To balance the news that the Comex is up to 'no good' as outlined in a previous post (Gold Manipulation Whistle Blower Blows Away CFTC – Biggest Fraud in History?) this article by Erik Townsend does a detailed overview of the issues involved. Perhaps we were hoodwinked by some of the GATA and King information? While I respect GATA's aims, they are not perfect and may have gone too far this time. Sadly, Mr. Townsend points out that they may have lost a 'golden' opportunity to shed light where it could actually do the most good. Here is an excerpt:

"Ever since the U.S. Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) hearing on position limits in the COMEX precious metals futures markets on March 25th, the blogosphere has been on fire with talk of conspiracy, scandal and fraud. Eric King of King World News has run a series of audio interviews in which he repeatedly suggests that what’s being uncovered may actually be “The greatest fraud in history”. Meanwhile, the Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee (GATA) has made numerous allegations pertaining to fraud on the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA), which is arguably the largest marketplace in the world for sale and purchase of physical gold bullion. The story gets even more juicy – at the CFTC hearing, GATA brought forth information from a whistleblower named Andrew Maguire. Then, just days after this disclosure, Mr. Maguire and his wife were victims of a hit-and run car accident in London. In what read like a 1960s spy novel, the blogosphere immediately went wild with allegations that JP Morgan, an investment bank that trades in the precious metals market, had arranged to have Mr. Maguire assassinated for revealing their devilish plot to manipulate precious metals markets! To the casual observer, all this smacks of exactly what Eric King has called it: The greatest fraud in history!

But to the not-so-casual observer, i.e. someone who actually understands metals markets and how they function, it’s quickly apparent that most of the hype circulating in the blogosphere is utter nonsense. In fact, there appears to this author to be far more misinformation than accurate information circulating on the Internet with regard to this subject. Sadly, GATA, the watchdog organization that is urgently needed by investors to keep an eye on wrongdoing in these markets, appears to be more at fault than any other party for distorting the facts and making baseless allegations. While that organization’s chartered mission is certainly noble, the organization’s execution of that mission warrants some harsh criticism. This article will review the history of what has transpired, and will debunk the false information that has been spreading rampantly in the coverage of these events by otherwise-respectable websites including ZeroHedge and King World News."

To read the complete article go to Financial Sense Editorials.

The CFTC hearing on possible manipulation in the precious metals market received a bombshell with a presentation from Bill Murphy of GATA . Bill released information provided by whistle blower Andrew Maguire, a former Goldman Sachs silver trader. Incidentally, concurrently with Mr. Maguire's revelation, he and his wife were hurt in a hit-and-run drive in London. Was this an accident? Mr. Maguire has documented evidence including phone recordings detailing his conversations with the CFTC in regard to a particular incident of silver manipulation in the London market. Incidentally, the CFTC did nothing about his revelation, when it was clearly illegal.

This news is huge. This news blows the lid off metals manipulation in a way that the CFTC cannot deny. Look out for precious metals prices to jump. More importantly, as revelations take place, the validity of 'paper' gold and silver' (ETF's) will be put into serious question. And as I have been saying for years, get out of ETF's that give no guarantee that physical gold actually backs the paper and get into real bullion. Here is a link to an interview with Andrew Maguire & Adrian Douglas (of GATA) hosted by King World News here: King World News

Here is a video of the part of the presentation done by Bill Murphy at the CFTC hearing:

Do you have real gold and silver bullion? Don't wait till prices skyrocket – contact me now. Remember, President Obama has stated that he wants more transparency in markets. This story of precious metals manipulation can not be kept quiet any longer!

Commodity Online has an interesting article from noted investor Jim Rogers. He still likes gold. Here is an excerpt: "Noted commodities investor and author of bestselling books like Hot Commodities and A Bull in China Jim Rogers says investors should continue to buy gold, silver and copper as governments across the world are dishing out heaps of printed currencies with declining values.

Rogers, who has been predicting that gold price would surge to $2,000 per ounce in the next 10 years, said that commodities like gold, silver, platinum and copper offer the best bet for investors because the governments are printing lots of money to help revive the global economy. According to him, printing money is not an answer to solve the economic problems that the world is caught in, but buying commodities is going to be a sure-shot strategy as sound future investment." Read more here: Jim Rogers

This article from iAfrica.com voices some predictions re precious metals and recommends a core holding of bullion. Here is an excerpt: "You should hold some bullion when it comes to precious metals. Unlike shares they are not influenced by poor management decisions, strikes, high costs, and bad hedging policies. However, due to South Africa's unique position when it comes to platinum, shares in this sector could do very well indeed."  Read more here: iAfrica

In this article in the Financial Post, Nick Berisheff of BMG BullionBars is quoted as favouring platinum over gold at this point. Here is an excerpt from the article: "

After a year in which everyone seemed to be backing the truck up for gold, investors are turning their attention to platinum, an outperformer versus gold in 2009 that continues to offer better prospects for price appreciation.

In the past month alone, platinum and its near cousin palladium have climbed as much as 12% and 15%, reaching a peak last week after getting a huge boost from the launch of two exchange-traded funds in the United States."

The latest BullionBuzz magazine is out. You can find it here: BullionBuzz. A number of topics are covered including gold and what's driving it now, hyperinflation, Ron Paul on the economy and a piece on a meeting coming up with the various Latin American presidents on the issue of breaking their dependence on the US dollar. Here is an excerpt: "“Latin American presidents have organized a meeting to take a step to 'break' their dependence on US dollar in regional financial transactions. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said on Saturday that the leaders would meet Monday in Caracas. "We'll have a very important meeting of economy ministers from ALBA (Bolivian Alliance for the peoples of Americas) to further shape an extraordinary project" on a new currency, Chavez said. The currency, the Sucre, will "break the dependency on the dollar, its economic and financial colonialism," he added. The Sucre was named after Jose Antonio de Sucre who fought for independence from Spain alongside Venezuelan hero Simon Bolivar in the early 19th century.
Leftist Latin American leaders agreed on using the new intra-regional trading currency in an October meeting of ALBA. The currency is expected to be rolled out early this year in a non-paper form. Formed in 2004, ALBA is an alliance for regional integration between the countries of Latin America and Caribbean. ALBA's nine members include Venezuela, Bolivia, Cuba, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Honduras, Dominica, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Antigua and Barbuda.”"

I keep hammering away at this theme – that ETF's are risky. Many people are investing in them whithout due diligence. If you are one of them, read your official documentation and especially the section dedicated to 'Risks'. Paul  Mladjenovic points out the risks clearly in this article. Here is an excerpt: "Diversify away from paper assets. As I have written before, paper assets have “counter-party risk”. Any “paper”investment that you have (such as stocks, bonds, ETFs, mutual funds, cash accounts, etc.) have counter-party risk. In other words, that investment’s value is tied to someone else’s promise or performance. A stock can go worthless if that company ceases to perform well (or just ceases to perform!). Bonds can become worthless if the borrower can’t or won’t pay. What should you consider? Add some gold or silver physical bullion to your asset portfolio. Gold and silver bullion are among the very few investments that do not have counter-party risk. They have their own, unique intrinsic value and that has been true for thousands of years. It will continue to be true for years to come." Read more here: Commodity Online

U.S. Global Investors has unveiled their update to their Periodic Table of Periodic Returns. Gold has done well. According to the article, "Gold had the most positive years – its streak now stands at nine straight years after a 5.5 percent loss in 2000, when the bullion price dipped below $265, roughly a quarter of the current price. Oil, platinum and silver all had eight positive years during the decade, while nickel had six down years."

Further, "We believe that the secular bull market for commodities and natural resources stocks that began in 2000 is far from over. The International Monetary Fund believes that commodity prices will rise further in 2010 as a result of global economic recovery and escalating demand from fast-growing emerging markets." So, general support for gold and other precious metals is in the cards as they fill other rolls than that of currency. Read more in 'Seeking Alpha'

Financial advisor and writer Howard Ruff talks about the current Obama administration, overspending, inflation, precious metals and other topics related to the current economy with the folks at Gold Seek. He sees inflation on our horizon and makes some recommendations on what average people can do to prepare for it. Read more here: Gold Seek

The latest BullionBuzz Newsletter is out. Articles: Outlook for 2010, Gold Price Suppression and Management to End, A Recovery Year – But What Now?, Giant Gathering Storm Clouds, Slow-Motion Wreck for Commercial Real Estate.Read the Buzz here: BMG