precious metals

U.S. Mint runs out

Yesterday there were two headlines of interest. One of which was about gold.

(Reuters) - The U.S. mint sold 190,000 1-ounce American Eagle gold coins in May, the largest number since January 1999, and the most in any month so far in 2010, according to a spokesman for the U.S. agency.

The other news article was about silver.

The United States Mint’s bullion 2010 American Silver Eagles posted their best May and second best sales month in history, according to the most recent figures available from the Mint.
In just the one month, buyers purchased an astonishing 3,636,500 of the one ounce .999 fine silver coins. This number smashes the old May record of 1,904,500 set last year.
May 2010 sales fell short of the best month ever by only 59,500.

So with all that gold and silver leaving the mint, I guess today's bulletins aren't really all that surprising.

Feds Go After JP Morgan Chase for Silver Market Manipulation

The New York Post is reporting:

Federal agents have launched parallel criminal and civil probes of JPMorgan Chase and its trading activity in the precious metals market, The Post has learned.

The probes are centering on whether or not JPMorgan, a top derivatives holder in precious metals, acted improperly to depress the price of silver, sources said.

What's this guy Smokin'?

Sometimes I am amazed how status quo blowhards can get published and really good writing like midtowng, New Deal, Robert Oak can get overlooked.

Today was one of the status quo days as David Hirst asked the question What's blowing the golden bubble?. Following is this assinine statement:

Gold became an unsatisfactory medium of exchange as the world entered the modern age. Cash, banknotes and cheques were far superior to gold, especially when backed by gold.

It is in the US where the great gold debate is centred.

America is a gold-loving nation. Gold could well be added to the "three Gs" that kept the Republicans in power in recent times: God, gays and guns.

America is a gold loving nation? Is he serious? It is barely on the radar of Joe Sixpack. I will save you the agony of reading the entire article but some of my choice hilites are: