Despite Mint Closures, Silver Bullion Sales Surge Past 2019 Numbers

Large sectors of the global economy have been shut down throughout 2020, with some being affected more than others, creating pockets of scarcity and price increases as a ramification to these forced shutdowns.

These shortages were incredibly noticeable throughout this summer season, with many leisure and sporting goods simply being unavailable for purchase, whereas there would typically be no problem at all.

For some areas of the economy, these higher prices have helped offset some of the losses in production, while other areas of the economy have simply had to grin and bear the pain, experiencing losses that they are never going to be able to recover from.

One area of the economy that was affected and of which was noticeably affected was within the precious metals space, as many of the worlds largest mints were forced to shut down production, taking supply off the market just as demand was skyrocketing.

Silver Bullion Sales Vastly Outperform 2019 in First Half of the Year

As the COVID-19 driven panic began to set in, some people fled to safe haven assets such as precious metals, fearing that the forced shutdowns could cripple the global economy.

Meanwhile governments around the world went into money printing hyper-drive, bailing out individuals and businesses alike, with some of the largest increases to national debts that this world has ever seen.

The ramification of these actions are yet to be fully witnessed and are going to be felt for years to come.

Regardless, this led to an initial sharp increase and move higher in both gold and silver bullion, which for a time looked as if they were going to finally break free of their shackles and surge to ungodly new highs.

Although this parabolic rise was slowed down, I believe that the gains we have witnessed over the past couple of months are only the beginning and just the start of a truly historic new bull market for the precious metals market.

(Chart source SRS Rocco Report)

As the above chart shows, I am most certainly not alone in this assessment.

Silver bullion sales, despite mints being forced to a grind early during the COVID-19 breakout, have vastly outperformed their 2019 sales, with the three major mints all reporting starkly higher numbers.

In the first half of 2020, the U.S. Mint, Canadian Mint and Perth Mint sold a collective 34.9 Moz, compared to 24.1 Moz during the same time period in 2019.

This amounts to an impressive 10.8 Moz sold in 2020, during a time period in which the mints were suffering from temporary closures.

Despite these closures, the mints were able to increase sales by a stunning 45% year over year!

Imagine what these numbers would of looked like, if business was allowed to run unhindered and imagine how much more silver would now be out in the open market.

The Trend Continues and Will Only Get Better

Many people will write this increase in sales off as only an anomaly, however, further data suggests that this couldn't be further from the truth.

Although the Canadian Mint is slower than the U.S. Mint and the Perth Mint in reporting updated sales data, as the SRS Rocco Report highlights, the trend of strong silver bullion sales is only growing in momentum.

(Chart source, SRS Rocco Report)

Updated figures indicate a steady move higher in YoY silver bullion sales from the three top mints.

Collectively the three mints have now sold a total of 40.4 Moz year to date, while during this time period in 2019, they had a total sales of 27.3 Moz.

This results in an increase of total sales YoY of 13.1 Moz.

As previously mentioned, the first half of the year saw a total increase of 45% in YoY sales, while the updated numbers now show a 48% increase YoY, meaning that momentum is still growing within the precious metals space.

This is heartening as an advocate of physical precious metals and the safety that they can offer in a time of increased uncertainty, turmoil and unrest.

In Conclusion

As we move through the remainder of 2020 and into 2021, I believe that there are going to be challenging times ahead for the world both financially and politically that are going to threaten the system in a way many of us have never experienced before.

People continue to go deeper into debt as this crisis worsens, as too do governments around the world.

Fiat money is thus going to be continued to be printed in an ever increasing quantity, as officials attempt to "dig" themselves out of this crisis, just as the Fed has recently indicated they are hoping will happen.

This is going to result in a continued demand for precious metals as more and more people wake up and smell the roses, realizing what is happening to the fiat based system that they find themselves living within.

The trend is your friend until the end and the trend for precious metals is positive indeed.

Stay safe and keep stacking.

- Source, Nathan McDonald via the Sprott Money Blog

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Gold is a Barometer of Fiat Currency, We Are Experiencing the Return to the Gold Standard

David Garofalo has 30 years in mining. 

As CEO of Goldcorp, David made history last year by spearheading the $32 billion merger of Goldcorp with Newmont to create the world's largest gold production company. 

Since that time, the value for Goldcorp shareholders has tripled including dividends. 

David discusses how gold is the barometer of fiat currency and what we are witnessing is the return to the gold standard.

Silver Breakout to $30? Or Correction Lower?

New Fed Inflation Targeting Restarts More Currency Wars

As predicted, many high ranking politicians from other countries and central bankers from other countries are angry about the Federal Reserve's announcement at Jackson Hole last week to let inflation run hot and have a higher inflation targeting policy to try to weaken the Dollar.

- Source, Wall St for Main St

All But Assured: Erosion of the Dollar, Explosion of Debt

The Federal Reserve has unanimously come together, developing a plan and strategy that they believe will help prop up the U.S. economy as the threat of COVID-19 continues to plague the world.

Their plan? Well its the same as always. Easy money and debt creation.

This cannot and will not end well for those who continue to hold and accumulate their hard earned savings in U.S. dollars, as the Federal Reserve has made a pledge to keep interest rates near zero for the foreseeable future.

Some analyst have even gone as far as estimating that rates could remain at these historically low levels for at least several years, due to the fact that the Fed has no other option than to do so.

The Los Angeles Times reports;

"The policy shift, which Fed officials have been developing for many months and was adopted unanimously, isn’t meant to address the immediate economic problems caused by the pandemic-induced downturn. But knowing that the Fed’s benchmark rate is likely to stay at its current level of near zero for a long time — analysts say that could be several years — might give companies more confidence to invest and hire."

This is all being done in the name of artificially propping up an economy that has been hit incredibly hard by the forced restrictions and lock-downs that government officials imposed as the COVID-19 outbreak began and has continued across large parts of the country seemingly unchecked.

Whether or not these actions are correct, is yet to be seen, however it sadly is going to have a number of dire consequences on the long term health of the U.S. economy and thus the West as a whole.

This undoubtedly means a continued erosion of the U.S. dollar and rising inflation, the latter of which has the potential to run out of control if the easy money tap is left open for too long.

(Chart source, Yahoo Finance)

This will come on the heels of an already battered and bruised U.S. Dollar, that has taken a beating over the course of 2020. 

However, we haven't seen nothing yet, if the Federal Reserve does indeed follow through on these new policy changes, as the USD is going to move much, much lower.

A Weak Dollar Diminishes the Value of Existing Debt

Likely, the Federal Reserve knows that this is the only path that they have left available to them, unless they wish to utterly implode the U.S. economy by going the opposite direction, crippling and destroying those who have been forced to take on extraordinary debt levels.

The West is largely broke and the Federal Reserve knows this fact. They know that if interest rates were ever to be raised in any meaningful way, then the entirety of the system would implode as debt defaults would soar out of control due to rising interest rates.

(Chart source, Federal Reserve Balance Sheet)

And it is not just on the business or individual level, as the Federal Reserve itself has been forced into action, erasing any of the deleveraging that they did since the 2008 crisis, taking on a stunning amount of debt in such a short period of time.

Keeping rates low all but ensures that people are going to go deeper and deeper into debt in the coming years, however, at historically low rates.

The Federal Reserve is hoping beyond all hope that this debt creation may possibly help spur on the economy and people can begin to dig themselves out of the holes they now find themselves in.

Sadly, I believe we have passed the Rubicon and there is no hope of ever collectively getting out of this mess. 

Easy money will be the only policy until the entire house of cards eventually comes crashing down on the Federal Reserves head and everyone else in the process.

The other hope that the Federal Reserve likely has, is the fact that a deteriorating U.S. Dollar will diminish the value of pre-existing debts that people and the government owes.

If a dollar is worth a quarter of what it once was, then so too is the previous debt that was denominated in that dollar.

As you can imagine, this is unsustainable in the long run and is thus typically only seen by countries spiraling toward hyperinflation or outright collapse.

In Conclusion: Keep Stacking

In this upside down world, in which the Federal Reserve is openly embracing the creation of debt, the destruction of the U.S. Dollar and thus rising inflation, it should come as no surprise that gold and silver are more vital now than ever.

As we move forward into this period of higher than normal inflation, gold and silver are going to steadily and consistently become more and more desirable to hold.

A period of low interest rates should result in a strong bull market for precious metals, significantly making their fundamentals that much stronger.

Central Bankers know this, the "smart money" knows this and it is exactly why they are moving so heavily into precious metals.

It is now only matter of time before the masses wake up and smell the roses, pushing gold and silver to staggering new heights, sparking one of the greatest wealth transfers in mankind's history.

The prices we see today are not going to last forever and those who act sooner, rather than later will be the ones who benefit the greatest in the coming bull market.

Prepare accordingly.

Keep stacking.

- Source, Nathan McDonald via the Sprott Money Blog

The Scramble Into Monetary Metals Keeps Building

First-time guest Lobo Tiggre, founder of Independent Speculator, joins Liberty and Finance to offer his view of the political, economic, and financial times we are hurtling through. 

Lobo draws a sharp distinction between how monetary metals (gold & silver) will fare vs. industrial & commodity metals and other natural resources.

- Source, Liberty Finance

Walk the World: Talking Loan Deferments

I discussed the latest from the Bankers Association on the arrangements for the mortgage and business loans deferment reviews which are now underway on ABC Illawarra today.

- Source, Walk the World

Ron Paul: What To Do When The Bubble Bursts?

What is happening as the massive bubble is bursting in the US economy? Is there any hope to survive - or even prosper - in the age of Fed bubbles, Covid-19 hysteria, and riots in the street? 

Financial publisher and author Porter Stansberry joins the Ron Paul Liberty Report with his views on what's wrong and what we can do about it.

- Source, Ron Paul

China Threatens to Dump All U.S. Treasury Holdings if Tensions Erupt

Once again gold and silver bullion are moving lower throughout today's trading session, despite overwhelming strong fundamentals and news that should be sending the price of precious metals higher.

(Chart source, goldprice.org)

However, no one ever said that the markets were sane or rational.

This is proven more so with each passing day, as the broader markets continue to hold strong in spite of the fact that we are in a global pandemic, with unfathomable geopolitical risks all around us.

(Chart source, google charts)

As can be seen above, the S&P 500 is currently trading at 3,443, shrugging off the entirety of the COVID-19 pandemic and acting as if it never even occurred.

Another risk that should be weighing heavily on the markets is the ongoing trade wars between the United States and China, of which there appears to be no resolution in sight, as long as President Trump remains in office.

The Debt Bomb Grows

A major risk to the United States that has been bandied about within the precious metals market for years and more recently in the minds of broader investors is the amount of U.S. debt that foreign countries have accumulated over the past number of decades and the fact that it could one day be used as a weapon against the United States.

Chief among these are Japan and China, the former of which holds approximately $1.26 trillion in U.S. debt and the latter of which holds $1.07 trillion.

(Chart source, The Balance)

However, even though it is Japan that is the larger of the two holders, it is always China that is invoked when any fear mongering is to be done about the level of foreign U.S. debt holdings.

This is for good reason and due to the fact that Japan and the United States have been strong allies and trading partners for decades.

While the United States and China have also been incredibly strong trading partners, their relationship has often been much more tenuous and uneasy.

This has been especially true over the last few years since President Trump has taken office, invoking his "America first" agenda and renegotiating U.S. trade deals to be much more favorable for his country, much to the anger of countries such as China and others.

This has led to the point in which we are at now, which is without a doubt the lowest point in China / U.S. relations that we have seen in a very, very long time.

China Threatens to Unload U.S. Treasuries

Exemplifying this low point in relations, China has pointed out the fact that they hold so much in U.S. debt and the power that they now wield because of it.

China has made it openly known that they hope to change this position over time, shedding U.S. holdings in favor of other holdings, such as gold bullion and other hard assets.

However this cannot and will not happen overnight, as China would run the risk of completely tanking their own holdings of U.S. Treasuries, destroying the value they personally hold.

Regardless of this fact, they have not eliminated the possibility of dumping their holdings in rapid succession, if the need ever arose.

Reuters reports;

“China will gradually decrease its holdings of U.S. debt to about $800 billion under normal circumstances,” Xi Junyang, a professor at the Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, was quoted as saying on Thursday, without giving a detailed timeframe.

“But of course, China might sell all of its U.S. bonds in an extreme case, like a military conflict.”

This second statement is just the threat that so many of us have discussed for years and highlights the fact that these large holdings of Treasuries pose a very real threat to the security of the United States, as it could be used to tank the Dollar overnight, sending the economy reeling in the process.

In Conclusion: A Double Edged Sword

Although China is rattling their saber once again, I believe it is just that, as the ramifications for them dumping their entirety of U.S. Treasuries on the market would have dire consequences for them as well.

(Chart source, statista.com)

Take the above chart for example, which shows just how much the United States imports from China each and every year.

Although  this number has lowered in the past year due to the ongoing trade wars, it still is a staggering number that makes up for the largest percentage of China's exports, followed secondly by the European Union, then Japan.

Unfortunately for China, they are caught between a rock and a hard place, as relations with the European Union and Japan have also been in a rocky position.

Meanwhile, both the European Union and Japan remain two of the United States strongest allies and trading partners. 

Additionally, the United States has the ability to simply move onto another low cost country for manufacturing, such as Vietnam, Thailand, India or bring production back home. 

Of course this would not be without pain, or disruptions, but eventually relative normality would resume for U.S. consumers.

Therefore, I believe that we are far from the doomsday scenario of China following through on this threat of dumping all of its U.S. holdings onto the market overnight, crashing the U.S. dollar in the process.

The risks are too great, the ramifications are too high.

However, this does not mean that things will not slowly, gradually deteriorate over time.

The need for precious metals is great. The need for financial protection remains.

Keep stacking.

- Source, Nathan McDonald via the Sprott Money Blog

Buying A House With 500 Silver Coins

Can you buy a house with silver coins? 

How much silver will it take? 

They are two of the most common questions we get, tune in to today’s update and get Mike Maloney’s thoughts on how this could play out.

- Source, Mike Maloney

Walk the World: The Recovery Hits Stall Speed

The latest in our series of Friday afternoon chats in which Journalist Tarric Brooker and I discuss the latest economic data. 

What is really going on, and will it support a recovery ahead?

- Source, Walk the World

Ron Paul: Locked Down and Unemployed, the Fed's Solution? Inflation

With tens of millions unemployed, and countless businesses gone for good, the heavy hand of government continues to pile on. 

State and local governments are looking to raise taxes in this environment, and the Federal Reserve, the enabler of big government, intends to escalate the counterfeiting of dollars on top of the trillions already created out-of-thin-air. 

More taxes and higher prices ahead, which makes for more economic heartache for the American people.

- Source, Ron Paul

Wolf Street Report: Second Wave of Layoffs is Here, Now Hitting Well Paying Jobs

A sort of sector rotation of layoffs, and it’s not a good sign, even as millions of lower-wage workers are being hired back.

- Wolf Street Report

The Coming Chaos and the Eruption of Extreme Volatility

At the time of writing, both gold and silver bullion are trading higher, moving up by a significant 1.44% for the former and even better 1.74% for the latter.

(Chart source, goldprice.org)

This of course is down from the highs seen earlier this month, which broke previous records for the price of gold bullion and saw silver nearing the $30 per oz mark, however, I believe that this setback is going to be short lived indeed.

The need for personal and financial protection is coming in the near term future, more now than ever due to an ever unceasing number of threats to the system and unfortunately, the vast majority of the population (as typically happens in a time of great crisis), are going to be completely caught off guard.

The Increased Anxiety Rooted in COVID-19

One of these ongoing threats and of which can be argued as the root of many of the other problems that are going to ensue in the coming months, is the continued ongoing COVID-19 pandemic threat.

Depending on the part of the world you live in, this is either greatly diminished, or continuing to escalate. 

However, in totality, cases across the globe continue to rise, as do the total number of deaths related to the coronavirus.

Although COVID-19 is not nearly as deadly as what was first predicted, it is largely still unknown, with the "science" seemingly changing with each passing day, leading to people quoting outdated information to each other and other conflicting "facts", that no longer agrees with the new daily developments.

In addition to this, most people of the world have found their lives radically changed, whether it be through business closures, prior forms of leisure lost, or mandatory mask wearing, just to name a few.

This leads to a drastic increase in a number of things, but most notably, heightened levels of anxiety.

This anxiety, due to such a radically changed way of living our lives has manifested itself in a number of ways, whether it be through substance abuse, depression, or violence in a small, but growing number of people.

As we are now seeing, across just about any major city within the United States, senseless violence is becoming an almost daily part of some peoples lives as this anxiety begins to manifest itself.

The protests, which were largely peaceful in the beginning and in response to a heinous act of neglect by law enforcement, have now turned deadly for some and incredibly destructive for many others.

This has led to unfathomable destruction to peoples lives, both physically, mentally and financially, of which some may never recover from.

The Mainstream Media Are Once Again Complicit

Local news and the alternative media have largely done a decent job of covering the riots, destruction and protest, calling a spade a spade and an ace and ace, however, as we have seen so many times in the past, the large Mainstream Media outlets are singing a different tune.

For some reason (of which many of you can speculate on), the MSM have once again gone into pure propaganda mode, seeking to shirk off just about all acts of violence as one offs and call these now nearly nightly events, "mostly peaceful protests".

And although there are many peaceful elements, of which their cause is just and true, there are without a doubt a large, significant portion of those who are taking advantage of the chaos, sowing seeds of destruction and violence wherever and whenever they can.

These acts are not minor nor one offs, they are on such a large scale that the police cannot even control them, only further emboldening these people.

This has led to an ever increasing amount of violence, threat, destruction and anarchy.

Many people feel justified in their actions, as they believe they are fighting an "unjust" system and are hell bent on seeing it fall, one brick at a time.

This is not going to happen unfortunately for them, and fortunately for the vast majority of people who call the West home, as I believe we are hitting a tipping put, a point in which the public is going to say "enough is enough".

The fact of the matter is that there is undoubtedly room for change within the West, but as someone who has traveled the world and seen many other countries first hand, the West has done a lot right and made much progress.

To simply cast this progress aside as meaningless, dismantling it in its entirety would be beyond reckless.

Violence in the Streets Will Not Help Win the Election

Zero Hedge wrote an article covering last nights "protests" following the RNC convention at the White House, in which congress members and their families were harassed and attacked by a violent mob following the closure of the event and as they attempted to head back to their hotels.

It is well worth the read, as you will see some historic on the ground footage, that the MSM would never be willing to show, demonstrating just how lawless things have truly become.

I personally am far from a fan of everything that the RNC represents, but as someone who considers themselves staunchly in the center, I cannot endorse this approach and I know that I am not alone.

Additionally, I believe that more and more footage showing the political left engaging in such a way is going to have the opposite effect of what they are hoping for, pushing more and more people into the hands of supporting President Trump, possibly even securing his re-election come November.

At the moment, the only ones openly condemning the violent protesters are those on the political right, however, I hear more and more concern privately among those have always considered themselves on the left.

Lawlessness breeds fear and the vast majority of people always vote to protect themselves and their families. Which is why I believe the MSM are attempting to downplay the violence in such a meaningful way.

The November to End all Novembers

The Presidental Election between Joe Biden and Donald Trump officially takes place on November 3rd, however, it is largely being speculated by many that the results will not be known that day.

This is due to a large percentage of population taking place in "mail-in voting", much more than any other time in prior history.

Many believe that this is going to lead to ungodly amounts of "funny business" and conspiracy theories are raging on both the left and the right, with both sides already stating that the other is "rigging" the election.

This in addition to the political divide, of which has never been so great since the Civil War, is going to lead (in my opinion) to nether party accepting the results immediately.

This will lead to countless recounts and possibly even a "hung" election if one side does win overwhelmingly.

If this occurs, hold onto your seats, as an extreme amount of chaos and volatility will be unleashed across the United States, that will have a rippling effect across the rest of the world.

Even if this does not occur, I believe that violence and anarchy are only going to increase, until the point in which one side is forced to put a "hard boot" on the other, which is a scenario that throughout history has never ended well.

In Conclusion

The fact of the matter is that we have brush fires all across the world, some of which are threatening to become blazing infernos at any moment.

In the meantime, we have a global pandemic, unfathomable fiat money creation and unaccountable debt creation, all of which would be bad enough in isolation, let alone occurring all at once.

It is only a matter of time before the back of the system as we know it cracks under all of this pressure, causing great financial chaos and destruction.

Precious metals in this scenario will rise higher and higher, as people seek the safety that only they can offer in times of extreme volatility.

I believe these reasons are exactly why Central Bankers and now the "smart money" are beginning to move into the metals in a meaningful way.

Sadly, as previously mentioned, much of the general public will be to late for the "party", missing these artificially depressed prices that cannot and will not last forever.

Prepare accordingly. 

Stay safe and as always, keep stacking.

- Source, Nathan McDonald via the Sprott Money Blog

Main Street Is Struggling Severely: Nouriel Roubini Warns Wall Street Euphoria Ignores Main Street Crash

Speaking on Bloomberg Television Friday, Nouriel Roubini warned the stock market is completely disconnected from the dire economic outlook of a waning recovery amid continued depressionary pressures.

Roubini told "Bloomberg Surveillance" the global economy is slowing, and another downturn could be ahead if a vaccine is not found in short order. 

 Bloomberg TV 

He said the shape of the recovery is transforming from a "V" and is "becoming a U and the U could become a W if we don't find a vaccine and don't have enough stimulus."

Roubini, the chief executive of Roubini Macro Associates Inc., said the recovery on Wall Street doesn't reflect the real economy:

"Main Street is struggling," he said.

Roubini said Europe's policies to protect workers are much more robust than the U.S., where tens of millions of folks are jobless, hungry, and face eviction.

"The European system of greater social cohesion gives you better economic outcomes than the one of the United States that is just Wild West capitalism," he said."That's why the unemployment rate barely went up in Germany or even in Italy, while in the U.S. we've had double-digit unemployment rate and actually even worse, considering underemployment and so on."

Jobs data this week showed the U.S. labor market recovery continues to reverse. Another million Americans filed for jobless benefits last week, back above one million and up notably from the 971k (revised higher) last week, and notably worse than the 920k expected...

The Federal Reserve's minutes on Wednesday from its July meeting highlighted doubts about the "V-shaped" recovery, showing that the swift labor market rebound seen in May and June had likely slowed. Quoting Rabobank's global strategist Michael Every, he told clients: "Of course, the Fed agreed that the virus is weighing heavily on the economy: is that some kind of surprise? Apparently, it was."

While it was a surprise to many on Wall Street who have turned a blind eye to the utter destruction of the labor market and small businesses, the Fed's monetary cannon has injected trillions of dollars into the economy markets to reinflate asset prices and distract everyone from the worst economic crash since the Great Depression in the 1930s.

The party on Wall Street, driven by liquidity via central banks has reinflated financial assets to nosebleed valuations as the labor market implodes.

The party on Wall Street is also concentrated in a handful of technology stocks, about five to be exact. If Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, and Google were removed from the S&P500 index, the overall main equity index would be flat on the year, as opposed to +35%.

As for the rest of the world, a resurgence of coronavirus across the Asia Pacific, Europe, and the U.S. have stalled the global recovery. The risk now is the world economy slumps in the back half of the year.

The consequence of central banks saving Wall Street at the expense of main street will result in widening wealth inequality to unimaginable levels that will continue to lead to a socio-economic implosion of the middle class.

- Source, Zero Hedge