Gold and silver and yields, oh my

 

Prime Rib and Pork Chops and Scampi, Oh My

Gold prices fell over 1% after hitting a record high on Wednesday, as a stronger dollar and a rise in U.S. Treasury yields countered support from safe-haven demand linked to the Nov. 5 U.S. election and Middle East war.

Spot gold was down 1% to $2,721.12 per ounce as of 12:25 p.m. EDT (1410 GMT) after hitting a record high of $2,758.37 earlier in the session.

U.S. gold futures fell 0.9% to $2,734.60. ...

Spot silver fell 3.1% to $33.74 per ounce after hitting its highest price since late 2012 at $34.87 on Tuesday.

More.

Gold briefly surged to new high $2,740.37 today

 Spot gold was little changed at $2,723.25 per ounce, as of 1:35 p.m. ET (1735 GMT), after hitting a record $2,740.37 earlier in the session. U.S. gold futures settled 0.3% higher at $2,738.9. ... Spot silver was steady at $33.66 per ounce, after hitting its highest since late-2012 earlier in the session.

More.

Gold hits record high of $2,685.42, drags silver up to $32.71

 Silver rose to its highest level in nearly 12 years on Thursday, riding the coattails of gold’s rally to record peaks on interest rate cuts by major central banks.

Spot silver was 0.7% up at $32.06 per ounce, having hit $32.71 earlier in the day, its highest since December 2012. ...

Silver, which serves as both a safe-haven investment and a key material in industrial applications, has rallied more than 36% so far this year. ...

Spot gold, meanwhile, was up 0.6% at $2,673.06 per ounce, having hit a record high of $2,685.42 earlier in the day. U.S. gold futures for December delivery rose 0.4% to $2,695.8.

More.

This is your periodic reminder that the net worth of U.S. households is $151 trillion but there's only $2.3 trillion fiat currency in circulation anyway

https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/TNWBSHNO

https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/CURRCIR 

Meanwhile all the gold and silver in the world hardly close the gap: 

 

 

Remember all those stupid ads on conservative talk radio a few months ago about a breakout for silver?

There was even this story about it in April, "Silver On The Verge Of A Breakout".

Silver's down about 15% since April 19th when the story was published.

What they didn't tell you was the expected breakout was to the downside, and "it would be really nice of you to buy all this silver I need to unload".

Silver soared to 48.70 in April 2011, but it's been all downhill from there.

Twelve Times Today's Silver Price Means $279 Gold

Louis Woodhill doesn't get there by the same rule, but he's in the same ballpark in this story from May 2012, when the average price of gold was $1,586:

[I]t only makes sense that the gold price be set by the application of a rule, and not via discretion exercised by “experts”.

It is possible to imagine catastrophic consequences to setting the value of the dollar in terms of either a gold price of $800 or $1600/oz.  In The Golden Constant, Roy Jastram argued that, over time, gold maintains its value in terms of the general price level.  If Jastram is correct (and he may well be), the gold price that would be consistent with today’s general price level would be around $225/oz.

Based on the average price of silver in May 2012, twelve times that yielded $343 gold.

Plato's Gold/Silver Ratio was 12, Founding Fathers' 15. At this hour it is 59.7!

Socrates

Now answer this further question: you say that if one acquires more than the amount one has spent, it is gain?

Friend

I do not mean, when it is evil, but if one gets more gold or silver than one has spent.

Socrates

Now, I am just going to ask you about that. Tell me,  if one spends half a pound of gold and gets double that weight in silver, has one got gain or loss?

Friend

Loss, I presume, Socrates for one's gold is reduced to twice, instead of twelve times, the value of silver.

Socrates

But you see, one has got more; or is double not more than half?

Friend

Not in worth, the one being silver and the other gold.

-- Plato's Hipparchus 231cd

First They Came For Your Silver . . .

First they came for your silver (1964, last year minted).

Then they came for your dollar (1971, final year of dollar convertibility to gold).

Then they came for your tax deductions (1986 Tax "Reform" repealed deductibility of credit card interest).

Then they came for your mortgages (1997, introduction of two year rule to get you to borrow and churn).

Then they came for your banks (1999, allowed commercial banks to act like investment banks but with FDIC backstop).

Now they are coming for your bank deposits (2013, Cyprus), and not coincidentally, your guns.

Next it will be your 401ks and IRAs.

And then?

Of course there were other firsts before 1964, but these will do for now.