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An update in Chinese gold demand and sentiment for gold here in the west

April 23, 2014

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Tim joins me to chat about the decrease in demand for gold in China this month as well as the recent upgrade of gold by two Goldman Sachs analysts.

Discussion
25 Comments
    Apr 23, 2014 23:18 PM

    All that matters is NOW. And demand is falling.

    Maybe those Chinese citizens are rethinking what their government told them to do.

    they were told to buy gold, so they bought gold, now gold is crashing and they are losing their life savings.

    As usual government betrayed their citizens

      Apr 23, 2014 23:32 PM

      You don’t know Chinese at all. I am from China. People always go against what government says. The behavior is polar opposite of Americans. Please don’t make your judgement based on your experience here. People do understand what is going on. I went to China last year. The gold buying was good at reputable stores. In Beijing Cai Bai store, which has 4 story for precious metals, I could not get in front of the jewelry section. However, I feel a lot of buying comes from central government.

      Can you give me the fundamental reasons why gold will go down while every governments around world are printing money. Also how do you explain the gold rising from $35 to 1300. Is it by chance? Just FYI, if a guy in China bought gold 10 -20 years ago, the value will be up 4 times in RMB term. Do you feel they lost anything? Only thing better to buy is house but most poeple don’t buy it since they either can get cheat ones from work or cannot afford it. There is no 110% mortgage there.

        har
        Apr 23, 2014 23:19 PM

        If they all ways go against why the government tells them then why were they lining up to buy gold?

          Apr 23, 2014 23:23 PM

          Can you give the document that government telling people to buy gold? China always use party leadership documents to pass the order. China opened up gold trade and people started to be able to buy gold since 1980s. People get richer and richer so they can buy more. Who need to tell them? Why do they have to buy jewelry. Why not buy bullion. I saw far more people buying chains than bullions. It is all because people can afford more and more. My parents and sister are still there. I never heard they say government telling them to buy gold.

          You are entitled to your opinion but you should not make up the facts.

            har
            Apr 23, 2014 23:33 PM

            You are clueless. Just a few articles from the last 3 years.

            China Is Encouraging It Citizens To Buy Gold
            China Urges Citizens to Buy Gold and Silver
            China Buying Big Gold and telling its people to buy gold
            China Tells Citizens Buy Gold/ Silver
            China aggressively promoting gold to citizens
            https://www.google.com/search?safe=off&site=&source=hp&q=china+government+telling+people+to+buy+gold&oq=china+government+telling+people+to+buy+gold&gs_l=hp.3…114.7638.0.7902.44.35.0.7.7.0.370.5676.9j11j8j4.32.0….0…1c.1.42.hp..25.19.1960.BT8sqmADhq4

            Apr 23, 2014 23:45 PM

            I am Chinese and I sayed there till I was 25. I know how the country operates. I go there all the time and I have part of my family there. All the articles you referred are published outside of china by people who have no idea how China operates. I never heard my family telling me government telling them to buy gold. On contrary, China at one time run out of gold. If government wants people to buy, why gold run out and why they control the import for gold? Do you know what restriction China has on gold? If I am clueless, how much do you know China. Do you read Chinese and ever went to China?

      Apr 23, 2014 23:03 PM

      After reading this site for 3 years, I conclud that only one who know about China to certain degree is Al himself. Other guests know nothing or very little (no offence). There was a fellow name Valentine (?) who supposed to know China but his view is twisted since he represents an extremist organization called FalunGong, which is a religious organization banned in China and funded by US government.

      har
      Apr 23, 2014 23:17 PM

      I was just in China last month. They want to move the U.S and Canada. They were offering to buy USDs from with a 10% premium.

        Apr 23, 2014 23:24 PM

        A lot of them do. Anything wrong with that?

          har
          Apr 23, 2014 23:37 PM

          The premise of this segment was Chinese want gold. If they want USDs and to move to the U.S. – that seems they would be cheering for the USDs to increase in value which would mean lower gold prices.

            Apr 23, 2014 23:48 PM

            I don’t get your logic. 99% of people have no USD there.

            Apr 23, 2014 23:54 PM

            Actuallly, even till now Chinese government is trying to boost the dollar which makes the dollar stronger than it should be. Hard to believe a country with large trade deficits can sustain strong currency. US has achieved it thanks to the weak yuan policy.

      Apr 24, 2014 24:31 AM

      The Chinese people are not losing their life savings James they just converted it into gold or silver and therefore preserved it. The official currency is not a store of wealth, measure of value or money. Only gold or silver coin or bullion can be these things.
      The Chinese people really have not lost anything by buying gold or silver as long as they own and possess it. Official currencies are not money they are at best a temporarily useful warped yardstick for measuring value and at worst a total fraud during a hyperinflation. Then again there are times like now where the official market price is also a fraud because it does not measure the total economy, money supply or financial assets against real ounces. In this lies a possible chance to make a capital gain in the official currencies which could be used to obtain other assets.
      If that doesn’t work then there is the insurance angle some people talk about.

    Apr 23, 2014 23:19 PM

    This is the final nail in the gold coffin

    Apr 23, 2014 23:28 PM

    you have to put the “decline” into perspective… the Sprott people have a good interview out with Koos Jensen. By his calculation, 2200 tons last year and perhaps 1800 this year. If you average 2000 tons per year and the mines, globally, are producing 2500 tons per year — that puts into perspective how strong the demand in China is.

    This is not a nail in the coffin. This is a gigantic form of support.

    Apr 23, 2014 23:31 PM

    and as a side note — I don’t think that Chinese citizens who buy gold (at the suggestion of their government) are being betrayed.

    We will find out in the long run, whether it is the purchasers of physical gold or US Treasury bonds are the ones who are betrayed.

    Remember that it the Chinese who invented paper money and they have seen it debased out of existence several times. They know what the long term value of gold is.

      Apr 23, 2014 23:42 PM

      Silver has been money in China and gold is treasure for thosands of years. My grand parents saved in silver coins and bracelets. Even now people ask how much silver you spend, which mean how money money you spend. Money and silver is exchangeable. Bank can be directly translated to Silver Bourse (YinHang – silver =Yin ,bourse =hang). When people talk about US dollar, they either say US dollar (Mei Yuan) or US Gold (Mei Jin). They mean the same as well.

    Apr 23, 2014 23:41 PM

    good points Eric

    Apr 23, 2014 23:05 PM

    thank you and hope you are enjoying the Spring. On a side note, I read a post of yours a while back that indicated you are holding quite a stockpile of physical silver — is that right? FWIW, I think you will be a happy camper within the next several years.

    best.

    Apr 23, 2014 23:20 PM

    I have roughly 17k ounces of silver.

    It was a real blast when it was going up, but it’s been a real killer on the way down.

    Live by the sword, die by the sword.

    I hope to see those old highs again!

      Apr 23, 2014 23:28 PM

      Quite a pile James. That’s a half tonne. I am guessing the collection is a big as a large fridge.

    Apr 24, 2014 24:31 AM

    As a Canadian that has spent parts of the last 15 years in Asia it is good to hear Lawrence talk of the mindset beyond North Americans which have only known the Fed Res system of control and destruction.

    Apr 24, 2014 24:04 AM

    And there goes silver. Off as much as 40 cents this morning already and leading gold to the downside as it firmly breaks below January’s lows which should have been major resistance. Hard to feel optimistic about the PM’s when you see that kind of action. Gold should follow the move down but has not yet budged much as we await the morning…..and this is yet Thursday….whats on the agenda for next week?

      Apr 24, 2014 24:00 AM

      Too bad my order for T.HPS.UN (PSLV in AMEX) is not filled this morning. It has been there for a long time. I thought it could get hit this morning. My order has become the support.

    Apr 24, 2014 24:46 AM

    Comex pricing is wonderful,isn’t it?
    Imagine the millions of people that have been wiped off the planet for their masters never-ending greed and destruction?