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Silver price to beat gold in 2023? Precious metal plays catch-up on strong demand ETFs remain missing puzzle piece

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Silver price to beat gold in 2023? Precious metal plays catch-up on strong demand, ETFs remain missing puzzle piece

sIver is gearing up to outperform gold in 2023 after a mixed year, according to analysts, who point to a more positive macro environment, strong physical demand, and a good technical set-up.

Next year looks promising for both gold and silver, but many analysts expect silver to rally more than the yellow metal because of its volatility profile and the lack of attention it received in the prior two years.

Year-to-date, spot silver is up 0.21%, trading at $23.40 an ounce, and spot gold is down 1.8%, trading at $1,797.60 an ounce.

Silver saw most of its gains in the first quarter of this year, hitting $27 an ounce, which is similar to gold's trading pattern. Then it saw losses for six months, hitting a 2-year low of $17.50 in September. In the fourth quarter, prices started to pick up as investors began to anticipate a pivot by the Federal Reserve.

"I'm a little more positive on silver in that we're back to $23 an ounce. It's the high beta play," Wells Fargo head of real asset strategy John LaForge told Kitco News. "In a year where stocks are down, precious metals essentially follow stocks down. In that kind of environment, you'd expect silver not to be flat, which is better than gold's performance."

One major driver that held silver and other precious metals back this year was the Federal Reserve's aggressive tightening cycle with a total of 425 basis points for 2022.

"This increased cost of carry for pretty much everything. The U.S. dollar increased to 20-year highs, and inflation continued to rise this year. All of that created a perfect storm, and managed money has been moving away from non-yielding assets, which have been a drag on their portfolios in this high-interest rate environment," explained Mitsubishi Corporation head of business development Jonathan Butler.

LaForge noted that commodities have been in a supercycle since 2020, with silver looking to play a special role, especially considering how cheap it is relative to other commodities. "When you are in supercycle, you often find high-beta plays do better. Between 1999-2011, silver did much better than gold."

Silver has been neglected by investors, which is why it has a lot of potential at current price levels, Gainesville Coins precious metals expert Everett Millman told Kitco News. "Silver will outperform gold — that is the pattern that tends to play out during bull runs for precious metals. And its recent action is encouraging," Millman said.

Plus, the available supply for silver investment products is rather tight. "Silver sitting in vaults, which can be used for bullion products and investment products, has been getting tighter and tighter. A major issue for 2023," Millman explained.

Macro drivers are shifting, and it's good for the price

The macro environment is shifting from a negative to a positive one for the precious metals, and silver is already running ahead of gold.

"Silver gives signs that whatever weakness we see in gold is probably short-lived. Usually, when silver starts beating gold, we are closer to a bull market in precious metals versus the other way," LaForge said. "You can see it in the last couple of months, with all the talk of the Fed pivoting and things changing in 2023, precious metals perked up. I think next year they'll both do well."

The biggest macro driver supportive of higher prices is a Fed pivot. Even though an actual pause, a slowdown, or even cuts might be months away, precious metals are already anticipating that and are starting to move.

"Silver should benefit from the end of the Fed's interest rate hikes and the speculation on interest rate cuts that will start thereafter. The expected economic recovery following the end of the recession should additionally benefit silver as a precious metal with a high industrial use. With the easing of corona restrictions in China, silver demand should receive a further boost, as China is the largest consumer of silver," said Commerzbank analyst Carsten Fritsch.

 

Looking at fundamentals

According to Metals Focus, global silver demand is up 16% at 1.2 billion ounces as of mid-November.

And the silver market remains tight, with the Silver Institute and Metals Focus stating that the physical silver market, which excludes ETFs, is projected to show the most significant supply deficit in decades this year.

"This is expected to amount to 194 million ounces (6 thousand metric tons), meaning demand will outstrip supply by nearly 20%," Fritsch said. "The driving factor behind this is a 16% surge in silver demand to a record level."

Industrial demand for silver was at a record in 2022, reaching 539 million ounces, according to Metals Focus managing director Philip Newman. With so many countries focused on energy security, silver saw new demand come from solar panel installations, which hit new highs this year, Newman added during an LBMA webinar summarizing silver.

The automotive sector also contributed to additional demand, particularly the electrification of vehicles, added Butler. "The average silver content per vehicle is increasing," he said.

Physical demand for silver from retail investors has also been strong this year. Demand for jewelry and silverware is at record highs — jewelry is up 29% at 235 million ounces, and silverware is up 72% at 73 million ounces, according to Metals Focus. And India is responsible for at least half of each category.

Retail bar and coin investment demand are up 18% at 329 million ounces, also at a record peak, added Metals Focus.

The outlook for next year sees all these factors remaining in place. "Industrial demand should continue to benefit from electrification of the vehicle fleet, 5G technology, and the government-driven rollout of green infrastructure such as photovoltaics. Physical investment demand should be buoyed unabated by fears of high inflation," said Fritsch.

Analysts warned that there are several headwinds to monitor for 2023, including a recessionary slowdown impacting the industrial side of silver.

"China's regional lockdowns are a threat to some of the demand for next year and possibly beyond in terms of PV and conventional chemical application for silver," Butler explained. "There is an increased risk of 2023 being a recessionary year for Europe. That will impact some industrial sectors as well."

A recession could put a damper on industrial demand but not enough to make silver a recessionary casualty, said OANDA senior market analyst Edward Moya. "Silver is going to do well next year, just like gold, Moya told Kitco News.

The U.S. market remains a solid support factor, especially with additional funding coming from the Inflation Reduction Act, Butler pointed out. "We are seeing a great deal of investments into PV and electrification. That is ultimately good for silver. Meanwhile, the U.S. economy is bubbling along with some decent growth rates, which helps lift up conventional applications for silver in electronics and chemical applications."

 

The missing puzzle piece: investment demand

In contrast to robust physical demand is the lack of interest from institutional investors.

There were strong outflows from silver ETFs, amounting to more than 4,000 tons year-to-date in mid-November, Fritsch said, citing Bloomberg's data. "The year that is coming to an end is likely to show by far the strongest ETF outflows since the launch of this investment product 16 years ago," said Fritsch.

Global exchange stocks fell by around 400 million ounces year-to-date, touching 1.3 billion ounces, including London and COMEX markets, according to Metals Focus. "Quite staggering figures that you had depleted from these two locations alone," Newman said.

Disinterest from the professional side is one of the reasons why silver has not done better this year, according to StoneX's Head of Market Analysis for EMEA and Asia Regions Rhona O'Connell.

Other reasons included anemic gold price performance, LBMA silver vaults providing ample supply, and the physical market being much smaller than the professional market, O'Connell pointed out.

The price of silver does not always respond to higher physical demand. When there is more demand, the local premiums go up instead.

This is why this year, premiums skyrocketed in the silver market. For example, the retail premium on U.S. Eagles was $17 an ounce, noted Butler. "The end-consumer seems quite happy paying basically 100% markup for a silver Eagle," he said.

These high premiums for the physical metal across the globe also led to a shift in how the precious metal is getting delivered.

In 2022, 60% was delivered by air, which was unprecedented. "Silver usually travels by sea freight. [Freight by air is now] possible because of the high premium. Demand is so insatiable, they don't want to wait two or three months for a sea container to arrive," Newman pointed out.

In India, people are paying 25 cents an ounce to have silver flown in from London storage, which typically takes two days. In comparison, silver delivered by sea would cost 5 cents an ounce and take about four weeks or more, explained BullionVault's director of research Adrian Ash during an LBMA webinar on silver.

 

Price predictions

Many analysts are not ruling out silver hitting new record highs within this commodities supercycle or within this decade. But for next year, predictions vary, with the trading range remaining fairly wide.

"Silver could very well hit record highs in this supercycle. Average cycles last about 15-16 years. They are getting shorter. The new highs in silver could still be five years away. We are in year three of the supercycle. New highs are common in all supercycles. But it doesn't happen right away," LaForge said.

Millman's high-end target for next year is around $28-$30 an ounce. "Even though silver tends to outperform gold, it is also volatile. The trading range is wider than gold. Investors should also be cautious of major pullbacks where we get back to $20 or lower," he warned.

Fritsch sees silver at $25 an ounce by the end of the year.

Bank of America forecasts silver peaking at $25 an ounce next year. "While upside may be limited near-term, mine supply is constrained, so a rebound of commercial purchases is set to ultimately push prices higher," the bank said in its outlook. "[Supply] should also be supported by rising demand from solar panel and electric vehicle manufacturers, as the global community focuses on tackling climate change."

Participants of the LBMA's latest conference saw silver at $28.30 next year. "That's an awful lot of anticipation around silver," said Ash.

By Anna Golubova

For Kitco News

Time to Buy Gold and Silver

Tim Moseley

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Can gold price finish strong as markets enter the last full week of the year?

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Can gold price finish strong as markets enter the last full week of the year?

hawkish Federal Reserve has knocked gold back below $1,800 an ounce, but the precious metal is starting to retrace its gains heading into the weekend. Analysts warn of additional volatility during the last full week of the year.

The big news markets are still digesting is the aggressive Fed message, with rates peaking above 5% next year. The median forecast for next year shows that rates could go up to 5.1%, with Fed Chair Jerome Powell saying that rates will stay there "for some time."

Despite cooler inflation numbers from November, the Fed is staying on track with no pivot or pause signaled for the beginning of next year. Surprising many on the hawkish side, Powell said Wednesday that rates are not "restrictive enough" even after 425 basis points worth of hikes this year.

"It's now not so important how fast we go. It's far more important to think what is the ultimate level. And then, at a certain point, the question will become, how long do we remain restrictive? That will become the most important question," Powell said.

For the February Fed meeting, markets are looking for a 75% chance of a 25 bps hike and a 25% chance of a 50 bps increase, according to the CME FedWatch Tool.

"[Powell] played down the degree of cuts that are being forecast in the dot plot for 2024, suggesting they wouldn't ideally cut until they saw 2% inflation," said Pepperstone's head of research Chris Weston.

In response to a tighter monetary policy path ahead, gold tumbled from multi-month highs and dropped below $1,800 an ounce. At the end of the week, the precious metal retraced some of the lost gains, with February Comex gold futures last at $1,799.30, down 0.63% on the week.

"Gold is sending out a lot of mixed signals. It seems to like uncertainty and the idea that Fed is struggling to strike the right balance with rate hikes. The idea that interest rates will remain higher for longer, is pretty negative for the gold price on balance," Gainesville Coins precious metals expert Everett Millman told Kitco News.

The Fed is also projecting GDP to grow just 0.5% and core PCE at 3.5% in 2023.

The context of the Fed's message is also very important to consider. And markets are entering the last full week of the year. "We are entering a period where it is the last full trading week of the year. Gold is trading fairly choppy," OANDA senior market analyst Edward Moya told Kitco News.

Short-term Moya is bearish on the gold price, but longer-term, the outlook is bullish. "We are going to see gold traders being cautious here. Because of lighter liquidity and it will still be more of a one-way trade and pressure gold," Moya said. "Right now, we need to price in more Fed tightening, more ECB tightening, and interest rates going up."

Next year, gold will become safe heaven, Moya added. "As you start to see more strains on crypto and more pressures with economic data deteriorating quickly, gold will start to see more safe-haven flows next year."

One signal to watch is the ETF buying, Moya pointed out. "You need to see that trade gain one momentum. The first half of next year — I am bullish gold."

Price levels

Going into next week, gold's support is at $1,750, and gains are likely to be capped at $1,840, Moya noted.

Millman added that the first resistance is at $1,800 an ounce, and that level will remain pretty stubborn. Meanwhile, the first support is at $1,775. But if that level fails, gold could fall to $1,715 an ounce, Millman warned.
 

Data to watch

Tuesday: U.S. building permits and housing starts

Wednesday: U.S. CB consumer confidence, existing home sales

Thursday: U.S. Q3 GDP, U.S. jobless claims,

Friday: U.S. PCE price index, U.S. durable goods, U.S. new home sales

By Anna Golubova

For Kitco News

Time to Buy Gold and Silver

Tim Moseley

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Hawkish central banks will test gold bulls’ resolve into year-end

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Hawkish central banks will test gold bulls' resolve into year-end

he gold market is holding its ground at around $1,800 an ounce despite growing hawkish rhetoric from central banks around the world; the bullish sentiment in the marketplace is pointing to a positive end for the precious metal for 2022.

The latest Kitco News shows that retail investors are still significantly bullish on gold heading into the final full trading week of the year. At the same time, Wall Street analysts are slightly more cautious, with many saying that lower gold prices represent a strategic buying opportunity.

Although the Federal Reserve has signaled that it is nowhere near ready to halt its tightening cycle, analysts note that the market is starting to discount the hawkish stance. Some analysts have said that investors are now shifting their focus to the growing recession fears and away from the inflation threat.

"The Fed is not pumping the breaks just yet, but it is taking its foot off the gas, and that should help gold consolidate around $1,800," said Frank Cholly, senior market strategist at RJO Futures.

Christopher Vecchio, head of futures and forex at Tastylive.com, said that weaker economic growth is helping to bring down real yields, which continues to support gold around $1,800 an ounce.

"I think gold right now is well positioned to start the new year on a strong note," he said.

This week, 20 Wall Street analysts participated in the Kitco News Gold Survey. Among the participants, nine analysts, or 45%, were bullish on gold in the near term. At the same time, five analysts, or 25%, were bearish for next week and six analysts, or 30%, saw prices trading sideways.

Meanwhile, 772 votes were cast in an online Main Street poll. Of these, 437 respondents, or 57%, looked for gold to rise next week. Another 202, or 26%, said it would be lower, while 133 voters, or 17%, were neutral in the near term.

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The gold market is looking to end the week in roughly neutral territory, with prices down 0.5% from last Friday. February gold futures last traded at $1,800 an ounce.

Adam Button, head of currency strategy at Forelive.com, said he expects to see lower prices next week as hawkish central bank comments could weigh on prices.

Not only is the Federal Reserve not done raising interest rates, but European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde warned investors that the ECB is expected to continue to raise interest rates by 50 basis points well into 2023.

However, Button added that any dip in the price could be a buying opportunity as this is seasonally a strong period for gold.

"Even holding steady for the remainder of the month would be a win and set up gold for a nice rally in January," he said.

While gold has remained resilient as central banks tighten monetary policies worldwide, some analysts have noted that bullish momentum is starting to weigh as resistance holds around $1,800 an ounce.

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Downside risks for gold and silver prices in 2023 – Natixis' Dahdah

"The momentum indicators have not recovered. I still think a bigger pullback may be coming, but so far [gold has been] more resilient than I thought," said Marc Chandler, managing director at Bannockburn Global Forex. "This seems to be corresponding to a U.S. dollar, which seems better offered into rallies than bought on dips."

Darin Newsom, senior market analyst at Barchart, said that he sees the U.S. dollar entering a short-term uptrend helping to push gold prices lower.

"Last week's call for a lower market is still working, unless Feb gold posts a strong rally to close out Friday. If it doesn't, then the contract will have completed a bearish spike reversal on its weekly chart, confirming the secondary (intermediate-term) trend has turned down," he said.

By Neils Christensen

For Kitco News

Time to Buy Gold and Silver

Tim Moseley

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The Fed’s made its move and now it’s gold’s turn

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The Fed's made its move and now it's gold's turn
The gold market appears to be taking the Federal Reserve’s hawkish stance in stride as the precious metal’s price continues to hold on to support around $1,800 an ounce.
This week the Federal Reserve signaled it will continue to raise interest rates in 2023 even if the pace of its rate hikes slows. Last week we warned that an adjustment to the Fed’s interest rate expectations presented a risk to gold. But the meeting has come and gone and gold investors are shrugging off the Fed’s new forecast that their key interest rate will peak above 5% in 2023. Heading into the weekend, February gold futures are down only 0.5% since last Friday.
According to market analysts, there could be a few reasons why gold has remained reasonably resilient following the Federal Reserve’s hawkish stance. One scenario is that investors are now becoming less concerned about inflation and more worried about a recession.
Economic data, from disappointing holiday retail sales to slowing activity in the manufacturing and service sectors, are highlighting a slowing U.S. economy. The concern is that the more hawkish the Fed is, the deeper the impending recession will be.
Many analysts have noted that a recession is a positive environment for gold as investors look for assets, which preserve their wealth. George Milling-Stanley, chief gold strategist at State Street Global Advisors, noted in an interview with Kitco News this week that in the last seven recessions, gold has seen an average return of roughly 20%. The deeper the recession, the better gold does, he said.
The second scenario that could be bolstering gold is that as hawkish as the Fed is, a lot of that is now already priced into the market. Some analysts believe that the U.S. dollar has peaked as the Fed starts to slow the pace of its rate hikes. At the same time, the European Central Bank has just started its hawkish long game, according to ECB President Christine Lagarde.
On Thursday, less than 24 hours after the Fed’s monetary policy announcement, Lagarde came out and said that the ECB will have to raise interest rates by 50 basis points for a prolonged period to bring inflation down. A narrowing of the monetary policy gap between the two major central banks should weigh on the U.S. dollar, which in turn should support gold prices.
 Hawkish central banks will test gold bulls' resolve into year-end
There is also a third theory floating around: that the market and investors just don’t believe the Fed. It’s easy to talk tough when the economy and the labor market are still relatively healthy, but what happens when the Fed’s monetary policy action really starts to bite?
Some market analysts have said that if the U.S. enters a deep recession, the Fed will quickly loosen its monetary policies, which will be good for gold.
If you want to find out what’s in store for gold, silver, cryptocurrencies, financial markets and the global economy in 2023, don’t forget to check out Kitco News’ annual outlook coverage. Investors will continue to navigate a world of extreme uncertainty, an ongoing energy crisis, the continuous inflation threat and the potential for a deep recession, and we’ll be looking at how all of these factors impact key markets.
This is also Kitco News’ final newsletter of 2022, so on behalf of the new team, we would like to wish everyone a wonderful holiday season and a prosperous and safe new year.
By Neils Christensen
For Kitco News
Time to Buy Gold and Silver

Tim Moseley

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Proven Ways to Kick Your Social Media Marketing Up a Notch

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Proven Ways to Kick Your Social Media Marketing Up a Notch

social media

Introduction

If you're reading this, chances are that you're a social media marketer. Whether you work for a small business or a large corporation, your role is to lead the way in getting people talking about your company and its products in their social media feeds. While it's true that these days every company needs a "social presence" (or at least thinks they do), social media marketing still requires more than just posting on Facebook or Twitter—though certainly those are two essential tools. Just as important is knowing how to use all the other social tools out there and putting together an effective strategy that makes sense for your organization's needs and goals.

ecosystem for entrepreneurs

Create a strategy.

When you're creating a social media marketing strategy, the first thing you should do is define who your target audience is. There are many factors that go into this, but one of the most important things to consider is what kind of content they like to consume. Once you've defined your target audience and know what kind of content they like, it makes it easier for you to create posts that speak directly to them.

Another important aspect of creating a social media marketing strategy is defining your goals for each channel. What do you want people to do after reading or seeing your post? Do they need more information about services offered? Are they interested in learning more about who works at the company? Once again, having clear goals makes it easier for everyone involved in creating the content because then everyone knows what needs to happen next (and how).

Next up on our list: channels! Defining which platforms we'll use helps us narrow down our focus and make sure that everything we create will be relevant to those particular audiences — especially when creating content across different mediums means having different approaches depending on which channel we're using (for example, videos might work well on Facebook while images might work better on Twitter). This step also helps us determine how often each platform should be updated with new posts since some platforms require more frequent updates than others (like Instagram!).

Take advantage of paid advertising.

There are many ways to market your business online, but one of the most effective ways is through paid advertising. This can be a great way to reach new customers and test new products or services before investing in them. Paid advertising helps you reach a specific audience with targeted messaging that is relevant to their interests and geographic location. It can also help you target specific demographics by age range, gender, or household income level.

It's important to note that paid marketing is not free—you'll pay for each click on your content—but this cost-per-click (CPC) model can be worth it if it leads users to buy something from you or sign up for an email newsletter subscription

Don't forget inbound marketing.

We've previously discussed why inbound marketing can be very effective in building your brand and establishing yourself as an authority, but it also has a number of other benefits. For example, when done right, it can help with lead generation and customer retention. It's also great for increasing brand awareness (which goes hand-in-hand with boosting your SEO).

The important thing to remember is that all of these methods are mutually beneficial: if you do them right, they will reinforce each other and work together to create a healthy growth cycle that strengthens your business over time.

Automate everthing you can.

  • Automate everything you can.

  • Automate everything you can.

  • Automate everything you can.

If there’s one thing that all marketers agree on, it’s this: automation is your best friend. With the right tools and a little finesse, automation can help you save time and money, get better results from your social media efforts (and less stress), and land more clients—all while sleeping in on Saturday mornings or taking an extra long lunch break during the work week!

Here are some specific ways to automate social media marketing tasks:

instant buyer traffic

Don't forget SEO and SEM.

Social media marketing can be a great way to reach your target audience, but it's important not to neglect SEO (search engine optimization) or SEM (search engine marketing). SEO is the process of getting your website to show up in search results. SEM is advertising on social media like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Both are important because they allow you access to people who have already expressed interest in your product or service. If you're already spending time creating content for your website and blog, why not invest some more time into making sure that content pops up when someone searches for something related?

Use content curation to fill gaps in your content.

Content curation is the process of finding and sharing relevant information. In other words, it’s what you do when you see something cool online and share it with your audience.

A lot of social media marketers use content curation as a way to fill the gaps in their content strategies, especially when they don't have any time or budget for creating original content.

It's good to remember that there are two types of people on social media: those who create content and those who share it (and sometimes both). If you're part of the latter group—that is, if you mainly just want to share links—then this strategy is perfect for helping you find relevant content that your followers will love!

Use social media to do market research.

You can use social media to find out what your customers want, who they are and how they're marketing their products. You can also see what your competitors are doing, and even take a look at the company that's selling against you.

  • Learn more about your audience by looking at the social media accounts of people who have interacted with you on these platforms before. If they've left reviews or comments, read them to find out what kind of information is helpful or helpful enough for someone to provide feedback in this way.

  • Observe how other brands are using Twitter's live video feature as an effective tool for engaging consumers and building brand loyalty.

  • Keep tabs on how many followers each competitor has on Twitter as well as other social media platforms like Facebook (and Instagram). This will help shed light on which ones may be performing better than others when it comes time for marketing campaigns!

trafficmonsoon

Social media is an essential part of every B2B company's marketing arsenal

Social media is an essential part of every B2B company's marketing arsenal. While it may not be the most traditional marketing channel, social media can help you connect with potential customers, collect data about your target audience and engage with your customers.

Social Media as a Research Tool: Social media is a great way to conduct research on your target market before you create any content for them.

Social Media as a Customer Service Platform: Customers expect businesses to be active on social media channels—and in many cases it's the first place they go if they have questions about something you sell. It's important that you make yourself available to them by responding quickly and effectively if there are any issues.

Conclusion

Social media is an essential part of every B2B company's marketing arsenal. It provides a way for businesses to engage with customers and prospects in a personalized way, as well as providing many other benefits that help you reach your audience effectively. We hope this post has given you some ideas on how to improve your social media marketing efforts, whether it be hiring an agency or simply adopting some new practices!

Tim Moseley

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Gold silver hit hard by hawkish Fed surge in greenback

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Gold, silver hit hard by hawkish Fed, surge in greenback

Gold and silver prices are sharply lower in midday U.S. trading Thursday. The precious metals bulls were running for cover today amid sharp gains in the U.S. dollar index and in the aftermath the FOMC meeting that sees the Federal Reserve still leaning hawkish on U.S. monetary policy. February gold was last down $32.00 at $1,786.00 and March silver was down $0.836 at $23.305.

A still-hawkish Federal Reserve had traders and investors in a "risk-off" stance Thursday. Two months of better-than-expected U.S. inflation data were not enough to convince the Fed to let its foot off the monetary-policy-tightening gas. "Higher for longer" is the marketplace takeaway from this week's FOMC meeting—meaning higher interest rates for a longer period of time—to ensure the Fed tamps down hard on inflation.

Global stock markets were lower overnight. U.S. stock indexes are lower at midday.

The European Central Bank and the Bank of England monetary policy meetings on Thursday saw both the BOE and ECB raise their main interest rate by 0.5%. That follows the U.S. Federal Reserve's half-point rate hike. The central banks of Switzerland and Norway also raised their interest rates Thursday but also in smaller increments of policy tightening.

China and its fight against Covid remains near the front burner of the marketplace. Broker SP Angel this morning said in an email dispatch there is increasing evidence that China is now "allowing Covid to rip through the population." There is relatively little vaccination and almost no effective vaccination against Omicron in China. "That means the virus will bypass most of the Covid controls left in place." The Wall Street Journal said today that "China's economy took a big hit in November" due to strict Covid lockdown policies.

 The ECB's aggressive monetary policy stance gives gold a lifeline as euro makes a move against U.S. dollar

The key outside markets today see the U.S. dollar index sharply higher. Nymex crude oil prices are weaker and trading around $76.75 a barrel. Meantime, the yield on the benchmark U.S. 10-year Treasury note is presently around 3.45%.

Technically, February gold futures bulls are fading late this week but still have the overall near-term technical advantage. However, a five-week-old uptrend on the daily bar chart is in jeopardy. Bulls' next upside price objective is to produce a close above solid resistance at this week's high of $1,836.90. Bears' next near-term downside price objective is pushing futures prices below solid technical support at $1,750.00. First resistance is seen at $1,800.00 and then at today's high of $1,819.70. First support is seen at today's low of $1,782.00 and then at $1,778.10. Wyckoff's Market Rating: 6.0

March silver futures bulls have the firm overall near-term technical advantage. Prices are in a choppy 3.5-month-old uptrend on the daily bar chart. Silver bulls' next upside price objective is closing prices above solid technical resistance at $25.00. The next downside price objective for the bears is closing prices below solid support at $22.00. First resistance is seen at $24.00 and then at this week's high of $24.39. Next support is seen at today's low of $23.155 and then at $23.00. Wyckoff's Market Rating: 6.5.

March N.Y. copper closed down 1,125 points at 376.55 cents today. Prices closed nearer the session low today. The copper bulls have the slight overall near-term technical advantage. Copper bulls' next upside price objective is pushing and closing prices above solid technical resistance at 400.00 cents. The next downside price objective for the bears is closing prices below solid technical support at 354.70 cents. First resistance is seen at today's high of 386.75 cents and then at this week's high of 392.90 cents. First support is seen at 370.00 cents and then at 360.00 cents. Wyckoff's Market Rating: 5.5.

By Jim Wyckoff

For Kitco News

Time to Buy Gold and Silver

Tim Moseley

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Tough talk by Chairman Powell signaling more rate hikes over a longer time span

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Tough talk by Chairman Powell signaling more rate hikes over a longer time span

As expected, the Fed announced its decision to raise its benchmark rate by 50-bps. This takes the central bank’s “Fed funds” rate to between 425 – 450 bps (4 ¼% – 4 ½%). However, it was Chairman Powell’s comments regarding his policy outlook during the press conference that garnered the most attention. Market participants and analysts were looking for insight into the forward guidance of the Federal Reserve as it pertains to their monetary policy, inflation, and future rate hikes. Which revealed that the Federal Reserve will continue its policy of monetary tightening by continuing to raise rates in 2023.

The Federal Reserve released a statement as well as its summary of economic projections for 2023 through 2025 after today’s FOMC meeting. One component of their economic projections was the most current “dot plot” which reveals assessments made by each Fed official. When the Fed is fully staffed the dot plot will contain 19 individual projections.

2023 – All of the 19 Federal Reserve members who added their “dot” to the Fed’s projections reflected higher interest rates in 2023. The majority of members (10 votes) anticipate rates to be at 5 ¼%, with four members anticipating rates to go to 5 ½%, two members anticipating rates at 5 ¾% and two members anticipating rates at 4 ¾%.

2024 -seven members anticipate that interest rates will remain elevated above the current rate of 4 ½%, with the remaining 12 members anticipating rate reductions from ¼% to 1 ½%.

2025 – all Federal Reserve members anticipate that fed funds rates will be 4 ½% to 3% by the end of 2025.

Chairman Powell delivered a strong message reinforcing the information contained in their economic outlook and the Fed’s policy outlook saying, “Fed policymaker projections are best assessment of where Fed policy rates will be.”

Chairman Powell’s press conference

Chairman Powell acknowledged that the last two CPI reports were promising but incomplete. “Data we have received so far on inflation for October and November do show a welcome reduction in price pressures; need substantially more evidence though to be confident inflation coming down.” He also said that “recent data gives us greater confidence in our forecast.”

His statements supported the Federal Reserve’s resolve and commitment to keep interest rates at their current level and higher until the Fed reaches its inflation target of 2%. Addressing the possibility of a recession he simply said “no one knows if we are going to have a recession or not.”

Today’s FOMC meeting statement, economic projections, and press conference resulted in declines in the dollar, US equities, and precious metals. As of 5:20 PM EST gold futures basis, the most active February 2023 contract is currently fixed at $1818.80 after factoring in today’s decline of $6.70 or 0.37%. Concurrently the dollar declined by 0.33% and is currently fixed at 103.595. Dollar weakness added $6.70 to the price of spot gold and normal trading indicated that traders moved gold pricing lower by $9.40, according to the Kitco gold index.

It was clear that Chairman Powell's statements today delivered a hard-hitting truth to Americans that inflation will remain persistent for longer than anticipated and interest rates will follow the same course.

By Gary Wagner

Time to Buy Gold and Silver

Tim Moseley

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The Fourth Industrial Revolution Business as Usual Moving Forward?

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The Fourth Industrial Revolution, Business as Usual Moving Forward?

The world as we know it is going through a significant shift. In this article, I look at some key themes and what that means for the future of business.

It is challenging to think of 2020 and not think of Covid 19 and lockdowns due to the relentless media coverage of it and the political messages from leaders worldwide.  

The fallout is that massive change is deemed necessary by governments worldwide in the name of health, and now with a heavy emphasis on the environment.

With the passage of time and the pushback coming from protests, declassified documents, and civil lawsuits, more and more people are waking up to the possibility that things have not added up and maybe another agenda is at play.

A central figure during this period has been Klaus Schwab. For a long time before 2020, he has been talking about a much-needed Fourth Industrial Revolution. He wrote a book with that title published in 2016/17.


Image source: Flickr

What was he referring to, and how does it connect with everything that has played out so far? The philosophy revolves around how we live, work, and relate to each other; a central piece of this is technology.

We can now see the emergence of themes such as artificial intelligence, the internet of things, virtual reality, and the move to introduce programmable money called Central Bank Digital Currencies. The underpinning layer to this is a new world order where control is from a central base in a top-down, authoritarian approach.

The combination of a New World Order with CBDC as a core component would put a final nail in the coffin of democracy, even though the governmental systems of ‘rules for thee but not me’ have continually demonstrated that democracy has existed in theory for the most part.

In case you think that CBDC is a relatively new idea that has gathered speed in the wake of the last two years, you would be mistaken. 

Many who claimed that the last two years were all about an orchestrated effort to bring about vaccine passports, a social credit system based on the government’s version of a digital currency, were considered conspiracy theorists. Now it seems their call was accurate.

Look at the CBDC tracker in this diagram to see how far the groundwork has progressed. You can see how many countries are in the research, proof of concept, or pilot stage.

Currency Wars

It seems ironic and convenient that FTX recently collapsed in the way it did, followed by swift proclamations from all corners of the political sphere that more regulation is needed. 

Growing evidence of involvement in the FTX scandal from across the political spectrum has emerged, leaving many considering whether certain powers created this problem, so they could provide further false justification to usher in their solution.

Were SBF and FTX used in the war between centralization and decentralization to swing things in favor of the WEF agenda and remove cryptocurrency as a competitor?

James Murphy, an SEC attorney and securities lawyer, alluded to fraud and political entanglement at the very minimum in this Coindesk article, in which he lists questions that still need proper answers. He is also predicting an even greater cryptocurrency crash in the wake of recent events.

The domino effect is being felt with BlockFi, for example, recently filing for chapter 11 bankruptcy. Gemini and Genesis appear to be in trouble too. Certain coins are getting delisted from Coinbase due to low usage.

No sooner has the covid narrative started to fall apart than the emphasis has quickly shifted to emergency climate change, with carbon being the focus and reports of climate lockdowns emerging in certain areas, on top of airport travel disruptions. 

The intended fourth industrial revolution, directed by the globalists, emphasizes a technocracy designed to control the masses and crush businesses threatening their agenda. 

The farmers in the Netherlands are the latest example of being victimized and monopolized by government officials through asset stripping of their land. Asset stripping of this nature has nothing to do with restoring personal well-being and economic freedom.

The Future of Business

The populace is being ushered into a small zone of mobility. In that zone, working from home is more prevalent. More energy is given to the online world due to further digitalization in place of customer service. The line between the physical world and the virtual world is becoming blurred through Artificial Intelligence. Tracking devices are becoming an inherent part of everyday technology.

Consider the mind-boggling possibilities of today’s technology, particularly with Artificial Intelligence. It is one thing to be able to diagnose disease quicker, yet quite something else to find you have lost your job to a robot. 

I recall watching a clip on artificial intelligence applied to a picture of Barack Obama to create a video clip that looked and sounded like him but was not him. I could not tell the difference. I also recall watching a clip about voice-to-text speech in which an internet marketer had paid a lot of money to several individuals to use their photos in technology and change their appearance.

This documentary expands on Artificial Intelligence and its nature as a double-edged sword. The implications depend on who is wielding that sword and to what end.

You can also see how this could connect to a social credit score system, where you are penalized should you not comply with the establishment. Since CBDCs are controlled by the Central Banks, they can turn off your access to money with the click of a button.

There is also a difference between suggested changes and those imposed on you. People are looking at alternative payments, such as gold and bitcoin, to free themselves of this system. Looking at practical alternatives that support the decentralization of power is essential.

The key for entrepreneurs is maintaining integrity around core values where they are genuinely helping clients through their offerings. It is vital to return to or keep fundamental principles rather than to sell your soul and take the path of least resistance for business to survive and thrive. 

As Robert Kennedy junior says, "you cannot comply your way out of tyranny.’" One thing is for sure. It is not business as usual anymore, as the walls of globalization intrude further into business. The farmers in the Netherlands experienced this firsthand.

Three Considerations

Here are three things to encourage you to defer from participating in the dangerous game they are playing while adding strategies in your favor as you seek to serve your clients with dignity, honor, and respect.

Power vs. Force

It is essential to realize that using so-called status and related power to enforce a new world order where the few control the masses is not true power in the real sense. 

It is about force, based on manipulating information and people to suit an agenda rather than encouraging progress through discussion and democracy. Their version of the truth revolves around their say-so rather than education and transparency in a debate.

Those who rely on force and its weapon of fear and propaganda cover up a truly disempowered state based on separation and scarcity perspectives. They fear that people will awaken to their deceptive and manipulative agenda and bring it to an end through a cooperative way of being.

Therefore, it seems ironic that ‘we the people’ comply en masse out of fear arising from the abuse of status and referent power as if we are powerless. 

This short video expands on the theme of power. It follows the rise of Vaclav Havel, a blacklisted playwright in Czechoslovakia who became President in the 80s. He wrote an essay on what he learned about power.

Most importantly, he talks about what it means to operate outside a totalitarian system and live in truth and the practical ways people can realize this.

Another resource worth mentioning is a book called Power v Force by David Hawkins, which goes into more depth on this subject. When you grasp the distinction between force and power in your heart and not just your head, it may awaken you to rise above the fear with a greater appreciation of your power when used as a force for good. 

This is the way of empowerment. Be willing to rise above your fear and live in truth for the sake of humanity and future generations.

The Network Effect

Network Effects has a ‘bible’ dedicated to the network effect, which addresses the technical aspects of networks and the fundamental underpinning layer of people, value, and communication.

They conducted a sizable study in which they surveyed no less than 1000 unicorn companies and concluded that ‘Network Effects are still responsible for 70% of the total value in tech in 2022.’

Let that sink in. When a group gathers in community fashion around something they believe in, and the numbers increase to a critical mass, there is no turning back, a little like the 100th Monkey Effect.

The network effect of businesses creating communities of people who know, like, and trust them because their products and services embody the vision to serve their clients is a winner. Apply yourself diligently with a dedication to this principle.

The entrepreneur has an opportunity to take a stand and hold a mirror up to how businesses can serve and enable people to thrive and achieve economic prosperity.


Image source: pxhere 

Nature and Connection

Nature has inherent intelligence and is excellent for regeneration, clarity, and perspective because it aligns with the Natural Laws.

So, take time away from your computer to be in nature where and when you can. Now more than ever, the entrepreneur needs a clear and strong mind with a well-balanced perspective and creative spirit for present and future challenges. 

Connect with your true power and potential. Reinforce your basic principles for life and business through journaling. Reflect on what functional structures will give your business more independent operational freedom.

Connect with people of principle for encouragement and strength. In the British Isles, more communities of people assemble to support lives and businesses while developing international networks of friends.

Markethive is another example of a parallel business ecosystem and community built outside the walls of totalitarianism in politics. It has a community membership of at least 200 thousand. You are welcome to join us.

It creates the perfect storm, a safe harbor, and a platform where entrepreneurs can operate freely to build such communities. Empowerment and the community effect will rise above anything else. 

We have the opportunity to be proactive in shaping the Fourth Industrial Revolution and restore humanity to its rightful state, where well-being and economic prosperity can reign once more. It is time for the entrepreneur to rise and deliver a new economic vision.

 

 

About: Anita Narayan. (United Kingdom) My life's work is about helping individuals to greater freedom through joy and purpose without self-sabotage, so that inspirational legacy can serve generations to come. Find me at my Markethive Profile Page | My Twitter Account | and my LinkedIn Profile.

 

 

 

 

Tim Moseley

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Keys To Massive Profits Through Affiliate Marketing

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Keys To Massive Profits Through Affiliate Marketing

market

Introduction

Affiliate marketing is one of the most effective ways for you to make money online. It allows you to leverage your existing audience, website, and social media accounts to earn commissions on products that you promote. The more clicks or sales that you generate through your affiliate links, the more money you can make in return. If done correctly, affiliate marketing can be an incredibly lucrative way to build passive income without having to rely on SEO or other tactics that take a lot of time and effort. However, before jumping into any affiliate programs out there, it's vital that you first learn how they work and what steps need to be taken in order for them to be profitable for everyone involved—including yourself! In this article we'll cover everything from how to choose the right program(s) for your needs (and budget), setting up an account with them effectively so as not spend too much money per sale generated by these links…

ecosystem for entrepreneurs

Looking For Ways To Earn Money Through Affiliate Marketing? Try These Tips!

Affiliate marketing is a great way to earn money online. Affiliates are rewarded for promoting products or services. This can be done through social media, email marketing, and other online channels.

The following tips will help you succeed in affiliate marketing:

  • Choose a niche that interests you (or the type of product) and has good potential for making money.

  • Write content about the niche on your blog site or elsewhere on the web where it can be found by people interested in that topic. You can also write articles for websites related to your niche topic(s). The more traffic these sites receive, the more money they will make from advertisers who pay them to display ads on their website pages as an incentive for visitors to click on those ads which lead them right back into affiliate links which send new customers over to whatever sales page might be set up just waiting patiently there ready and willing (hopefully!) awaiting their arrival!

The Best Way To Approach Affiliate Marketing If You Are Just Starting Out

`The best way to approach affiliate marketing if you are just starting out is to start small.`

Start with a small amount of money, and focus on building relationships with your customers. Once you've figured out how to do this, it is time for step two: finding the best affiliate program for your business. Once you have found the right one, stick with it until your results prove that there are better options available. Then move on again! Be patient and don't give up!

The Essentials Of A Profitable Affiliate Marketing Program

There are a number of factors that you need to take into consideration when starting an affiliate marketing program. These factors will all play a part in the success of your program and can go a long way toward helping you earn more money. If you’re looking for some insight on how to get started with affiliate marketing, here are some tips:

  • Find Your Niche

The first thing you need to do is find your niche. You want to make sure that whatever industry or topic interests you also happens to be profitable as well, because this will determine whether or not it is worth investing time and energy into learning about the industry in question. You should start by narrowing down the topic even further—for example, if “dogs” was one of your interests, then narrowing it down further would mean choosing between “small dogs” vs “large dogs” vs “American Bulldogs” vs “Jack Russell Terriers”—and so on until there's only one option left standing! After choosing which niche category fits best within

Making Your Affiliate Marketing Efforts Pay Off

  • Choose affiliate programs that are relevant to your business. A good choice is one that matches your site users' interests and needs, or at least has a large number of potential customers interested in the product or service you're promoting. Choose an affiliate program based on its size and reach, but also consider how much traffic it generates to avoid wasting time on sites with too few visitors.

  • Look for affiliate programs that offer high commission rates, especially if you're new to affiliate marketing and aren't sure what kind of results are possible from such programs. It's best if the program offers flat rates rather than tiered commission structures (which can make it difficult for newcomers), though even tiered commissions can work well as long as there's room for growth later on.

  • Look for affiliate programs with low payout thresholds—this means you'll get paid sooner rather than later! If there isn't a minimum payout threshold set by the company selling products via affiliates, look instead at what their merchant processor requires; this latter option can vary from merchant processor to merchant processor depending upon their policies regarding payment processing fees.* Consider signing up with multiple companies so as not to rely too heavily on any one company offering services through affiliates; this will help diversify your income stream so that if something happens with any individual company (e.,g., they go out of business) then only some portion thereof will be impacted while other sources remain unaffected.* You should always keep track of how many leads generated by each company representing which types of products/services in order

to see how effective each type will be overall –

ezclix

The Most Effective Ways To Use Affiliate Marketing For Your Business

The most effective way to use affiliate marketing is to do it on your blog. Think of the blog as your launch pad for these strategies:

  • Use social media to promote products. You can post links to affiliate products on Twitter, Facebook and any other social media platform you use to connect with potential customers.

  • Add an email list sign-up form where it's easy for people to see it (like at the top of your website). When people sign up for your newsletter, they'll be signing up for more information about you or whatever topic you're writing about (in this case, affiliate marketing). Make sure that when they sign up they also get access to free resources like bonus content or free guides related indirectly related through an offer code that gets them a discount off their next purchase … which means more money in your pocket!

This is where things get really fun because now that we know what makes someone want something (because we gave them a reason), how do we get them interested without just throwing out "buy this" every five seconds?" You guessed it — video! Video is all over social media these days so if nothing else becomes clear from all this talk about video then let me tell

you one thing: use video! You can do live videos on Facebook using something like Periscope or Meerkat; upload recorded videos onto YouTube; create animated explainer videos using PowToon and many other tools available today. Then share those videos wherever people go online such as social channels like Facebook & Twitter etc., but don't forget email too since there's still lots of people who prefer getting emails rather than checking out websites etc."

Your biggest challenge will be finding what niche to go after and what affiliate programs will be the most profitable for you.

Your biggest challenge will be finding what niche to go after and what affiliate programs will be the most profitable for you.

If you have a passion for something, then that is where your niche should lie. For example, if you love fishing and know everything about fishing lures, then it would make sense for you to start an ecommerce website selling fishing lures. You could then join an affiliate program which would give you commissions from every sale made through your website or blog by using their links on social media sites like Facebook or Twitter.

Conclusion

I hope this article has helped you learn more about what affiliate marketing is, how to use it to your advantage, and the best ways to make your affiliate marketing efforts pay off.

Tim Moseley

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Slightly cooler US inflation report boosts gold silver

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Slightly cooler U.S. inflation report boosts gold, silver

Gold and silver prices are solidly higher in midday U.S. trading Tuesday, but down from daily highs, following a slightly tamer-than-expected U.S. inflation report. Gold surged to a five-month high and silver a seven-month high right after the report’s release. February gold was last up $26.70 at $1,818.90 and March silver was up $0.407 at $23.81.

The U.S. consumer price index report for November showed a rise of 0.1% from October and was up 7.1%, year-on-year. CPI was forecast to come in up 0.3% from October and up 7.3%, year-on-year. The slightly cooler-than-expected inflation data was enough to rally the stock and financial markets, and the metals, while tanking the U.S. dollar index. The CPI report lands in the camp of the U.S. monetary policy doves, who want to see the Federal Reserve back off the accelerator on its aggressive monetary policy tightening path.

U.S. stock indexes are mixed at midday and have lost early strong gains in the aftermath of the CPI report. After the initial euphoria from the CPI report, traders and investors realized the Federal Reserve still has some tightening of monetary policy in their sights. The Fed’s Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting began Tuesday morning and ends Wednesday afternoon with a statement and press conference from Fed Chair Powell. The FOMC is very likely to raise U.S. interest rates by 0.5%. The European Central Bank and the Bank of England meet on Thursday and are likely to follow the U.S. Federal Reserve with half-point rate hikes.

 Deutsche Bank wants back in the gold market after eight-year absence

The key outside markets today see the U.S. dollar index sharply down and hitting a 5.5-month low. Nymex crude oil prices are sharply higher and trading around $75.85 a barrel. A major oil pipeline in the U.S. has been shut due to a leak, and that’s supporting Nymex crude oil prices this week. Meantime, the yield on the benchmark U.S. 10-year Treasury note is presently 3.492% and fell after the cooler CPI report.

Technically, February gold futures prices hit a five-month high today. The gold futures bulls have the firm overall near-term technical advantage. Prices are in a five-week-old uptrend on the daily bar chart. Bulls’ next upside price objective is to produce a close above solid resistance at $1,900.00. Bears' next near-term downside price objective is pushing futures prices below solid technical support at $1,775.00. First resistance is seen at $1,822.90 and then at today’s high of $1,836.90. First support is seen at $1,800.00 and then at this week’s low of $1,789.00. Wyckoff's Market Rating: 7.0

March silver futures prices hit a seven-month high today. The silver bulls have the firm overall near-term technical advantage. Prices are in a choppy 3.5-month-old uptrend on the daily bar chart. Silver bulls' next upside price objective is closing prices above solid technical resistance at $25.00. The next downside price objective for the bears is closing prices below solid support at $22.00. First resistance is seen at today’s high of $24.39 and then at $25.00. Next support is seen at this week’s low of $23.32 and then at $23.00. Wyckoff's Market Rating: 7.0.

March N.Y. copper closed up 425 points at 364.25 cents today. Prices closed nearer the session low today. The copper bulls have the overall near-term technical advantage. Copper bulls' next upside price objective is pushing and closing prices above solid technical resistance at 400.00 cents. The next downside price objective for the bears is closing prices below solid technical support at 354.70 cents. First resistance is seen at today’s high of 392.90 cents and then at the November high of 394.70 cents. First support is seen at this week’s low of 378.60 cents and then at 370.00 cents. Wyckoff's Market Rating: 6.0.

By Jim Wyckoff

For Kitco News

Time to Buy Gold and Silver

Tim Moseley

The Artist that came out of the Winter