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Article #1 World's Largest Gold Refiner Runs Out of Krugerrands - Article #2 Sell Gold (LOL!)

World's Largest Gold Refiner Runs Out of Krugerrands (Update1)

By Claudia Carpenter

Aug. 28 (Bloomberg) -- Rand Refinery Ltd., the world's largest gold refinery, ran out of South African Krugerrands after an ``unusually large'' order from a buyer in Switzerland.

The order was for 5,000 ounces and it will take until Sept. 3 for inventories to be replenished, said Johan Botha, a spokesman for Rand Refinery in Germiston, east of Johannesburg. He declined to identify the buyer.

Coins and bars of precious metals are attracting investors as a haven against a sliding dollar and conflict between Russia and its neighbor Georgia. The U.S. Mint suspended sales of one- ounce ``American Eagle'' gold coins, Johnson Matthey Plc stopped taking orders for 100-ounce silver bars at its Salt Lake City refinery and Heraeus Holding GmbH has a delivery waiting list of as long as two weeks for orders of gold bars in Europe.

``A lot of people are worried about the dollar, they're worried about inflation and now we have geopolitical risk with what's happening in Russia,'' said Mark O'Byrne, managing director of brokerage Gold and Silver Investments Ltd. in Dublin. O'Byrne said his company's sales are up fourfold this year, heading for a record since its founding in 2003.

Gold rose to a record in March and is 25 percent higher than this time last year, while the dollar dropped 7.4 percent against the euro. Silver is up 15 percent in the period.

Salt Lake

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said European Union leaders meeting in Brussels Sept. 1 will discuss sanctions against Russia after it recognized the independence of two regions of Georgia. U.K. Foreign Secretary David Miliband said yesterday Russia was trying to ``redraw the map'' of Europe.

Johnson Matthey's Salt Lake City refinery doesn't have the capacity to meet investor demand for 100-ounce silver bars, said spokesman Ian Godwin in London. He wouldn't comment on whether the company may expand capacity or end production.

The refinery usually gets orders for 1,000 ounce bars from banks and silver grains from jewelers, Godwin said.

Rand Refinery has manufactured, marketed and delivered more than 46 million ounces of Krugerrands since the gold coin was introduced in 1967, according to the company's Web site. Krugerrands are minted at the South African Mint from gold coin blanks supplied by Rand Refinery.

Gold for immediate delivery rose $2.29 to $829.19 an ounce by 5:24 p.m. in London. Silver gained 10.5 cents to $13.60.

To contact the reporter on this story: Claudia Carpenter in London at ccarpenter2@bloomberg.net

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Gold Has Biggest Monthly Drop Since April 2004 on Dollar Rally

By Pham-Duy Nguyen

Aug. 29 (Bloomberg) -- Gold fell, capping the biggest monthly decline since April 2004, as the dollar climbed against the euro, eroding the appeal of the metal as an alternative investment.

The dollar headed for the biggest monthly gain since the European currency began trading in 1999. Gold generally moves in tandem with the euro. The metal has tumbled 19 percent from a record $1,033.90 an ounce on March 17, partly because the Federal Reserve ended a series of reductions in benchmark borrowing costs.

``Gold is cooked,'' said Leonard Kaplan, the president of Prospector Asset Management in Evanston, Illinois. ``Sell every rally. The Fed is not going to raise rates, but that doesn't matter. Rates in other countries are going to come down.''

Gold futures for December delivery fell $2, or 0.2 percent, to $835.20 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, leaving the metal down 9.5 percent in August. The metal still gained 0.2 percent this week.

Silver futures for December delivery were little changed at $13.707 an ounce. In August, the price plunged 22 percent, the most since April 2004. The metal climbed 0.9 percent this week.

Gold is down 0.3 percent this year, while silver has dropped 8.1 percent.

The U.S. federal funds rate is at 2 percent, down from 5.25 in September 2007. The European Central Bank raised its main financing rate to 4.25 percent in July after keeping it steady at 4 percent since June 2007.

Dollar `Correction'

``Any pullback in the dollar is going to be seen as a correction and not a resumption of a bear market, so people are still going to sell gold,'' said Tom Hartmann, a commodity analyst at Altavest Worldwide Trading Inc. in Mission Viejo, California.

Gold traded as high as $844.20 today before declining as crude oil pared gains. Oil rose as much as 2.7 percent to $118.76. The price reached a record $147.27 on July 11.

Energy prices have climbed this week on concern Hurricane Gustav will disrupt U.S. petroleum production in the Gulf of Mexico.

``If the hurricane does head into the Gulf and cause damage, that would definitely support gold,'' Hartmann said.

The Comex will be closed on Sept. 1 for the Labor Day holiday.

To contact the reporter on this story: Pham-Duy Nguyen in Seattle at pnguyen@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: August 29, 2008 15:27 EDT

Comments

  • tincuptincup Posts: 5,186 ✭✭✭✭✭
    An odd contrast of perspectives.
    "
    I like the qoute "Gold is cooked,'' ..... I'm sure he meant it in the definition that gold is 'finished'. But if you define the word 'cooked' like in 'the books are cooked' meaning very much doctored up or manipulated, then the phrase "Gold is cooked" is VERY much true!

    LOL... yeah, think I will get rid of every little bit of gold or silver I have.... !
    ----- kj
  • Why is this news? It is a $4 million USD order for Kruggerands. The company didn't have that much stock on hand, but will fill in the order within the week. Doesn't sound like news to me, but the headline, wow, "runs out of Kruggerands," spin meister city.

    Keeping $4 million in stock on hand costs money to carry, so it makes sense to me, if that may be more like a month's typical demand. Go to McDonald's, order 400 Big Macs, it will take a while to fill the order. Order 4000 and they may have to reorder from their supplier. This isn't news folks, spin or no-spin.
  • We live in a world of relative, I supose.

    Here is another:

    Contrary Opinion of Shortages
  • News or not redtiger it is interesting to read. I don't fall into the spin trap the media plays.

    But I do like to take in both sides and make my own analysis based on both sides of the story.

    If only one side reported. Then the news would truly be one sided. The story made the news I am sure

    because this is a rather large one time order for the PM at this facility. Who are we to decide what is news or not.

    If the article doesn't interest you. Move on to the next.
  • roadrunnerroadrunner Posts: 28,303 ✭✭✭✭✭
    "Gold is cooked,'' said Leonard Kaplan, the president of Prospector Asset Management in Evanston, Illinois. ``Sell every rally. The Fed is not going to raise rates, but that doesn't matter. Rates in other countries are going to come down.''

    Is the guy a throw back to an 1850's prospector? The FED will have to raise rates eventually if they have any hope of salvaging the US dollar down the road. A return to much higher rates is a given.....just when in the next several years. Some nations are raising rates as a sound means to keep their currencies strong and to keep inflation at bay.

    Sell every rally.

    Wise advice indeed.....if only one can call every top and take advantage of it. More like wishfull thinking Mr. Kaplan.

    roadrunner
    Barbarous Relic No More, LSCC -GoldSeek--shadow stats--SafeHaven--321gold


  • << <i>News or not redtiger it is interesting to read. I don't fall into the spin trap the media plays.

    But I do like to take in both sides and make my own analysis based on both sides of the story.

    If only one side reported. Then the news would truly be one sided. The story made the news I am sure

    because this is a rather large one time order for the PM at this facility. Who are we to decide what is news or not.

    If the article doesn't interest you. Move on to the next. >>




    I am commenting on the spin given on the headline from the "news." It is as if someone put the headline "McDonalds runs out of Big Macs," just because one particular large order comes through and the line gets backed up. I wouldn't have a problem if the headline was "$4 million Kruggerand order buys up all stock," or something along those lines. Sensationalized headlines are part of the news, but sometimes they go way over the top, and this is one of those times. I am sure some newsletter writers will twist the story out of shape using the headline and scare their subscribers with it, and stupid readers and newbies will believe it, just because it is "news." Keep in mind that $4 million USD is a very small drop in the bucket for the gold market.

    I don't understand why you think my effort to puncture the balloon and tell people the meat of the story means nothing, has no merit here and why you want me "to move on." I believe that efforts like mine will save many a newbie a lot of money over time.

    Innocent events are sometimes all twisted out of shape and made up into monsters. Another one that I can remember is an option trade that was essentially a riskless spread trade that simulated a low interest loan, that many newsletters took to be Bin Laden and associates front running another terrorist attack, because they are so ignorant. I punctured that balloon when it was reposted on the forum, and many thanked me for it (obviously not you).


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