Articles from year 2008
 

 

December First Report ( December 1, 2008)
(12/1/08) The currently accepted consensus is that the various federal ‘rescues’ and ‘bailouts’ conceived over the past few months will clock in at some $7.5 trillion dollars. Or, to put it another way, $7,500,000,000,000.
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Why during Thanksgiving week is there more scary stuff out there than on Halloween?
(November 23, 2008)
And why does Christmas only make us think of ‘plunging seasonal retail sales?’ As for Happy New Year – go on, say it if you’ve got the nerve. How many ways can you say tumble, plummet, slump, dump, calamity, disaster, fall off a cliff, jump out a window? After a while, frightening headlines no longer surprise, or, for that matter, even register. The further fall of sales, prices, shares, confidence, employment, and the slowdown of the world’s economy in general starts to be taken for granted.
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Before We Give Thanks (November 23, 2008)
Why during Thanksgiving week is there more scary stuff out there than on Halloween? And why does Christmas only make us think of ‘plunging seasonal retail sales?’ As for Happy New Year – go on, say it if you’ve got the nerve.
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Gold As It Is Today (November 8, 2008)
Now in the sixth week of 2008's Great Gold Rush, gold bullion product remains scarce, demand for physical gold continues to be off the charts, while prices remain moribund. What’s a gold buyer to do?
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Gold Wakes Up, and Totally Falls out of Bed (October 25, 2008)
Last week, seemingly everything went down in price versus the dollar – US stocks, oil, most commodities, and spectacularly, gold, falling some 14% from the $801 London morning fix on 10/17/08 to $692.50 just a week later.
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The Worst Week Ever, and Gold Sleeps Through It (October 12, 2008)
It sure was a terrible week, with trillions of dollars of losses for the stock markets of the world, financial lockups and meltdowns everywhere, bailouts, takeovers, fretting, panic, and a general wailing and gnashing of teeth. Meanwhile, gold doesn't seem to be paying attention. What's up with that?
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Sold Out! (October 6, 2008)
 At this time, worldwide mints and refiners have been overwhelmed with demand for physical gold bullion. Unhappily, we are having to suspend further sales of our standard bullion products until such time as new supplies become available.
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A 21st Century Gold Rush (October 3, 2008)
Three weeks of unprecedented demand for gold bullion coins and bars have left the shelves of mints, refiners, distributors, and dealers virtually empty. There simply is not enough refining and production capacity to keep up with crisis-level demand.
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Genuine Shortages of Bullion Gold Products (September 25, 2008)
As bullion dealers, we are disappointed to announce what we hope is a temporary shortage of many of the most popular bullions products at this time. What has been rumor over the past few weeks is, unfortunately, now fact.
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The Gangbusters Week of Billions and Trillions (September 21, 2008)
A lot happened this week. Gold, for instance, soared from $778 on Wednesday's close to Thursday's after-hours high of $924, its biggest one-day price gain since 1980. Lehman, AIG, Merrill Lynch, and much of what used to be, no longer is. Gold sales are just gangbusters.
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Gold Update, Products and Possibilities (September 13, 2008)
The US market for physical gold bullion is going through extraordinary time, with demand surging in the face of a 25% drop in gold spot prices since March. So exactly where are we today?
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What is a Gold Bullion Supply Chain? (August 30, 2008)
Talk is everywhere of gold shortages. American dealers, it is said, are running out of gold bullion to sell. Delays in delivery are causing confusion. And of course, misunderstandings are flying at Internet speed.
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Remember GATA? Another Gold Conspiracy Unveiled!
(August 16, 2008) On Thursday 8/14/08, the Mint notified its bullion distributors that the 1-ounce size gold Eagles were out of stock and temporarily not on offer for a while, with more details to follow early next week. Then the fun began…
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How About Some Official Gloom & Doom? (July 15, 2008)
Any time gold prices go up $100 in a month, it’s certain that big money is betting that things in this world aren’t exactly going hunky-dory. Let’s take it from Ben Bernanke himself.
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Daddy, What Was Silver? (June 18, 2008)
Driving back from a Saturday jaunt down to old Tombstone, the rich pearl of the Arizona Territory during its silver mining boom circa 1879-1886, silver was definitely on my mind.
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What IS Money? (May 18, 2008)
In the early days of our country, before the expense of the Civil War required the Union to take unto itself the monopoly issuance of legal tender, paper money was a Hydra-headed agglomeration of notes both true and false. Today, our money is standardized and taken for granted, yet who can we believe about its true value?
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At the Phrase “Metric Tonne,” Hang Up Immediately (May 1, 2008)
For centuries, scams have been based on vast quantities of gold. The lure of treasure is strong, and tales of gold hoards lost, found, or available on the cheap have a universal appeal to those who can be convinced that money grows on trees.
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A Short Pause in the Action (April 7, 2008)
While gold corrects some 12% from its March 2008 (and all-time) high, we finally find space to breathe, clear off some old business, and try to throw some words up on the old website after a hectic first quarter.
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Another Saturday Morning Adventure in Coins (March 9, 2008)
To quote Jim Anchower, “I know it's been a long time since I rapped at ya, but things got crazy, if you know what I mean.” Gold soaring, paper crumbling, banks shaky, economy in recession – but let’s talk about my weekend.
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What IS Spot? (February 25, 2008)
One of the most frequently asked questions we hear lately is, why are our gold spot prices lower than what is reported in the media, such as CNBC or other business news programs?
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The MLK Day Panic of 2008 (January 28th, 2008)
Without a doubt, what we just saw was this century's most memorable week in world financial history. It included official recognition of a US recession, a pre-dawn rate cut by the Fed, a series of massive swings in equities and precious metals markets, and the return of the "rogue trader."
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Gold Hits an All-time High Price! Sort of. (January 9th, 2008)
 As recently as 2001, gold could be had for $258/ounce. Jill Leyland, the World Gold Council’s chief economist says: “Gold was considered old-fashioned.” On Wednesday, 1/9/08, gold traded at $879.50, a price never seen before.
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2008 and Gold – Here We Go! (January 2, 2008)
Gold’s rise of some 32% in 2007, from $638.75 on the first trading day, to the 12/31/07 closing price of $834.9 was its most spectacular year-on-year performance since 1979.
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