The Swiss competition regulator has opened an investigation into possible collusion in the precious metals market by several major banks, it said on Monday, the latest in a string of manipulation probes. Switzerland’s WEKO watchdog said its investigation, the result of a preliminary probe, was looking at whether UBS, Julius …

UBS Group AG won immunity from criminal fraud charges in a Justice Department investigation into misconduct in the trading of precious metals. The Swiss bank’s main UBS AG unit won’t be charged by the department’s criminal division for information the firm disclosed to prosecutors about precious-metals transactions, according to the …

Recently I spoke with author and economic analyst John Sneisen about the astonishing breaking story that half of the daily global silver production was dumped in a matter of minutes. A massive sell-off of paper contracts! The culprits appear to be unknown but it has resulted in a 4% fall …

For the 3rd day in a row, precious metals have been monkey-hammered lower in the first hour of trading on the US markets… no news, no headlines, no technicals – just good old-fashioned $10 cliff-dives in gold…   In Aug 13-15th, 2012 silver finished on the exact same price three …

Capitulation, or the Apex of manipulation?  NetDania’s 1 hour silver chart indicates 105,231 silver contracts were dumped on the market this morning between 9am and 10am EST, as silver was smashed a dollar from $28 to $27. To put this number in perspective, 105,231 contracts is north of 500,000,000 ounces of …

In January, Russia continued to increase its gold reserves with a large purchase of more than one million troy ounces, Vesti.ru reports. In January, Russia increased its gold reserves by 37 metric tons, equivalent to more than a million troy ounces, Vesti.ru reported on Tuesday. As a whole, Russia’s foreign reserves grew by four percent …

With countless settlements documenting the rigging of every single asset class, it was only a matter of time before the regulators – some 10 years behind the curve as usual – finally cracked down on gold manipulation as well, even though as we have shown in the past, central banks in …

The City Council in Houston is enforcing strict new rules and regulations for those selling gold, silver, and all other precious metals. The council says they are taking such measures in order to prevent criminal activity – they want to stop those who try to resell stolen valuables. Advocates for …

The Russian central bank has again increased its gold reserves by another 900,000 ounces worth $1.17 billion in April. Russia’s gold reserves rose to 34.4 million troy ounces in April, from 33.5 million troy ounces in March, the Russian central bank announced on its website yesterday. The value of its …

Sometimes one must see to believe, in this case believe just how massive the raw demand for the shiny, barbarous relic is in China during times of relative monetary stability (in this case the Dragon Boat Festival). Now assume runaway inflation as we saw in 2011 China, which may be …

Following a crackdown on precious metal manipulation by various European regulators (mostly Germany’s BaFin, recall “Precious Metals Manipulation Worse Than Libor Scandal, German Regulator Says“), which led to the shocking outcome that Deutsche Bank would pull out of the London gold and silver fixing committees, the London Silver Market Fixing …

Today gold slid under $1200 per ounce, dropping to a level not seen in three years. Judging by the price action one would think that gold is not only overflowing from precious metal vaults everywhere, but can be found thrown away on the street, where nobody even bothers to pick …

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission is charging a South Carolina-based firm with operating a $90 million Ponzi scheme, fraudulently offering contracts on silver sales, but never actually purchasing any metal, the agency said late Wednesday. The CFTC charged Ronnie Gene Wilson and Atlantic Bullion & Coin, Inc, both of Easley, …

The smallest country in Central America – El Salvador – has approved a law prohibiting all metal mining in an attempt to protect the environment and natural resources. It is the first country in the world to do so. The new law, supported by 70 lawmakers, bans all exploration, extraction, …

Gold jumped up on the eve of the U.S. election. It seemed to be looking beyond… and indeed it was. Gold continued rising as the attention then turned to the fiscal cliff and escalating tensions in the Middle East. The markets have been focusing on the next major problem. The …

Legendary investors are aggressively building up positions in the precious metal. Gold exchange-traded funds have reached a record $145.1bn beating the gold reserves of every country except the United States and Germany. This year ETF (Gold exchange-traded funds) investors bought 247 tons of gold – more than the annual production of …

My Dear Friends, Gold will go to and above $3500. This is the most important message I have sent you since 2001. There are very few of us dynamic thinkers that see everything as a trend constantly in motion. Anyone can be a static thinker, quoting recent economic figures or …

Two days ago the FT released a clear, informative and fact-based article, titled simply enough “Gold price rigging fears put investors on alert” in which author Madison Marriage, citing a report by the Fideres consultancy, revealed that global gold prices may have been manipulated on 50 per cent of occasions between …

Austria is planning to send auditors to the Bank of England in order to verify the existence of Austrias gold reserves stored in british vaults. The Austrian accountability office will sent a delegation to London in order to check on Austrias gold reserves stored in vaults at the Bank of England. This is …

Over the last decade Russia’s Central Bank acquired 570 metric tonnes of gold. The amount is almost triple the weight of the American Statue of Liberty and makes Russia the world’s biggest buyer of gold. The amount is a qurter more than runner-up China, Bloomberg reported on Monday. Countries like …