Kelsey Williams

Silver Loses Its Mettle – Part 2 (Technicals)

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RE: SILVER LOSES ITS METTLE 

Last week I talked about unrealistic expectations for the price of silver (see Silver Loses Its Mettle). My comments were centered on two specific factors: 1) silver’s primary role as an industrial commodity and 2) the fallacy of the gold-to-silver ratio.

Both of these items have their root in fundamentals, or lack of them.

In addition, I pointed out the fact that the price of silver has declined significantly in every single recession of the past fifty years.

Not surprisingly, the technical side appears to reinforce the lack of fundamental support for higher silver prices.

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Silver Loses Its Mettle

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SILVER LOSES ITS METTLE

Actually, it is silver investors who might be losing their mettle. Coping well in the face of a fourteen percent decline in the vaunted white metal must be very difficult.

The size of that decline happens to be right in line with the major stock market indices, all of which (Dow, S&P, Nasdaq) lost similar percentage amounts this past week. No better, no worse for silver; but it is ironic.

We have been told over and over that silver is a hedge against that type of stock market action.  Also, we’ve been told that silver would be more explosive that its well-respected brother, gold. It was – sort of. The correct word is implosive.  

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Gold And Stocks Headed Lower

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GOLD AND STOCKS HEADED LOWER – NO CORRELATION

Gold and stocks are moving south together; but they are not correlated. Nor, are they inversely correlated, as some gold enthusiasts claim.

Reference to gold as a safe haven has some investors buying gold to hedge against a stock market crash. It is almost as if gold has become a pseudo defensive stock.

It seems investors actually expect gold’s price to go up when the stock market goes down; and vice-versa.

If that were the case, how do you explain the extended periods when both moved together; or the price action of gold relative to stocks in the past four days? Gold currently is lower in price than it was before stocks tumbled nearly 4000 points.

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$1500 Gold Price Is Fair And Accurate

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Is $1500 a reasonable price for gold? Some of the more ardent gold “bulls” might say no. A price of $2000 per ounce should sound better to them. That particular number is likely more popular because gold’s price didn’t quite get there eight years ago, stopping just shy of $1900 per ounce.

Similar behavior occurred after 1980, when gold’s price assent was stopped at $850. At that time, $1000 became the price projection of choice.

In both cases, the expectations for gold were likely born out of desire, rather than fundamentals.

So, how can we know what is a fair and accurate price for gold today – right now?

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Fed-Watching Is Overhyped And Overdone

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FED-WATCHING IS OVERHYPED

If you are one of those who is looking for clues from the Federal Reserve as to the direction of the markets, forget it. You are too late.

Too many people think that the latest Fed minutes will give them some indication of what to expect from the markets. Those same people think that the Fed actually has a strategy and that they are “managing the economy” with the intention of pursuing what is best financially and economically for the country.

Wake up! The Federal Reserve does not exist and operate with the intention of acting in our best interests financially, economically, or in any other way.

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A Lesson About Gold – How Bullish Can It Be?

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A Lesson About Gold

Apparently, there is no limit. This seems especially true right now with all of the “obvious” signs and indicators staring you in the face. It is almost blasphemous to speak cautiously. Better to let your imagination run wild and join in the revelry.

I can’t do that. I don’t choose to be dumped into the same cauldron of boiling fantasy with other analysts and advisors, who tout and promote based on the latest headlines. There has to be more to it. I think there is.

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Gold Explodes, Then Implodes – Again

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GOLD EXPLODES, THEN IMPLODES

It shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone, because it has happened before.

Gold’s quick roundtrip from $1540 to $1610 and back again ($1539 earlier today) had its roots in actions and words between the United States and Iran. Prognosticators say there is more to come. Maybe; maybe not. But there is historical precedent for gold’s action.

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Is Bitcoin Money? Does It Have Value?

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IS BITCOIN MONEY?

Writing about Bitcoin is a challenge for several reasons. It has a short history (ten years), it is highly complex, and there is a certain vagueness to the logic behind the concept. When reading about it, or listening to explanations, I wonder whether or not I understand it adequately. I also wonder how many others do.

Much has already been written and discussed, such that further commentary might be superfluous. But some additional perspective likely won’t hurt. So, for those who asked…

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Gold Stocks Vs Gold – Not A Good Bet

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Gold Stocks vs Gold…

Earlier this year,  various gold stock indices (XAU, HUI, GDX) gained more than fifty percent in just three months. Most of the negativity associated with the sector was brushed aside and replaced by positive expectations for the future.

Of course, the 90-day rush to this year’s highs did not occur in a vacuum. The price of gold rose by twenty percent over the same three-month period. The mining shares, however were considerably stronger.

Going back to the fall of 2018, the price of gold increased by thirty percent and gold mining shares increased by about sixty-five percent. The resulting differential of more than 2-to-1 in favor of the mining shares lends possible credence to the argument for shares over bullion.

Nevertheless, when we dig a bit deeper, we see a different picture.See the chart below…

HUI to Gold Ratio (source)

This interactive chart shows the month-end ratio of the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index (HUI) to the price of gold bullion back to 1996. The 6 month moving average has been added to smooth out volatility and show the longer-term trend.

Looking at the chart above, we can see that gold stocks have declined much more severely than the price of gold bullion.

The potential advantage of owning gold mining stocks rather than physical gold, turned into a horrible disadvantage. The price of gold declined by forty-five percent but gold stocks dropped by more than eighty percent.

In other words, gold stocks dropped by nearly twice as much as gold bullion after gold peaked in 2011.

The results were not that good before that, either. Except for a brief three-year period between 2000-03, owning physical gold was less risky and provided better overall returns.

Below is a second chart, this one of the XAU gold stock index…

XAU to Gold Ratio (source)

This interactive chart shows the month-end ratio of the Philadelphia Gold and Silver Index (XAU) to the price of gold bullion back to 1983. The current month shows the latest daily closing values.

As can be seen, going back as far as 1983, the presumed advantage of owning gold shares over physical gold, does not appear to be evident.

Looking at the first chart again, we see that the HUI to gold ratio is at the same level as it was twenty years ago, when gold was at $275 per ounce. And, it has failed to exceed the level it reached three years ago in the summer of 2016.

Since that point in the summer of 2016, the price of gold has risen by as much as fifteen percent earlier this year. Currently, gold is up ten percent from that point.

Gold stocks, on the other hand, failed to even match their previous high, and are currently about thirteen percent lower than their peak levels of 2016. This can be seen on the chart below…

GDX – VanEck Vectors Goldminers ETF (source)

So how does this year’s performance for gold stocks vs. gold measure up historically? Below is the first chart above (HUI to Gold Ratio), again. This time the current year, 2019, is labeled. As you can see, this year’s outsized gains for gold stocks relative to gold is just a small blip…

Gold stocks have been a horrible, losing investment for decades. Compared to physical gold, their results are pathetic.

 

 

Gold Peaked In 1980

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When gold’s price reached $850 per ounce in January 1980, it seemed as if nothing would stop the runaway train that was headed straight for $1000 per ounce. But it was stopped, and began sliding downhill quickly.

By June 1982, two and one-half years later, gold’s price had declined by sixty-five percent. At close to $300 per ounce, the price of gold seemed farther away from the $1000 mark than ever before.

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