http://www.bullion-dealer.co.uk/index.php/tools/blocks/blog_posts/rss?bID=218&cID=66&arHandle=Blog Most recent posts from Blog feeds http://www.bullion-dealer.co.uk/blog/money-week-article-hang-on-to-your-physical-gold-and-silver/ Money Week Article: Hang on to your Physical Gold & Silver • Investors are queuing up to buy gold – but what’s next for the price? • Is this share underpriced by 73%? • Before you buy your next stock, read this • Yesterday’s close: FTSE 100 down 0.4% to 6,430... Gold up 0.06% to $1,476.75 /oz... £/$ - 1.5532 From Dominic Frisby, in London Dear Caroline Peers, It seems we have a mini gold rush on our hands. Gold's capitulation has shaken many and resulted in record amounts of money leaving the ‘paper’ markets – the futures and exchange-traded funds. But the opposite has happened in the physical markets. Buyers have been coming out of the woodwork - from Auntie Nora buying a quarter ounce sovereign for her grandson, to the better-heeled buying kilo-sized (about 35 ounces) investment bars in Dubai. It's like 2008 all over again. But what does it mean for the price of gold? ________________________________________ This standard USB drive could make you £2,653 a month Just plug this unassuming USB drive into your home computer, and it could earn you £2,653 a month on average ? entirely tax-free... And I want to send you one in the post TODAY. Get your name down here - and claim your cash-generating USB drive right now. Bedtime Trader is an unregulated product published by Agora Lifestyles Limited. ________________________________________ Small investors are queuing up to buy physical gold It's important to stress that the wholesale gold markets - the LBMA (London Bullion Market Association) and the Comex - are not experiencing a severe shortage of physical gold, counter to some of the rumours that are doing the rounds on the internet. Activity has increased, yes, but there is still inventory of inter-market London 'good delivery' bars. The price for these - rather than the price quoted on eBay for a krugerrand - represents the true price of the physical market on any given day. They weigh about 400 ounces each, have a purity of 99.5% or better, and yesterday would set you back the small matter of $588,000. (That’s about $1,470 an ounce.) However, at the retail end of the physical markets, there is a shortage of supply - quite a severe shortage. Swiss refiners have run out of kilo gold bars (cost around $48,000). There is now a one-month wait for delivery. The US mint had to suspend sales of certain coins as buying increased: it sold an estimated 210,000 ounces of gold coins in April - almost three and half times more than the 62,000 it sold in March. Images have been posted all over the web of huge queues at German, Chinese and Indian coin and bullion dealers. In China, people have been paying over the odds to buy: the premiums paid per ounce have risen by about 50% on the previous month, due to the shortage of the physical metal. Both Istanbul and Dubai are out of investment bars, according to Bloomberg, with wholesale and bulk buyers paying a premium of between $6 and $9 an ounce for kilo bars - a premium one dealer described to me as “crazy”. On the Istanbul Gold Exchange, bullion traded at as much as $25 above the London spot price. The Perth Mint ran extra shifts over the weekend to manufacture enough stock to meet orders, which are at levels last seen in the 2008 financial crisis, according to sales and marketing director, Ron Currie. Analysis and strategy manager Bron Sucheki told me:“the premiums the Perth Mint are getting for one-tonne lots of gold kilo bars into Asia moved up again this week on top of already higher-than-normal premiums”. The online dealers Goldmoney, BullionVault and Goldcore have also all reported increased activity. Even here in sleepy old Britain, activity has increased. I spoke to Alex Baird of Baird and co, Britain's biggest refiner and one of the UK's biggest coin dealers, just this morning. He said: "When the gold price dropped on that Monday we were absolutely swamped. Many of our competitors even switched off their websites. I'd say we've been seeing three to four times normal activity. We've been so busy we've fallen behind on our manufacturing. Bars are taking at least two weeks longer than usual to deliver and we're getting delays on coins from overseas, particularly maple leafs." The rush for physical gold – what does it mean? What can we read into all this? Private investors around the world have taken advantage of this dip in the gold price to load up on physical gold. Perhaps it's a mini-bubble. Perhaps the small investors have got it all wrong. However, they didn't in 2008. They presaged a big move. People buying physical metal in the retail markets tend not to be short-term traders or ‘flippers’ – looking for a quick turn. The effort that goes into buying and selling physical metal and the commissions involved mean buyers tend to be thinking in the long term, often the very long term - planning to hold for life and pass on to their children, in some cases. There is clearly a real and global appetite for the metal and that bodes well, at least in my mind, for its long-term future. It is not a meaningless and antiquated ‘relic’. I enjoyed talking with Ross Norman of Sharps Pixley at the Mining Journal gold day last week. Describing the recent action in the gold markets, Ross used the analogy of a castle under siege. Gold investors are a growing, but disparate and disorganised rabble, a kind of peasants' revolt. Several deep-pocketed institutions on the other side of the castle walls have control of the big guns. Some well-orchestrated shots - requiring a lot of ammunition, as well as excellent timing - saw them dump breath-taking amounts of gold onto the market in single drops - amounts equivalent to the entire holdings of a medium-sized first world nation's central bank. That was enough to put large holes in vulnerable areas of the rabble forces and send many of its number running. But elsewhere more joined the rabble. Eventually the rabble will overwhelm the big guns, whose ammunition will become less and less effective, as more and more strong hands come into the market in the form of long-term physical holders who don't care about short-term price fluctuations. The ammo may eventually run out. Who knows? We may even see big guns on the buy side. Imagine if a deep-pocketed institution were to 'dump' a 300-tonne buy-order on the market - the reverse of what happened ten days ago - just as the market is sitting under key resistance. We'd get a pretty emphatic short squeeze. Gold’s rally looks like a dead-cat bounce But this is all for further down the road. Gold is going to take many months to get over this correction. The rally that we have seen in the last week as gold has bounced from $1,330 to $1,470 looks like a relief rally - the proverbial ‘dead cat bounce’. There is a lot of resistance between $1,500 and $1,550. That is the obvious area for this move to peter out. And it's customary in such circumstances to have a re-test of the lows. We'll see if that plays out or not. In short, you may get a chance in the near future to buy paper gold at lower prices than we see today. But I’d hang on to your physical. Got a comment on this article? Leave a comment on the MoneyWeek website, here. Until tomorrow, Dominic Frisby MoneyWeek Thu, 02 May 2013 14:03:32 BST http://www.bullion-dealer.co.uk/blog/top-tips-for-reducing-your-risk/ Top tips for reducing your risk Are you risk adverse or happy to take a chance? Whatever your attitude to risk it’s vital that you are able to recognise risk and know how to mitigate it. This could be risk to your business, your family’s future or your personal finances. We believe it is important for both businesses and for you personally that we have come together to offer these FREE seminars to give you the tools you need. Speakers: Matthew Melksham - Haines Watts A member of the ACCA with 12 years experience in practice, Matthew has looked after owner managed business of all sizes from individual sole traders to large Aim listed businesses. All the businesses have the same thing in common and that is a need for practical and commercially sound business advice. Matthew sees that the value he adds is the ability to look beyond the figures and especially at the key areas, which aid business growth. One of these areas is looking at financial and business cycle risk, which can help the business to that next level. Richard Agnew Vos - Private Client Solicitor After studying Law at University in Wales Richard qualified as a solicitor in 1989. He has spent the past 24 years working in private practice both in established legal practices in Berkshire and North Devon as well as on his own account in Barnstaple, South Molton and Tiverton. After spending 12 years with the Royal Marines (in both regular and reserve service) Richard feels that the experience gained stands him in good stead and has allowed him to develop good problem solving and decision making skills. Richard is happy to see you either in the office or in the comfort of your own home to discuss your legal needs on a no obligation basis. Caroline Peers BSc (Hons) - Bleyer Bullion A graduate of City University, London and coming from a background of property and asset management, Caroline is co-founder of Bleyer LLP. She came to this market first as a family advisor and personal investor herself. Caroline had been helping families manage their property and investment portfolios and saw an opportunity to democratise gold and silver, putting precious metal investments within reach of anyone. Bleyer are a successful, approachable, family centred firm based in South Molton, offering a comprehensive service to clients from all walks of life. They offer their clients free consultation advising on strategic aspects of gold and silver ownership. Seminar Details: • South Molton (Woodlands Enterprise Centre) – Tuesday 23rd April • Tiverton (Best Western Hotel) – Wednesday 24th April • Bideford (The Royal Brend Hotel) – Thursday 25th April Each seminar will start at 6:30pm and will aim to be finished by 8.00pm with the panel taking questions. Places will be limited and so book today to ensure you don’t miss out on this opportunity. To book your place on any of the above dates please either reply to this email or call Ann Green at Haines Watts’ Bideford Office on 01237 471736 today or email agreen@hwca.com Contact details: Matthew Melksham mmelksham@hcwa.com 01237 428213 Richard Agnew Vos enqs@agnewvos.co.uk 01398 341767 Caroline Peers caroline.peers@bleyer.co.uk Wed, 17 Apr 2013 10:44:29 BST http://www.bullion-dealer.co.uk/blog/cyprus-tax-the-budget-your-money-and-gold-eurozone-crisis-contin/ Cyprus, Tax, The Budget, Your Money and Gold – Eurozone Crisis continues: • Bank Savings Taxed • Stealth Tax, Tax and Interest Rate rises • Wealth Cycles • Protect Yourself with Physical Gold and Silver This week Cyprus literally announced overnight that they plan to ‘tax’ their bank customers up to 10% of their savings. Panic ensured. The banks didn’t open on Monday, then Tuesday, Wednesday and possibly Thursday! Can you imagine?!! We don’t think George Osborne’s Budget will quite go that far! But how do you protect your wealth in this increasing Euro Crisis? Put your money into Physical Gold Bars and Coins instead. If you have less spare money buy Silver bars and coins. Anything that keeps your money – your money! All the factors feeding the Euro crisis are getting worse, not better. The only way to prepare in these economic times is to imagine the unimaginable, and then prepare for it. You will be glad you did. Tax by stealth, or brazen tax hikes out in the open, will always happen when governments are in debt. Prime Minister David Cameron recently spoke about the government’s approach to the economy ahead of the March Budget saying: “The challenges on the economy are huge and there is a long way to go.” In true British litotes, this is an understatement of epic proportions. At the moment our interest rates are historically low and our tax is by historical comparison low as well. To see how low - “in 1971 the top rate of income tax on earned income was cut to 75%. 1974 the cut was partly reversed and the top rate on earned income was raised to 83%. This applied to incomes over £20,000 (£155,247 as of 2013). In 1974 750,000 people were liable to pay the top-rate of income tax. Margaret Thatcher favoured indirect taxation, and reduced personal income tax rates during the 1980s. In the first budget after her election in 1979, the top rate was reduced from 83% to 60% and the basic rate from 33% to 30%. The basic rate was also cut for three successive budgets - to 29% in the 1986 budget, 27% in 1987 and to 25% in 1988. The top rate of income tax was cut to 40% in the 1988 budget. Under the government of John Major basic rate was reduced in stages to 23% by 1997. Under Labour Chancellor Gordon Brown it was further reduced in stages to 20% by 2007. As the basic rate stood at 35% in 1976, it has been reduced by 15% since then. However, this reduction has been largely offset by increases in other taxes such as National Insurance contributions and Value Added Tax (VAT). In 2010 a new top rate of 50% was introduced on income over £150,000pa. In the 2012 budget this rate was cut to 45% with effect from April 6, 2013.” (History of Taxation in the UK). So we are sitting on historically extremely low tax rates. The most obvious tax by stealth is inflation. For a good explanation of how this works click here. Money goes in cycles. If the pattern has been tax and interest rates falling, we are now at the bottom of the cycle and there is only one way they can go. Up. As interest rates and taxation go up, house prices go down - while Physical Gold and Silver go up. It’s called a Wealth Cycle. It repeats itself. Mike Maloney explains it well in this video. Holding Physical Gold and Silver protects your wealth from these forms of taxation because the value of physical Gold and Silver far out-paces inflation in times of economic turmoil. While stocks, shares and savings rates flat-line, Gold has delivered close to 25% gains over 12 months and 230% over the last 5 years. Now imagine interest rates on our mortgages returning up to 15% as they were in 1981. Imagine what would happen to the property market as defaults on mortgages flooded the market with property? More sellers than buyers means the property market would collapse. Get out of property. The founders of Bleyer did in 2006 and moved into Precious Metals. We offer a variety of Gold and Silver investment bars and coins at competitive prices with professional and personal customer service. Call us to move your money out of the system and into your own Physical Gold and Silver now! Don’t get caught with your money locked in the bank or property as things unravel! Lastly, and for some light humour, we in the office thoroughly enjoyed this article. Call us today on 01769 618618 and start protecting your savings with Physical Gold and Silver bars and coins. We offer Fully Insured Delivery or Secure Storage. Contact us today. Thu, 21 Mar 2013 13:48:46 GMT http://www.bullion-dealer.co.uk/blog/buying-physical-gold-your-tax-free-options1/ We at Bleyer have a very high code of ethics. Working with a product as valuable and traditional as Gold gives us that perspective. But if there is a way to legally avoid paying tax we like to inform our clients about it. Did you know that ALL Gold Bullion bars and coins are free from V.A.T.? So that is a saving of 20% right there. Gold jewellery does not have this advantage but investing in any of our Gold Bullion products does. For example, buying a 1oz Gold Britannia coin will cost around £1,130. About the same price as a good gold ring. But by buying the V.A.T. free coin you will now own 20% more Gold for your money. This automatically increases your investment without you having to do anything. Wisdom is often found in what form we choose to buy our Gold. Everyone knows Gold is valuable. It has been a traditional store of wealth for centuries. A further advantage to buying bullion coins and bars is that you will know exactly how much Gold you have - it is pure bullion – 999.99% Gold. This is vital for when you come to sell it back, either to Bleyer or any other Bullion company. The money you receive back for your investment, is based on the gold content. Gold Jewellery, on the other hand, is often called ‘scrap gold’ and selling it back puts the client sometimes at risk of being under-quoted the true value of their Gold, simply because the client cannot easily tell the exact content, the daily current fix price and the grams of Gold in their jewellery. However, when someone wishes to sell Gold bullion coins or bars to Bleyer, we quote the price based on the daily current fix price of Gold, which can be verified by you the client by simply checking the London Bullion Market Association price, which is where we get our Gold Fix price from too. The process is extremely transparent, accurate and most importantly the client can see exactly how accountable we are to them. We typically buy back at 95% to 98% of the daily fix price and the only factor that affects this is the condition of the bar or coin. It’s that straight-forward. So buying Gold bullion from Bleyer will save you V.A.T and peace of mind. But there is even more inside knowledge which we would like to share with you. If you buy certain Gold products from us, you will save not only your V.A.T. but also your Capital Gains Tax as well. This is the tax you pay when you make a gain on the sale of an asset. You get a certain amount free (currently £10,600 pa), and then after that you have to pay tax on your gain. Is there a way out of this legally, transparently and by using Gold Bullion as your investment? There is. The 1oz Gold Britannia coin, as well as the smaller Gold Sovereign coin, is actually classed as legal tender in the United Kingdom. Because of this they are Capital Gains Tax free! C.G.T. rates currently stand for personal gain between 18%- 28%, so this is a considerable saving, simply by investing in certain physical Gold products over others. We have clients who have bought large amounts of their investments in these 1oz Gold coins, thereby lining up for themselves potential massive savings later on. The 1 oz Silver Britannia coin is also C.G.T. free as it is also classed as a ‘coin of the realm’. But silver does however incur V.A.T which would effectively off-set the C.G.T. gain. So, if you have an investment to make, consider placing your money into Physical Gold to save yourself both your V.A.T. and your C.G.T. If you do not wish to take physical delivery of your Gold, we offer a secure storage facility in the U.K. for a small fee. Your Gold remains under your title in an allocated account. For a small transfer fee to cover administration, you can change your mind and take delivery at any time. To find out how simple it is to enter the Physical Gold, and Silver, market call one of the Bleyer Team on: 01769 618618 or email: sales@bleyer.co.uk Mon, 21 Jan 2013 14:01:08 GMT http://www.bullion-dealer.co.uk/blog/buying-physical-gold-your-tax-free-options/ Buying Physical Gold – Your Tax free Options. We at Bleyer have a very high code of ethics. Working with a product as valuable and traditional as Gold gives us that perspective. But if there is a way to legally avoid paying tax we like to inform our clients about it. Did you know that ALL Gold Bullion bars and coins are free from V.A.T.? So that is a saving of 20% right there. Gold jewellery does not have this advantage but investing in any of our Gold Bullion products does. For example, buying a 1oz Gold Britannia coin will cost around £1,130. About the same price as a good gold ring. But by buying the V.A.T. free coin you will now own 20% more Gold for your money. This automatically increases your investment without you having to do anything. Wisdom is often found in what form we choose to buy our Gold. Everyone knows Gold is valuable. It has been a traditional store of wealth for centuries. A further advantage to buying bullion coins and bars is that you will know exactly how much Gold you have - it is pure bullion – 999.99% Gold. This is vital for when you come to sell it back, either to Bleyer or any other Bullion company. The money you receive back for your investment, is based on the gold content. Gold Jewellery, on the other hand, is often called ‘scrap gold’ and selling it back puts the client sometimes at risk of being under-quoted the true value of their Gold, simply because the client cannot easily tell the exact content, the daily current fix price and the grams of Gold in their jewellery. However, when someone wishes to sell Gold bullion coins or bars to Bleyer, we quote the price based on the daily current fix price of Gold, which can be verified by you the client by simply checking the London Bullion Market Association price, which is where we get our Gold Fix price from too. The process is extremely transparent, accurate and most importantly the client can see exactly how accountable we are to them. We typically buy back at 95% to 98% of the daily fix price and the only factor that affects this is the condition of the bar or coin. It’s that straight-forward. So buying Gold bullion from Bleyer will save you V.A.T and peace of mind. But there is even more inside knowledge which we would like to share with you. If you buy certain Gold products from us, you will save not only your V.A.T. but also your Capital Gains Tax as well. This is the tax you pay when you make a gain on the sale of an asset. You get a certain amount free (currently £10,600 pa), and then after that you have to pay tax on your gain. Is there a way out of this legally, transparently and by using Gold Bullion as your investment? There is. The 1oz Gold Britannia coin, as well as the smaller Gold Sovereign coin, is actually classed as legal tender in the United Kingdom. Because of this they are Capital Gains Tax free! C.G.T. rates currently stand for personal gain between 18%- 28%, so this is a considerable saving, simply by investing in certain physical Gold products over others. We have clients who have bought large amounts of their investments in these 1oz Gold coins, thereby lining up for themselves potential massive savings later on. The 1 oz Silver Britannia coin is also C.G.T. free as it is also classed as a ‘coin of the realm’. But silver does however incur V.A.T which would effectively off-set the C.G.T. gain. So, if you have an investment to make, consider placing your money into Physical Gold to save yourself both your V.A.T. and your C.G.T. If you do not wish to take physical delivery of your Gold, we offer a secure storage facility in the U.K. for a small fee. Your Gold remains under your title in an allocated account. For a small transfer fee to cover administration, you can change your mind and take delivery at any time. To find out how simple it is to enter the Physical Gold, and Silver, market call one of the Bleyer Team on: 01769 618618 or email: sales@bleyer.co.uk Mon, 21 Jan 2013 14:00:16 GMT http://www.bullion-dealer.co.uk/blog/free-gold-and-silver-seminar/ Press Release: We are delighted to announce that Bleyer Bullion, the South West’s Premier sellers of Gold and Silver Bullion Bars and Coins, are running a Free Seminar on: “The Current Financial Crisis & What You Can Do about the Changes Heading Our Way”. Guest Speaker Gary Morgan, Monetary Consultant, will give you his insights into: • What is happening with world currencies and world debt. • How our central banks will ‘rescue’ bad debts and fund their governments. • The history of ‘paper money’, why it is not worth the paper it is printed on • The status of Physical Gold and Silver as a store of wealth in times of financial turmoil. • Most importantly, you will learn how this recession differs from those of the past and how you can best protect yourself for the future. There will an opportunity to speak with Gary Morgan after the seminar and members of Bleyer will also be available to discuss how to begin or consolidate your investment in Physical Gold and Silver. Bleyer pride ourselves on our excellent, caring and professional customer service, giving local people in the South West the opportunity to invest in Physical Gold and Silver Bullion Bars and Coins without the need to travel to London. Through our commitment to transparency, education and unbiased information, our customers can improve their financial stability and achieve financial independence. Seminar date: Wednesday 14th November 2012 Venue: Woodlands Enterprise Centre, Pathfields Business Park, South Molton Time: Afternoon or Evening Booking is Essential as places will be limited. To book your place, please contact one of the Bleyer Team on: 01769 618618 sales@bleyer.co.uk www.bleyerbullion.co.uk Wed, 26 Sep 2012 12:15:19 BST http://www.bullion-dealer.co.uk/blog/gold-for-britain/ “GOLD FOR BRITAIN!” Why NOW is the time! Forgive me. I’m not talking about the Olympics. I’m talking about NOW may be the time to buy real gold and silver. Coins, bars, whatever you can afford, from £40 to £1000 to £35,000. Why? Because since 2009, Gold has increased 160% and for Silver 230%. * Two years ago the Chinese government advised ALL their citizens to buy physical gold and silver (Business Insider, Sept 17 2009). This advice went to EVERYONE, starting from families with as little as £40 to spare. Not jewellery - that is an expensive way to buy gold or silver because of its high fabrication cost. No, the Chinese government spent a lot of money advertising to all their citizens to buy small to large bullion bars and coins. If you lived in China right now, you would be able to walk into your BANK and purchase bars of gold and silver! Plus the Chinese Government increased their holdings of Gold and Silver too. In 2010 China’s Gold Holdings were up around 30%. (City Wire Money, May 30, 2011) So why haven’t British members of the public been advised to do the same? After all, there is another race on and it is NOT the Olympics. But you have to look behind the background noise; the Olympics, the Jubilee, the X-factor, whatever your TV or tabloid washes over you, to see it. It is the Global Race to accumulate Physical Gold and Silver. “In 2010, Central Banks as a group became net buyers of physical gold after two decades as net sellers.” In addition, “EU Central Bankers became net buyers of physical gold for the first time during the 1st Quarter 2011 since their introduction of the heavily flawed Euro into circulation in January of 2002.” (JS Kim, SmartKnowledgeU) The big question is WHY? Why are Central Banks and the savvy Chinese doing this? The answer is simple. Gold and Silver hold their value. Paper money does not. Since 2009, Gold has increased from approximately £637 to £1020 per troy ounce. Silver has increased from approximately £7.90 to £18.50 per troy ounce. That’s an increase for Gold of 160% and for Silver 230% (* Index Mundi Charts) Seriously, where can we find that kind of ‘interest’ on our investment in the High Street? If you are leaving your money in a bank or building society, at the very best your interest rate will probably be around 3.5%. By contrast, the price of petrol has increased 149% and I’m constantly flabbergasted at how much my food bill keeps going up over the last few years. The interest rate offered by High Street providers simply doesn’t come close to keeping up with these sorts of price rises. But changing some of your paper money into Gold and Silver would keep you ahead of the game. And if your house price is going DOWN while your mortgage costs are going UP, putting any spare money into Gold and Silver is far simpler than you think and a jolly good idea! NOW! But why NOW particularly? Well, again the key lies in the Olympics. Or rather Greece. Take a look at what will happen if, or rather when, Greece leaves the Eurozone (BBC News, 20 May 2012). It only takes “one world changing event” to knock the pack of cards down. A collapse can be ‘controlled’ or ‘uncontrolled’, much like the collapse of a building. Either way it is still a collapse. One World Changing Event. Like a dam bursting or a tidal wave, once it goes it will move extremely suddenly, like a wall that has been bulging and bulging before it suddenly collapses. But by then it will be too late. We need to put our house in order BEFORE the event(s) that triggers an economic meltdown and alters the way we see money for good. Purchasing Physical Gold and Silver is not scary or difficult. You can instruct us to buy in a few minutes and sell it in a few minutes. Unlike getting your money out of a savings bond, which can charge you “an eye watering 14% of your savings” to do so, we typically charge 2% of the fix price of Gold or Silver, to our customers if you’d like to get out of Gold and Silver and sell it back to us at any time in the future. When you buy, you can have it delivered to your home or even your work, fully insured. Or you are local you can come and pick it up personally, whatever suits you. Just pick up the phone and call a reputable Gold and Silver Bullion dealer. There are laws and proceedings we gladly follow; to protect both you, and us, from fraud. We value of high level of customer care and we believe no question is too silly. So you don’t need to know what you’re talking about to ring us. About 80% of our clients over the last year have been completely new to buying physical Gold and Silver. I am personally proud of each and every one of them. They are taking action. Gold for Britain! Silver for Britain! Before it’s too late. Call Bleyer Bullion on 01769 618618 or 01769 573832. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook for up to date analysis and articles. Disclaimer: In line with the Financial Services Act, this article is for education and should not be taken as ‘advice’. If in doubt, please see an Independent Financial Advisor. All articles by Bleyer Bullion are subject to copyright. Fri, 01 Jun 2012 13:33:33 BST http://www.bullion-dealer.co.uk/blog/gold-dealer-gone-bad/ You have to be very careful when choosing who you do business with. You are being shown so much hype and advertising that you don’t really know who you are dealing with anymore. Do you really believe those websites that have pictures of vaults with huge doors or those images of stacks of gold and silver bars? As a buyer of bullion, you should check out your bullion dealer before you swap your cash for gold because not all bullion dealers are the same – not all are as honest as us here at www.bullion-dealer.co.uk. There are some scams and horror stories out there – here is one of the worst from New Zealand. John Frazer had inherited more than NZ$ 340,000 from his grandmother and quite wisely, has invested it with a gold bullion trader. Not us, I hasten to add... Now he’s being told by the companies owner that he won't be getting either the gold or his money back. How could this happen? A dealer in downtown Auckland has advertised heavily on national television and radio – it even calls itself "New Zealand's trusted name in bullion trading". And the director of the company is blaming a member of staff (that’s Elijah Geldman and his picture is at the top) who has since ‘left the company’ so it’s been reported to the NZ Serious Fraud Office but lets face it, it’s gone. And it gets worse. A woman from Christchurch, and her children, invested NZ$ 341,700 in leveraged options with the same firm. They thought it was safe so they bought gold and borrowed against that investment to buy more, hoping the profits from its sale would be more than the interest payable. Oops! Not to be outdone, John Fraser also ordered NZ$ 85,000 worth of physical silver from the same company and is still waiting for it to arrive. You get to a point where you get worried so a few phone calls later, the Director assured him that “they would be getting most of their money today and the rest within 72 hours. Then he said to me he'd send me a tracking number on my email for the silver bullion by 10 o'clock morning.” Well that sounds dandy but by 1 o'clock, when it didn’t show up, he phoned his office and said, “I'm extremely disappointed. I don't believe you're going to send it to me”. And what was the reply? “I have some bad news for you...”' Apparently “Mr Kairua said that the money was being held in a vault in Europe and it was backed by Lloyds of London as an insurer and now he's told me that Elijah Geldman has gone and folded all this money somewhere else." Elijah Geldman resigned last September after Herald revelations that he was wanted for fraud by US federal authorities. He and another man were accused of "participating in a conspiracy", including forging signatures and falsely identifying themselves as a securities broker and a "comptroller of a legitimate company" to entice investors to give them money. Mike O'Kane from the New Zealand Mint said “"The golden rule is 'he who holds the gold, holds the value'". He suggests "If you're not taking possession of it, then you need to do some homework on the company you're buying it through." So when looking at buying gold, make sure that you are taking physical delivery. If your gold is being held in storage then maybe you should do your homework before you part with your hard earned cash. Source - http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10750391 Fri, 10 Feb 2012 14:42:10 GMT http://www.bullion-dealer.co.uk/blog/gold-iran-oil-and-you/ So what was Libya all about? Some say that it was about oppression, some say it was about Gaddafi being a bad lad and others say it was just the Western powers sticking their noses in where it wasn’t needed. But what about oil? Did you know that Gaddafi was about to sell his oil for gold dinars and not the US Dollar? We reported this on the 25th of August. A straight swap of Oil for Gold would mean that the US dollar would no longer be needed for international trade. And if the world didn’t notice then it would just fade away because the dollar, as a currency, would be dumped. So here’s the news and you got it here first. Reuters have published an article stating that India is to settle it’s 7.7 billion pound trade account with Iran in mainly Rupees and partly, the Japanese Yen. Two things come out of this – the dumping of the dollar (just like Libya) and that Rupees and Yen are good, convertible currency – they’re better for trade than the US dollar. India is the second biggest importer of Iranian oil after China – about 12% of it’s capacity or 400,000 barrels per day. Russia is in there somewhere too, along with Japan. They are now using a system called “Direct Currency Trade” and to show you the size of this business, India and Japan have just signed a 9.7 billion pound currency swap. That’s a lot of business. This is ‘Bi-lateral Trade’ in that it is lawful business between two countries without the involvement of a third party or currency. So the US and it’s currency is now redundant – no longer needed. These countries trust each other more than they do the US and want to work with each other without US involvement. It’s nothing new, does the term ‘spice route’ ring any bells? Or the ‘silk road’? India, Pakistan, Iran. Lieutenant Commander of the Iranian Army's Self-Sufficiency Jihad (really, that’s what they’re called), Rear Admiral Farhad Amiri, has hailed the Iranian submarines as “the best electronic diesel vessels in the world, noiseless and able to easily evade detection as they are equipped with sonar-evading technology". One thing Iranians are not is stupid. Ghadir submarines are supplied from North Korea in kit form and can fire missiles and torpedoes simultaneously because they are equipped with cutting edge military and technological equipment. They are fitted with ‘HOOT’ super cavitating rocket torpedoes, allegedly reverse-engineered from the Russian VA-111 Shkval torpedo which the US can do nothing about, but whatever. So what to watch out for. Well if the US wants to stop this trade then it can do two things. Trade embargos and sanctions can be issued from the White House but whose going to listen? China and India will probably stick two fingers up. China, Iran's biggest crude customer, has already rejected the U.S. sanctions as ‘overstepping the mark’. The second is ‘by force’ so if you’ve not seen what’s happening in the Straits of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf then get up to date with the news. The Straits are to the Persian Gulf what Gibraltar is to the Mediterranean but there’s Iran on one side and Oman on the other. The UK has sent a destroyer to the region in an effort to keep the straits open and the US has sent a few ships too. That US story at the Al Jazeera site is well worth reading. It’ll be a re-run of Libya, Afghanistan, Iraq, Iraq again... What does this mean to you? From a bullion point of view, if it kicks off in the Gulf then Iran will just stop pumping oil. The fight between the navies is a secondary issue but it will give the US enough reasons to invade Iran. Did you know that by their constitution, the US cannot start a war? Hence their ‘pre-emptive’ strikes... When the dollar fails, and currencies are devalued, barter begins. It’s happening right now between these countries so you’ve either got something of value to trade or you haven’t. Pieces of paper are not going to be accepted as ‘good for trade’ so if you’re going hungry then your situation is going to get worse, day by day. And what this is really going to mean to you is that the price of petrol is going to increase by 15 – 50 pence per litre immediately. As soon as it happens, it’s going to happen. There’ll be ques at the pumps if they’ve got it at all. Have you ever stopped and thought about just how dependent you are on oil? You won’t get to work without it. What’s the solution. Well, depending on your pocket, you could start with Gold and Silver coins. They are valuable, portable and good for trade. Your pension statement isn’t. Did you know that according to Google, there are an estimated 62,218,761 people in the UK? And that the Bank of England has an estimated 310.3 tonnes of gold on reserve. That’s 0.16 of a troy ounce per person – don’t worry, i’ll do the Maths. The question is, how much have you got in reserve? Call us on 01769 618618 for current prices and availability. Take control of your finances, get out of paper and into the safe havens of Gold and Silver – the only real money out there. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Youtube for up to date analysis and education. Disclaimer – I am a Bullion Merchant. I do this for a living. To keep in line with the FSA, what is written here is for your education and should not be taken as ‘advice’. If you act then take some responsibility for your actions. All and everything that is written by David Peers and/or published by Bleyer LLP is subject to copyright. Mon, 23 Jan 2012 12:30:16 GMT http://www.bullion-dealer.co.uk/blog/if-you-had-a-1000/ If you had purchased £1,000 of shares in Delta Airlines one year ago, you would have £49.00 today If you had purchased £1,000 of shares in AIG one year ago, you would have £33.00 today. If you had purchased £1,000 of shares in Lehman Brothers one year ago, you would have £0.00 today. If you had purchased £1,000 of shares in Northern Rock three years ago, you would have £0.00 today But, if you had purchased £1,000 worth of beer one year ago at Tesco's, drunk all the beer, then taken the aluminium cans to the scrap metal dealer, you would have received a £214.00. Based on the above, the best current investment plan is to drink heavily & recycle. A recent study found that the average Briton walks about 900 miles a year. Another study found that Britons drink, on average, 22 gallons of alcohol a year. That means that, on average, Britons get about 41 miles to the gallon! Makes you proud to be British. Fri, 20 Jan 2012 13:02:33 GMT http://www.bullion-dealer.co.uk/blog/bleyer-year-end-report/ Bleyer Year End Report – Gold and Silver Prices and Trends We have had a very busy and exciting year here at Bleyer with an ever growing base of loyal and interesting customers. We would like to thank you all for your custom and interest, for those of you yet to dip your toes into this market, and wish you a happy and prosperous 2012. We travelled to several trade shows throughout the year, surprising opticians, doctors, pharmacists, vets and less so the property investors, who discovered the Bleyer Bullion stand at their industry conferences. In June we sponsored the Young Farmers at the Devon County Show. We supported the ‘C Group’ (rehabilitation section of the Royal Marines) at the Mountbatten Dinner in October and David was invited to speak at several investor forums. In August we moved to our lovely new office, ‘Lime Court’, also home to Davidsons Accountants and Slee Blackwell Solicitors, where we are well placed to service the growing demand for gold and silver investment in the South West. As we near the end of 2011 and look back at the year I thought it would be good to consider what the economists are saying about gold and silver and where the price is likely to go next year. I trawled the internet for some words of wisdom but failed to find an impartial view. I therefore decided not to join them and instead simply report on the past year so that you can see where we are now. Personally I am rather fond of charts so here they are: The gold price against Sterling trended on a steeper line for most of 2011. However, at the beginning of December we saw a sharp correction taking the price back to the bottom of a longer term channel, still within the overall trend. I also like to look at the 200 day moving average (shown in green) – these are often better indicators than straight lines. In the case of gold the 200 dma seems to provide a fairly reliable support line with the price rarely ever dropping much below this point. If your own conclusions about the state of the world, sovereign debt, inflation, economic unrest and stock market volatility lead you to believe that gold is where you want to put your money, then current price levels are looking rather attractive. Obviously, we at Bleyer cannot predict future prices and can only report on what we see. We always remind our clients that we cannot offer advice on whether or not now or later is a good time to buy, they must decide for themselves. There is also still room for further corrections before the next major move up, but if your intention is to place a portion of your investment portfolio in gold you may want to get ready soon. Sometimes it is best to take a longer term view anyway. Physical metal is not the best investment if you want to make a quick buck. This year our trade in silver has increased dramatically. Many of our customers are absolutely ‘sold’ on silver and as with current gold prices, it looks fairly attractive right now. Even taking account of VAT you get a lot more ounces for your money. In Mike Maloney’s book Guide to Investing in Gold and Silver he predicts a massive increase in the price of silver in relation to gold. He tells us that there is less silver than gold for investors to buy, yet the price ratio of silver to gold at today’s price is 55:1. Silver is used more widely and is recycled less. How long is it going to be before the price is reflected in the market? This is a question I get asked every day - I only wish I knew! Anyway we can’t predict the future but here are the latest figures on gold and silver performance for the last 5 years to 22 December 2011 1 Year 2 Years 3 Years 4 Years 5 Years Gold +13.54 +50.93 +77.80 +150.33 +224.64 Silver -2.61 +74.69 +153.64 +154.96 +192.24 FTSE -8.80 +2.41 +28.42 -15.19 -11.84 * Figures given in percentage change over period For the sake of completeness here is the chart for the FTSE 100 over the same period. Showing that even the volatility of silver doesn’t compare to that of stocks. Fri, 23 Dec 2011 12:25:24 GMT http://www.bullion-dealer.co.uk/blog/the-national-debt/ And the part you play! UK National Debt Clock - DebtBombshell If I said to you “Can I borrow a pound and i’ll pay you back in a million seconds?”, then you’d probably say yes. Because a million seconds is about eleven and a half days. Did you know that? If I then said “Oops! I meant a billion seconds” then you’d still say “OK” even though that’s 11,574 days. But you didn’t know that, did you? If I then said “Oops, sorry, I meant a trillion seconds!” then you’d still say “OK” because you don’t really know what a trillion is, do you? A trillion seconds? That’s 1,000,000,000,000 seconds or 11,574,074 days. A pound for 31709 years, give or take. Imagine the interest! To make it meaningful, a Million is 1,000,000, a Billion is 1,000,000,000 and a Trillion is 1,000,000,000,000. And a trillion is a very big number. The UK carries huge borrowings – it’s called the National Debt and as I write, that figure stands at £986 billion. £986,745,310,473 to be precise and it’s rising. This debt is very real and we have to pay it back. In 2010, the interest paid on this debt was £42,900,000,000 – 42.9 billion pounds. The Government forecasts that this borrowing will breach 1 Trillion pounds before the end of 2011 yet folk continue to trust the stock market, the banks and the government. Your wealth is being lost and time is running out. If I knew that you were going to get hit by a car and I didn’t tell you, would I be doing you a favour? No, I wouldn’t. Well let me tell you now, a storm is coming and owning gold and silver is quite possibly the only way you are going to survive it. Banking base rate – 1% Gold price in 12 months – +25% Call us on 01769 618618 for current prices and availability. Take control of your finances, get out of paper and enter the safe havens of Gold and Silver – the only real money out there. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Youtube for up to date analysis and education. Disclaimer – I am a bullion dealer. I do this for a living. What is written here is for your education and should not be taken as ‘advice’. If you act then take some responsibility for your actions. All and everything that is written by David Peers and/or published by Bleyer LLP is subject to copyright. Fri, 09 Dec 2011 13:39:00 GMT http://www.bullion-dealer.co.uk/blog/you-still-think-it-wont-happen-to-you/ Why now? And the reason you should get into gold now is liquidity. When the ‘run on the bank’ begins, you won’t be able to perform the transaction of ‘taking your money out’ because of the fractional reserve banking system. And it is ‘The Bank’ that decides how and when this happens by adjusting the money supply. There will be no warning. For every pound deposited at a bank, it is allowed to lend it back out to a factor of 10. That’s what they mean by fractional reserve banking and yes, that’s how it happens. Look at it backwards – the deposit is a fraction of what is lent out, it’s like double speak. A bank cannot lend out it’s own money because that would be illegal so it lends out the money which you have deposited instead – they run two sets of books. The HSBC current account is now paying 0.00% interest (yes, you read that right, 0.00%) and is charging 19.9% as an overdraft rate. And when it lends your deposited money back out at 4.7% as a mortgage and up to 6.9% as a personal loan, you can understand why the banks have the tallest buildings in town. Because they multiply it by 10, remember! So on what you deposit, they are potentially earning 47% and 69% respectively. So how all is this going to pan out? Pretty much the same as last time. The money supply will be cut and there’ll be a run on the bank. When this happens and you go to the bank to get your money, you won’t be able to withdraw the physical cash because it will have all been issued. The cash points – the hole in the wall – will be empty. It can only issue – pass out – so much and when it’s gone, it’s gone. But it’s not just the physical cash, that’s only a part of it. A bank can only issue what it has on deposit and there’s going to be 10 other people all looking for the same as you. First come, first served. So it’s not only the cash being taken out of the cash point but what you – and many, many others like you – are going to try to transfer from one bank to another. Do you remember Northern Rock? The last time this happened, a lot of people lost a lot of wealth (or money, if you prefer) and they were completely powerless, completely unable, to do anything about it because someone had got there first. So if you’re not in gold by now then you really are sailing very close to the wind. It’s happened before and the time before that, and the time before that... So what’s the solution? Get your wealth into something of substance. You should stop living from day to day, month to month and have a reserve of some kind – it’s just common sense. Of substance because if it is not, then it’s just fresh air and make believe. So what is ‘of substance’? Something tangible, desirable, of value and liquid. Property that feeds you a rental income is good and so is silver. Gold is great. Otherwise, commodities that humans need such as livestock and fuel. But to learn to be a farmer is tough – it’s easier to own gold, which is pretty much the ultimate. Gold? You just buy it! And even after all this, there are still some out there who think that it won’t happen to them. Are you one? Well i’m old enough to remember bread shortages, the winter of discontent, power cuts and having a bath by candle light. My father taught me well by feeding his family on the produce of his allotment and that’s what I do today. Don’t let it be you. Fri, 02 Dec 2011 11:40:55 GMT http://www.bullion-dealer.co.uk/blog/the-bank-of-england-gold-and-libya/ As an investor in bullion, there’s something you should know about this Libya business. You’re not going to hear about it on the BBC and in my opinion, it is being held from you on purpose. It is something you should know and you can see its immediate effect in the price of gold. Since the close of play on the 8th of August ‘til the am fix today ( 25th August, 2011), gold has risen from £1035.601 per troy ounce to an all time high of £1139.55 and back down to £1049.59. This is an upwards shift of 10% and then downwards by virtually the same – that’s a lot of movement for 13 trading days! So you have to ask “why did this happen and how does it affect me?” because your money is in this deal and it is your responsibility to know. That’s why. Obama and Cameron are now busy capitalising on these events, acting as if they led the invasion personally. Some of us have a different idea in that the invasion of Libya is yet another act of war which permits the pillage of asset rich (oil, mainly) countries that can hardly defend themselves. The next likely target is Syria because their oil fields are huge – 25.1% of their GDP is derived from oil. And yes, we are now at war with Libya – British planes have dropped bombs and the boots of UK troops are on their soil. We invaded them. But how do we pay for such a war? We are already at war with Iraq, Afghanistan and now Libya and the common link is not oil but gold. The financial backers of NATO will now share out the plunder – all 144 tons of Gold Bullion that has been removed from Libya. I’ll do the maths for you – 144 metric tons is 4629707.476 troy ounces and at todays fix price of £1049.59 per troy ounce, that’s roughly £4,859,294,669 and 74p. Stolen by us, from them. Now I’m not over cynical but I am suspicious by nature. If that amount of gold were to be added to the reserve of the world banking system, then by the current fractional reserve banking policy, it would allow a huge amount of cash to be released into the world’s economies. The US employs a policy of FRB at 10:1 so you figure it out. It goes from Billions of pounds to Trillions. And it would all be outside the world of Quantative Easing! And did you know that the Bank of England has no requirement for such a reserve? Think about it – we have no reserve policy, just fiat money. This is from Wikipedia: United Kingdom The Bank of England holds to a voluntary reserve ratio system, with no minimum reserve requirement set. In theory this means that banks could retain zero reserves, effectively allowing an infinite amount of credit money creation. However, the average cash reserve ratio across the entire United Kingdom banking system is higher, with a 3.1% average as of 1998. So all in all, it’s nothing short of robbery. Daylight Robbery sounds more exact. Piracy may be a more accurate description because of the involvement of troops because when there are troops on the ground and the media are banding around phrases like ‘regime change’, ‘massacre’ and ‘torture’, then you know that something is not quite right. Where is it all going to go? Follow the money... What’s next? My guess is not Syria but Venezuela because President Hugo Chavez has just declared the nationalisation of their precious metals production and has requested that the countries gold reserves are returned to its sovereign territory. Can you guess where their gold is currently held? That’s right, the Bank of England... Call us on 01769 618618 for current prices and availability. Take control of your finances, get out of paper and enter the safe havens of Gold and Silver – the only real money out there. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Youtube for up to date analysis and education. Disclaimer – I am a bullion dealer. I do this for a living. What is written here is for your education and should not be taken as ‘advice’. If you act then take some responsibility for your actions. All and everything that is written by David Peers and/or published by Bleyer LLP is subject to copyright. Thu, 25 Aug 2011 14:19:29 BST http://www.bullion-dealer.co.uk/blog/how-to-buy-and-sell-gold-and-silver-with-bleyer-bullion/ It's a very easy process. Buying gold and silver from the Bleyer Bullion is as easy as 1-2-3, but we have to follow the steps because we have to abide by the law. And, neither of us wants to be out of pocket so we have a strict but fair system. I’ll talk you through it and I’ll explain why it works that way as we go along. Mon, 22 Aug 2011 12:45:58 BST http://www.bullion-dealer.co.uk/blog/seven-stages-of-collapse/ Every Empire lives through seven economic stages, and then it falls. It is as predictable as the cycle of days of the week or that the moon follows the sun. Dmitry Orlov mapped the fall of the USSR and found that it applies to any and all. Mon, 22 Aug 2011 12:41:20 BST http://www.bullion-dealer.co.uk/blog/gold-and-the-greek-economy/ Well its finally gone mainstream. What we Goldbugs have known for years is finally being touted as 'news' by the media. The first to break the news was the Daily Mail and you can read it here. Written by Lord William Rees-Mogg, who at one time was the editor of The Times, it expresses the problems of fiat currency, Greece, unservicable debts and what you can do to side step this oncoming financial storm. It is only a matter of time before it becomes a headline at the BBC. And if you saw it there first then you were the last to know. It is never too late to buy gold. Only when the fat lady sings, when it really is all over is it going to be too late. Maybe. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-2008068/WILLIAM-REES-MOGG-The-Greeks-buying-gold--you.html is where you can find the article and it is one of those that you might want to print out to show to those 'non-believers'. You know who they are... If you still don't want to buy gold, if you still question your own views on bullion then maybe you’ll believe me. I trade gold and silver for a living and so far, so good. If you don’t believe me then maybe William is your boy. Or maybe Winston Churchill who once said “when you’re dying of thirst, it’s too late to think about digging a well”. Gold. When is now going to be a good time to start, or is it always going to be too late? Timely investing to you all David Peers Partner Disclaimer – I am a bullion dealer. I do this for a living. What is written here is for your education and should not be taken as ‘advice’. If you act then take some responsibility for your actions. All and everything that is written by David Peers and/or published by Bleyer LLP is subject to copyright. Mon, 22 Aug 2011 12:38:51 BST http://www.bullion-dealer.co.uk/blog/gold-and-silver-backwardation/ Gold & Silver Backwardation Owning Physical Gold & Silver – not paper futures or ETF’s The questions are sometimes raised ‘Why buy physical gold when it is cheaper to buy a derivative?’ and ‘Does the price of a Gold Future give a true indication of future price action?’ The challenge that faces the financial markets is the inability to service it’s contracts – it’s inability to settle – and that is ‘backwardation’. Forward Happily we are finding more people who have now turned on to the value of investing in precious metals. Not all of them are aware of the difference between owning paper investments against physical metal (which you would either store yourself, or pay someone else to store for you.) If your precious metal investments are in paper – futures, options and ETFs - then you may be interested to learn about ‘Backwardation’, which illustrates why this form of investment may not be as safe as you think. Paper based commodities are heavily leveraged at a ratio of at least 100 to 1, which means that each ounce of real metal has been sold in its paper version at least 100 times over. This will cause a very major problem if too many people wanted to take delivery of what they think they own. For example, let’s look at silver. Silver has risen near 230% over the last 5 years and there is an incredible demand for physical silver. Now there are over one billion ounces of ‘silver’ traded in its paper version a year – that’s ‘silver’ being traded in futures or ETF’s. Yet there are only around 900 million ounces of physical silver produced a year, and the lions share (89%) of that goes straight into industry. So most of the physical silver mined is not even available to you or I if we desired to invest in it. Yet if everyone wanted to take delivery of the silver they owned on paper, by asking for delivery of the physical silver of that paper, there would be a massive, unimaginable short fall. The majority of customers (90%) would be left with absolutely nothing for their money. This is the first, very large, reason to take actual possession of physical precious metals now while you still can. The second reason to own physical is this: When the precious metal market sees this problem approaching, something unusual happens. The market goes into something called ‘Backwardation’. This means that the price of buying gold or silver in the ‘futures’ (paper) market becomes less than the price it would cost you today. At first glance, this looks like it is therefore cheaper to buy a ‘future’ in a metal than to ‘buy it today’. But let’s look again. Backwardation – the price going backwards in the future – is a sign of a shift in thinking into a ‘warning’ mode. Backwardation is a sign of a growing belief that there will be no guarantee of getting hold of physical gold or silver in the future, so it is better to take it in the physical now! In a food crisis, a parallel would be the offer by a store to “Buy a loaf of bread today at £5 and take it away now, or buy a loaf of bread today at £3 but don’t take it home until next week”. If getting hold of bread was becoming more and more difficult, you would take the bread now, because you understand the cheaper price for next week is cheaper precisely because there may be no bread! Effectively, buying into paper Gold & Silver becomes a gamble on whether there will ever actually be any delivery. So, now it is clear why the price of a Gold or Silver future does not, during a market in Backwardation, give a true indication of future price action. In fact, during Backwardation, it would give the opposite indication. The lower the price of a future, the more physical gold and silver becomes in demand, therefore the higher the price of physical gold and silver compared with a future. There may even come a time when physical gold and silver is passing hands at extremely different prices to paper gold and silver, precisely because to possess physical would be far and away more valuable than owning paper funds in gold and silver. One is real, one is an illusion and the market knows it, so begins to split into two different markets. Gold and Silver are both now in Backwardation. Normally, the precious metals market sits in the exact reverse trend ie: it would cost you more to buy in the future than today. This is because in a normal state of affairs, everyone is happy, life is a dance and all are assuming there will always be a physically available future supply of Gold and Silver on the market. Not surprisingly, this normal trend is called an equally happy term – ‘Contango.’ Life is good, so let’s dance. But by now it is now extremely obvious that this is no longer the case. Petrol and food prices, food production shortages, water shortages, economic crises in the eurozone and dollar are all signs that fiat currencies have definitely stopped dancing. Not surprisingly, Gold and Silver (the real money) quietly went into the Backwardation trend in early 2009, shortly after the credit crunch in the mortgage market began seeping into global economies in late 2008. These two reasons – 100 to 1 leverage in paper metals over physical together with Backwardation – are the two main reasons to own physical Gold and Silver and to take physical possession of it now. Disclaimer: Bullion Dealer & Bleyer Bullion & all who are employed by them are bullion dealers. All articles & blogs written are for education only and should not be taken as ‘advice’. All clients buying gold & silver must do so on their own imitative & responsibility. All & everything written, or produced in auditory form, by David Peers, or any member of the Bullion Dealer & Bleyer Bullion team, is subject to copyright. Mon, 27 Jun 2011 11:10:32 BST http://www.bullion-dealer.co.uk/blog/invisible-contracts-the-armen-condo-letter/ Here at the Bullion Dealer we get so many questions asking us about contracts. How contracts work and what they mean. Well here is the answer to all your problems. It doesn’t matter if you’re buying a house, registering the birth of your child or going to court – you are operating under Contract Law. The challenge we have as ‘investors’ is that we hit the ground running with very little education! In reality, we’re not investors but just simple folk, trying to persevere and retain some of the ‘fruits of our labour’. Financial education is not taught at school anymore. Indeed it would appear that they don’t want us to know! So to get above the debt cycle and to break free from the vicious circle of servitude and peonage, the first thing you have to do is get educated. Invisible contracts (commonly known as "the Armen Condo letter" ) by George Mercier is the book that sets everything straight. After reading this book you should have a clear understanding not only on what contracts are but how they work. Read this book. It is brilliantly written, it is true and correct. OK, there is a religious bit in the middle that isn’t to everyone’s tastes but it does show how the law was formed and why it stands. I’ve tried reading this on a kindle but I find it is the type of book you have to read with the text in one hand and a pencil in the other. You might want a highlighter too! Only by being educated can you move forwards. It is perfectionism that causes motion. The more errors, the more friction. Copyright. As far as I know this is not subject to any form of copyright. It is freely available on the internet – in the public domain. Therefore I consider that it is not restricted by any form of copyright. However, if the owner of the copyright has an issue with this then please contact me, showing proof, and I will attend to matters arising. Get educated! David Peers Partner Disclaimer – I am a bullion dealer. I do this for a living. What is written here is for your education and should not be taken as ‘advice’. If you act then take some responsibility for your actions. All and everything that is written by David Peers and/or published by Bleyer LLP is subject to copyright. Fri, 24 Jun 2011 11:59:01 BST http://www.bullion-dealer.co.uk/blog/gata-gold-rush-2011/ Now here’s a bit of news. The gold anti trust action committee – or GATA, as they are known – are holding a conference at the Savoy Hotel in London on the 4th, 5th and 6th of August. This is a big deal and you should be there. There is a long list of speakers, much knowledge to be gleaned and if you’re a gold bug (or even a wannabe) then you should not miss this golden opportunity to attend. As a bullion dealer and investor I shall be there. Perhaps this is a great opportunity for us to meet up! To register for attendance then email with this link or go to their website for further details. Educated investing to you all David Peers Partner Point to note – I am a bullion dealer. I do this for a living. What is written here is for your education and should not be taken as ‘advice’. If you act then take some responsibility for your actions. Fri, 17 Jun 2011 14:50:31 BST http://www.bullion-dealer.co.uk/blog/so-which-is-the-cheapest-way-of-buying-gold/ Good question and the answer, as you've probably already gathered, is not a short one. If you take the price of gold as 'fixed', then the 'variable' cost is in its manufacture and lets get one thing straight. 'Cheap' gold does o't exist. Gold is gold and if someone is offering it to you 'cheap' then caveat emptor applies - buyer beware! So, cast ingots of gold are the cheapest way of buying gold – they are cheaper to make because there are fewer processes in their manufacture. Basically, the gold is refined, melted and poured into moulds. Then they are checked, packed and sold. That’s putting it simply but as an investor, it’s all you need to know! After that comes plates. Plates are made by pressing the gold out into a sheet and then cutting out the shapes, a bit like making biscuits. Each plate is individually made and it has to be exact to 3 decimal places in size, weight and purity. That's why it's 99.999% pure, it is a very accurate measure and the process is called 'assaying'. Obviously the plates take more to make (remember the variable costs) so the cost of making them is higher than that of an ingot. This processing cost is the same whether it's a 50g or a 500g plate. So even though the cost of the gold remains the same and the processing cost is the same, the processing cost as a percentage of the gold value increases. Does that make sense? A 1kg ingot will typically be cheaper than a 1kg plate, but not by much. Coins are a world unto themselves. They are valued by their scrap value, where they came from and their collectable value. Most countries issue coins that weigh 1 troy ounce so the pricing is easy to compare. Canada makes 'Maples', England has 'Britannias', South Africa makes 'Krugerrands'. All of these are trusted as a 'known good' but would you have the same amount of trust in a Mexican Pesos as you would in a Britannia? Would you want to hold a Russion Chervonetz, an American Eagle or would you rather have a Swiss Helvetia? The choice is yours! Personally, if I owned coins, then they would have to be readably accepted by a dealer and desirable. Coins are always more expensive to buy too but typically, you will recover this premium when you sell them on, depending upon who you sell it to. Some coins are also exempt from Capital Gains Tax (any coin issued in the UK which is treated as coin of the realm should be exempt from CGT) and are Income Tax and Inheritance Tax efficient – they can even be treated as Chattels, but you should consult your accountant on this matter - we don't give tax advice. We’re bullion dealers. Next comes jewellery and fancy goods. These are the most expensive because the processing – how they are made – is even greater. Unless the piece of jewellery you are looking at is truly exceptional and has a collectable value you can hardly consider it to be an investment. Sentimental value has no cash equivalent. Just because a piece of jewellery has a picture of your great grandfather stamped on it doesn't become any more valuable. Scrap is scrap, cash is cash. So which one should you buy? Please bear in mind that I am a bullion dealer and not a financial advisor so take this as education and not advice. If you just want to buy gold then 1kg ingots are probably your best bet. They offer the easiest and cheapest way to buy gold. The processing/manufacturing costs are the lowest – you get more gold for your money. They are readily available for purchase and can be easily sold on – liquidated. We should be discussing entry and exit strategies here, but that’s detail for another post. If your entry strategy is to buy as much as possible for as little as possible then 1kg ingots still make sense. However, if your exit strategy is to have a steady stream of £1,000 'chunks' then maybe ingots aren't for you. Maybe you should be looking at the smaller sized plates or coins instead. Ingots typically come in 1kg. Plates start at 1kg and go down to as little as 2.5g. Price wise, there is about 2% variance between small plates and 1kg ingots but again, you have to consider your exit strategy. You may also be interested in Platinum and Palladium. Both start at 1 troy ounce, go to 1kg and are only available as plates. The PGM’s are subject to VAT but there is an industrial demand so long term it should be OK. Worth a look. Either way, no bank fees to worry about, no financial advisor you have to pay for, no surety to concern you and no usury. My kind of business. If you want to know more about gold, silver or any other precious metal then trawl this site or call the office on 01769 579287. Efficient investing to you all David Peers Partner Point to note – I am a bullion dealer. I do this for a living. What is written here is for your education and should not be taken as ‘advice’. If you act then take some responsibility for your actions. Mon, 13 Jun 2011 16:08:48 BST http://www.bullion-dealer.co.uk/blog/quantative-easing-made-easy/ Quantative easing – or QE, as it is known – is a monetary policy tactic used by Governments and central banks to stimulate the economy. It’s a way of creating and pumping money into a failing economy. Why? So that banks and credit companies can continue to lend money to you, the consumer. There’s only so many houses to buy but the amount of cash is increasing so in simpler terms, when QE takes place the value of our money is diluted and gradually, it becomes worthless. We all know that our economy is flagging – it’s becoming stagnant. So QE is all about propping up a dead horse. QE1 happened in England in the spring of 2009 and you heard about it because it was in the news. QE2, the second round of borrowing, may have passed you by but it happened in the winter of 2010. And just so you don’t miss the next round, QE3, I can give you the provisional start date – 2nd August, 2011. And you read it here first. If you want to get technical, the Bank of England creates the cash and buys Government bonds with it. It’s a loan agreement, with interest and the bond is given as surety. The Government gets the money but then has to buy back the bond at a certain date at a certain price. So the Bank of England creates some money and lends it to the government at interest. The government then gives that cash to other banks to bail them out at no interest. This is not a good deal for the Governement. It’s not a good deal for you either because you are the surety for the debt – yes you, dear reader, are liable. How can I be so sure about the 2nd of August? Well it’s all to do with the amount of debt that the USA is carrying and the fact that they’ve maxed out their credit cards. Their parliament – Congress – passed a bill saying that the USA could not borrow over and above a certain limit and unfortunately that ceiling, or ‘cap’, was hit on May 16th, 2011. The figure? 14.294 trillion US dollars. That’s $14,293,975,000,000 in old money. And their borrowing agreement and ‘cap’ has been raised 74 times since 1962. The first borrowing agreement/contract was in 1917 for a measly 11.5 million dollars. Dig, dig, dig... The challenge the US faces is that one of two things has to happen. Either (i) Congress agrees to borrow more money (when you find yourself in a hole...) or (ii) America will default on its loan repayments. But why does this bother us here in England? The old rule of “when America sneezes England catches a cold” applies because you are now part of a globalised economy. What bothers them, bothers us and you are part of the ‘us’ group. So, either a) the USA can reduce spending or b) they can increase borrowing or c) they can acknowledge their situation and default. Either way, the tipping point happens on the 2nd of August, 2011. And as our economies are so closely linked, our taxes will increase (fuel, tobacco, alcohol etc) and spending will decrease too. In case you didn’t notice, on 26th May 2010, The Scotsman published an article quoting the Prime Minister stating we have "...an economy that's nearly bankrupt, a society that's broken and a political system that is bust". Quick question. What happens if you don’t keep up the payments on your house, car, TV or anything else that you’ve got on credit? Answer – it gets repossessed by those who you owe the money to because they own it, not you. Well exactly the same is going to happen to the good old US of A. Is it really that bad? That the US has to borrow money to pay the repayments on the existing debt? They’re borrowing to pay a debt? Yep, it’s that bad and if you don’t believe me then read this on the BBC website or this on the Daily Telegraph website. There is actually a website dedicated to the amount of US debt! Moody’s, the credit rating agency has said that as average spending (minus interest) outpaces the US income by about $118 billion a month and as it won’t be able to pay all the country's bills, the USA will lose their AAA credit rating. And that’s when the dominoes start to fall. So how can you defend yourself from the fall out and how could you possibly profit from this situation? By taking yourself out of the loop – it really is that simple. Intelligent investing David Peers Partner Point to note – I am a bullion dealer. I do this for a living. What is written here is for your education and should not be taken as ‘advice’. If you act then take some responsibility for your actions. The Daily Telegraph The BBC http://www.usdebtclock.org The Scotsman Wed, 08 Jun 2011 12:28:00 BST http://www.bullion-dealer.co.uk/blog/theres-only-one-reason-you-need-to-own-gold/ And it’s called National Debt. If you come from my generation then the National Debt is something left over ‘from the war’ and that it bothered your parents. Well i’ve got news for you and it’s all bad – the National Debt is still here and it’s bigger than ever! How big? I’ll tell you later... Every corporation, be it a company or a country needs to have the ability to borrow. It helps with cashflow because it balances the ‘cash in – cash out’ problem. Its the same as being overdrawn at the bank but it’s organised and managed. Used correctly its no bad thing. The problem comes when you can’t afford your borrowings and this is what has happened to Greece. Their problem is horrific because the money was borrowed with no intention of paying it back and now they can’t even afford the interest payments. Greece is goosed. So how much has England borrowed and what is the situation? Well the latest information from the Office of National Statistics states that “Public sector net debt (excluding financial interventions) was £910.1 billion (equivalent to 60.1 per cent of GDP) at the end of April 2011. This compares to £765.5 billion (53.0 per cent of GDP) as at the end of April 2010”. Now three things come from this. 1. 910.1 BILLION! Holy cow! That’s a lot of money! I shall write it for you because its a lot of noughts. £910,100,000,000. It doesn’t make it any nicer, does it? 2. It’s gone up by £144.6 billion – that’s 7.1% in one year. 3. We, as a country, have borrowed 60.1% of our GDP. Can I quickly explain the term “Gross Domestic Product”? Put simply, it means everything that went through the till – what we turned over. But that’s not a true picture because it includes what we spent as consumers so all those imported goods that you buy get counted to make our GDP. So it’s not what we’ve made and exported as a country but what we’ve spent. What went through the till. But that’s not why you should buy gold because if you read further and add the financial interventions then it says “The unadjusted measure of public sector net debt expressed as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP), was 148.9 per cent at the end of April 2011 compared with 150.9 per cent at end of April 2010. Net debt was £2252.9 billion at the end of April compared with £2180.0 billion a year earlier”. What comes out of this? Five things. 1. Unadjusted. Unadjusted? Do you mean “before we massaged the figures” or “the real figure”? Which one or both? 2. What is a “Financial Intervention“? It’s where the government bails out a corporation. 3. £2252.9 billion! No dramatics this time, it looks like this. £2,252,900,000,000. 4. It’s gone up by £73,000,000,000 in one year 5. The financial element equates to £1,342,800,000,000 6. We, as a country, have borrowed 148.9% of our GDP. Has the penny dropped yet? An old boy said to me once “when you find yourself in a hole, stop digging”. At 148.9% I can liken our economy to a boat that has 10 holes but we’ve only got 9 plugs. Taking a bung out of one hole to plug another is pointless because we’re sinking either way. Our economy is sinking because like Greece’s, we’re goosed. Can I ask you, would you lend us any money? Of course you wouldn’t – you can’t pay back what we’ve borrowed as it is. “What’s with the ‘we’?” I hear you ask, “it’s not my debt”. Well who do you think the debt belongs to? In more accurate parlance, who is liable? That’s where you come in. Your government (you voted, not me!) has borrowed this money on your behalf and used you as surety. Oh, you thought Cameron and Clegg were going to pick up the bill, didn’t you! Sorry, but no, they’re just the administrators – the bill has got your name on it. Gordon Brown then? Nope. You are the surety because you are a citizen. The debt is yours. So here’s your choice. Either work until you drop, paying off this debt that you’ve been saddled with or take some responsibility, get some independence and look after your own wealth. It’s easy to do and it starts with one small coin. Check out the other blogs for more education and if you want to do the right thing for your family, reclaim responsibility and garner your own wealth. A brighter future for your investing David Peers Partner Point to note – I am a bullion dealer. I do this for a living. What is written here is for your education and should not be taken as ‘advice’. If you act then take some responsibility for your actions. http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?id=206 http://www.savingadvice.com/forums/general-discussion/26108-ever-done-personal-financial-intervention.html http://dictionary.law.com/Default.aspx?typed=surety&type=1 Sat, 04 Jun 2011 08:43:35 BST http://www.bullion-dealer.co.uk/blog/are-gold-coins-the-perfect-tax-free-investment/ There is so much choice in the world of bullion and some is more tax efficient than others. Today we’ll discuss the tax side of bullion ownership – the gains and how to make them are for another post. All investment metal comes as either ingots, bars and plates or Coins and rounds. And I am not interested in ‘paper’ metal – ETF’s and the like – because they are financial contracts based upon the price of the underlying commodity. They are not gold, they are contracts. The differences between ingots and coins are discussed in another blog so let’s look at the tax advantages of coins. Bullion – or investment grade precious metal, as it is otherwise known – only provides gains. Capital Gains are what we’re talking about and that’s the tax you’ll be liable for upon their liquidation - CGT. Bullion coins don’t provide any income (you have to buy and sell them for that), they don’t send you an annual statement and there is no-one to call to see how your portfolio is doing. Bullion requires a little responsibility on your part which is great because when it comes to profits, it’s all yours. And if you play your cards right, there are some tax advantages available and this is where you really start making a healthy profit. As we’re in the UK, the good news is that any coin that fulfils the requirements of ‘Legal Tender’ is exempt from Capital Gains Tax because it is ‘currency’. More of that later. So what’s the CGT rate? • 18 per cent and 28 per cent tax rates for individuals (the tax rate you use depends on the total amount of your taxable income, so you need to work this out first ) • 28 per cent for trustees or for personal representatives of someone who has died • 10 per cent for gains qualifying for Entrepreneurs' Relief And that’s straight from the HMRC website. So investing in legal tender can save you 28% straight away! It gets better – there’s no VAT! It’s a gold coin and treated a currency so neither VAT or CGT apply! So what coins should you be looking to buy? What coins are ‘currency’? In the UK, the coins you should consider are Gold Sovereigns and Gold Britannias. You pay a premium to buy them because of their manufacture and tax advantages but you should be able to reclaim that premium when you sell them. The other advantage to these coins is that they are an ideal way to store wealth, they are portable and can be gifted with incredible ease which also makes them Inheritance friendly too! It raises the question “why would anyone store their wealth in a bank”? It’s a good question! Using Gold Britannias makes much more sense. So what about the other coins? Coins like Krugerrands, Eagles and Pandas? Well, their round and made of gold but they are currency from another country so their tax situation exists in South Africa, America and China – not here in the UK. Here they take the legal position of ‘token’ – think Stanley Matthews’ head on a round disc and it’s about the same thing. Just because it’s round and shiny a coin it does not make. On these shores (on-shore) these tokens are seen by the taxman as pretty lumps of gold. They’re taxed as bullion and that means CGT. Off-shore is a different matter completely. But i’ve got some good news for you and if your accountant doesn’t know this then get a new one – trade him in. Are you ready for this? Coins such as Krugerrands can be considered as ‘chattels’. Chattel – noun 1. Law. A movable article of personal property. 2. Any article of tangible property other than land, buildings, and other things annexed to land. 3. A slave. So a ‘chattel’ is a piece of property which is tangible and portable. The benefit to you is that any profit you make from liquidating your ‘chattel’ is exempt from CGT as long as you don’t sell it for more than £6,000. Brilliant! And it gets better because if you did sell it for more, you can claim a reduced scale chattels exemption! As I say – talk to you accountant and if they don’t know this stuff then get a new one. Keep all this within your CGT allowances and you can make - and keep - a lot more profit. Happy, tax free investing to you all David Peers Partner Point to note – I am a bullion dealer. I do this for a living. What is written here is for your education and should not be taken as ‘advice’. If you act then take some responsibility for your actions. http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/rates/cgt.htm#2 http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/chattel Wed, 01 Jun 2011 14:03:00 BST http://www.bullion-dealer.co.uk/blog/the-dental-showcase-2011-at-the-nec/ This October we shall be exhibiting at the Dental Showcase – it’s where all you dentists go to keep up to date with all that’s happening in the world of teeth and gums. October the 20th to the 22nd to be exact at the NEC in Birmingham. It’s a great opportunity for all you dentists to meet up with us and actually get your teeth into bullion! We exhibited at the Dentistry Show earlier this year and it was so good we decided to do it again. So this is where you can find out how bullion products such as gold and silver can be used to protect your wealth. If employed the right way they can make you wealthier too! Just like the teeth and gums, if you neglect your wealth then it gets sick. Most of your customers expect you to keep their teeth in good condition – am I right? They don’t floss, they brush once a day if you’re lucky and then they come to see you – correct? And don’t even mention those fizzy drinks or the sweets and sugars! Yet as a dentist you know that those teeth are their responsibility and that nobody is going to look after their teeth like they should. Well your wealth works exactly the same way – you’ve got to take some responsibility and it’s so easy to do. There’s an old Chinese proverb “all things at first appear difficult” and I can assure you that if I can make money with precious metals then so can you. And you should consider your business, your estate and your wealth this way because these preventative measures will keep your health wealthy. Why not find out more? Let’s face it, what’s the point in working just to give it all away? Life is expensive enough what with petrol going up, the wages for the staff, the rent on the premises and all the other bills we get given. So why not ‘do your work’ and skim some of the cream off the top? You can actually save the profits of your business for yourself in a very tax efficient way – and we can show you how. Ask and thou shalt receive... The challenge that investors face – whether you’re aware of it or not – is that you can only talk to a bullion dealer about bullion. The problem lies with the FSA and it’s restrictions. Search the blogs for “why you can’t talk to your financial advisor” and then come and see us at the show. Invest wisely David Peers Partner Tue, 31 May 2011 15:23:40 BST