Wall Street reaches perfect equilibrium of indecision on gold prices Main Street maintains optimistic outlook

Wall Street reaches perfect equilibrium of indecision on gold prices, Main Street maintains optimistic outlook

The gold market saw one of its least dramatic weeks of the year this week, but as has been the case of late, it saved some drama for market participants for the end.

Spot gold kicked off the week trading at $2,332.64, and after sliding to a daily low of $2,311.50 around noon EDT on Monday, it did very little other than set the weekly low of $2,307.38 early Tuesday morning.

So steady and narrow was the sideways churn that by the middle of the day Wednesday, which also marked the Juneteenth holiday in the United States, gold had traded in only about a $20 range and found itself flat on the week.

U.S. traders brought renewed energy to the markets with their return on Thursday morning, driving spot gold from $2,332 in the early morning to the then-high of $2,364.09 by 10:45 am EDT. Gold then traded in its newly elevated range between $2,350 and the weekly high of $2,367.70 until Friday morning’s precipitous decline that saw spot gold slide from $2,363.71 at 9 am EDT all the way to $2,317.70 shortly after 1 pm, leaving traders and investors wondering whether the key psychological support level of $2,300 per ounce would hold into Friday's close.

The latest Kitco News Weekly Gold Survey shows industry experts indecisive about gold’s near-term path, while retail sentiment remains positive.

Marc Chandler, Managing Director at Bannockburn Global Forex, sees geopolitics pushing bullion prices higher next week.

“US rates remain soft and although Mexico’s president-elect has made some market-friendly cabinet appointments, political tensions continue to run high in Europe (EU, France, and UK),” he said. “And we note elevated tension between China and the Philippines.”

Chandler said the slippage in U.S. rates “seems to run against the grain of the rally in crude oil, where the Aug WTI contract reached its highest level since the end of April.”

“The yellow metal is testing the $2368 area, and a push higher could see $2388-$2390,” he concluded.

“BULL,” wrote Mark Leibovit, publisher of the VR Metals/Resource Letter.

“Down,” countered Adrian Day, President of Adrian Day Asset Management. “Gold is in a short-term trading range right now and, after last week’s rally, could pull back next week. The market is in a holding pattern, looking for news on the resumption of Chinese official gold buying as well as clarity on US inflation and employment, which will provide insight into the timing of any rate cut.”

Darin Newsom, Senior Market Analyst at Barchart.com, sees gold prices trending higher next week.

“August gold’s short-term uptrend has turned up on the contract’s daily chart, with August posting a new 4-day high of $2,5379.50 Thursday,” Newsom wrote. “While the early part of next week could see renewed light selling interest, by the time we get to next Friday, the contract should be higher again.”

Newsom said he’s looking for a higher weekly close this week and next, which would constitute a string of three straight weeks against the intermediate-term downtrend on the August contract’s weekly chart. “At that point, based on the Benjamin Franklin Fish Analogy (Like guests and fish, markets start to stink after three days/week/months of moving against the trend), I’m looking for the futures contract to turn down again,” he said.

“The short-term upside target area is between $2,370 and $2,390, with an outside shot at $2,410.”

Analysts at CPM Group are also projecting higher gold prices over the next week or two.

“A wide range of political, economic, and financial market issues are likely to push gold higher, toward $2,400 if not $2,450 during this time,” they said. “A stronger dollar is not likely to be a negative for gold: The dollar and gold are both expected to find strong investor demand as the safer currencies to be in. Silver prices are expected to exhibit strength next week ahead of the July Comex futures delivery period starting on 28 May, which may help pull gold prices higher.”

“The increase may be short-lived, however, and dissipate beyond the first week of July,” the analysts warned.

This week, 14 Wall Street analysts participated in the Kitco News Gold Survey, and their responses produced a perfect equilibrium of indecision about the near-term prospects for precious metals. Five experts, representing 62%, expect to see gold prices climb higher next week, while an equal number of analysts predict a price decline. The remaining four, or 28% of the total, expect gold to trade sideways during the coming week.

Meanwhile, 209 votes were cast in Kitco’s online poll, with Main Street investors maintaining their positive outlook on the yellow metal. 114 retail traders, or 55%, look for gold prices to rise next week. Another 38, or 18%, expected the yellow metal to trade lower, while 57 respondents, representing the remaining 27%, saw prices chopping sideways during the week ahead.

The highlight of next week's economic news calendar is the release of the core PCE price index report for May, as markets will be very interested to see if the Federal Reserve's preferred measure of inflation shows further improvement, increasing the likelihood of interest rate cuts in 2024.

Markets will also receive U.S. consumer confidence for June, the S&P Case Shiller home price index for April on Tuesday, and MBA mortgage applications, new home sales, and the results of the Federal Reserve’s bank stress tests on Wednesday. Thursday will bring the May durable goods report and final Q1 GDP, along with initial jobless claims and pending home sales for May, and the week wraps up with the final University of Michigan consumer sentiment for June on Friday.

There will also be a battery of central bank speakers for markets to tune in to, including the Fed's Waller and Daly on Monday, speeches from Cook and Bowman on Tuesday, and Barkin and Bowman again on Friday.

Daniel Pavilonis, Senior Commodities Broker at RJO Futures, said gold appears to be in its summer doldrums, but there’s a lot more happening under the surface.

“If you look at the retracement of the dollar, the dollar is still moving higher, we're inching our way up there, and we're also looking at energy prices move higher,” he said. “This could cause a rebound in rates, which may put some pressure on gold.”

“But ultimately, we're going to see some major headwinds here coming into the elections, and possibly some flaring up of rates in Europe with the situation in France, and French yields moving higher because of the elections.”

“At the base of it, everywhere you look, in terms of de-dollarization, rates, debt, political instability, I still think this is very, very beneficial for gold,” he said. “But it may take a little bit of a pause here.”

Regarding gold’s slide on Friday, Pavilonis said he thinks it was likely driven by hawkish Fed commentary.

“I think some of it was the Fed talk yesterday, with Brainard, on the possibility of not cutting rates,” he said. “Then, coming into this morning, we had some European data that was maybe weighing on the markets, but then we had the global composite PMI and manufacturing PMI, and I think that ticked a little bit higher.”

Pavilonis said the data is inconclusive right now, and it’s creating a weird situation for market participants. “Are we walking into a recession because rates are too tight, or are they not tight enough?” he asked rhetorically. “Some of the data is just all over the place, and I think it's causing a little bit of uncertainty in the market.”

While Pavilonis sees a lot of global instability pushing gold prices higher in the coming months, as far as next week is concerned, he still thinks the yellow metal could fall further.

“I still think there may be some downside,” he said. “We have that double top up there around $2,440. We come back and we try to make a new high, and we actually make a new low, and then we start grinding higher from the beginning of June, all the way to where we've been over the last couple of days… but the candlesticks on the daily [chart] on futures don't look that great.”

“I think the path of least resistance is to the downside,” he concluded. “Maybe we start getting back down to $2,250, somewhere around there.”

Michael Moor, founder of Moor Analytics, wrote that based on where gold is trading on Friday, the charts are indicating further downside.

“The trade above 23386 (-1.2 tics per/hour) should bring in decent strength,” he said. “Decent trade back below 23520 (-2 tics per/hour starting at 6:00am) should bring in decent pressure. Decent trade below 23249 (+1 tic per/hour) will project this downward $35 minimum.”

And Kitco Senior Analyst Jim Wyckoff said traders appear to be positioning themselves long for next week.

“The near-term technical postures have turned more bullish for gold and silver this week, which is inviting the chart-based speculators to the long sides of the markets,” he said. “Technically, August gold bulls have the overall near-term technical advantage. Bulls’ next upside price objective is to produce a close above solid resistance at the June high of $2,406.70. Bears' next near-term downside price objective is pushing futures prices below solid technical support at the June low of $2,304.20.”

 

“First resistance is seen at $2,390.00 and then at $2,400.00,” Wyckoff said. “First support is seen at the overnight low of $2,368.60 and then at $2,300.00.”

Spot gold last traded at $2322.89 at the time of writing for a loss of 1.59% on the day and 0.41% on the week.t

Ernest Hoffman

Time to Buy Gold and Silver

Tim Moseley

Gold price testing resistance at 2350 but largely ignores 55 drop in US housing starts

Gold price testing resistance at $2,350 but largely ignores 5.5% drop in U.S. housing starts

Gold price testing resistance at $2,350 but largely ignores 5.5% drop in U.S. housing starts teaser image

The U.S. housing sector continues to struggle as the construction of new homes falls to its lowest level in nine months.

The gold market is not seeing much reaction to the disappointing data, as the price manages to push above initial resistance at $2,350 an ounce.

Housing starts dropped 5.5% in May to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.277 million units, the Commerce Department said on Thursday. The data came in lower than expected, as economists looked for a rate of 1.37 million units.

Meanwhile, the report said that housing construction compared to last year is down nearly 20%.

The gold market continues to consolidate as it pays little attention to economic data. August gold futures last traded at $2,350.50 an ounce, up 0.15% on the day.

At the same time, a further decline in building permits issued last month does not bode well for a sustained recovery in the housing market anytime soon. The report said that building permits for future homebuilding declined 3.8% to a rate of 1.386 million last month, compared to April’s revised estimate of 1.444 million permits.

The issuance of building permits is down 9.5% for the year.

Although the latest housing data continues to disappoint, it has not surprised many economists as the sector faces some significant headwinds.

The Federal Reserve’s aggressive monetary policy stance has kept mortgage rates elevated. At the same time, a lack of supply has pushed home prices higher, pricing many potential home buyers out of the marketplace.

Relief for the housing market could come after the summer as markets expect the U.S. central bank to cut rates in September.

Kitco Media

Neils Christensen

Time to Buy Gold and Silver

Tim Moseley

Gold and silver caught in prolonged consolidation but prices will head higher – Saxo Bank

Gold and silver caught in prolonged consolidation but prices will head higher – Saxo Bank

Although gold and silver are stuck in neutral at elevated levels, one market analyst remains a long-term bull on precious metals.

le Hansen, Head of Commodity Strategy at Saxo Bank, published a report Tuesday saying investors and traders are just catching their breath after the market’s nearly $250 rally from its February lows to its peak above $2450 an ounce last month.

Hansen added that although gold has lost some momentum, there is very little bearish sentiment in the marketplace as investors and money managers see no urgency to take profits.

He explained that many hedge funds jumped into gold when prices were still below $2,200 an ounce. This sentiment is helping gold hold sticky support at around $2,300 an ounce.

“It is clear that the bulk of the run-up in prices back in February and March was supported by strong demand from managed money traders, such as hedge funds. Having joined the rally at an early stage, they have subsequently not been forced to adjust (sell) positions as the current correction phase has kept prices above levels that otherwise would have forced them to reduce their exposure,” he said in the report.

“Getting on board early and at much lower levels helps explain why the current gold volatility is relatively low compared with other metals such as silver, platinum, and copper, where speculators joined a bit later and at higher prices, leaving them more exposed to long liquidation and with that, the risk of a deeper correction,” Hansen added.

Looking ahead, Hansen said that one of the biggest pillars of support in the marketplace comes from gold’s role as a safe-haven asset and hedge against market risks as geopolitical uncertainty continues to impact the global economy.

At the same time, Hansen said that growing sovereign debt is also forcing central banks to continue to diversify their foreign reserves away from the U.S. dollar.

As to how long gold and silver’s prolonged consolidation will last, Hansen said that is up to the Federal Reserve. He noted that while retail investors in Asia and central banks continue to support the market, it is still missing a key component: investor demand.

“Gold and silver continue to see limited interest from ETF investors who have remained mostly net sellers since 2022 when the FOMC began its aggressive rate-hiking campaign, raising the cost of carry, or opportunity cost, of holding a non-coupon-paying metal investment. Demand from ETF investors will likely remain subdued until interest rates are lowered, and this cost is reduced,” he said.

Kitco Media

Neils Christensen

Time to Buy Gold and Silver

Tim Moseley

Earn Free Solana Make 500 per Day

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Gold silver lower on bearish daily outside markets

Gold, silver lower on bearish daily outside markets

Gold, silver lower on bearish daily outside markets teaser image

Gold and silver prices are lower, with gold solidly down, in midday U.S. trading Monday. There is a lack of major, fresh fundamental news to drive the metals markets to start the trading week, so gold and silver traders were focused on the outside markets, which are in a mostly bearish daily posture. U.S. Treasury yields have up-ticked and the competing asset class of equities sees the U.S. stock indexes at or near record highs. August gold was last down $24.80 at $2,324.00. July silver was last down $0.257 at $29.215.

Technical selling is also featured in the gold and silver markets today, as the near-term chart postures for both precious metals has deteriorated the past few weeks.

Despite the U.S. federal “Juneteenth” holiday on Wednesday, when U.S. markets are closed, it’s still a busy week for U.S. data, highlighted by the retail sales report out on Tuesday.

The key outside markets today see the U.S. dollar index slightly lower. Nymex crude oil prices are firmer and trading around $79.25 a barrel. The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note yield is presently 4.289%.

Technically, August gold bulls and bears are on a level overall near-term technical playing field amid recent choppy trading. Bulls’ next upside price objective is to produce a close above solid resistance at the June high of $2,406.70. Bears' next near-term downside price objective is pushing futures prices below solid technical support at the June low of $2,304.20. First resistance is seen at $2,350.00 and then at last week’s high of $2,358.80. First support is seen at Friday’s low of $2,316.70 and then at the June low of $2,304.20. Wyckoff's Market Rating: 5.0.

July silver futures bulls have the overall near-term technical advantage. However, prices are trending down on the daily bar chart. Silver bulls' next upside price objective is closing prices above solid technical resistance at $31.00. The next downside price objective for the bears is closing prices below solid support at $28.00. First resistance is seen at today’s high of $29.65 and then at $30.00. Next support is seen at $29.00 and then at this week’s low of $28.73. Wyckoff's Market Rating: 6.0.

Kitco Media

Jim Wyckoff

Time to Buy Gold and Silver

Tim Moseley

Separating Fact from Fiction: The Real Story Behind China’s Controversial Social Credit System

Separating Fact from Fiction: The Real Story Behind China's Controversial Social Credit System

Imagine a world where your social standing is dictated by a government-controlled formula that constantly monitors and judges your every move and utterance, imposing instant penalties for any perceived misstep. This Orwellian scenario is precisely what's conjured up by the term "Social Credit System." For years, mainstream media in the West has painted a dire picture of China's social credit system, warning of a dystopian future where citizens live in fear of being penalized for their words and actions.

The Social Credit System is a very real policy in China, yet many may not clearly understand its nature and functioning. This article aims to distinguish between reality and misconceptions surrounding the system, clarify its true essence, and assess the level of concern it warrants.

This article presents a thorough and impartial overview, drawing on the expertise of graduates from Germany's esteemed Mercator Institute for China Studies (MERICS). Additionally, it incorporates valuable insights from Vincent Brussee's 2023 publication, "Social Credit: The Warring States of China's Emerging Data Empire," ensuring a well-rounded perspective.

As geopolitical tensions escalate, it's essential to approach the following information with a healthy dose of skepticism. The Chinese government is exerting increased control over the narrative, while Western media outlets often display a strong bias against China. It's crucial to scrutinize all information critically and acknowledge that our understanding is likely limited. That being said, the social credit system is relatively transparent and accessible, unlike China's secretive defense research endeavors. With a development history spanning approximately 25 years, a wealth of information is available for analysis.


Source: Mercator Institute for China Studies 

The Social Credit System (SoCS) Origin

The subject of the social credit system in China is vast and complex. It's also a misnomer because there isn't one integrated system. Instead, it is a general term used to represent a diverse collection of policies and initiatives implemented by various levels of government in China, central and local. Despite this diversity, these initiatives align with their fundamental principles and objectives, which become more apparent when examining the issues the government seeks to address.

From Beijing's perspective, the absence of transparency, ethical standards, and a robust legal framework stifles economic and social growth. A prime illustration of this issue is the frequent disregard for court rulings. Such problems create an unfavorable business environment, as the inability to enforce court decisions renders contracts ineffective. In essence, agreements are reduced to verbal assurances, which can be precarious, particularly for smaller companies entering into contracts with larger, more powerful entities that may exploit their vulnerability.

Beyond these issues, the government acknowledges that inadequate law enforcement has led to a multitude of ongoing concerns, including devastating industrial accidents, breaches of food and medicine safety, bogus financial claims, the proliferation of fake goods, tax avoidance, false insurance claims, academic dishonesty, and other such illicit activities that continue to plague the system despite repeated prohibitions.

The social credit system was launched as a comprehensive solution to address many challenges. As a result, its reach goes beyond the traditional concept of creditworthiness in the marketplace, as seen in other nations. In defining the social credit system, the Chinese government has traditionally employed sweeping and ambiguous language, deliberately avoiding specificity. This approach allows for adaptability in policy-making, which is a top priority.

At first glance, Beijing may seem to be granting itself the unlimited authority to control the Chinese populace, which is a concerning prospect. Yet, surprisingly, the social credit system is quite dispersed and lacks centralized control. Local authorities have been afforded significant autonomy to respond innovatively to Beijing's vague objectives and develop their own unique iterations of the social credit system.

Due to the social credit system's complex and constantly shifting nature, it can be more productive to clarify what it is not rather than attempting to define what it is. A good starting point would be to debunk the prevalent myths surrounding this system and then work backward to better understand its true nature.

Debunking the Myth of a Nationwide Social Credit Score

One widespread misconception about China's social credit system is that the government assigns a numerical score to every citizen. However, this is not the case. In reality, no centralized scoring system is in place, and most initiatives under the social credit system do not involve numerical ratings. The few that do are limited to experimental programs introduced and managed by local city administrations. These pilot cities played a significant role in shaping the social credit system in the 2010s, with many emerging and disappearing over the past decade.

The initiatives ranged from the ordinary to the foreboding and the bizarre. What they all shared, however, was an air of innovation, as the social credit system remains a developing project with much still to be ironed out. It was the city-based trials that generated the most alarming news stories about China's social credit system, which were then picked up by Western media outlets, perpetuating a sense of unease about China's social credit system.

Rumors have circulated about draconian measures proposed by local authorities to penalize citizens for minor infractions, such as crossing the street illegally, failing to honor reservations at hotels or restaurants, or blasting loud music on public transportation. While most of these harsh initiatives stalled in the planning phase, the few that made it through sent a disturbing message.

The City of Rongcheng in Shandong province stands out as the most egregious violator, exemplifying the most extreme application of the social credit system on record. According to Adam Knight, a PhD candidate at the University of Leiden who researched Rongcheng's social credit initiative, the city's system evaluates businesses, government agencies, and individuals across a staggering 570 criteria, assigning scores that reflect their performance.

People could earn credits for virtuous acts such as donating to charity or giving blood, while they may lose points for negative actions like littering or engaging in public fights. If an individual's rating falls too low, they might face restrictions on purchasing transportation tickets for up to a year. Moreover, they could be publicly exposed and humiliated on a billboard. On the positive side, the initiative led to the dismissal of corrupt local officials and a significant reduction in grievances about misbehaving taxi drivers.

The positive development is that China's state media openly criticized rating systems incorporating punitive measures, such as the one in Rongcheng. The China Youth Daily aptly noted, “People should have rated government employees, and instead, the government has rated the people.”  Following this, the central government prohibited scoring systems that penalize individuals. They are now more akin to a loyalty rewards program rather than resembling something from a George Orwell novel.

By 2022, at least 62 cities had implemented their own social credit initiatives. Participation in these programs was optional, and not all utilized rating systems. Residents of these areas must proactively request a government-issued score, as it is not automatically assigned. The incentives offered to high-achieving individuals differ by location, ranging from discounted public transportation fares to priority parking and marginal tax breaks.

On the other hand, having the lowest score in the area would have no significant impact. A more appealing option is to opt out of participating in such initiatives altogether. The latter choice is widely favored in China. Involvement in these programs has been minimal, with many individuals unaware of their existence.

According to a study conducted by Genia Kostka, a professor specializing in Chinese politics at the Freie Universität in Berlin, a mere 7% of participants were aware of a social credit system within their local government. Additionally, the research highlighted that the primary focus of social credit systems in China is on evaluating the creditworthiness of government entities and businesses rather than individual citizens.


Source: Mercator Institute for China Studies 

The Target Audience of the Social Credit System

The primary objective of the social credit system is to enhance governance and foster a favorable business climate in China. Consequently, most of the central government's resources have been dedicated to developing the corporate social credit system. This emphasis is evident on the government's Credit China website, which offers a comprehensive overview of the social credit system. The website's content primarily focuses on businesses and public entities, reflecting the system's main priorities. Furthermore, data on enforcement actions undertaken under the social credit system confirms this bias towards corporate entities.

From 2014, when the city pilot programs began, to 2020, 73% of enforcement measures were aimed at businesses. Government agencies were the next most targeted group, accounting for 13% of these actions; 10% focused on individuals, with the remaining percentage focused on non-governmental organizations. While social credit's significance for individuals may increase in the future, its primary focus is on evaluating and impacting private companies rather than personal reputations.

Government Watchlists: A Powerful Tool of Control

Regardless of their penalty points, individuals and businesses can be subject to government pressure by being placed on a specialized register. This registry, comprised of "blacklists" and "redlists" (the government's term for trusted or "white lists"), plays a crucial role in the social credit system. These two lists are highly fragmented and uncoordinated across central and local governments. 

The Supreme People's Court oversees the most influential blacklist on a national scale. This registry documents entities and individuals legally mandated to settle outstanding debts yet deliberately choose not to despite having the financial capability to do so. Before establishing this black list, the court lacked the authority to enforce its decisions, leading to a widespread phenomenon of individuals disregarding its judgments.

Ever since the blacklist was established in 2013, it has evolved into a fundamental component of the social credit system and a valuable instrument for the judiciary. Individuals on the blacklist face limitations on indulging in lavish expenditures, such as purchasing plane and high-speed train tickets, staying at high-end hotels, enrolling in expensive private schools, and acquiring luxury vehicles.

Before inclusion on the list, the court must inform the affected individual or business of its ruling and its justification. Parties that have been blacklisted have the opportunity to have their names stricken from the list and sanctions revoked, provided they consent to settling their outstanding debt and committing to lawful behavior going forward.

In addition to the above, the Civil Aviation Administration and the National Railway Administration maintain no-fly and no-ride lists. These are lists of individuals prohibited from flying or taking the train. Disruptive behavior, such as physically harming transportation employees or fellow travelers, disregarding safety protocols, using counterfeit tickets, or smoking onboard, can land you on one of these lists. As a consequence, you may be barred from purchasing new tickets for a period of six to twelve months. Notably, being placed on this list has no broader implications for your personal or professional life.


Source: AIES Conference 

Regardless of one's stance on the infractions and penalties detailed, the centralized government's blacklists appear to possess a certain level of consistency and well-defined boundaries. In contrast, certain pilot cities' ad hoc blacklists lack uniformity and coherence, with no clear-cut parameters or limitations.

Various cities had numerous black and red lists, with their content and emphasis differing significantly from one city to another. To illustrate, in a particular inner Mongolian county, parents who sought to remove their children from local schools teaching Mandarin were allegedly intimidated by the prospect of being placed on a blacklist.

Amid the pandemic, certain cities put citizens on a blacklist for not adhering to mask-wearing regulations in certain urban areas. In Anqing, a resident was even ostracized for allegedly "spreading panic" after sharing footage of an ambulance transporting a person suspected of having contracted the virus. Mainstream Chinese media outlets have denounced these actions, deeming them capricious and unrelated to the principle of "social creditworthiness."

In Zhengzhou, the city authorities indiscriminately red-listed all hospitals handling pandemic victims, commending them for simply fulfilling their obligations. In Rongcheng, 75% of red-listed individuals earned their prestigious status due to their exemplary tax compliance. Similarly, roughly 75% of distinguished entities in Putian were red-listed for meeting food safety standards. 


Source: Mercator Institute for China Studies 

Beijing seemed dissatisfied with the situation and consequently released a policy document in 2020 aimed at enhancing the standardization of social credit and limiting the abuse of power by local officials. The updated guidelines emphasized that blacklists should be reserved for cases of significant harm, focusing on safeguarding information security and privacy. Additionally, the document underscored the importance of widespread agreement before implementing social credit measures, discouraged the arbitrary creation of new blacklists, and highlighted the need for a transparent process for black-listed entities to restore their credit standing.

A Rudimentary System In The 21st Century

One could easily view China's social credit system as an expansion of the surveillance state. The government could monitor and manipulate citizens with precision and ease through algorithms, artificial intelligence, massive data collection, and numerous cameras. This dystopian scenario appears plausible, given the government's penchant for control and access to the technological tools necessary to implement such a system on a massive scale.

Despite the prevailing notion, the facts don't support this assessment. It's striking that a government with extensive surveillance infrastructure relies on an astonishingly rudimentary social credit system, which relies more on antiquated technologies like fax machines and paper-based documentation rather than cutting-edge machine learning applications.

The social credit system's level of digital maturity is evident in official government documents, which repeatedly emphasize the necessity of building comprehensive databases and platforms that facilitate seamless information sharing. A notable challenge, however, is the lack of standardization in data presentation, with cities submitting reports in varying formats, including spreadsheets, news articles, and even JPEG images.

The pilot city initiatives gathered data through manual efforts, utilizing basic tools like Microsoft Excel and WeChat, resulting in inconsistent and uneven data quantities. For instance, in Anqing, a single department was responsible for a staggering 90% of all data accumulated under the social credit system. In contrast, in a metropolis with a population exceeding 9 million, numerous departments contributed a mere trickle of data, with fewer than 100 weekly entries.

The social credit system has taken the concept of big data to a new level, mainly due to the rampant inflation and the motivations of local officials to exaggerate their statistics. Impressive figures can boost a team's reputation and even lead to career advancement. However, a curious phenomenon has been observed: the more data collected, the fewer individuals are actually penalized, suggesting an inverse relationship between the two.

Initial obstacles have hindered the government's efforts to transition to digital systems. This slow progress is attributed to the absence of standard guidelines, a centralized data storage system, ambiguous credit classifications, and disparities in data collection practices across regions and institutions. Consequently, it's unsurprising that the capital has recently prioritized standardization and digitization.

However, suppose you believe this enables them to suppress individuals more effectively. In that case, it is essential to note that the disorganized, chaotic, and outdated execution of the social credit system has led to numerous negative consequences, such as unjust blacklisting of innocent individuals and contentious practices of gathering and evaluating behavioral information in trial cities. In every scenario, the central government in Beijing stepped in to limit the abuses carried out by out-of-control local authorities.

Beijing may not necessarily be portrayed as the positive force in this situation, as we will discuss shortly. However, it appears that the social credit system is becoming a permanent fixture, and streamlining and modernizing its application to eliminate its current chaotic state is not a terrible idea. Furthermore, those concerned about a surveillance state can take comfort in the central government's awareness of the risks of relying solely on automated decision-making processes.

China prioritizes human oversight in its social credit system, as demonstrated by a 2021 amendment to the administrative penalties law emphasizing the need for human review of digitally gathered evidence. Furthermore, as of 2023, most social credit-related decisions were allegedly made by human assessors rather than artificial intelligence.

Stay Vigilant

During a speech in 2018, former US Vice President Mike Pence connected the social credit system to China's surveillance State, describing it as “An Orwellian system premised on controlling virtually every facet of human life.” 

In truth, it is a public, somewhat transparent, and diminishing effort to enforce moral standards in the public sphere that is quite separate. While not entirely harmless, it is not as sensational as Pence and others have portrayed. The concept of a social credit score, which is largely exaggerated, has frequently been used to represent a frightening, techno-dystopian future. Over time, it has become a popular cultural reference and the only version of reality that people tend to recall.

It's common to see satirical posts on Chinese social media platforms ridiculing individuals who naively assume that a social credit system is fully operational. On Weibo, for instance, users have created humorous mock-ups of China's social credit app, displaying absurd scores like 726, accompanied by warnings of being under close surveillance as a "second-class citizen" or alarmingly low scores of 0, instructing the individual to surrender, or even a score of -278, demanding immediate execution.


Source:

Regrettably, the social credit system has garnered excessive attention, overshadowing the fact that China, similar to numerous other governments globally, possesses numerous more effective methods for widespread surveillance, counterinsurgency, countersubversion, political oppression, and social control that often operate covertly and outside the confines of laws and regulations. 

While China's social credit system is well-known, fewer people know about initiatives like Project Sharp Eyes, Golden Shield, the Integrated Joint Operations Platform, and Skynet. Unfortunately, freedom and privacy violations occur daily in China and globally, often flying under the radar, maybe because they just aren't as meme-able as the idea of social credit.

It's crucial that we approach all of these issues with a critical eye, accurately identifying and understanding their impact and origins. If we fail to think critically and look beyond the surface level of popular narratives and memes, we risk becoming vulnerable to a surveillance state that erodes our autonomy.

 


 

Editor and Chief Markethive: Deb Williams. (Australia) I thrive on progress and champion freedom of speech.  I embrace "Change" with a passion, and my purpose in life is to enlighten people to accept and move forward with enthusiasm. Find me at my Markethive Profile Page | My Twitter Account | and my LinkedIn Profile.

 

 

 

 

Tim Moseley

Gold looks good again this week as both Wall Street and Main Street turn bullish

Gold looks good again this week as both Wall Street and Main Street turn bullish

After last week's price action was dominated by Friday’s news from China and the employment report, precious metals markets were squarely focused on inflation data and the Federal Reserve’s interest rate path this week.

After kicking off the week trading at $2,293.70 per ounce during the Sunday evening Asian session, spot gold broke above the $2,300 level about two hours before the North American market open, and that level held throughout the rest of the week's roller coaster ride.

Gold prices chopped along in a relatively narrow $15 channel as market participants waited for Wednesday, which would bring the consumer inflation report in the morning, then the FOMC rate announcement, updated economic projections, and Chair Powell's press conference in the afternoon.

The CPI report finally shook the market out of its sideways trading, spiking spot gold from $2,313 per ounce just before the data release to its weekly high of $2,336.72 immediately afterward. By the time the Federal Reserve announced that they were keeping rates unchanged at 2:00 p.m., the price had pulled back to $2,326 per ounce, and spot gold continued to sell off steadily as markets digested Powell’s hawkish rhetoric and the FOMC's updated projection of only one rate cut in all of 2024.

By Thursday, spot gold had once again slid back down to support, but it saw a firm bounce just below the $2,300 level and by Friday morning the yellow metal was once again marching higher into the weekend.

The latest Kitco News Weekly Gold Survey has a majority of industry experts and retail traders seeing green for gold prices next week as they emerge from their bearish hibernation and return to bullish pastures.

“Gold snapped a three-week decline, encouraged by political uncertainty in Europe, and a sharp drop in interest rates,” said Marc Chandler, Managing Director at Bannockburn Global Forex. “It recovered about half of what it lost after the US jobs data on June 7 and on reports that the PBOC did not buy gold for reserves last month.”

Chandler noted that spot gold traded to around $2841 in the middle of last week before consolidating. “Gold was relatively restrained, perhaps pulled by conflicting signals—of a stronger dollar on the one hand, and lower rates on the other. Trendline resistance begins the new week near $2362. On a medium-term view, I suspect gold is nearer a bottom than a top and expected lower interest rates to underpin the yellow metal.”

“I’m sticking with ‘up’ for this week as bulls put in a strong defense of $2300,” said James Stanley, senior market strategist at Forex.com. “The pullbacks are getting more concerning, however, as that shows bulls taking advantage of strength to realize profits and square up positions. That’s helped to build a possible head and shoulders pattern. That formation requires a breach of the neckline, but if it does then I think we could be soon looking at a deeper pullback scenario. And for that, I’m tracking the longer-term range resistance, around the $2,075-$2,082 level for longer-term support to play in.”

“For now, support remains in play and I’m biasing bullish, but I’m ready to change if the neckline breaks,” Stanley said.

 

“Up,” said Adrian Day, President of Adrian Day Asset Management. “Gold is recovering from last week’s sell-off as U.S. economic news has been more ‘dovish’ – weaker producer inflation numbers and higher claims for unemployment – both helping the case for a cut in interest rates, and geopolitical tensions heighten – more attacks on Israel from Hezbollah and Russian warships in the Caribbean.”

“I am bullish on Gold for next week,” said Colin Cieszynski, Chief Market Strategist at SIA Wealth Management. “It’s looking ready for a technical bounce up off of support.”

Sean Lusk, co-director of commercial hedging at Walsh Trading, was reflecting on what traders had learned from both last week and this one.

“I think this recent drop is just a reflection of two things in gold,” Lusk said. “Obviously, last week China just shot an arrow across the bow when nobody was looking, that they were backing off some gold purchases. They said that stuff so they can buy it cheaper, that’s how I view that. And China can say whatever the hell they want, but they have to back up all their money printing.”

“We also had what was deemed to be a blowout unemployment report by some media outlets,” he said. “What a laughable joke that was; not a blowout employment report, it wasn't even close to that. A lot of the gains were government-created, not in the private sector, and if you look within the numbers, and the revisions lower the prior two months, it wasn't that much of a gain, if any.”

Lusk said last Friday’s sharp correction downward wasn’t justified based on those releases. “But the market's going to do what it's going to do, and sometimes you can't fight it,” he said.

“Then CPI came in [this week], hit the dollar one day, and then they brought it back up on PPI,” Lusk observed. “It's just a mixed bag of nonsense, really. But I think for gold's price here, it's a pure consolidation. We held the weekly low down at $2,304. There's a lot of uncertainty all over the place, and I think that the path of least resistance for metals is still higher.”

Lusk said that since last Friday, the August futures contract dropped from $2,406 all the way to $2,304. “You dropped $100 in a day,” he noted. “That's pretty steep, right? But you haven't revisited that low. So now the key resistance is going to be that big ‘drop day’ high. You can draw a trend line from the May high the week before Memorial Day weekend at $2,477 to $2,406. Wherever that line's coming in, that's your trend line that you’ve got to watch. If they blow through last Friday morning's high before China made that announcement, then we're going up to $2,485, if not $2,500.”

“Now, should we blow through $2,304, then we're going down to $2,280 and we might go down to $2,200,” he cautioned. “But I think the trend is still up overall, no doubt about that. You've come off the highs a little bit, but you've had a hell of a run since the February lows. From $1,996 you ran up to $2,454 on the continuous. That’s a $458 move in three months.”

This week, 13 Wall Street analysts participated in the Kitco News Gold Survey, and after this week’s performance, they were considerably more optimistic about the precious metal’s near-term prospects. Eight experts, representing 62%, expect to see gold prices climb higher next week, while only two analysts, or 15%, predicted a price decline. The remaining three, or 23% of the total, expect gold to trade sideways during the coming week.

Meanwhile, 216 votes were cast in Kitco’s online poll, with Main Street investors somewhat more cautious than their institutional counterparts, but positive on balance. 117 retail tradSpot gold last traded at $2333.21 at the time of writing, up 1.26% on the day and 1.71% on the week.ers, or 54%, look for gold prices to rise next week. Another 49, or 23%, expected the yellow metal to trade lower, while 50 respondents, representing the remaining 23%, saw prices chopping sideways during the week ahead.

With the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy decision in the books, markets will shift their focus to Europe next week as the Swiss National Bank and the Bank of England will both announce their monetary policy decisions on Thursday morning.

Markets will also receive the Empire State manufacturing index on Monday, and retail sales for May on Tuesday. Then, Thursday brings housing starts and building permits for May, as well as weekly jobless claims and the Philly Fed manufacturing index. The week’s data wraps up with existing home sales on Friday morning.

Darin Newsom, Senior Market Analyst at Barchart.com, expects gold to build on this week’s rebound and make further gains. “While August gold’s intermediate-term trend remains down, its short-term trend has turned up,” he said. “This means the contract should take out its previous high of $2,358.80 with the next upside target near $2,370, then $2,391.”

“As we head into the weekend, I’m looking for increased investment buying tied to the political chaos in France,” Newsom added. “We can’t call it a Black Swan event given it was predictable as the China/Russia coalition gets more desperate ahead of the global 2024 election cycle.”

Alex Kuptsikevich, senior market analyst at FxPro, said he thinks gold’s support at $2,300 looks extremely fragile and unreliable.

“Firstly, last Friday, Gold went over 4% from peak to bottom, on high volumes and with a horrendous amplitude falling under the 50-day moving average,” he said. “All other dynamics of this week may well be considered as consolidation of liquidity by bears for a new blow to the metal. This thesis is reinforced by the fact that this 50-day average is already actively working as resistance.”

“Secondly, the dollar has been rising since last Friday, as if switching into a ‘buy on the downturn’ mode,” Kuptsikevich said. “The dollar index has pushed back from its 200-day moving average since the beginning of the month. And a rising dollar with attractive bond interest yields makes dollar bonds an effective competitor to gold.”

The third factor weighing on gold is the ongoing slide in stocks. “Separate from the short-squeeze-backed gains in individual stocks in the Nasdaq100 and S&P500, there is noticeable heaviness in the Dow Jones and Russell 2000 indices, not to mention the 5% loss by the French CAC40 for the week,” he said. “Politics was back to spooking the markets as we heard of new barrages of trade wars and the risks of increased protectionism.”

Adam Button, head of currency strategy at Forexlive.com, was also reflecting on the shifting political landscape and its short- and long-term implications for precious metals and the dollar.

“The consensus around open borders and open trade was built with the U.S. dollar at the heart of it,” Button said. “Breaking that system will have impacts, and we're seeing them, on the U.S. dollar, especially now that the U.S. is wielding tariffs as a tool. Trump the other day was talking about replacing income tax with tariffs. That's an attack on even a country like Canada, potentially. I don't think it's realistic, but 10 years from now, who knows? And what does 2028 look like? Does it look like two reasonable human beings in an election fight?”

“That's the way the pendulum is swinging,” he added. “And if it is, what are you doing holding Treasuries? When they say you're cheating on your tariffs, or you're cheating on imports, and they decide to steal your money, like they did to Russia?

“That seems outlandish, but in a world like that, what's gold worth?” Button asked. “$10,000? $20,000?”

Turning to Europe, Button said that the Franco-German consensus that has governed Europe since the dawn of the euro is ending. “What happens to the Eurozone from here? And the EU, what's the point of the whole thing if that's broken?” he asked. “We're seeing that in French bonds right now. It's not hard to envision the next German election, the next Hungarian election again, even the Dutch swung that way.”

“Political turmoil is the theme right now,” he said. “And that's a classic gold driver.”

That said, Button still doesn’t expect gold to rise in the near term. “Do I want to be long gold next week? No, I don't,” he said. “If something can't rally on good news, then it's not going to rally. That was the best CPI report that gold bulls could have hoped for, and gold didn't rally. It's having a decent day today, but maybe that's the push and pull of the political side.”

“I don't like the price action this week, that's what it comes down to for me,” Button added. “If $2,300 breaks, what's the downside? Probably like $2,150, something like that. Maybe I'm interested there.”

The other thing he’d like to see is whether gold prices can withstand some real pain in equities.

“No one has forgotten how poorly gold did at the outset of COVID,” Button said. “And I'm not to say that we'll see equities puke like that, but it hasn't been a counter-cyclical trade. So I just want to see what gold looks like in a poor day for equities, a real poor day, which I think we're headed toward. We just need one bad NVIDIA headline. It's really carrying the whole market here.”

Michael Moor, Founder of Moor Analytics, was breaking down the technical picture from gold’s recent price action in the lower and higher timeframes.

“On a lower timeframe basis: The trade below 24343 (+1.3 tics per/hour) has brought in $130.1 of pressure,” Moor wrote. “The trade below 24216 (+4 tics per/hour) projects this downward $60 (+)—we have attained $117.4. These rolled from (M) into the (Q). The trade back below 23642 (-1.2 tics per/hour) in (Q) has brought in $60.0 of pressure. Decent trade above 23489 (-1.2 tics per/hour starting at 7:00am) should bring in decent strength.”

“Areas of possible exhaustion to contend with below come in at 65216-4785, 62926, and 60280-59628; and we have entered into the ideal timeframe for one of these to hold more than temporarily – if we settle below the lower of these, this should be a larger, higher timeframe correction,” he said.

And Kitco Senior Analyst Jim Wyckoff holds a balanced view toward gold going into next week. “Choppy and sideways as bulls and bears are on a neutral near-term technical playing field,” he said.

Kitco Media

Ernest Hoffman

Time to Buy Gold and Silver

Tim Moseley

Unlocking All Solutions Network: Your Gateway to Comprehensive Financial and Legal Services

Unlocking All Solutions Network

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https://rtateblogspot.com/2024/05/07/a-new-wave-of-customer-acquisition-coming-to-markethive/

Tim Moseley

The Artist that came out of the Winter