Welcome to this week's Market Wrap Podcast, I'm Mike Gleason.
Summer doldrums? Maybe for President Obama's popularity, but not for precious metals markets.
Both gold and silver extended their summer rallies this week and reached their highest respective levels since March. Gold spot prices come in at $1,336 per ounce as of the Thursday market close, up 1% on the week heading into Friday as the yellow heads for its sixth straight weekly gain.
Also up for the sixth week in a row is silver, thanks to a 1.5% gain on Thursday, pushing prices up to $21.47 an ounce as of this Thursday evening recording.
The Platinum Group Metals are also moving to the upside, led again by palladium. Palladium recorded a fresh new multi-year high this week and closed Thursday at $877 an ounce, up about 2% on the week.
We've been talking about palladium over the past year, and the palladium story continues to be noteworthy. Last week, the white metal broke above its ten-year high and is showing strong leadership in the precious metals complex.
Metals markets are also showing strength because of the continuing breakdown in Iraq. More disturbing news came out of Iraq this week as Islamic militants who are gaining control of Iraqi cities obtained low grade nuclear material.
Here at home, our federal government still can't or won't secure our own border, precipitating an illegal immigrant influx crisis. And then there's the strain it places on America's lavish social services -- paid for by government borrowing. This spiraling situation is another reason why Americans are losing all confidence in their government and its leaders.
A recent Quinnipiac poll showed that Americans now rate Barack Obama the worst president since World War II. But Republicans aren't exactly enjoying enthusiastic support among the public, either. The approval rating for Congress now sits at historic lows.
The Republican Party establishment suffered a humiliating defeat last month when Eric Cantor became the first sitting House majority leader to lose a primary. Few in the mainstream media saw it coming. And few in the public trust the mainstream media anymore. Polls show confidence in newspaper and television reporting has also hit all-time lows.
The American people are exhibiting a healthy skepticism of the party line. But unfortunately, many people who are independent minded when it comes to politics take passive, conventional approaches to investing – putting their faith in the Wall Street party line and the dollar-denominated investments pushed by brokers.
It may be only a matter of time before public confidence in the mismanaged U.S. dollar plunges to new depths as well. So the question we all need to ask ourselves is just how confident are you in the Fed's ability and willingness to protect the value of our paper currency? The less confident you are, the more you need to diversify out of dollars and conventional paper assets.
The only types of assets that require no faith in executives, politicians, bankers or counterparties are raw commodities with intrinsic value, such as gold, silver, platinum, palladium, and copper. Physical metals can never go to zero, no matter what happens in elections or the economy.
By contrast, the system of fiat money is literally one big confidence game. The American people can – and probably will – express a growing lack of confidence in the dollar by moving into physical precious metals in a much bigger way than they have to date.
In reality, very very few Americans own any physical gold or silver bullion – they number less than 1% by all accounts. That means there are a heck of a lot of people who could become metals buyers in the future, as the people wake up to the importance of these time-tested assets in such times.
We at Money Metals are proud of our efforts to help educate the public about sound money and the opportunities to own it in bullion form. We hope you'll help get the word out to your friends. We'll even reward you for doing so.
Under our Referral program, existing Money Metals customers can receive free silver every time they send us a new customer who places an order. For details on how much silver you receive for introducing new customers to us, just visit our web site – www.MoneyMetals.com – and look under the section labeled “Programs.”
Also, before we go, don't forget about Money Metals ‘s July special on all fractional gold and silver products. Buy $1,000 or more of any gold or silver product which is less than one ounce in size, and we'll throw in a free roll of 20 pure copper rounds. Order $5,000 or more, and your order also ships for free!
And on that note, we do have a new fractional item to tell you about this week. We now have two gold CombiBars to offer.In addition to the popular 50-gram gold Valcambi CombiBar that breaks into 50 individual 1-gram sections, Money Metals is proud to announce the release of the 1-ounce gold Valcambi CombiBar, which breaks into ten individual 1/10-oz sections. Both of these items qualify for our July fractional promotion for free copper and/or free shipping.
To check pricing or to place an order just give one of our knowledgeable and no pressure Specialists a call at 1-800-800-1865 Monday thru Friday, or just visit us on the web at MoneyMetals.com where you can view live up-to-the-minute prices or place an order 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Well, that will wrap it up for this week, thanks for listening. This has been Mike Gleason with Money Metals Exchange reminding you that we remain fully committed to getting you the most value for your depreciating dollar… with speed, with accuracy and with top notch service. Have a great weekend everybody.
About the Author
Mike Gleason is a Director with Money Metals Exchange, a precious metals dealer recently named "Best in the USA" by an independent global ratings group. Gleason is a hard money advocate and a strong proponent of personal liberty, limited government and the Austrian School of Economics. A graduate of the University of Florida, Gleason has extensive experience in management, sales and logistics as well as precious metals investing. He also puts his longtime broadcasting background to good use, hosting a weekly precious metals podcast since 2011, a program listened to by tens of thousands each week.