a change in the attitude towards the U.S. dollar, the gold market will really need to see inflation come back in a big way in order to see the next major leg of the bull market advance.

The Turbulent 1970s

This is what happened in the 1970s:  The 1976 – 1980 gold bull market saw both the dollar going up at the same time gold was going up to a new record high.  But you also had inflation going up almost on a monthly basis.  You also had interest rates going up on a monthly basis, which is totally counterintuitive to what you would expect to see.  So it doesn’t mean that if the dollar continues to go up, that the price of gold cannot rise.  It has happened in the past.  Of course the gold price went up to $850 in 1980….

So I think we will see roughly a $1,250 gold price until we start to see the dollar begin to fall from its very high perch.  But the mining companies like Newmont, Barrick and Goldcorp, they can do very well in this environment.  There’s nothing wrong with it.”

The Difference Between The 1970s Gold Bull Market And The Current One

Eric King:  “Obviously you lived through the bull market of the 1970s that ended in that spectacular mania in 1980.  During this cycle it’s been different than the 1970s, but in some ways it’s been similar.  In the 1970s, gold shot up 6-times in price very quickly from 1971 – 1974.  The price of silver went up 5-times in price during that time frame.  The gold price was then chopped in half from 1974 – 1976.  Then we saw that spectacular 850 percent upside surge in gold.  So the time frames were much more compressed in the 1970s.  It took just 10 years to get to the end of the manic phase.

But this cycle has been longer in terms of the duration.  We are just now entering the back half of this secular bull market in gold.  We’ve seen a roughly 40 percent correction in about 3 1/2 years, but that mania that we saw in the 1970s is still in front of us.  That’s just the way bull markets end — in a mania, with stock prices going parabolic to the upside.  We didn’t see that when the price of gold was at the highs of $1,920, in September of 2011.  You know that mania is still in front of us, Pierre.  What is going to be the catalyst for that parabolic move higher in the price of gold, silver and the shares?”

Mania In Gold Is Still To Come

Pierre Lassonde:  “The mania phase of this secular bull market is still very much in front of us.  My feeling is that the next leg of this bull market will start in earnest sometime in the next 12 – 18 months — in 2016, and I think it’s going to extend into 2019.  At that point you are going to see a real mania developing.

Catalyst For The Coming Gold Mania

I think the catalyst for this coming mania is going to be China.  The Shanghai Gold Exchange is eventually going to become a real casino.  It has to do with the fact that China today is the largest consumer of gold.  China is pushing really, really hard for the Shanghai Gold Exchange to become the premier gold exchange in the world in terms of the turnover of physical gold.

And with the middle class in China growing every year by a huge amount, the Chinese consumption of gold will also continue to dramatically increase.  China, along with India, is already the dominant force in gold.  We all know the propensity of the Chinese to gamble, and so at some point the Shanghai Gold Exchange is going to become a gambling casino, and this will cause the price of gold to really skyrocket.

Lassonde's Shocking Prediction – You Will See Prices You Never Dreamed Of

It’s not going to happen in America and it’s not going to happen in Europe — it’s going to happen in China.  And you will likely see gold prices that you never dreamed of.  And you are right about the opportunities that you see today.  I’ve been buying stocks in the past three months at valuations that I never thought I would ever see.  In 30 years I’ve never seen valuations so low.  Even though 2/3 of my portfolio is gold, I’m buying more gold because the opportunities here are just unbelievable.” 

http://kingworldnews.com/legendary-pierre-lassondes-shocking-predictions-for-gold-and-silver/

Paul Craig Roberts – World War III Imminent And All Human Life Is Now In Grave Danger

With the eyes of the world now focused Greece and Ukraine, today Dr. Paul Craig Roberts warned World War III is imminent and all human life is now in grave danger.  This is an ominous warning from the former U.S. Treasury official as he is warning global leaders the world is headed for disaster.

By Dr. Paul Craig Roberts Former U.S. Treasury Official

March 26 (King World News) – According to news reports https://ltnacionalistas.wordpress.com/angliskai/lithuanian-government-intensifies-persecutions-against-anti-imperialist-activists/ and to this appeal by Kristoferis Voishka https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6MDj2uvyLk, the pro-American government installed in Lithuania is persecuting Lithuanians who dissent from the anti-Russian propaganda that is driving Washington’s NATO puppets to war with Russia.

Unlike their puppet government, Lithuanians understand that war with Russia means that Lithuania on the front line will be utterly destroyed, a result that would not bother Washington in the least, just as Washington is undisturbed when its forces obliterate weddings, funerals, and children’s soccer games. What is Lithuania? To Washington it is a nothing.

Kristoferis Voiska runs an alternative Internet news site in LIthuania. Not long ago he interviewed me, and the interview appeared in both LIthuanian newspapers and on his Internet news program in video form. I found him to be sincere and well informed. I advised him that interviewing me would bring trouble for him, and he already was aware of that.

War Is A Racket

As I have said so many times, Americans are the worst informed people on the planet. They are unaware of the growing momentum toward war with Russia. The presstitute media throughout Europe, especially in the Baltic states and Poland, is hard at work creating in people’s minds the fear of a Russian invasion. The orchestrated fear then provides the basis for the American puppet governments to beg troops and tanks and missiles from Washington, and the US military/security complex, counting its profits, is pleased to comply.

But what Russia sees is a threat, not a money-making opportunity for the US military/security complex and payoffs to the corrupt Lithuanian and Polish governments, which are increasingly perceived as neo-nazi like the government that Washington bestowed on Ukraine.

The situation is dangerous, as I keep telling you, a message that some are too weak to accept.

I have misplaced contact information for Kristoferis Voiska. If you care to show support for Kristoferis and the independent media in Lithuania, send emails to Valdas Anelauskas anelauskas@hotmail.com Perhaps he will forward them.

One Week From His 76th Birthday

In about one week I will be 76 years old. I was born in 1939 as World War II was unfolding as the direct consequence of the Versailles Treaty that broke every promise President Woodrow Wilson made to Germany in exchange for the end of World War I.

I remember as a child Cold War nuclear attack drills in elementary school during which we would cower under our school desks. We were issued dog tags with our blood type just like the dog tags ripped by their comrades off US soldiers killed in the war movies by Germans or Japs (no longer a permissible word) and sent home to the dead GI’s family.

To us it was more romantic than scary. We loved wearing the dog tags. I have no idea what happened to mine. They must be collectors’ items by now.

I Have Seen A Lot In 76 Years

I have seen a lot. As kids playing war–in those days you could have toy guns without being shot down by the police who are protecting us–we reveled in America’s World War victories. We understood, thanks to our parents and grandparents, that the Red Army won the war against Germany, but us Americans beat the heartless Japs. That was enough. We knew that the US was tough.

I was 14 when the Korean War broke out. We expected to win, of course, and our expectations, we thought, were proven correct when General MacArthur’s amphibious landings rolled up the North Korean army. But what MacArthur and Washington had overlooked is that China and the Soviet Union were not about to accept a US victory.

Before Americans could cheer, the Third World Chinese Army rolled in and pushed the conqueror of Japan back down to the tip of South Korea. It was a humiliating defeat for American arms. MacArthur’s response to conventional defeat was to request to employ nuclear weapons. In his dispute with President Truman, MacArthur, America’s most famous general, was removed from command.

Washington accepted defeat in Korea and again in Viet Nam where a 500,000 US force consisting of US Army, Marines, and Special Forces was defeated by a Third World guerrilla army.

To these defeats we can add Afghanistan and Iraq. After 14 years of killing, the Taliban controls most of the country. Jihadist have carved a new state out of parts of Syria and Iraq. The Middle East reeks of American defeat. Just like Korea. Just like Viet Nam.

Despite these facts insouciant Americans and their crazed rulers in Washington imagine that the US is a Uni-Power, the world’s only superpower against whom no country can stand. This arrogance, ignorance, and hubris is leading the US into conflict with Russia and China, either of which can destroy the US with ease. And Europe as well. And the stupid bought-and-paid-for Japanese government, a total non-entity, a disgrace to the Japanese people, a collection of well-payed American puppets.

Any U.S. Or NATO Army Attacking Russia Will Be Destroyed

As Andrew Cockburn has documented, the US military is lost in abstractions and is no longer capable of conducting conventional warfare. http://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2015/03/24/us-government-us-military-became-murder-inc-paul-craig-roberts/ Any American or NATO army sent to attack Russia will be destroyed almost instantly. Washington cannot accept the loss of prestige from defeat and would take the war nuclear. Life on earth would end.

The only conclusion that informed analysis supports is that Washington is the greatest threat to life on earth. Washington is a greater threat than global warming. Washington is a greater threat than the exhaustion of mineral energy sources. Washington is a greater threat than the rise in world and US poverty from Washington’s policy to enrich the few at the expense of the many.

The only possible conclusion is that unless Washington collapses from its economic house of cards or is abandoned by its NATO puppet states, Washington will destroy life on earth. Washington is the greatest evil that the world has ever faced. There is no good in Washington. Only total evil.

http://kingworldnews.com/paul-craig-roberts-world-war-iii-imminent-and-all-human-life-is-now-in-grave-danger/

This Will Be Catastrophic And Have A Devastating Impact On America

With stock markets tanking, today a 50-year market veteran warned King World News about a developing situation that will be catastrophic and have a devastating impact on America.  He also discussed the truth about what is really happening around the world.

John Embry:  “Things have been getting very interesting on a number of fronts recently, Eric.  Last week’s FOMC meeting, which I always take with a grain of salt, was fascinating because I think the Fed was finally forced to face economic reality and essentially acknowledge that their prior optimism on the U.S. economy was misplaced….

I believe that things are materially worse than the Fed is admitting at this point. 

Rate Hike Would Be Catastrophic

But the one obvious takeaway from the whole exercise last week is that the ongoing mantra of an imminent rate hike has been exposed to be more propaganda.  With a fading economy, strong dollar, ballooning debt and recent overall weakness in the price of commodities, a rate hike would absolutely catastrophic.

I thought that on the geopolitical front.  After the election in Israel, that has opened the door for an increase in tensions in the Middle East.  It also opens the door for increased tensions with the United States.  So with little improvement in the Greek situation and continuing belligerent moves in the Ukraine/Russian theater, the last thing the world needs is heightened risk in the potentially explosive Middle East….

All of this has created an atmosphere where gold and silver have caught bids in the past week.  Regardless, they still remain the most undervalued and safest assets in the world.  Very recently it looked like gold and silver were going to be taken down aggressively, but that now seems to be in the rearview mirror.

Celente KWN Interview On The Chinese Infrastructure Investment Bank

There has also been a lot of discussion, including by Gerald Celente today on KWN, about this Chinese sponsored infrastructure bank (AIIB) that all of the U.S. allies have been signing up to join.  This has been taking place even as the United States is trying to stop any allies from joining.

China Moving Toward World Domination As Bretton Woods II Nears

The reason I bring this up is because I was reading an interesting book about the Bretton Woods Conference back in 1944.  John Maynard Keynes was the smartest guy in the room, but because Britain was bankrupt and he was representing Britain, he was simply overrun by the Americans, who had the money and the power.  So the United States dictated the terms of the new currency agreement.

This Will Have A Devastating Impact On America

So as the world is now moving toward a new Bretton Woods and a new reserve currency, the Chinese are the ones with all the money and the Americans are the ones with the problem.  Ahead of this we are seeing a gradual erosion of the dollar.  This will be a major development as the dollar loses its reserve currency status.  This is inevitable but it’s going to come as an enormous shock to the American public because it will have a devastating impact on the living standards in America.”

http://kingworldnews.com/this-will-be-catastrophic-and-have-a-devastating-impact-on-america/

Yemen Ground Invasion By Saudi, Egyptian Troops Imminent

As reported first thing today, while the initial phase of the military campaign against Yemen has been taking place for the past 18 hours and been exclusively one of airborne assaults by forces of the "Decisive Storm" coalition, Saudi hinted at what is coming next following reports that it had built up a massive 150,000 troop deployment on the border with Yemen.

And as expected, moments ago AP reported that Egyptian military and security officials told The Associated Press that the military intervention will go further, with a ground assault into Yemen by Egyptian, Saudi and other forces, planned once airstrikes have weakened the capabilities of the rebels.

Will this invasion mean that Yemen as we know it will no longer exist and become annexed by Saudi Arabia? According to coalition military sources, the answer is no, but that remains to be seen:

Three Egyptian military and security officials told The Associated Press that a coalition of countries led by Egypt and Saudi Arabia will conduct a ground invasion into Yemen once the airstrikes have sufficiently diminished the Houthis and Saleh's forces. They said the assault will be by ground from Saudi Arabia and by landings on Yemen's Red and Arabian Sea coasts.

The aim is not to occupy Yemen but to weaken the Houthis and their allies until they enter negotiations for power-sharing, the officials said.

They said three to five Egyptian troop carriers are stationed off Yemen's coasts. They would not specify the numbers of troops or when the operation would begin. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk about the plans with the press.

Egypt's leadership role in the next stage of the campaign has come as somewhat of a surprise to observers. Egypt's presidency said in a statement Thursday that its naval and air forces were participating in the coalition campaign already. Egypt is "prepared for participation with naval, air and ground forces if necessary," Foreign Minister Sameh Shukri said at a gathering of Arab foreign ministers preparing for a weekend Arab summit in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.

This may be just the beginning:

The Arab Summit starting Saturday is expected to approve the creation of a new joint Arab military force to intervene in regional crises. The Egyptian security and military officials said the force is planned to include some 40,000 men backed by jet fighters, warships and light armor. Hadi is expected to attend the summit.

The locals do not sound much enthused about the prospect of allowing foreign troops to enter their country uncontested, and as AP notes, support for the Houthis is far from universal in Yemen - but foreign intervention risks bringing a backlash.

On Thursday, thousands gathered outside Sanaa's old city in the Houthi-organized protest, chanting against Saudi Arabia and the United States.

Khaled al-Madani, a Houthi activist, told the crowd that "God was on the side of Yemen." He blasted Saudi Arabia saying it is "buying mercenaries with money to attack Yemen. But Yemen will, God willing, will be their tomb."

Anger against the strikes was already brewing - particularly after airstrikes targeting an air base near Sanaa's airport flattening half a dozen homes in an impoverished neighborhood and killing at least 18 civilians, according to the health ministry.

For now Yemeni anger is focused on Saudi Arabia:

TV stations affiliated with the rebels and Saleh showed the aftermath of the strikes Thursday. Yemen Today, a TV station affiliated with Saleh, showed hundreds of residents congregating around the rubbles, some chanting "Death to Al-Saud", in reference to the kingdom's royal family. The civilians were sifting through the rubble, pulling out mattresses, bricks and shrapnel.

Ahmed al-Sumaini said an entire alley close to the airport was wiped out in the strikes overnight. He said people ran out from their homes in the middle of the night, many jolted out of bed to run into the streets. "These people have nothing to do with the Houthis or with Hadi. This is destructive. These random acts will push people toward Houthis," he said, as he waved shrapnel from the strikes.

Strikes also hit in the southern province Lahj and the stronghold of Houthis in the northern Saada province. In Sanaa, they also hit the camp of U.S.-trained Yemeni special forces, which is controlled by generals loyal to Saleh, and a missile base held by the Houthis.

But that will soon change, as it is a virtual certainty that the US will intervene at a point in the near future, with its own military assets. So while we await to see just where US troops make landfall, here is the most updated map showing the locations of US naval assets around the globe in general, and in proximity to Yemen in particular. Keep a very close eye on the LHD-7 Iwo Jima amphibious assault ship (which carries some 2,000 marines of the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit), currently located just off the coast of Yemen.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-03-26/yemen-ground-invasion-saudi-arabia-troops-imminent

Germanwings Co-Pilot "Deliberately Destroyed" Airplane, Identified As 28-Year Old German Citizen

In one of the most chilling segments of this morning's press conference describing what was found on the cockpit voice recorder, screams were heard from passengers and crew as the realisation of what was about to happen struck them all. Prosecutor Brice Robin's findings state that when the German Captain left the cockpit - following what appeared to be - the 28-year-old German co-pilot (who was alive to the end) refused to re-open the door and began an "intentional", "controlled", and "steady" descent as he "seems to have sought to destroy the plane."Nothing indicates that this was a terrorist incident.

As The NY Times reports,

“At this moment, in light of investigation, the interpretation we can give at this time is that the co-pilot through voluntary abstention refused to open the door of the cockpit to the commander, and activated the button that commands the loss of altitude,” the prosecutor, Brice Robin, said.

He said it appeared that the co-pilot’s intention had been “to destroy the aircraft.”He said that the voice recorder showed that the co-pilot had been breathing until before the moment of impact, suggesting that he was conscious and deliberate in his actions. He said that his inquiry had shown that the crash was intentional.

*  *  *

The descent was not a nose-dive and passengers would have been unaware until the last few minutes that anything was out of order...

*  *  *

The last 30 minutes...

• *ROBIN SAYS INVESTIGATORS HAVE TRANSCRIPT OF LAST 30 MINUTES
• *ROBIN SAYS COMMANDER ASKED CO-PILOT TO TAKE COMMAND
• *ROBIN SAYS COMMANDER LEAVES COCKPIT, LEAVING CO-PILOT
• *CO-PILOT STARTED FLIGHT MONITORING SYSTEM FOR DESCENT: ROBIN
• *DESCENT COULD ONLY HAVE BEEN VOLUNATRY, ROBIN SAYS
• *COPILOT DIDN'T RESPOND TO CALLS TO OPEN DOOR: ROBIN
• *COMMANDER TRIES TO RE-ENTER COCKPIT BUT NOT ABLE: ROBIN
• *CO-PILOT APPEARS TO HAVE REFUSED TO OPEN DOOR FOR PILOT: ROBIN
• *COPILOT WAS ALIVE TO THE VERY END: ROBIN
• *COPILOT'S BREATHING HEARD TO THE VERY END: ROBIN
• *ROBIN SAYS C0-PILOT HAD NORMAL BREATHING, NO SIGN OF ILLNESS
• *CO-PILOT CAN BE HEARD BREATHING RIGHT UP TO FINAL IMPACT: ROBIN
• *FRENCH PROSECUTOR ROBIN SAYS CO-PILOT REFUSED TO OPEN COCKPIT

The implications...

• *CO-PILOT SEEMS TO HAVE SOUGHT TO DESTROY THE PLANE: ROBIN
• *CO-PILOT APPEARS TO HAVE WANTED TO DESTROY AIRPLANE: ROBIN

Details on the pilots...

• *CO-PILOT WAS GERMAN CITIZEN, ROBIN SAYS
• *ROBIN SAYS HE HAS NO IDEA ABOUT PILOTS' RELIGIONS, ETHNICITY
• *ROBIN REPEATS THAT BOTH PILOTS WERE GERMAN CITIZENS
• *ROBIN SAYS THERE WAS NO ONE ELSE IN CABIN BESIDES COPILOT
• *ROBIN SAYS GERMANWINGS DESCENT WAS CONTROLLED AND STEADY
• *ROBIN SAYS CO-PILOT HAD WORKED FOR A FEW MONTHS
• *ROBIN SAYS CO-PILOT HAD A FEW HUNDRED HOURS OF EXPERIENCE
• *ROBIN SAYS COMMANDER HAD 10,000 HOURS OF FLYING EXPERIENCE
• *CO-PILOT WAS 28 YRS OLD: ROBIN

The WSJ identifies the co-pilot as Andreas Lubitz...

The co-pilot of the Germanwings flight that crashed in the French Alps on Tuesday was Andreas Lubitz, 28, of Montabaur, according to a flight club where he was a member.

“Andreas became a member of the club as a youth to fulfill his dream of flying,” the LSC club said in a death notice on its website.

“He fulfilled his dream, the dream he now paid for so dearly with his life,” the club said. It said he was the co-pilot of the flight. A member of the flight club identified him to The Wall Street Journal on Thursday.

And finally...

• *ROBIN SAYS NOTHING INDICATES TERRORIST INCIDENT
• *ROBIN SAYS CRASH APPEARS AT THIS POINT TO BE `INDIVIDUAL FAULT'
  

Horrific...

The Latest: French prosecutor says passengers on Germanwings flight could be heard screaming just before crash.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-03-26/germanwings-co-pilot-deliberately-destroyed-airplane-identified-28-year-old-german-c

Oil Surges, Gold and Silver Spike as Saudi Arabia Bombs Yemen

- Geopolitical tensions in Middle East escalate dramatically as Saudi Arabia bombs Yemen

- Yemen’s government seized power in coup – Regarded as hostile to Saudi and ally of Iran

- Saudi attack is an escalation of Middle Eastern proxy war between Gulf States and Iran

- Action has broader geopolitical implications in deepening cold war between the West and East

- Oil surged 6% and gold 2% on the the news

- Should oil prices return to new record highs will impact struggling global economy

Geopolitical tensions escalated dramatically over night as Saudi Arabia launched military operations including air strikes in Yemen. The Saudis claim the action is to counter Iran-allied forces besieging the southern city of Aden where the U.S. backed Yemeni president had taken refuge.

Oil surged and gold rose nearly 2% following a sharp drop in stocks on Wall Street globally in response to the bombing in Yemen.

Gulf broadcaster al-Arabiya TV reported that the kingdom was contributing as many as 150,000 troops and 100 war planes to the operations. Egypt, Jordan, Sudan and Pakistan were ready to take part in a ground offensive in Yemen, the broadcaster said.

The Saudi’s seem determined to pull geopolitically strategic Yemen back into its orbit following the coup d’etat in February.

The Syrian state news agency said the Saudi-led military operation is an act of “blatant aggression”.

“Gulf war planes led by the regime of the Saudi family launch a blatant aggression on Yemen,” read their headline. The Syrian government led by President Bashar al Assad is an ally of Iran, which is in turn allied with the Yemeni Houthi rebels who are fighting to oust the country’s U.S. backed president.

Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states have been important sponsors of the insurgency against Assad.

Traditionally Saudi Arabia has kept Yemen under its control through patronage of various tribal factions. This system was disrupted in 2011 when internal social pressures forced the incumbent President Saleh to step down.

In September, the Houthis – a Shia group seen as allied to Iran – seized control of Yemen’s capital Sana’a. Shia’s make up up to 45% of Yemen’s population. In February, the Houthis declared themselves the new government of Yemen filling the vacuum caused by the resignation of the previous government amid a political impasse.

Saudi’s actions in Yemen is a dramatic escalation in the proxy war between the Gulf states and Iran now raging in Iraq and Syria. The tensions arise out of competition over who has access to the lucrative, oil-hungry, European markets.

That a country would choose to directly intervene militarily in the affairs of another country is a dangerous precedent and could lead to a wider conflagration in the region – especially if Syria or Iran decide to retaliate against Saudi Arabia.

Iran now may claim to have justification to involve itself directly into the affairs of neighbouring countries and the potential for direct conflict and a full scale regional war has just increased.

It may also lead to heightened tensions in the simmering Cold War between the West and the East. Russian diplomacy disrupted moves by the West and western-backed Gulf states to remove yet another secular leader, one of the few remaining secular leaders, in the Islamic world – Assad in Syria.

Iran and Syria have close diplomatic and business ties with Russia. The White House has already made its support for Saudi actions clear and it is likely that Russia will support Iran in any response it may deliver.

Given the strategically vital nature of the whole region it is unlikely that either the U.S. or Russia will allow events to be determined by local players and this has serious implications in the new Cold War.

Oil surged over 6% on the news. A full-on conflict between Iran and the Gulf states would likely shut off the Straits of Hormuz, dramatically reducing the supply of oil coming out of the Gulf and a spike in oil prices.

This would benefit both Russia’s struggling economy and the U.S. energy sector but impact struggling consumers in the U.S. and internationally. Indeed, Europeans are particularly vulnerable to a sharp rise in oil prices now after the significant fall in the euro in recent months.

Gold’s rise is indicative of its function as a hedge against economic and geopolitical uncertainty. A supply crunch in oil in the middle of a slump driven by lack of demand would put even more pressure on industries struggling to sell product to heavily indebted western consumers.

While oil prices remain very depressed, surging oil prices could again be the ‘straw that breaks the global economies back’.

“A must read for family offices seeking wealth preservation” 
Essential Family Office Guide to Investing In Gold

MARKET UPDATE

Today’s AM fix was USD 1,209.40, EUR 1,097.26  and GBP 809.23 per ounce.
Yesterday’s AM fix was USD 1,192.55, EUR 1,088.89  and GBP 801.18 per ounce.

Gold rose 0.16 percent or $1.90 and closed at $1,195.60 an ounce yesterday, while silver slipped 0.18 percent or $0.03 at $16.97 an ounce.

Gold has been bid higher due to the escalation of geopolitical risk in the Middle East and technical buying after gold rose above the $1,200/oz level.

Gold in U.S. Dollars – 1 Week

Gold climbed more than 1.4% to a three and a half week high and silver soared almost 3 percent as air strikes in Yemen had a ripple effect on markets.

Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies launched air strikes in Yemen against allies of Iran in the southern city of Aden. The return of ‘risk off’ sentiment for the first time in many weeks, boosted gold, silver and German bunds while equities and the U.S. dollar fell.

The question is whether this is a flash in the pan for gold or the start of a more meaningful rally in prices. Gold appears overbought in the very short term. The last winning streak for 7 days in a row for the yellow metal was in August 2012.

In the end of day trading in Singapore, gold prices rose 0.8 percent to $1,204.20 an ounce, but earlier reached $1,204.60, its highest since March 5th. In London, Spot gold hit a peak of $1,219.40 an ounce and climbed 1.2 percent at $1,210.30 in morning trading.  Comex U.S. gold futures for April delivery were up $12.70 an ounce at $1,209.70.

On the Shanghai Gold Exchange (SGE), premiums pulled back to about $2-$3 an ounce, compared with $6-$7 last week.

Silver prices jumped to a three month high at $17.38 per ounce. Platinum was $1,153.25 per ounce up 0.6 percent, while palladium was $770.39 an ounce or up 1 percent.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-03-26/oil-surges-gold-and-silver-spike-saudi-arabia-bombs-yemen

A.M. Kitco Metals Roundup: Gold Pushes Well Above $1,200 to Hit 4-Week High

Thursday March 26, 2015 8:25 AM

(Kitco News) - Gold prices are higher, hit a four-week high and have pushed above what was psychological resistance at the $1,200.00 level Thursday. Several factors are working in favor of the gold market bulls, including safe-haven demand and the slumping U.S. dollar index. April Comex gold was last up $13.10 at $1,210.00 an ounce. May Comex silver was last up $0.18 at $17.18 an ounce.

Asian and European stock markets sold off overnight and U.S. stock indexes are under pressure early Thursday morning, amid a “risk-off” attitude in the world market place.

The solid losses in U.S. equities on Wednesday, following a downbeat durable goods orders report, prompted some of the weakness in stock markets in Asia and Europe. Also, Saudi Arabia and its allies’ air strikes against Iran-backed rebels in Yemen have produced fresh geopolitical tension. Saudi Arabia and Iran, the two major Arab powers in the Middle East, are now in a stare-down.

The military action in Yemen was not expected. Crude oil prices rallied sharply to a two-week high above $52.00 a barrel on the news, while safe-haven gold did the same.

Reports overnight said China has moved to allow more companies to import gold into China, which will effectively reduce the premium China’s domestic gold-buyers have had to pay over the world price. The move by Chinese authorities should give a modest boost to gold demand coming from China. The World Gold Council said Chinese demand for imported gold is likely to rise by 11% this year.

The other key “outside market” on Thursday morning finds the U.S. dollar index lower again. The dollar index bulls have faded badly the past week and there are early technical clues of a market top in the index. The weakening greenback has been a bullish underlying factor for the precious metals markets.

U.S. economic data due for release Thursday includes the weekly jobless claims report, the U.S. flash services purchasing managers index, and the Kansas City Fed manufacturing survey.

(Note: Follow me on Twitter--@jimwyckoff--for breaking market news.)

Wyckoff’s Daily Risk Rating: 6.5 (Trader and investor market risk aversion picked up Thursday, mainly due to rising tensions in the Middle East.)

(Wyckoff’s Daily Risk Rating is your way to quickly gauge investor risk appetite in the world market place each day. Each day I assess the “risk-on” or “risk-off” trader mentality in the market place with a numerical reading of 1 to 10, with 1 being least risk-averse (most risk-on) and 10 being the most risk-averse (risk-off), and 5 being neutral.

The London A.M. gold fixing is $1,209.40 versus the previous P.M. fixing of $1,195.60.

Technically, gold market bears still have the overall near-term technical advantage but the bulls have momentum on their side. The gold bulls’ next upside near-term price breakout objective is to produce a close above solid technical resistance at the March high of $1,223.00. Bears' next near-term downside price breakout objective is closing prices below solid technical support at this week’s low of $1,178.60. First resistance is seen at the overnight high of $1,219.50 and then at $1,223.00. First support is seen at $1,200.00 and then at the overnight low of $1,193.80. Wyckoff’s Market Rating: 4.0

May silver futures bulls and bears are now on a level near-term technical playing field but the bulls have momentum on their side. Silver hit a six-week high overnight. Bulls’ next upside price breakout objective is closing prices above solid technical resistance at $18.00 an ounce. The next downside price breakout objective for the bears is closing prices below solid support at $16.50. First resistance is seen at today’s high of $17.405 and then at $17.50. Next support is at the overnight low of $16.91 and then at this week’s low of $16.61. Wyckoff’s Market Rating: 5.0.

By Jim Wyckoff, contributing to Kitco News; jwyckoff@kitco.com
Follow me on Twitter @jimwyckoff

 http://www.kitco.com/news/2015-03-26/Gold-Pushes-Well-Above-1200-to-Hit-4-Week-High.html