'You Should Buy Gold Every Month For The Rest of Your Life' - Marc Faber

Gold didn't do a thing in either Far East or most of London trading yesterday. There was a sharp spike down to its low of the day [$1,126.50 spot] when the jobs numbers were reported, but that spike down was accompanied by a spike up in the U.S. dollar at the precisely the same moment. From that low, gold managed to rally back quite smartly over the next couple of hours... but once it breached $1,140 spot... a willing seller showed up to make sure the price got no further than that. Gold's high price point was $1,141.90 spot. From there, trading volume died off to next to nothing and by the time trading was over in New York, the gold price had given back most of its Friday gains.

Silver had gained a dime or so by the time trading began in New York yesterday. There was a quick 25 cent rally to its high of the day [$17.52 spot] that started about 9:45 a.m. and ended about 45 minutes later in the usual fashion... and all was quiet after that. Silver managed to gain 24 cents from Thursday's close. One can only imagine what could have been if the rally had been allowed to continue.

The dollar did nothing in the Far East or Europe on Friday... and the first sign of life was the 25 basis point spike to 80.84 when the jobs numbers were released yesterday morning. From there it was basically down hill right into the close of New York trading at 5:15 p.m. Too bad the metals didn't [or weren't allowed to] follow the dollar around yesterday. They did for part of the day... but not all day.

The precious metals stocks sort of followed the precious metals prices... and also sort of followed the general equity markets. The end result was that the HUI was up 1.75% despite the sell-off in gold later in the day.

Open interest for Thursday's down day in both metals was an unhappy surprise. Gold o.i. rose 7,202 contracts. Volume was a decent 172,081 contracts. Silver's open interest also rose... but only by a smallish 780 contracts. Volume was 31,981 contracts. I'm hoping that these increases are spread trades... and not fresh short positions. Ted Butler suggested that it could be unreported open interest increases from Wednesday's big day. We'll probably never know.

The CME Daily Delivery report on Friday showed that zero gold and 91 silver contracts have been posted for delivery on Tuesday. The GLD ETF showed a smallish increase of 19,585 ounces... and there were no reported changes in the SLV. The U.S. Mint had nothing to say for itself, either... and the Comex-approved depositories showed that 252,852 ounces of silver were withdrawn on Thursday.

The Commitment of Traders report [for positions held at the end of trading on Tuesday, March 2nd] didn't thrill me either. In silver, the bullion banks increased their net short position by 1,170 contracts. Ted Butler told me to take a pill... as silver was up more than a dollar during that reporting period. He said I should be contemplating swinging from the rafters. I suppose he has a point. In gold, the bullion banks added a far more significant 13,493 contracts to their net short position... and things don't look quite so rosy there.

As usual, Eric King over at King World News has his Friday interview with silver analyst Ted Butler. And, as always, I recommend that you stop reading right now and listen to what he has to say, because it's very important this week... and the link is here.

I have a lot of gold-related stories this weekend. The first is an article over at usatoday.com...and it bears the headline "Keeping 5% of portfolio in gold isn't a bad idea as a hedge". I thank Florida reader Donna Badach for bringing it to my attention... and the link is here.

The next gold-related story is from the Financial Times in London. They took renewed notice of GATA yesterday via the newspaper's pseudonymous "Lex" column, appended here, which provides a mix of condescension and acknowledgment that just maybe something is "fishy" in the gold [and silver] world. The FT article is embedded in a rather longish introduction by GATA's secretary treasurer, Chris Powell... and he provides links to other articles as well... so there's lots to read. The headline to the GATA release states "FT's 'Lex' sniffs at complaints of gold price suppression"... and the link is here.

In a Bloomberg story filed from Caracas, Venezuela yesterday afternoon comes this story that says "Venezuela’s central bank will boost its gold reserves this year and will buy more than half the estimated 20 metric tons of domestic production." It's not a lot, but it's just another brick in the wall that the U.S. bullion banks have to concern themselves with. The headline reads "Venezuela Central Bank to Increase Gold Purchases, Khan Says"... and the link is here.

This next story falls into the must read category. The writer is Srdja Trifkovic... and this article is headlined "Prison of Nations"... and is posted over at alternativeright.com. It originally appeared in The Guardian in London. For those who want a totally unvarnished description of what the European Union is really all about, you need look no further than this short essay. I suggest you click on the two youtube.com video links in the first paragraph in order to set the stage for the rest of the article. And I urge you, dear reader, to read this very carefully... and the link is here. By the way, you'll need a fairly up-to-date web browser to open this link.

And lastly today is this series of interviews of Dr. Marc Faber. There are four all together... and the one to which my title refers to today, is a bit further down the page than the main interview, which appears first. I was shocked to hear him say what he did. If he's prepared to go on the record with that kind of doomsday scenario... then the end current economic, financial and monetary system as we know it, can't be too far off... and Doug Casey's "greater depression" will be right behind it. The title to the entire article [which is posted over at businessinsider.com] reads "Faber: It's Dead Simple, The Supply Of Dollars Will Grow Way Faster Than The Supply Of Gold"... and the link is here.

If all the issuers of paper money want to see their currencies depreciate, then the only answer is to own an asset that central banks cannot debase—namely, gold. Part of bullion’s rise to more than $1,100 an ounce this year must be attributed to the conviction that governments will inflate away their debts. - The Economist, March 4, 2010

Today's 'blast from the past' is from the one and only Roy Orbison. There won't be another voice like his in my lifetime. This is one of his giant hits... so turn up your speakers and feel free to sing along. The link is here.

Well, Ted Butler sure thinks that 'all sails are set' in the silver market... as JPMorgan does not appear to be showing up as a seller in either silver or gold on this price rally... and that's hugely bullish news. But, as I keep saying... I must have been born in Missouri in another life... as I want to see silver make a major move to the up-side before I'll become a believer myself.

And, as I keep saying dear reader, I'm still all in... as I feel the day of reckoning is fast approaching. And when Marc Faber said what he said above... well, how much more smoke to you have to see to know that the fires in the world's engine room are burning totally out of control.

The time to protect yourself is right now... and, in my humble opinion, there's not much time left. I urge you to give serious consideration to investing in a subscription to either Casey's Gold & Resource Report... or Casey Research's International Speculator. I just read the March edition of the International Speculator as soon as it was published on Monday... and it was exceptional. And don't forget about our 100% satisfaction guarantee!!! It cost nothing to check out the links and see for yourself.

Well, I checked the CME's website moments ago... 4:50 a.m. Eastern time... and the preliminary volume figures in gold and silver for Friday's trading has still not been posted. I would like to have included them in today's commentary, but that's impossible at this point.

I look forward to the open of Far East trading on Sunday night... and I also look forward to seeing you here on Tuesday morning. Enjoy the rest of your weekend... and I'll see you then.