Very Little Gold to be had at the retail level
There has been a great deal of articles lately on shortages and unavailability of gold at the retail level.
My thoughts on this, are that in time it may become increasingly difficult to acquire physical gold at the retail level. This is a repeat of history.
I have suspected for some time that this would happen, but didnt imagine it would happen so quickly.
For a time I have thought, at some point, the only way people will be able to get into gold in large quantities, not a coin here or a coin there, especially if we see a default at Comex, is through a firm with access to gold and silver at the refinery level, and not just any refinery, it will have to be the big ones.
I have reports coming in from all over the world of shortage, its not just the USA. our business partners in Canada, UK, Germany, Singapore, Australia, all say there are long lines where there is gold, and mostly there is no way to meet the demand.
I am continually asked these days “Is AFE having shortage problems?”. My answer is, no, not yet. The reason for that is AFE has institutional accounts with some of the largest LBMA certified refineries in the world, so when AFE pours a LBMA bar for a client, it is coming directly from tonnage daily of flow of gold that often comes right from the mines.
Argor Heraeus SA, Zurich Switzerland
Frankly, ETF’s and other paper products are promises to pay because you dont legally own the gold.
Some will argue to take delivery of gold as the only way of owning gold. I agree with that, but only to a point. I have a good stack of gold in a safe place close by as well, but there comes a point where you may only be encouraging unwanted visitors. We have clients with hundreds of thousands and millions in gold and silver, and at some point it doesnt make sense to keep that in your closet.
In addition, in a market like the one we have now, a large quantity may only be able to be sourced through a firm with access to gold at the core of the industry, unless you want to take delivery of comex bars and provide your own security and storage.
Finally, having all your “gold eggs” in one basket may be no more intelligent than having all of your portfolio in one stock. Diversification to our wealthy clients means holding bullion in multiple places stored privately OUTSIDE the commercial banking system, not all under your bed or in your closet.
