• Author

  Jim Kingsland

  Category

  Comments

  0

  Shaky Labor Markets; Gold Developments

  BREAKING EDIT:  Gold to rise to $1,700/oz in a month: UBS http://www.commodityonline.com/news/gold-to-rise-to-$1700oz-in-a-month-ubs-49501-3-49502.html

  8/3/12

  Should I even bother with the monthly employment numbers? Executive summary: The Unemployment rate ROSE to 8.3% in July. The Real unemployment rate ROSE to 15%. 155K more people gave up on finding work. Splendid, not.  This is why Obama and his cohorts pepper my email box with begging emails for money. With the real unemployment rate at 15% it’s no wonder there’s not enough dollars coming in. Ok, cheap partisan shot but the labor market is anything a picture of prosperity.

  GOLD

  There have been some interesting developments for gold and for coins. First this interesting little piece on an audit of gold held by the NY Fed by the U.S. Treasury:

  ZeroHedge | On a long enough timeline the survival rate for everyone drops to zero http://www.zerohedge.com/news/feds-gold-being-audited-us-treasury

  Then there is this story. It’s a common sense piece, but confirms what many resist in the coin industry establishment. This debate should have been over long ago on the need for CAC Coin Verification. It is sorely needed. I have always believed that coin slabs verified and stickered by CAC are the real deal for collectors. Those who knock CAC are advancing a negative agenda. This is a wake up call for the CAC non-fans. CAC has a positive impact on the coin industry – that there has been this phenomenon of grade inflation (gradeflation) that has hurt the industry. CAC is righting a big wrong. So CAC has an even more important and positive impact on the collector – people who put the food in the mouths of the coin dealer.

  Comprehensive Market Study Reveals CAC Price Premiums http://www.coinweek.com/?p=16025

  Jim again: So take that PCGS and NGC (the only slabs that CAC verifies)! I should take this a level deeper. PCGS and NGC, the dominant coin graders, grade the modern stuff that is regurgitated constantly by the U.S. Mint (something that CAC does not verify). The two grading services ought not to be flooding the world with MS-70 perfection grade modern slabs! But, of course, how do you keep monthly coin grading volume going to the tune of tens of thousands of coins graded per month? Bingo! Create modern coin slabs with enchanting grades of MS70. It’s a travesty how an item bearing but an ounce of silver (as an example) gains a worth 3x its melt value because it has an MS70 grade. Large wholesale dealers have confided to me that enough of the MS70 coins of recent vintage have little imperfections that can be seen by the unaided eye. I’m sorry, that is not MS70 stuff in my book. The modern slabs are supposed to be perfect, but true actual perfection is quite different from the theoretical statements of the Mint. I could go many levels deeper, but I will leave it at that. Obviously highly experienced collectors can navigate the dangers of the coin market without the help of a CAC sticker, but for masses of collectors, CAC provides an invaluable service and levels of protection from making errors and confirmation about a coin’s grade by the grading services. But that would be another post for another day; and even for the most experienced collectors CAC stickered slabs add additional investment worth which for some is of great importance.

  But I digress. Congratulations are in order for the positive impact CAC is having on the coin industry.

  Some brief market thoughts

  The price of gold is managing to stick near $1600 – that’s a positive. This area will remain a battle ground until actual QE comes from the ECB, or the Fed. Seeing higher lows after a year is reason to be encouraged though in the overall market environment, bear raids are always a possibility regardless of real time fundamentals, or positive future prospects (for gold).

  The stock market is marching to its own tune as usual. It is higher. My only caution is that if Spain and Italian yields resume their mad dash higher, look for a pullback i stocks. Wall Street seems sure that aid from the Fed will eventually come. I think it’s a buy the expectation, sell the news proposition. Remember the old saw, don’t fight the Fed. Enjoy the gains while they last, although from recent experiences we know it can be a herky jerky experiences, up a few days with great enthusiasm, then down. It is important not to get married to positions.

  Other Linkage:

  Another California city files for bankruptcy http://huff.to/Oswxd5

  Robert Shiller Questions Whether Housing Has Bottomed, Sees Possible Bubbles: Robert Shiller of the Case Shiller… http://bit.ly/PGW12J

  2 buyers purchase all 627 of tax-foreclosed Macomb County properties at auction http://www.freep.com/article/20120803/NEWS04/308030121/2-buyers-purchase-all-627-of-tax-foreclosed-Macomb-County-properties-at-auction via @freep

• Previous post
• Next post

Top

No comments yet.