Sprott Precious Metals Watch

Gold miners look set to extend a deal spree after notching transactions worth a record $30.5 billion this year, according to data, the biggest M&A binge since bullion prices peaked nearly a decade ago.

Mergers & acquisitions have increased in the gold mining space since 2018 as miners are competing amid dwindling supply of easy-to-find gold. The latest to jump on the bandwagon is Kirkland Lake Gold KL, which agreed to acquire smaller Canadian rival Detour Gold for $3.7 billion (C$4.9 billion) in an all-stock deal.

Gold, known as the safe haven asset, historically becomes more valuable during times of geopolitical turmoil. Approximately 20% of the above ground stock of gold reserves is held by central banks and international monetary organizations.

Global jewellery gold purchases fell 16 per cent year on year in the third quarter to 460.9 tonnes, the lowest since the second quarter of 2010. Overall investment demand jumped 110 per cent to 408.6 tonnes, as net inflows into ETFs amounted to 258.2 tonnes.

Gold is all that nationalist leaders in Europe’s east can talk about these days. Just this week, Poland’s government touted its economic might after completing the repatriation of 100 tons of the metal. Over in Hungary, anti-immigrant Prime Minister Viktor Orban has been ramping up holdings of the safe-haven asset to boost the security of his reserves.

Mergers & acquisitions have increased in the gold mining space since 2018 as miners are competing amid dwindling supply of easy-to-find gold. The latest to jump on the bandwagon is Kirkland Lake Gold KL, which agreed to acquire smaller Canadian rival Detour Gold for $3.7 billion (C$4.9 billion) in an all-stock deal.

Gold-backed cryptocurrencies have been making a comeback, with more companies and government mints launching digital tokens backed by the precious metal. Gold investor John Hathaway says the move will make the commodity more transactional than it is today, and also explains why the precious metal and crypto make good “fellow travelers.”

Serbia’s central bank bought nine tons of gold in October, raising its reserves of the precious metal on the advice of President Aleksandar Vucic.

Globally, there are clear perceptions of gold as a safe, durable, traditional store of value. As an investment, it plays to these strengths – retail investors buy it to protect wealth and create long term returns. Jewellery buyers treasure it for sentimental reasons and as a reward for success.

Gold bullion has seen a double-digit YTD advance in 2019, and gold mining equities have also posted notable returns. Tocqueville Asset Management's John Hathaway and Ryan McIntyre join Ed Coyne, Senior Managing Director at Sprott Asset Management, to discuss their outlooks and suggest the optimal gold portfolio allocation for most investors.

Central banks have shifted to a new regime of easy monetary policy, thus reducing expected bond returns. As negative yielding debt increases alongside stock-to-yield valuations1 to all-time highs, gold may become an attractive and more effective diversifier than bonds, justifying a higher portfolio allocation than historical performance suggests.

We believe gold should continue to benefit from decreasing real interest rates and the increasing geopolitical uncertainty. Furthermore, financial asset valuations are stretched and permeate the landscape of “alternatives.” 

University of Vermont scientists claim to have produced the strongest silver ever -- 42 percent stronger than the previous record -- without losing silver’s high electrical conductivity.

Gold bullion consolidated in October, closing the month at $1,513, a 2.75% gain; YTD gold is up 17.97% as of 10/31/19. Silver bullion rose 6.55% for the month and has gained 16.86% YTD. As gold companies report Q3 earnings in the coming weeks, we expect robust earnings results to lift gold equity prices. The timing may be favorable as we are also heading into the best consecutive four-month seasonality pattern for gold mining equities.

Global light vehicle sales in 2019 are 4.2% lower* than in 2018; which some see as a reason for rising PGM prices to pull back.

The U.S. dollar has been the world’s major reserve currency for decades, but that status could come under threat as “very powerful countries” seek to undermine its importance, warned Anne Korin, from the Institute for the Analysis of Global Security.

Central banks have shifted to a new regime of easy monetary policy, thus reducing expected bond returns. As negative yielding debt increases alongside stock-to-yield valuations to all-time highs, gold may become an attractive and more effective diversifier than bonds, justifying a higher portfolio allocation than historical performance suggests.

Palladium surged to a record, topping $1,800 as stricter air-quality rules boost demand for the metal used in vehicle pollution-control devices.

This Real Vision video features John Hathaway, Senior Portfolio Manager of Tocqueville Asset Management, being interviewed by Dan Tapiero of DTAP Capital. They take a closer look at gold’s recent breakout and explore why gold equities are so attractive right now.

Silver prices have fallen 9% from this year’s highs—an opportunity for investors to buy the metal that has outperformed gold so far this month.

Rick Rule, President and CEO of Sprott U.S. Holdings Inc., shares how the worldwide explosion of negative yielding debt shapes his bullish outlook on gold. He examines the impact that a “war on savers” has on the global financial system and on precious metals. Rule explains his outlook for the future of the monetary system by analyzing the evolving relationship between cryptocurrencies, precious metals and fiat currencies.

Gold headed for a weekly gain as investors prepare for another round of central bank action, with weaker-than-expected U.S. data reinforcing expectations that the Federal Reserve will cut borrowing costs next week.

CEO Peter Grosskopf: Gold has been on a tear in 2019. The gold price recently breached $1,500, a remarkable performance since June, when it smashed through the ceiling of its long-term range under the $1,370 level. This is especially impressive when considered in the context of a reasonable economy, a strong U.S. dollar and resilient equity markets throughout 2019. So, what gives?

Doug Groh, Portfolio Manager, Tocqueville Asset Management at the 121 Mining Investment Conference in New York: "Someone made the point that gold is too expensive at $1,500 an ounce. And a counterpoint was made, which supports your observation that gold is really not a price-sensitive instrument. It's a monetary instrument. It's a precious metal monetary metal that really acts as a means of exchange."

Peter Grosskopf, CEO of Sprott, shares his outlook for gold and the economy with Bloomberg's Shery Ahn and Amanda Lang on Bloomberg Markets.

In his own words, we can thank gold bull and investor Eric Sprott for the recent retreat in the gold price below US$1,500 per ounce. These comments were made on September 26th at an industry conference hosted by Red Cloud Capital in Toronto. Mr. Sprott suggested that the bankers who are known to trade down the gold price affected this price drop knowing he would be talking up the price at this event, and to “piss him off”.

Currently, the geopolitical scenario is marked by escalating Sino-US trade tensions, Brexit uncertainty and slowing global growth, leading to a rise in the popularity of gold ETFs.

We believe the precious metals bull market is just in its early stages. Ed Coyne, Senior Managing Director, National Sales at Sprott Asset Management, joins special guests Doug Groh and Ryan McIntyre, Portfolio Managers at Tocqueville Asset Management, to discuss their outlooks for gold bullion and gold equities, and suggest the optimal gold portfolio allocation for most investors.

Investor sentiment has strengthened noticeably towards silver (as well as the wider precious metals complex). This is in sharp contrast to recent years’ activity, when many institutional investors had been skeptical towards the metal.

With volatility in mind, investors may consider alternative index-based gold miner ETFs like the Sprott Gold Miners ETF (NYSEArca: SGDM) and Sprott Junior Gold Miners ETF (NYSEArca: SGDJ). Unlike traditional market cap-weighted funds, SGDM and SGDJ follow a factor-based or smart-beta indexing methodology that can potentially enhance returns.

The Sprott Physical Gold Trust offers a number of advantages over other gold funds and is perhaps the next best thing to holding the actual metal. The fact that it is currently trading at a discount is a nice bonus. As such, it may be worthwhile taking a position in the fund.

In recent months, investor interest in both silver and gold has risen significantly. The catalyst for this has been growing macroeconomic uncertainty, due to the escalating US-China trade war, which has increased the risk of recession (as suggested by negative bond yields). This in turn has encouraged a move to safe haven assets.

Given gold’s sharp rise since May, September’s correction was not unexpected. We believe it is reflective of a new consolidation phase, and likely to be short term in nature. All factors that we consider to be significantly correlating to gold bullion indicate that we are still in the early stages of a major long-term advance.

For many U.S. investors the returns provided by owning physical gold — and the other precious metals including silver, platinum and palladium — come with a sobering surprise when the assets are sold and it’s time to pay taxes. The reason: The U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) categorizes gold and other precious metals as “collectibles” which are taxed at a 28% long-term capital gains rate. 

Precious metals prices and ETF investment are having a stellar year as capital market uncertainty, including negative interest rates, and geopolitics combine to lift investor interest and ownership. Platinum investment demand has the highest growth rate with ETF holdings up 38% or 919 koz to a record 3.28 moz in 2019 to date.

Gold rose to a more than one-week high on Monday as weaker-than-expected economic data from Europe heightened fears of a slowdown in global growth, while palladium continued its record run driven by short supply of the auto-catalyst metal.

The gold market has calmed since reaching its most recent high at the beginning of September. December gold sitting at around the $1,500 per ounce level on September 17.

Speaking with Charlotte McLeod, Managing Editor, Investing News Network, Portfolio Manager Doug Groh describes the pending deal between Sprott and Tocqueville, in which Sprott will acquire the Tocqueville gold strategy and team. Groh also discussed the current gold rally, and explained that with a higher gold price, smaller-cap companies are looking at new opportunities.

U.S. authorities have charged three individuals over allegedly participating in market manipulation in the trade of precious metals including gold, silver, platinum and palladium between 2008 and 2016, the Department of Justice said on Monday.

Gold and silver prices jumped more than 1% on Monday as investors fled to safe-haven assets after an attack on Saudi oil facilities raised concerns over global energy supply and ratcheted tensions in the Middle East.

In our view, gold’s role as a non-correlating store of value has rarely offered more portfolio utility than it does today....The most troubling legacy of contemporary central banking has been the emergence of negative nominal interest rates. The fact that they actually exist, only highlights the dire nature of global financial imbalances.

Gold prices may rally to a record above $2,000 an ounce in the next two years, according to Citigroup Inc., which gave a laundry list of positive drivers including rising risks of a global recession and the likelihood that the Federal Reserve will reduce U.S. interest rates to zero.

Russia’s long-running bet on gold is looking better every month. The country quadrupled gold reserves in the past decade as it diversified away from U.S. assets, a move that has paid off recently as haven demand sent prices to a six-year high.

Gold has risen 18% since the start of the year, in part because China has been adding vast amounts of the metal to its reserves.

Mark Mobius, the founding partner of Mobius Capital Partners, recommends that investors hold 10% of their portfolios in physical gold, and invest the rest in dividend yielding equities.

During a CNBC interview, former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said gold prices are surging because investors are looking for hard assets that they know will have value in 20 or 30 years.

Gold-backed ETFs and similar products account for a significant part of the gold market, with institutional and individual investors using them to implement many of their investment strategies. Flows in ETFs often highlight short-term and long-term opinions and desires to holding gold

Gold added $110 in August to close the month at $1,524, gaining 7.8% for the month. YTD gold is up 18.6%, ahead of the S&P 500 Index's rise of 15.34%. Gold equities impressed even more, climbing 46.4% YTD as measured by Sprott Gold Miners ETF (SGDM).

Platinum may claim 2019 as a turning point year despite a volatile first eight months. YTD through Friday, August 30, platinum’s spot price has jumped 17.34%. Many indications point that platinum’s multi-year period of stagnation may finally be ending.

Precious metals are scoring impressive gains in August, with gold poised for a fourth consecutive monthly rise, though silver is steadily outpacing the price climb of its sister metal. Both have plenty of reasons to move even higher in the weeks to come, analysts said.

Investors holding “poor man’s gold’’ are suddenly a lot richer, and silver’s rally may still have room to run. Silver has surged 12% this month and touched a two-year high on Wednesday. The metal is benefiting as concerns over the global economic outlook bolster demand for haven assets, sending sister-metal gold to the highest since 2013.

Citigroup Inc. has raised the possibility gold may extend its impressive rally should it breach a technical level against a major U.S. equity market benchmark, adding to positive commentary around the metal.

Gold futures climbed to their highest finish since 2013 and silver rallied to a more than two-year high on Tuesday, with losses in U.S. stocks and a drop in Treasury yields providing a boost to the precious metals as investors hopes for progress on U.S.-China trade talks faded.

A major gold-buying spree by central banks is likely to persist in the coming years, according to Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd., which flagged the potential for further purchases by nations including China.

China has partially lifted restrictions on imports of gold, bullion industry sources said, loosening curbs that had stopped an estimated 300-500 tonnes of the metal worth $15-25 billion at current prices from entering the country since May

Despite the growing hype around electric vehicles, conventional gas-powered vehicles are expected to be on the road well into the future. As a result, exhaust systems will continue to be a critical tool in reducing harmful air pollution. Palladium enables car manufacturers to meet stricter emission standards, making it a secret weapon for fighting pollution going forward.

After topping $100 billion in gold reserves in June, Russia purchased another 300,000 ounces or nine tons of gold in July, according to the latest data released by the Russian central bank.

Last November former JPMorgan precious-metals trader admitted he engaged in a six-year spoofing scheme that defrauded investors in gold, silver, platinum, and palladium futures contracts. John Edmonds, then 36, pled guilty under seal in the District of Connecticut to commodities fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, commodities price manipulation, and spoofing. As FBI Assistant Director in Charge Sweeney explained that "with his guilty plea, Edmonds admitted he intended to introduce materially false and misleading information into the commodities markets."

Veteran investor Mark Mobius gave a blanket endorsement to buying gold, saying accumulating bullion will reap long-term rewards as leading central banks loosen monetary policy and the rise of cryptocurrencies serves only to reinforce demand for genuinely hard assets.

CEO Peter Grosskopf: The debate over gold’s place in a modern investment portfolio has been well covered. Call it the “Pet Rock” versus the “End of Fiat Currency” grudge match. But the facts are not subject to such intense interpretation....An enormous transformation of the gold market can occur once digital gold attracts the volumes needed to make it a serious business.

Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said nothing is stopping the U.S. from getting sucked into the global trend of negative yielding debt, Bloomberg reported Tuesday.

• The acquisition of Tocqueville Gold Strategies will increase Adjusted base EBTDA in the area of 25%.
• Continued lending growth will increase Adjusted base EBITDA going forward.
• Higher metal prices will already increase Adjusted base EBITDA from the exchange listed products segment.

The world’s top platinum and palladium supplier has an answer to the electric-car boom that may pose a long-term threat to its biggest market: invent a new battery.

Shares of Sprott have seen a 47-per-cent increase this year as gold prices continue to climb higher. Sprott CEO Peter Grosskopf joins BNN Bloomberg to discuss his outlook for the precious metal and the firm's acquisition of Tocqueville Asset Management's gold business.

Gold edged up on Monday, holding above the psychological $1,500 level, amid concerns over slowing global economic growth as the trade war between Washington and Beijing drags on.

Gold futures settled virtually unchanged Friday but marked the best weekly return in more than a month, amid Italian political jitters and another wrinkle in the U.S.-China trade talks.

Whitney George, president of Sprott, and John Hathaway of Tocqueville Asset Management have been talking for more than a year about a deal. But the announcement on Monday that Sprott Asset Management will acquire Tocqueville’s gold equities asset management business appears impeccably timed, as stock prices sink around the globe and gold’s appeal as a safe haven rises.

Global economic uncertainty has investors so fearful of the future, the world’s cache of government bonds that trade at negative rates has ballooned to a new record high.

Gold rose to its highest level in more than six years on Wednesday as concerns about the global economy made the precious metal and other traditional safe havens more attractive than riskier assets like stocks.

Sprott Inc. (TSX: SII) and Tocqueville Asset Management today announced that Sprott Asset Management LP (“SAM”) and Tocqueville have entered into a definitive agreement regarding the acquisition by SAM of the Tocqueville gold strategies.

There’s a powerful constant amid the to-and-fro of the U.S.-China trade war as currency policy gets dragged into the standoff between the world’s two top economies: Beijing wants more gold in its reserves.

July was positive for both gold and silver, which were propelled by the Fed’s interest rate cut on July 31, its first cut in 11 years. Any hope that this is a "one and done" rate hike has quickly been dashed with the latest U.S.-China trade war salvo. The long-term picture remains firmly intact. Gold and silver continue to rise as the market adjusts to a new central bank easing cycle.

Gold futures rallied above $1,500 an ounce on sustained demand for the traditional haven as the U.S.-China trade war festers, global growth slows and central banks around the world ease monetary policy.

Global gold demand rose 8% in the first half of this year to the highest since 2016, driven by central bank buying and a flood of investment into gold-backed exchange traded funds (ETFs), the World Gold Council said on Thursday.

Central bank buying and healthy ETF inflows were the driving forces behind gold demand throughout the first half of 2019. Growth in H1 jewellery demand was largely the product of a more positive environment for Indian consumers. Shifts in bar and coin investment were very much price-related: as the gold price powered its way to multi-year highs, profit-taking kicked in and retail investment all but dried up.

“The wind is now at our backs and we believe that both gold and silver will climb higher,” Maria Smirnova, senior portfolio manager at Sprott Asset Management, wrote in a recent report. “Silver, in particular, has the potential to outperform gold significantly,” she said.

PM Maria Smirnova: "We predicted that 2019 could surprise to the upside. YTD, through the Friday, July 19 close, gold bullion was up 11.14% and silver bullion has gained 4.58%....The wind is now at our backs and we believe that both gold and silver will climb higher. Silver, in particular, has the potential to significantly outperform gold."

Ray Dalio, founder of investment firm Bridgewater Associates, adamantly restates his case for gold: "It is also a good time to ask what will be the next-best currency or storehold of wealth to have when most reserve currency central bankers want to devalue their currencies in a fiat currency system.... I believe that it would be both risk-reducing and return-enhancing to consider adding gold to one’s portfolio."

Like a lot of industries, gold miners have had a bumpy but pretty dramatic rise this year, with most of the ETFs in the category outperforming the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) during the first half of the year through July 10.

Last week, gold bullion continued its bullish consolidation ($1,380 support, $1,440 resistance), and gold equities recovered to touch new 52-week highs as Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell reaffirmed the likelihood of a July 31 interest rate cut.

Key Insights:

• Financial market uncertainty and accommodative monetary policy will likely support gold investment demand

• Price momentum and positioning may fuel rallies and create pullbacks, as investors continuously reassess their expectations based on new information

• Weaker economic growth may soften gold consumer demand near term, but structural economic reforms in India and China will likely support long-term demand.

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell told Congress on Wednesday that he doesn’t think a return to the gold standard in the U.S. would be a good idea.

President Donald Trump has grown concerned that the strengthening U.S. dollar is a threat to his economic agenda and has asked aides to cast about for ways to weaken the greenback, according to people familiar with the matter.

The backdrop for miners is ready to brighten in the second half of this year. They just need a resolution of the trade war between the U.S. and China to light a fire under their stocks.

Gold has had some reputational issues since reaching a record high in 2011. The thesis at the time was that a massive expansion of the money supply via the Federal Reserve’s quantitative easing program would spark hyper-inflation, making hard assets more attractive than financial assets.

Central banks are going after gold in 2019, boosting holdings as economic growth slows, trade and geopolitical tensions rise, and some authorities seek to diversify their reserves away from the dollar.

Silver is approaching a historic level of cheapness compared to gold. PSLV currently trades at a discount to its net asset value signaling that bullish sentiment could significantly increase PSLV's price.

To recap gold’s positive trend, gold continues to trade above the $1,370/80 per ounce level which verifies a critical multi-year base breakout. Gold’s rise has been impressive as multiple assets have corroborated the move, and the price action on many gold-related assets has been emphatic.

Seeking Alpha contributor Power Hedge makes the case for silver after June's impressive gains.

India raised the import duties on gold and other precious metals on Friday in a surprise move that industry officials say could dampen retail demand and boost smuggling in the world’s second-biggest bullion consumer.

Silver’s demand is picking up with the metal seeing the largest daily ETF inflow over the past year, says BMO Global Commodities Research.

Veteran investor Mark Mobius says that gold’s set to push higher, potentially topping $1,500 an ounce, as interest rates head lower, central banks extend purchases, and uncertainty surrounding geopolitics and cryptocurrencies fans demand.

Gold is headed for the longest stretch of weekly gains since 2011 as investors count down to the release of a highly anticipated U.S. jobs report that could provide clues on the Federal Reserve’s interest rate path.

Gold is glistening. The precious metal has rallied 11% this year, with much of the move occurring in the last several months, as concerns around slowing global growth and U.S.-China trade tensions took hold among investors.

Investors shouldn’t give up on silver even as it continues to disappoint within the precious metals space, according to one market analyst.

After several unsuccessful attempts to put his preferred candidates on the Fed's board, moments ago Donald Trump announced that he intends to nominate Christopher Waller, who is currently the Executive VP and Director of Research, at the St. Louis Fed, to the board of the Federal Reserve. Prior to his current position, Christopher served as a professor and Chair of Economics at Notre Dame.

CEO Peter Grosskopf: Gold has moved above the critical $1,400 mark for the first time in nearly six years. We believe that gold may be decisively breaking out of a six-year cycle and that this may be the beginning of a powerful multi-year rally. It's an opportune moment for CEO Peter Grosskopf to share his guidance on gold investing.

Rick Rule, Senior Managing Director of Sprott, interviews Trevor Raymond, Director of Research at the World Platinum Investment Council, about promising signs for the platinum market, after several years of weakness.

Gold’s bullish momentum has rolled into a new week. Prices extended their advance above US$1,400 an ounce, near the highest level since September 2013, after the Federal Reserve and other central banks turned more dovish on monetary policy.

Gold bugs are finally having a moment. The price of gold topped $1,400 an ounce Friday. That's the highest level since September 2013. The price of gold is now up nearly 10% this year. Gold has gained momentum thanks to expectations of a rate cut by the Federal Reserve as soon as next month.

Gold is back in favor. Prices have galloped this month, passing $1,400 an ounce for the first time since 2013. 

This gold mania will be riding the wave of an incredibly powerful trend… the re-monetization of gold. The last time the international monetary system experienced a paradigm shift of this magnitude was in 1971.

Until this month, gold held claim to the title of being one of the most boring asset classes. Prices barely budged and popularity was fading. 

After the May swoon, Wall Street staged a strong comeback on hopes of monetary easing across the globe.

Kolkata: Premium on silver has doubled in the Indian bullion market in the past one week as supply has fallen due to aggressive buying by China, which is buying the metal for industrial usage.

Investors haven't been this pessimistic since the global financial crisis of 2008. 

Gold hit its highest since April last year on Friday as intensifying political concerns in the Middle East and weak economic data from China and the United States pushed it above the $1,350 level.

DoubleLine CEO Jeffrey Gundlach is betting on gold. “I am certainly long gold,” Gundlach said in an investor webcast Thursday. He added his trade is based on the expectation that the dollar will finish the year lower.

The income and cash flow situation of the U.S. Federal Government continues to deteriorate and this poses very real risks to the value of the U.S. dollar....This sort of environment would be quite good for gold and silver. Sprott Physical Gold and Silver Trust (CEF) is perhaps one of the best alternatives to owning physical gold and silver due to the fact that it is fully backed and redeemable for precious metals held in allocated accounts. 

China extended its gold-buying spree, adding to reserves for a sixth straight month, as the protracted trade war with the U.S. hurts growth expectations and boosts demand for a portfolio diversifier.

What’s better than GOLD? In the wake of two mega-mergers that have reset the gold industry, one small detail has delighted Mark Bristow, Barrick Gold Corp.’s chief executive officer: His company’s ability to secure the rights to trade its stock under the ticker GOLD in New York.

As we do every month, we have now published our widely watched central bank statistics. These figures give a clear view of central bank activity and how gold reserves are evolving. No cooling off period. The initial data for April – released by the IMF – shows demand remains in rude health. Net purchases amounted to healthy 43t, 8% higher month-on-month.

There is too much debt in the world, especially government debt. Easy money, low rates, monetary manipulation, the balance sheets of central banks and all the rest of it have stored up a host of problems, and when the dam breaks it will be nasty. Gold is thus an essential diversifier in everybody’s portfolio.

Governments around the world have recently been on a “gold-buying spree.” These countries have a tactful reason for doing so, and this reason is directly tied to the anticipation of the inevitable end of US hegemony.

In 2010, the world’s central banks stopped selling gold and started accumulating it. As gold provides a hedge against economic uncertainty and currency manipulation, the action of these central banks gives us insight as to which countries are most capable of handling an economic storm.

Charley Wright of Strategic Investor Radio interviews Ed Coyne, Sprott Senior Managing Director. They discuss Coyne's unconventional career path from architecture to finance, and explore why precious metals are one of the best alternatives for investor portfolios.

India's gold imports in May jumped 49 per cent from a year earlier to 116 tonnes as a correction in local prices during a key festival boosted retail demand, a government source said on Tuesday.

Donald Luskin writes that a consensus for a June interest rate cut is forming: "In the present expansion, the funds-10 curve inverted in late March. So far, at least Powell has not made the mistake of hiking rates. But he hasn’t cut them. We think he should, and we think he will."

Ron Dewhurst has assumed the chairmanship of North American global mining and resources investment powerhouse Sprott Inc., and shares his excitement about the company’s strengths.

Thomas Kaplan, The Electrum Group Chairman, talks about why central banks buy so much gold. He appears on the latest episode of "The David Rubenstein Show: Peer-to-Peer Conversations."

Thomas Kaplan, The Electrum Group founder, tells David Rubenstein that he believes gold prices will increase to "$3,000 to $5,000 if not a lot higher depending on macro circumstances."

A two month bitcoin rally has reignited the gold-versus-bitcoin debate. We view such either-or comparisons of gold and bitcoin as somewhat specious, because we see little commonality between the two assets. Gold continues to function as a reliable store of value and productive portfolio-diversifying asset. In contrast, bitcoin continues to augment its reputation as a highly erratic speculation. Bitcoin’s investment merits, at least to date, have proven distinctly different from gold’s portfolio utility.

Gold continues to shine for billionaire investor Ray Dalio, who increased his fund’s holdings of the yellow metal during the first quarter of 2019.

In January 1986, Ronald Reagan marched into a meeting of his economic advisory board and let off steam about inflation. “I used to pay $50 for a suit,” he fumed. “Now $50 will hardly get it cleaned.” By way of a culprit, Reagan fingered the idea of fiat currency — currency that is not backed by gold or some other commodity, and that can therefore be printed at will, in unlimited quantities.

From my review, it appears that PHYS offers a compelling alternative to gold ETFs. As can be seen, in the 5 areas in which I offer a comparative evaluation, PHYS takes the win in 3 of the 5, with the other two areas, in my opinion, evaluating to a tie.

If you thought the Federal Reserve was done with quantitative easing, you might only be half right.

Real assets encompass a range of investment options that offer diverse benefits. Incorporating alternative investments into a portfolio can protect investors against small utility and downside risk. In this Masterclass, 4 experts discuss real assets with a focus on real state and gold. 

Fear is finally making its way back into the financial markets and pushing gold higher, said Eric Sprott, billionaire precious metals investor and founder of Sprott Inc.

As the platinum industry heads for its annual gathering in London, the question is whether one of the worst-performing metals of the last few years can sustain its recent recovery.

Artigas argues that gold is a unique asset with characteristics not found in any other asset, including bitcoin specifically and cryptocurrencies more broadly.

CEO Peter Grosskopf: "Most investors do not realize that gold is one of the world’s most liquid currencies and assets, trading with volumes equivalent to those of the euro or U.S. Treasury bond benchmarks. Although similar in philosophy, gold blows Bitcoin away on any measure by which the two can be compared....Perhaps now is finally the time for investors to benefit from a 'life preserver' while others enjoy the card game on the decks of the central bank-piloted Titanic."

Many of the world’s elite investors turn to gold to hedge against the prospect of a bear market ― a prolonged downturn which sees stock prices fall by at least 20% over two months or more. Gold is considered the undisputed king of uncorrelated assets, and is a proven, safe haven investment that lets investors sleep at night.

Two prominent market voices squared off Wednesday over the future of cryptocurrencies in a debate that ended with a bet over a T-shirt.

U.S. debt has climbed to an alarming level, according to DoubleLine CEO Jeffrey Gundlach.

The macroeconomic outlook points to an increased physical deficit for silver, but higher investment demand is what will ultimately drive prices up, said Maria Smirnova, senior portfolio manager at Sprott Asset Management.

Tocqueville and Sprott Asset Management smell opportunity in a woebegone asset: gold. Julie Segal interviews John Hathaway, Tocqueville Asset Management, and Whitney George, Chief Investment Officer of Sprott Asset Management. 

Maria Smirnova, Senior Portfolio Manager, discusses silver's challenging investment environment. She writes: "With silver's price hovering at $15 per ounce, we see tremendous investment upside — with little downside — given what we view as very positive developments in the market."

Senior Portfolio Manager Trey Reik: "On the surface, precious metals activity was subdued for the week ending Friday, April 26. Spot gold rose 0.85% to $1,290.35 and continues to hover just below the $1,300 threshold, with trading reflecting a technical tone."

Silver has been a lackluster performer this year, but as investors’ appetite for gold improves, silver might share in the yellow metal’s prosperity. Barron's magazine checks in with Sprott's Maria Smirnova to find out more.

Unlike the other gold funds such as GLD, the Sprott Physical Gold Trust is structured as a closed-end fund. This gives it a major advantage over the exchange-traded fund structure in that it does not have to constantly buy and sell gold to ensure that there is always the correct amount of gold for the number of shares outstanding...

Senior Portfolio Manager Trey Reik: "After a lot of late-March huffing and puffing in COMEX markets to achieve a month-end close for spot gold below $1,300, trading in physical gold markets proved especially robust during the first week of April.  To us, this suggests gold’s sub-$1,300 spot price is destined to be short lived."

President Trump and White House advisor Larry Kudlow are baiting Chairman Powell to cut interest rates — but Powell himself said last year that he would listen to an inverted yield curve. Don Luskin breaks down the recent changes to the 10-year yield curve and suggests a way for Powell to independently react.

Senior Portfolio Manager Trey Reik: "Trading in gold markets during the week of 3/25/19 seemed heavily influenced by calendar-related items."

Vladimir Putin’s quest to break Russia’s reliance on the U.S. dollar has set off a literal gold rush.

Gold traded in the red Tuesday, at risk of giving back the bulk of a Monday gain that landed the metal at its best finish in about a month.

Senior Portfolio Manager Trey Reik: "This past week witnessed an unusually rich sequence of gold supportive events. Indeed, four successive developments came so fast and furious that we expect strong performance in the gold complex in coming weeks as investors have a bit more time to process the significance of recent news flow."

Gold settled higher Friday, amid haven buying, overcoming strength in the U.S. dollar as investors reacted to fresh global growth fears and a recessionary alarm bell sounding in the bond market.

The Russian central bank continues its quest to diversify away from the U.S. dollar, adding another million ounces to its gold holdings in February.

Senior Portfolio Manager Trey Reik: "We suspect gold equities are poised for a span of significant nominal and relative performance. We have entered a new mergers and acquisitions (M&A) cycle which we believe will provide a strong catalyst for gold miners in 2019."

The price of the metal - mainly used in autocatalysts in gasoline vehicles - has almost doubled from a recent low in August. Demand has remained robust as manufacturers scramble to get hold of palladium to meet more stringent emissions controls, particularly in China, even as auto sales in key markets slow.

Palladium hit its highest ever on Tuesday, crossing the $1,600 an ounce mark for the first time as news that Russia is planning to ban exports of precious metals scrap fueled concerns over an already supply-constrained market.

Suddenly, platinum is attracting investor attention even though the market is in clear surplus. Despite the fact that prices had been falling in recent years — widening the differential with gold and palladium — investor interest in platinum is increasing possibly because of ‘perceived value’.

“The precious metals market is about to resume a rally, in our view, on the back of a surge in the palladium price,” BI’s senior commodity strategist Mike McGlone wrote in his March report. “For the first time in five years, the Bloomberg Precious Metals Spot Subindex is poking above its 72-month average.

Gold and silver prices are higher and hit two-week highs in early U.S. trading Wednesday. Chart-based buying and bargain hunting are featured this week. Another mild U.S. inflation report Wednesday is also bullish for the precious metals markets. April gold futures were last up $9.50 an ounce at $1,307.50. May Comex silver was last up $0.082 at $15.495 an ounce.

Bloomberg's Mike McGlone and Abigail Doolittle discuss gold's low volatility in the current market.

A push by the world’s biggest gold miners to get even bigger will likely have a knock-on effect among their competitors, adding new vigor to an industry that failed to inspire investor support in 2018.

Kitco's Daniela Cambone and Rick Rule discuss M&A in the mining sector and why everyone should own gold, even if Warren Buffet is a non-believer.

Consolidation among smaller gold miners was expected to be top of mind as the industry met in Toronto March 3-6 at the PDAC 2019 Convention, the world's biggest mining conference. Maria Smirnova, Senior Portfolio Manager at Sprott Asset Management, weighed in on several pending mining deals. She sees a higher gold price providing more momentum for deal making.

Peter Grosskopf, Sprott CEO, joins BNN Bloomberg and shares his insights on growing interest and investment in gold bullion. Grosskopf opines on the state of the precious metals industry and why he believes dynamics support more M&A activity.

Senior Portfolio Manager Trey Reik: "Given the seminal nature of catalysts now in play for precious metals, we felt the timing appropriate for a comprehensive review of factors driving the gold price. In this report, we have compiled our Top 10 List of fundamentals supporting a portfolio allocation to gold in 2019."

Get our positive outlook on gold and gold equities. Watch/listen to this webcast replay featuring Ed Coyne, EVP at Sprott Asset Management and special guest John Hathaway, Senior Portfolio Manager at Tocqueville Asset Management.

Financial Journalist Liz Claman interviews Ed Coyne, EVP at Sprott Asset Management, on his 2019 outlook for gold bullion and gold equities. Gold beat U.S. equities for the month of December, the fourth quarter, and the full calendar year of 2018. Sprott believes that precious metals are poised for a multi-year uptrend, and we advocate a 5-10% permanent portfolio allocation for most investors.

Senior Portfolio Manager Trey Reik: "We believe that gold bullion and gold mining equities may be poised for a multi-year uptrend. Gold bullion beat U.S. equities for the month of December, the fourth quarter, and the full calendar year of 2018. We suggested throughout 2018 that the catalyst for gold’s next important rally would be growing recognition that the Fed’s current tightening cycle was reaching a conclusion."

Palladium has been a standout performer, more than doubling in price in three years 2016 to 2018. YTD the white-hot metal is up more than 10% as of January 16, 2019. Palladium’s rise is best understood by analyzing its unique supply-demand dynamics. Russia and South Africa account for nearly 80% of the world's production, and a chronic supply deficit keeps pushing prices higher.

John Ciampaglia, CEO Sprott Asset Management: "Palladium is a key component for ICE autocatalysts. While the escalating U.S.-China trade war hurt many commodities in 2018, palladium continued to rise. Spot palladium gained 18.6% in 2018 and has climbed 124% since the beginning of 2016."

Ed Coyne, EVP National Sales at Sprott Asset Management, joins a panel of real assets experts to discuss whether it’s time to hunt for investments largely unconnected to financial markets, given the Dow Jones Industrial Average's flirtation with new highs in 2018.

Senior Portfolio Manager Trey Reik weighs in on why the Fed is likely to pause its rates hikes: "We have maintained that financial asset prices cannot sustain rising rates with this much debt in the global financial system.... To us, it seems pretty clear there are growing rumblings for at least a pause in rate hikes. Gold is likely to erupt if this transpires."

Got gold? We expect asset markets to come to terms with the Fed’s dual policy agenda of simultaneous rate hikes and balance sheet reduction — which amounts to little more than glorified brinkmanship. Recent market weakness supports our contention that Fed tightening is pinching global liquidity to a degree which threatens reigning valuations of traditional financial assets. 

We believe gold sentiment may be turning in our favor. For the first time in 17 years commercial participants in gold futures — generally regarded as the “smart money” — have flipped their COMEX positioning to net long.

Platinum is one of the rarest of metals but often flies under the radar. In Part 1, we provide a Platinum Primer and explain why we are bullish on this essential metal, which plays a critical role in the automotive, industrial and jewelry sectors. 

As investors flee the emerging markets and seek the safety of the U.S. dollar and U.S. equities, they've increased their short positions in commodities. Most surprisingly, and counterintuitively, bets against precious metals (gold, silver and platinum) have reached record levels.

It's been a frustrating summer for gold bugs. Senior PM Trey Reik discusses how "emerging markets dislocation and the stored force in collapsing EM currencies is funneling towards a strengthening U.S. dollar, and in turn reflexively pressuring the gold price.” In the face of this bearish sentiment, we are encouraging Sprott clients to exploit summer price movements in precious metals to their maximum advantage. 

Portfolio Manager Shree Kargutkar believes that “gold may prove to be the ultimate winner given the most recent trade conflicts.” Despite the U.S. dollar's recent strength Kargutkar argues that it is likely to be short-lived, and that all the elements are in place for a durable bull market for precious metals and precious metal equities.

Senior Portfolio Manager Trey Reik answers the question: Why isn’t gold doing better? After trading in a bullish consolidation pattern for 18 months, gold appears to have lost some of its mojo. Trump’s June 1 tariff announcements and the U.S. dollar's spring rally have hurt gold and other commodities. Reik counters by arguing that gold’s price stability has been fairly unique among asset classes, and that right now is a fortuitous entry point for portfolio allocations to gold.

In this report, we employ the analytical framework of periphery to core.  We have organized this letter around evidence that the Fed’s dual policy goals are straining financial conditions in peripheral components of four critical sectors:  emerging markets, global financial institutions, U.S. corporate credits and U.S. consumer credits. 

"Silver commands an established precious-metal pedigree, while simultaneously boasting a wide array of active economic functions,' writes Senior Portfolio Manager Trey Reik. This report explores silver's bullish supply/demand fundamentals and why this bodes well for higher silver prices ahead.

Senior Portfolio Manager Trey Reik responds to Warren Buffet’s distaste for gold, staunchly reconfirmed by Buffett at the May 5 Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholder Meeting. Reik finds Buffet’s gold-versus-stocks comparison self impeaching, and suggests that a prudent allocation to gold could improve the risk-adjusted returns even for Berkshire Hathaway.

Senior Portfolio Manager Trey Reik presents analysis suggesting the Fed’s dual agenda of rate hikes and QT balance-sheet reduction is already straining global liquidity to the peril of reigning financial asset valuations. In order to arrest deflationary forces, at least in part of their own making, we expect the Fed to scale back telegraphed FOMC policy by yearend.

Sprott Global Investment Executive Kenton Ralph Toews looks more closely at how commodities, relative to equities, are at their most undervalued in decades. Gold is especially inexpensive relative to the S&P 500. 

Sprott Asset Management CEO John Ciampaglia examines the relative merits of gold and cryptocurrencies as these two alternatives to traditional fiat currencies duke it out in the “monetary” boxing ring of investor sentiment.

Sprott's Ed Coyne and Trey Reik discuss the importance of gold to investment portfolios.

The calm of equity markets across the world was rudely interrupted in February by a sudden spike in volatility which impacted virtually every asset class. Volatility across equities, bonds, currencies and commodities rose sharply during the month and remained elevated into March.

Senior Portfolio Manager Trey Reik looks beyond the short-term damage of the Feb. 5 market selloff, and explores why the current fed tightening cycle is likely to increase the stress on individual consumers and inflict damage across a broad spectrum on financial assets.

With the beginning of the new year, we have entered a seasonally strong period for gold bullion and gold equities. Gold bullion posted a strong gain of 3.23% in January, ending the month at $1,345.15 per ounce. While sentiment towards gold has improved from frigid to luke-warm, sentiment towards precious metals equities remains downright bearish.

Executive VP Ed Coyne discusses Sprott's acquisition of the Central Fund of Canada and launch of the Sprott Physical Gold and Silver Trust.

Gold bullion rose a respectable 13.09% in 2017, posting its strongest annual gain since 2010. Senior Portfolio Manager Trey Reik explores why gold's performance stacks up well against other alternative asset classes.

Senior Portfolio Manager Trey Reik takes a closer look at Trump's tax reform. Eager for the tax bill to pass, Trump boasts in a recent tweet, “It will be the BIGGEST TAX CUT and TAX REFORM in the HISTORY of our country!” We disagree. 

Portfolio Manager Shree Kargutkar says, "gold is likely to benefit in early 2018 from its traditional first quarter strength."  He also explains why gold mining equities are cheap right now, and why high-quality miners are positioned for strong earnings performances.

Maria Smirnova, Senior Portfolio Manager, discusses precious metals, and how it is getting much harder to find new deposits, given the drop-off in exploration budgets. She explains how an allocation to gold and silver in an investment portfolio can reduce volatility.

Senior Portfolio Manager Trey Reik examines the interplay between gold bullion and gold equities. This relationship has been noteworthy in 2017, given an anomalous performance gap that we believe may provide investment opportunity for precious metals investors.

Maria Smirnova, Senior Portfolio Manager, shares key takeaways from the Silver Institute’s 3rd Silver Industrial Conference that focused on “Silver’s Evolving Role in Science and Technology.” Smirnova looks at silver’s expanding role given its use in solar, automotive, electronics and healthcare applications, and explains why we are bullish on the metal. 

Senior Portfolio Manager Trey Reik discusses why gold has spent the past seven months in a tight trading range between $1,200 and $1,300 per ounce. Given the stored force inherent in such a trading pattern, history suggests a breakout, whether up or down, is likely to be characterized by a steep slope. The question remains, which direction will gold follow?

"Silver commands an established precious-metal pedigree, while simultaneously boasting a wide array of active economic functions,' writes Senior Portfolio Manager Trey Reik. This report explores silver's bullish supply/demand fundamentals and why this bodes well for higher silver prices ahead.

Senior Portfolio Manager Trey Reik asks: "What is fueling this record-breaking investor complacency? We would suggest market perceptions of risk have been all but extinguished by relentless provision of central bank liquidity." He explains why gold's pullback is a reflection of persistent strength in U.S. equity markets.

Senior Portfolio Manager Trey Reik identifies ten market variables we view as bullish for the gold price: "With respect to precious metals, we have rarely observed such a confluence of gold-supportive technical and quantitative variables across such a wide spectrum of relevant asset classes."

Senior Portfolio Manager Trey Reik looks at gold's lackluster performance in March: "We attribute this swift shift largely to a short stretch of particularly impassioned Fed jawboning, book-ended by the FOMC’s two crucial thought-leaders, Vice Chairman William Dudley and Chair Janet Yellen."