US Mint Silver Eagle Sales Top 3 Million, Best Ever January
CIGA Eric

US Mint American Silver Eagle sales have already scored their best ever January. Who would have thought? After all, there is still a full week left in the month. On top of that, the bullion coins are rationed, they were unavailable for seven days, and U.S. silver futures tumbled 8.1 percent last week (6.7 percent in London).

Demand is too great at current prices. Price is function of supply and demand in an competitive and free market. Price, however, is not a function of supply and demand in controlled markets. These markets are characterized by shortages and significant differences between the paper (official) and physical (often black market) prices.

Source: coinnews.net

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Oil Analysis
CIGA Eric

The oil service to airlines ratio (top series in the chart) remain at a critical inflection point. The series can either test the power down trendline(PDT) or swing low. Failure of either will portend higher and lower oil prices, respectively. Since COT money flows suggest another downleg on the U.S. dollar is near, probability favors the former.

Oil Service to Airline Ratio (OSXXALR):

Gold remains the choice over oil as long as the trend remains below the historical channel mid point. The real oil price suggests that a break in the mid point trend occurred in 2008. The subtle changes within the trend, most recent 1986 and 1931, reflect economic changes that can last for years.

Oil to Gold Ratio (OILGOLDR):

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Jim,

This cannot be dollar positive.

CIGA BJS

Dear BJS,

Any decline in use is a decline in demand and therefore negative to price.

Regards,
Jim

Latin America to meet on new currency
Sun, 24 Jan 2010 08:40:07 GMT

Latin American presidents have organized a meeting to take a step to ‘break’ their dependence on US dollar in regional financial transactions.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said on Saturday that the leaders would meet Monday in Caracas.

"We’ll have a very important meeting of economy ministers from ALBA (Bolivian Alliance for the peoples of Americas) to further shape an extraordinary project" on a new currency, Chavez said.

The currency, the Sucre, will "break the dependency on the dollar, its economic and financial colonialism," he added.

The Sucre was named after Jose Antonio de Sucre who fought for independence from Spain alongside Venezuelan hero Simon Bolivar in the early 19th century.

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