Gold Most Likely to Double: Puru Saxena

It was a quiet trading day in both the Far East and London yesterday. Gold opened in New York at the same price as it closed on Thursday night, but it got sold off about eight bucks almost immediately... with the low [$1,134.10 spot] occurring at 9:45 a.m. Eastern time. From there, a large buyer showed up... and 90 minutes later gold was over $1,155 spot. Then after the Comex close, gold tacked on another few dollars and closed at $1,157.50 spot. The absolute high was $1,159.00 spot. For a late Friday afternoon, this was pretty amazing activity.

Silver's price action was similar to gold's almost to the minute. What was really interesting was the little spike at the close of electronic trading around 5:00 p.m. I don't recall silver ever closing [or being allowed to close] on a Friday in such a manner. I don't know if it means, or portends, anything. The low and high of the day were both in New York... $17.83 and $18.37 respectively.

The stocks put on a decent show yesterday... but considering how well it did on Thursday when both gold and silver posted losses on the day... the reaction to Friday's run-ups in both metals seemed a little subdued to me. But, I suppose we should be thankful for small mercies, as the HUI finished up 1.72% by the time the smoke cleared.

The dollar was down a bit, but really wasn't a factor in the precious metals arena yesterday.

Gold's down day on Thursday resulted in a smallish 5,007 contract decline in open interest. Volume was a chunky 146,547 contracts. Silver's open interest was only down 481 contracts. Silver volume was 50,568 contracts... but around 25% of that was roll-overs. Considering the drops in price of both metals, I feel that their respective open interests should have been down more. The bullion banks were probably buying longs to cover their tracks... as well as closing out short positions.

The CME Delivery Report showed that 64 gold and 3 silver contracts have been posted for delivery on Tuesday. There were no reported changes in GLD, SLV, or from the U.S. Mint. The Comex-approved depositories showed that absolutely no silver was received at, or shipped from, any of the depositories on Thursday. It's been many a moon since the last time that happened.

Well, the Commitment of Traders report was not as good as I was hoping for... but there was an improvement in the Commercial net short position in both metals. In silver, the bullion banks only decreased their short position by 1,072 contracts. The Commercial net short position in silver is still right up there at 271.6 million ounces of silver... and the '4 or less' bullion banks are short 251 million of that.

In gold, the bullion banks only improved their short position by 6,084 contracts. The Commercial net short position is still a whopping 25.7 million ounces... of which, the '4 or less' bullion banks are short 19.3 million ounces... and the '8 or less' bullion banks are short 24.2 million ounces.

Eric King's weekly interview with silver analyst Ted Butler, is linked here. I urge you to stop reading at this point and listen to what Ted has to say.

Today's only gold-related story is a GATA release bearing the headline "Puru Saxena: Why wouldn't gold be manipulated? Everything else is.". John Dourekas of Kitco News got some interesting comments out of Hong Kong-based money manager Puru Saxena. The interview is certainly worth your time. Kitco News headlines it "Gold Most Likely to Double: Puru Saxena"... and the link is here.

The next piece is an item about Goldman Sachs courtesy of Washington State reader S.A. It's oh-so true... and definitely worth your time. To give you a feel for it, here's the opening paragraph... "While President Obama assails the culture of greed and recklessness practiced by the men of Goldman Sachs, his administration is infested with them. The White House can no more disown Government Sachs than Da Boss in chief can disown Chicago politics." ['Da Boss' and 'da boyz' would be one in the same. - Ed] It's posted over at investors.com... and bears the headline "All The President's Men [With Ties to Controversial Goldman Sachs]"... and the link is here.

The next item today is a PBS television interview from yesterday. It's Bill Moyers sitting across the desk from veteran regulator William K. Black, who says that Wall Street is already breaking the current rules. This is Bill Moyer's last program on PBS...and it's only appropriate that Bill Black be his last guest. It's a must listen from one end to the other. I thank reader Roy Stephens for sending it along... and the link is here.

Lastly today, is the latest monthly offering from Eric Sprott and David Franklin over at Sprott Asset Management in Toronto. The headline pretty much says it all... "Weakness Begets Weakness: from Banks to Sovereigns to Banks". This was an issue that I was harping on in my column on Thursday... plus a lot of other days as well. But their take on it is definitive. There's nothing that I could add, either now or later, that describes the situation better than this. It's a must read from beginning to end... and the 5-page pdf file is linked here.

Gold is forever. It is beautiful, useful, and never wears out. Small wonder that gold has been prized over all else, in all ages, as a store of value that will survive the travails of life and the ravages of time. - James Blakely

Today's 'blast from the past' goes back 45 years...and the video is, of course, in black and white. It was a smash hit back then... and has withstood the test of time. So turn up your speakers and click here.

As I mentioned yesterday, I thought Friday's action might be interesting, and it certainly was. Whether this is a sign of things to come or not, remains to be seen. The Treasury has a record pile of funny money to sell next week... plus we have options expiry in silver on Tuesday... and first day notice for delivery into the May silver contract on Friday as well.

While on the subject of silver... Monday is the last day for public input into position limits on precious metals. If you've been procrastinating, or have just plain forgotten, you can redeem yourself over the weekend. It will take less than five minutes of your time... and silver analyst Ted Butler shows you how at the end of his early April commentary entitled "A Time to Act"... and the link is here. Do it now, dear reader!!!

After Friday's very interesting action in both gold and silver... I will be watching the precious metals action in Far East trading with great interest when it begins at 6:00 p.m. Eastern time on Sunday evening.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend... and I'll see you on Tuesday.