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Federal Reserve Announces First Rate Cut in Over 4 Years

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Today, the Federal Reserve announced their decision to cut interest rates by 50 basis points (0.5%) marking a significant shift in the central bank’s monetary policy.

This is the first such cut since the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, which will reduce the federal funds rate to a range of 4.75%-5%.

While the decision aims to combat a slowing labor market and maintain economic growth, its implications are far-reaching, affecting everything from mortgage rates to precious metals prices.

While this is generally good for consumers in the short term, the long term implications could lead to higher inflation and other economic problems down the road.

Effect on Precious Metals Prices

Precious metals, particularly gold, often benefit from lower interest rates. When interest rates are cut, the yield on bonds and other interest-bearing assets falls, making non-yielding assets like gold more attractive.

Investors flock to gold as a store of value, especially during times of economic uncertainty or when inflation is a concern. In the short term, the Fed’s decision to cut rates will likely continue to push gold prices higher to new records, as lower rates will weaken the U.S. dollar and boost demand for safe-haven assets.

If inflation starts to pick up again, gold prices are likely to continue to climb. Historically, gold has performed well in low-interest-rate environments, particularly when real yields turn negative. Silver, which often follows gold’s price trends, may also see a boost in demand and price as a result of the Fed’s actions.

The Fed’s 50 basis points rate cut is a double-edged sword. While it provides immediate relief in the form of lower borrowing costs, it also signals concerns about the health of the economy and the Fed’s ability to manage future risks.

Everyday consumers will feel the effects in their mortgages, car loans, credit cards, and savings accounts, while investors will need to weigh the impact on stocks and precious metals carefully as the Fed navigates an uncertain economic landscape.

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HSBC, Bank of Nova Scotia & Deutsche Bank Win Dismissal of Silver Price Manipulation Litigation

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The litigation began in 2014 with the government accusing the banks of being involved in a multi-bank trading conspiracy to manipulate the price of silver.

On Monday, U.S. District Judge Valerie Caproni in Manhattan dismissed the case against HSBC and Bank of Nova Scotia.

In 2016, Deutsche Bank settled with the government for $38M in 2016, and then another $130M in 2021.

In one of the settlements, it’s alleged that the price fixing by Deutsche began as early as 1999 and continued for more than a decade.

In the Deutsche Bank case, two traders were sentenced to prison terms for their involvement in the manipulation of silver prices. Their sentences were affirmed in January when their appeals to the Supreme Court were rejected. Each was sentenced to served only 1 year plus one day.

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Gold Price Jumps on CPI Report

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The December 2022 CPI numbers were released by the Labor Department this morning.

The latest report shows that the rate of inflation slowed slightly in December, with the index showing that overall prices increased roughly 6.5%.

The largest gains in prices were the basics of housing, food, gas and utilities.

Grocery prices continue to skyrocket with the December food numbers showing an overall increase in prices of 11.8%.

While the CPI report confirms what many analysts had expected, others are skeptical that the underlying data may not be completely accurate.

Gold futures prices today rose above $1,900 before the news.

Egg prices continue to soar. The price of a dozen eggs is up by more than 64% with California leading the list with an average of $6.72 per carton.

We have also seen the premiums for silver bars and rounds dropping significantly.

Layoffs continue to hit Wall Street Banks and hedge funds. Goldman Sachs announced that they will be cutting 3,200 jobs, citing a downturn in investment and bleak economic outlook for the year.

Leading hedgefund Blackrock Advisors is cutting 500 positions with the markets facing a recession.

The tech industry lost over 150,000 jobs in 2022. This year has begun with more layoffs announced by Amazon and Salesforce, with up to 18,000 more workers facing unemployment.

Central banks are buying gold at the fastest pace in over 55 years. China’s central bank has continued its gold buying spree into December.

After record breaking sales in 2021, the US Mint face supply chain issues early in 2022.

In March 2022, the Mint announced that they would be cancelling the commemorative $1 Morgan and $1 Peace silver dollar coins. The release was anticipating by collectors and investors.

According to sales and mintage data for American Silver Eagle coins, year-over-year, the 2022 mintage was the lowest since 2019 with only 15,963,500 coins.

By comparison, more than 25 million Type 1 silver eagle coins were sold in 2021, along with almost 3 million of the Type 2.

While demand remained strong throughout the year, the US Mint struggled to keep up with order demand driving premiums to record highs.

This led to new sales records for some sovereign government mints.

The Perth Mint announced record breaking sales for 2022. Reports from the mint show that more than 23 million ounces of silver were sold, along with 1.14 million ounces of gold.

Some experts in the industry say is a better gauge of global bullion demand.

The Perth Mint produces a variety of native animal themed bullion investment coins.

The flagship is the Australia Red Kangaroo 1 oz Silver coin is typically at a much lower premium than the ASE.

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BRICS: A New Global Gold Standard

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Gold has been an instrumental component of the economy since before the American Revolution.

Our founding fathers had the forethought to include gold and silver coins in the Constitution.

A metallic standard was a central foundation for the economy in the United States based on gold and silver coins.

The US Mint was established on April 6, 1792, prior to the Declaration of Independence.

Recently, legislation has been introduced into the House of Representatives that is intended to move the United States back towards a gold-standard.

The sponsor of the bill, Representative Alex Mooney (R-WV), has stated that the purpose of the Bill is to give greater visibility of the spending by politicians in Washington.

Jerome Powell has said that gold bullion has no purpose in the US economy. The rest of the world is still remembers the Nixon Shock and other major events in the global commodities markets caused by US foreign policy.

Gold has been a core, instrumental component of the global economy, politics and international trade for thousands of years.

With the Moscow World Standard posited to compete with the LBMA, COMEX, Shanghai and other global trading markets.

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* gold.org

Many speculate that Moscow is trying to position itself as an economic leader in the global economy. Earlier this year, the Moscow World Standard was announced by the Russian Finance Ministry as an open and fair competitor to the LBMA.

Moscow hopes that many of the BRICS nations and developing nations that are abundant in natural resources have opportunities to trade more fairly in global markets.

Minerals like cobalt, lithium, manganese, nickel and other rare earth minerals that are necessary for the production of batteries for electric cars, houses and other future energy needs. Silver is used in the manufacturing of solar panels and other electrical components.

All of these natural resources are also part of a national initiative to secure resources necessary to build new supply chains for the reemergence of high-tech and semi-conductor manufacturing on American soil.

An emerging Global Gold Standard built on Blockchain Auditing

Outside of the US, private gold ownership continues to grow, particularly amongst Asian markets including China and India.

Russia responded to economic sanctions by starting a program to buy gold from citizens in exchange for rubles and began requiring payment for oil, natural gas and other energy needs in Rubles as a way to stabilize the Russian economy following the invasion of Ukraine.

Bloomberg reports that at least 4 accounts in Rubles have been opened with Gazprom PJSC.

The government of Zimbabwe began to issue gold coins as currency as a way to stabilize their economy following decades of inflation due to corruption.

Many developing nations in Africa, Central and South America and Asia are rich and abundant with natural resources.

Having direct access to global markets for selling commodities such as lithium, cobalt and other minerals is of interest to leaders and businesses of many nations, some of which may be looking to renegotiate contracts with global conglomerates as a way to better leverage their local resources to rebuild their local economies following the pandemic.

Other News

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Numerous Criminal Convictions Proves Precious Metals Price Manipulation

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As controversy and scandal continues to plague the LBMA and banks affiliated with the bullion trading cartel, the Eurasian Alliance is pushing for the creation of a new bullion trading system that offers a new pricing infrastructure to help facilitate emerging markets.

The most recent scandal at the LBMA includes the criminal conviction of former Board Member and JP Morgan Chase Managing Director Michael Nowak.

JP Morgan Chase is one of the largest private custodians of gold and other precious metals in the world for both private investors and many governments.

In managed vaults located in London, New York and Singapore, the bank reportedly holds gold valued in the tens of billions of dollars. (Bloomberg)

In 2020, as part of a deferred prosecution agreement with the Justice Department, JP Morgan Chase entered into an agreement with the government that they operated two distinct schemes of fraud.

The first fraud scheme that JP Morgan Chase admitted to operating involved tens of thousands of documented futures trades for silver and gold contracts across the various markets that JP Morgan Chase participated in.

The second fraud scheme involved thousands of instances of unlawful trading in the markets for U.S. Treasury futures contracts and in the secondary (cash) market for U.S. Treasury notes and bonds.

JP Morgan Chase paid a record fine of close to one billion dollars to the SEC to settle the case. Criminal charges were brought separately against numerous executives and directors, including Nowak, which led to his resignation as an LBMA Board Member.

During the criminal trial, prosecutors proved that Nowak, along with a group of other senior executive within the precious metals trading desk routinely spoofed orders and manipulated the prices of commodities across global trading markets. (BullionStar)

Nowak helped to provide the bank with significant profits by spoofing precious metals trades along with a handful of other senior executives who have also been convicted, pled guilty or are still awaiting trial.

Several investigations into the Precious Metals Trading Desk that began during the previous decade failed to find any wrongdoing at the time leading to some speculation about corruption within the ranks of the SEC and other regulatory agencies responsible for oversight of trading practices.

Since the year 2000, JP Morgan Chase has paid more than $36 billion in fines for violating banking laws in the United States. (GoodJobsFirst)

In recent years, JP Morgan Chase has admitted to being a criminal enterprise which has bilked millions from investors and governments by manipulating the prices of both commodities and US Treasury Bonds.

A similar spoofing ring was also operating at Deutsche Bank from at least 2007 until 2015 which resulted in criminal convictions and prison sentences for several. (Justice.gov)

Executives from Bank of America / Merrill Lynch were recently convicted in a separate spoofing scheme that operated from at least 2008 until 2014.

Numerous other traders and executives from various investment banks have pled guilty to similar charges related to manipulating the prices of gold, silver and platinum since 2015.

While numerous key individuals have been brought to justice, the leaders of these organizations continue to be rewarded with gigantic bonuses for operating criminal enterprises that helped to manipulate the world economy into a recession.

These are just a few examples of how widespread the corruption that has become integrated into the corporate bureaucracy that helps to justify the creation of an alternative market for precious metals.
Earlier this year, the Ministry of Finance from Russia forwarded a proposed new international standard for the precious metals market that would normalize the functioning of the industry.

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Moscow World Standard Driven by Corruption in the LBMA

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Gold reserves are a key component of central banking and are pivotal to the backing of and supporting a country’s currency, both for its domestic economy and foreign trade.


For decades, Russia has been increasing their gold reserves and central bank holdings.

The reported amounts of gold held in reserves have varied depending on the source.

The amount of gold actually held inside Fort Knox has been question asked by Congress many times. The answer is always the same. That’s classified.


Recent economic sanctions against Russia includes a ban from participating in the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA),  a global clearinghouse and trading association for large bullion transactions.


As early response to the economic war waged by the NATO allies, Russia began a program to buy gold from citizens in exchange for Rubles, effectively returning to a partial gold-standard.

The gold for Rubles program also helped to stabilize the value of the Russian Ruble in the international currency and exchange markets like FOREX.

The latest strategic move by Russia in the fight against the economic sanctions, Russia’s Finance Minister has announced that they will introduce a new “Moscow World Standard” as a new alternative to the LBMA.

According to Finance Minister Anton Siluanov, the Moscow World Standard is an attempt to stabilize and normalize the functioning of the precious metals industry.

Russia has positioned the new Moscow World Standard as an alternative to the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) whose credibility in the eyes of the world leaders has been rocked in recent years due to a number of scandals involving price manipulation.

The most recent scandal involves the criminal conviction of Michael Nowak, a prominent LBMA Board member who was outsted from his role with the LBMA following his arrest in 2019.

Nowak was also a top executive at JP Morgan Chase.

In his leadership role as the Managing Director of the Precious Metals Trading Desk, a key position overseeing global trading operations which led to billions in profits to both JP Morgan Chase’s top and bottom lines.

Nowak was charged under the RICO Act. The government had enough hard evidence to support a case that Nowak was the kingpin in charge of a wide-spread criminal organization operating inside the JP Morgan Chase for almost a decade.

Numerous other executives from inside the JP Morgan Chase Precious Metals Group have also been convicted or have pled guilty for their roles and received reduced sentences in exchange for their testimony against the others.

Separate, but Related criminal investigations against other bullion trading banks and trading practices have led to guilty pleas and massive fines in recent years.

Ample evidence exists to support the Russian position that the LBMA and members of the organization have been involved in widespread fraud, price manipulation and exploitation at all levels. The reality is that this type of corruption can and does have long-term effects on the ebbs and flows of the economies in many smaller countries where precious metals are mined, but also some of the other elements such as Lithium, Cobalt and Magnesium which are considered essential and “critical elements” for current battery technology.

Many of the smaller BRICS countries already look to China and Russia for guidance, leadership and assistance on many financial policy decisions due to long-standing and established trading relationships and other international treaties that exclude many NATO countries. As many leaders from these countries have likely encountered difficulties when working within the confines of the system set forth by the LBMA Board of Directors.

Russia has been suggesting greater transparency to some degree for leaders of BRICS nations, many of whom have significant mining operations that are controlled through large private banks and companies affiliated with the LBMA.

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/jp-morgan-gold-trading-boss-former-lbma-board-member-found-guilty-us-jury
https://www.bullionstar.com/blogs/ronan-manly/lbma-board-member-jp-morgan-managing-director-charged-with-rigging-precious-metals/

https://www.sprottmoney.com/blog/The-Convicted-Criminals-of-JP-Morgan-Craig-Hemke-August-16-2022

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What Is COMEX?

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COMEX is a commodities futures exchange where the supply of future raw materials and other goods is traded for delivery in the future.

KEY HIGHLIGHTS

  • COMEX is the world’s largest marketplace for futures and options trading for precious metals.
  • It is a division of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME).
  • Precious Metals futures are mostly used for hedging and are not typically delivered.
  • The COMEX acts as an intermediary.
  • Each Silver Futures contract is the equivalent of 10 American Silver Eagle Monster Boxes.


COMEX is an electronic trading platform that allows investors and brokers to trade futures contracts on a variety of consumable resources, both man-made and natural.


Oil, pork bellies, orange juice and precious metals like gold and silver are just some of the natural resources that are traded via futures contracts.


Gold, silver, platinum and other metal and mineral resources that are bought and sold with futures contracts.

One reason for the COMEX market to exist is to give manufacturers of both consumable and durable goods some indication of what the cost to manufacture their products will be in the future.


Many manufacturers use silver in many of the tiny electrical components that are used in everyday items such as cell phones, hearing aid batteries and solar panels. Silver is a great conductor of electricity.

On average, electric vehicles that are being built today each have roughly 2 troy ounces of silver.

Precious metals prices can be volatile.

Trading silver futures on the COMEX market allows manufacturers to secure mined resources like gold and silver at a fixed price months before it is needed for manufacturing.

This also affords mining companies some indication of what they will be paid for getting silver out of the ground.

This helps manufacturers to more effectively manage the upstream supply chain and be able to go to market with a product that is competitively priced.

History of COMEX

Commodity Exchange Inc. (COMEX) is the main exchange for silver, gold and platinum futures.

The exchange was founded in 1933 through the merger of four smaller exchanges based in New York.

Of the four smaller trading exchanges, gold and silver were mainly traded through the National Metal Exchange.

According to CME Group, more than 400,000 futures and options contracts trades are executed each day on COMEX.

This is the most active and liquid precious metals exchange in the world.

The trading activities of traders worldwide influence the spot price of silver and gold around the clock.

Today, COMEX is part of the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) and is an operating division of the CME Group.

Silver & Gold Futures Contracts

The current spot price is silver is the price per ounce of silver being traded for delivery sometime in the future.

The vast majority of the gold and silver contracts that are traded are never intended for physical delivery.
Only a small percentage of the gold and silver futures contracts that are bought and sold actually get delivered to a buyer.

Silver futures contracts are comprised of 5,000 troy ounces of silver to be delivered at a date specified in the contract.

The price of a contract is based on today’s silver spot price per ounce.

If silver spot price is trading at $20 per ounce then the cost to buy one full contract of silver would be $100,000.

The futures market is most often used by Commercial Banks, Wall Street trading firms, hedge funds and other investment focused companies as a hedging vehicle used to mitigate risk they have in other investments.

Less than 1% of gold and silver futures contracts ever get delivered. The majority of trades are made on the promise of delivery without any intent to deliver.

Taking physical delivery of silver contract is done quite often by brokers, clearing houses, private mints, sovereign government mints, large scale manufacturers and others.

It’s possible that private investors could also take delivery of a silver futures contract. Delivery of precious metals can be arranged via armored car services for shipment from COMEX Registered Vaults to your private home vault or other secure location.

How much silver is in 5,000 oz futures contract?

While 5,000 troy ounces sounds like a lot of silver, it’s the equivalent of just 10 Monster Boxes of American Eagle Silver 1 oz coins.

Each Monster Box of Silver Eagles contains 500 troy ounces.

Every month the US Mint mints millions of 1 oz silver Eagle coins.

That’s equivalent to around 2,000 Monster Boxes, or ten full silver futures contracts consumed by the Treasury each month just to produce their signature bullion coin.

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How To Buy Gold at Spot Price

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Investors are always look for the best price on gold coins and bars, preferably at spot. Understandably, everyone wants to pay the lowest price possible when buying precious metals. The lower the price, the higher the potential return on your investment. There are a variety of online dealers that offer gold at spot price deals to new customers.

Where To Buy Gold at Spot Price?

Besides buying a paper contract of 100 ounces for future delivery, the opportunity to buy gold at spot price for immediate delivery does exist. Several online bullion dealers offer gold bars at spot price deals as a special offer for new customers. This is intended as a loss leader for the bullion dealers to acquire new customers.

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Spot Price Gold Bars may be from the secondary market

There are other ways to buy gold at close to the spot price. The most popular method is to combine various discounts, cash backs and rebates, such as those offered by Costco with their Executive Rewards, combined with the cash back rebates offered their branded credit card. Some investors have had great success in premiums including some that allow you to buy gold below the spot price after factoring in various discounts, cashback, and rebates.

Dealer Premiums on Gold Bars and Coins

Expecting to buy a bullion coin or bar at the spot price is like expecting to buy a car for the cost of the raw materials. Other factors impact the price of the finished product. This include the labor along the supply chain, the cost of transporting raw materials, refining and created finished products.

The spot price is a reflection of the paper markets, and represents the minimum cost if a contract were to be converted for physical delivery of 100 ounces of gold at a future date.

How are spot prices used?

Dealers use the spot price to guide how investment-grade bullion items are priced. Due to factors mentioned earlier, bullion bars usually sell for varying percentages over the spot price. Additionally, other factors such as minting fees, and higher government costs lead to higher premiums on some products.

What is Gold Spot Price?

The gold spot price is the current commodities market price at which gold is bought or sold for immediate payment and delivery. It is what you would pay “on the spot” instead of some date in the future. In theory, you could pay spot or even below spot if you were to buy raw gold before it was minted into a bar or coin.

The spot price can be driven by a host of factors, such as market speculation, demand for bullion, fluctuations in futures (paper contracts), currency values, current events, and mining.

Spot prices are updated every minute six days a week, as long as one of the world’s markets is open. New York, Chicago, London, Zurich, China, and Hong Kong are the most influential global markets.

Choosing Gold Bullion Types

With such a large variety of gold bullion bars, coins and rounds available, deciding which will help you reach your investment or store of wealth goals can be confusing.

Today’s market is flooded with bullion coins from sovereign governments, and gold bars and rounds from private mints. Vintage gold bullion coins circulating from a time when economies were based on the gold standard are also flooding the market.

American gold coins, double eagle 20 dollar bullion currency coinage used in the late 19th century as America money
U.S. Mint Pre-1933 Gold Bullion Coins

Two very important factors to consider include how long you intend to keep your gold bullion investment and your intended buyer when you decide to sell.

If transferring cash holdings into another form of legal tender, or investing in a Gold IRA, buying American Gold Eagle, Canadian Gold Maple Leaf, or Britannia Gold Coins may be the most practical for you.

Plenty of other vintage gold bullion coin options can be found and lower premiums and are as liquid and recognized and modern bullion. These vintage issues include U.S. Mint Pre-1933 Gold Coins, British Gold Sovereigns, LMU 20 Franc Coins, and Gold Peso coins from Mexico.

Compare Gold Bullion Prices

Each dealer prices its bullion products based on its individual business model. Accordingly, the premiums for the same product can vary dramatically between dealers.

Almost every online dealer will carries the same core set of products such as American Eagles, Maple Leafs, Krugerrands, and other sovereign government bullion. You can use FindBullionPrices.com to find the best prices on the gold bullion items you want to buy.