By: Elizabeth Kraus

Looking back over the past 400 years, there has been a major currency or credit crisis every decade and, historically, it takes approximately four years to heal from the contraction. But, given the events that we’ve seen in Egypt and elsewhere in recent weeks – as well as the developments we’ve seen in Libya in recent days – there’s only one conclusion to reach. We are looking at the prospect of significant and sustained instability in a region that’s home to two-thirds of the world’s known crude oil reserves that will greatly affect the global economy. Read More→

By: Elizabeth Kraus

Japanese Stocks Getting Crushed, Kiwi Dollar Falls after a magnitude 6.3 earthquake hits Christchurch, New Zealand’s second-biggest city, and some more revolting perspective showing its ugly face as protesters take part in a rally in Athens, Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2011. More than 30,000 protesters attended the Athens rally, which had been calm before the clashes. Protesters chanting “Don’t obey the rich – Fight back!” marched to parliament as the city center was heavily policed before it turned violent. Read More→

By: Elizabeth Kraus

Gold up $1410.00… Silver over $33.00… Oil over $94.00… and intensifying against another hostile global dilemma! As the world awaited speech from Gaddafi, “vowing to fight the growing rebellion until his “last drop of blood,” today, he ordered security services to start sabotaging oil facilities. They will start by blowing up several oil pipelines, cutting off flow to Mediterranean ports. This sabotage, according to the insider, is meant to serve as a message to Libya’s rebellious tribes: It’s either me or chaos.” Read More→

By: Elizabeth Kraus

While some specter is haunting the globe again, not of a communist revolution in Europe but rather the threat of Islamicist revolution throughout the Arab World, with tension spreading across North Africa, and with food prices rising worldwide as the cost of raw materials and agricultural products surge, these contributing factors are dramatically changing the stakes for Gold and Silver. While most Americans couldn’t find Bahrain on a map before this week, the escalating violence unfolding in the tiny island monarchy could do more damage to U.S. interests in the Middle East, than the more high-profile revolution in Egypt. Read More→

By: Elizabeth Kraus

Winds of change are blowing in the Mideast between Iran warships threat, Mubarak resignation, and now Bahrain unrest–the tiny island nation flanked by Saudi Arabia and Iran—and one of the most diversified in the Mideast with GDP Per Capita of over $40K vs. Egypt’s GDP Per Capita of $6.2K—are once again fuel the fire for gold! And, if we look at the energy and fiscal policies of the U.S. and the inability of either political party to craft logical problem-solving solutions, it is clear they are too fuelling gold (and silver) as superior “securities”. If these weren’t reasons enough to own gold, there’s hundreds of millions of Chinese who are grabbing up the wealth with an ultimate intention, beginning to raise questions globally. Read More→

By: Elizabeth Kraus

There were plenty of peaks and valleys for gold, however, we’re now at a point where gold prices are likely to stage a sustainable rally; that is, if certain resistance points are taken out. The most critical point, in dollars, is $1,393/oz. Decisive closes above this mid-January high in spot prices could set the stage for bullion to take out its former highs. So, just how high is high? Well, if the stars align rightly – or more appropriately, if the fear index continues to be cranked up by doings in the Mideast – that could mean $1,478/oz. It’s likely to be a short throw, too. If we get a breakout move immediately, it might take just a month or so. Read More→

By: Elizabeth Kraus

Just as two Iranian warships were making their way through Syria through the Suez Canal Wednesday, and Israel’s foreign minister felt it’s a “provocation” by the Iranian government, saying there was absolutely no justification for Iran to put warships into the Mediterranean, Gold and Oil just shot straight up. And while, another tension was mounting as protestors demonstrated in Bahrain, Libya, and Yemen, both incidents gave Adam Klopfenstein, a senior trading analyst with Lind Waldock in Chicago to say, “anything that brings geopolitical instability will be signal for investors to buy gold.” The double edged sword, sharpened by growing global instability is twisting its edge to gold. Read More→

By: Elizabeth Kraus

Rising inflation particularly in emerging markets encourage demand for gold. While much inflation expectation is already baked into the gold price, as investors jumped into the metal in 2010, as protection against stimulus programs in developed economies, a much higher reading is igniting that trade again. Gold remains firm with the metal holding above $1,370.00 and poised to challenge overhead resistance around $1,382.00 as the impact of negative real interest rates together with rising energy and food prices continue to draw investment interest as a hedge against inflation. Read More→

By: Elizabeth Kraus

No Pedal to the Metal! Gold to gain steam! Inflation in India and in neighboring China, estimated to be at a 30-month high, will help gold to jump ahead once again! Traders insist that the stage is set for a conducive environment that will push bullion prices higher. Some analysts forecast that gold will be subject to a tug-of-war between profit-minded sellers and bargain-hunters who will buy the metal on dips, a combination that promises to trigger volatility. Read More→

By: Elizabeth Kraus

On the heel of China celebrating their 4708 New Year, J.P. Morgan Chase & Company’s announced on February 7, 2011 that it will accept physical gold as collateral for investors that want to make short-term borrowings of cash or securities. Well, I’ll be…could this be a sign? Presenting gold to satisfy demands for performance bond collateral has been allowed on the London CME in a limited way since October 2009. As of November 22, 2010, the Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (ICE) has accepted bullion as collateral on all credit default swaps and energy transactions. Read More→