By Nicholas Larkin and Pham-Duy Nguyen

Nov. 9 (Bloomberg) — Gold futures climbed to a record for the second straight session as the slumping dollar spurred demand for the precious metal as an alternative investment.

The greenback slid to a 15-month low against a basket of six major currencies after the Group of 20 industrial nations maintained economic stimulus measures. Before today, gold climbed 24 percent this year, while the dollar dropped 6.8 percent. Last week, the Federal Reserve held U.S. interest rates at historic lows.

“It looks like gold will carve out new highs until further notice,” said Michael Guido, a director of hedge-fund sales at Macquarie Capital USA Inc. in New York. “The Fed made it quite clear that rates are going nowhere. The dollar is sinking. The bullish holders of gold are adding positions when the market makes a new high.”

Gold futures for December delivery rose $12.40, or 1.1 percent, to $1,108.10 an ounce at 12:15 p.m. on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Earlier, the price reached a record $1,111.70. The metal was up for the sixth straight session, the longest rally since March 2008.

The dollar dropped 0.6 percent last week against the currency basket as the Fed kept its benchmark interest rate at zero percent to 0.25 percent, where it was set in December. Gold is heading for the ninth straight annual gain.

‘All Dollar-Driven’

“You’re getting rotational support into gold,” Guido said. “It’s all dollar-driven.”

Gold probably will top $1,500 within the next 18 months, Bank of America Merrill Lynch said in a report distributed today. It cited moves by some central banks to hedge against declines in currencies including the dollar, euro and yen.

“With G-10 fiat currencies suffering from a credibility problem, a move toward hard assets like gold is likely,” the bank said.

India’s central bank last month bought 200 metric tons of bullion from the International Monetary Fund for $6.7 billion. The country now holds 557.7 tons in its reserves, the 10th- largest stockpile by nation after Russia’s 568.4 tons, according to data from the producer-funded World Gold Council. The IMF agreed in September to sell 403.3 tons of gold as part of a plan to shore up its finances.

“India’s surprise purchase was bullish in two ways: quickly removing half of the IMF’s announced sales, as well as raising the chance that the entire remaining supply could be sold off-market, with China still the most obvious potential purchaser,” Morgan Stanley said today in a report.

Scrap Sales

Scrap sales haven’t increased in tandem with price, said Afshin Nabavi, a senior vice president at bullion refiner MKS Finance SA in Geneva.

“You’d expect at these levels there would be tons and tons, but it’s not the case,” Nabavi said.

Gold’s gains may be limited as some investors sell the metal following last week’s 5.3 percent advance, the most since April.

The 14-day relative strength index for gold futures topped 70, signaling that prices may retreat, some analysts said.

Silver futures for December delivery rose 32 cents, or 1.8 percent, to $17.695 an ounce. Earlier, the price reached $17.78, a two-week high.

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Mon Nov 9, 2009 4:12pm GMT

NEW YORK, Nov 9 (Reuters) – U.S. gold futures rose to a
record high $1,111.70 an ounce Monday as the dollar tumbled on
expectations of continued ample money supply and low U.S.
interest rates after a weekend Group of 20 meeting.

For the latest detailed report, click on [GOL/].

GOLD

* COMEX December gold GCZ9 up $10.30 at $1,106.70 an
ounce at 10:31 a.m. EST (1531 GMT).

* Range spanned $1,096 to all-time high $1,111.70

* Gold up with equities, oil and other commodities as the
dollar index fell 1 percent against major currencies after a
weekend G20 meeting. [USD/]

* Currency and inflation worries boost gold due to monetary
easing and fiscal spending expectations after G20 – Nicholas
Brooks, head of research and investment strategy at ETF
Securities.

* Gold on its own for now but could correct at some point
if the dollar rebounds – Heraeus.

* China should not buy gold from the IMF and should wait
for the price to drop – ex official. [ID:nPEK352010]

* Gold-to-oil ratio down at 13.97 against 14.15 — a late
quote from the previous session.

* COMEX estimated 9 a.m. volume at 65,241 lots.

* Spot gold XAU= at $1,105.45 an ounce, up from $1,096.30
late in the previous session in New York.

* London’s afternoon gold fix XAUFIX= $1,106.75 an

ounce.

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gold

2009-11-08 06:40:00

MUMBAI (Commodity Online): With the Indian central bank Reserve bank of India buying 200 tonnes of IMF gold at $6.7 billion, speculation is rife that the bank must have sold US Treasuries bills to grab the yellow metals.

According to a report appeared in the Economic Times, India’s leading business daily, The RBI may have sold US Treasuries to fund its gold purchase from the International Monetary Fund.

This purchase suggests that the Indian monetary authorities are seeking to change the composition of their foreign reserve holdings, most likely diversifying away from US Treasury securities, the report said.

The move was prudent as India needed liquid assets as a buffer against sudden, destabilising capital outflows.

The central bank has, however, refrained from disclosing the details of the transaction in its weekly statistical supplement released on Friday.

According to the RBI release, total foreign exchange reserves including gold and SDR (special drawing rights —the reserve currency with IMF) dipped by $1.129 billion to $284.4 billion during the week ended October 30. While foreign currency assets dipped by $1.580 billion, the value of SDR dipped $25 million. The value of gold in reserves rose $484 million to $10.8 billion.

Going by the current composition of reserves comprising various foreign currency assets, SDR, gold and reserves with the IMF, gold which is valued at the month-end bullion prices at the London bullion exchange has for long hovered around $10 billion and roughly accounts for 4% of the total reserves.

Had last week’s purchase been reflected in the latest reserves figures, the value of gold would have gone up by at least 50%. One would also know how the central bank has funded this purchase. According to an RBI official, the purchase was out of the foreign currency assets and not SDR, the report said.

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1 hour 19 mins ago

The price of gold hit a record high above 1,100 dollars an ounce in trading here on Friday following a report that Sri Lanka had joined India in purchasing the precious metal in favour of the US currency.

Gold struck a record high of $1,101.42 an ounce Enlarge photo

“The Central Bank of Sri Lanka has announced that it is buying gold to diversify its reserves,” industry body the World Gold Council (WGC) said in a statement issued before gold struck a record high of 1,101.42 dollars.

It later pulled back to stand at 1,092.65 dollars an ounce in late London trading.

Gold had struck a series of highs already this week after the IMF said it had carried out a massive sale of the precious metal to India.

“Over the past year central banks, which have been net sellers of gold are now a new and increasingly important source of demand,” WGC chief executive Aram Shishmanian said in the council’s statement.

“This latest announcement demonstrates that many central banks are reassessing their reserve asset management policies.”

Gold had reached a record high of 1,087.80 dollars on Tuesday as the IMF said it had sold 200 tonnes of gold to India’s central bank over a two-week period last month for 6.7 billion dollars to bolster its finances.

Gold and other commodity prices have surged in recent months amid a move away from the dollar, which has been slumping. The move accelerated last month on a report that Gulf states may stop using the greenback for oil trading.

The metal is also winning support from fears over a possible spike in inflation, as gold is widely regarded by investors as a safe store of value.

The sale to India was nearly half the 403.3 tonnes of gold that the IMF has targeted for sale over the coming years.

The Washington-based IMF, which currently holds 3,217 tonnes of gold, is the third-largest official holder of the precious metal after the United States and Germany.

India is the world’s biggest consumer of gold, importing between 700 and 800 tonnes of the metal every year or 20 percent of global demand.

A senior IMF official said that the IMF was “lucky” in selling the 200 tonnes to India for roughly 1,045 dollars an ounce, compared with 850 dollars an ounce in April 2008.

Gold’s price, which has risen more than 20 percent this year, has a bright future thanks to improving demand caused by the financial crisis, industry experts said this week.

“Although it’s difficult to predict in the short term, the overall picture is very healthy,” Mark Lynam, an executive for AngloGold Ashanti — the world’s third largest gold producer — told the London Bullion Market Association annual conference in Edinburgh.

Plush London department store Harrods last month surprised the retail industry by starting to sell gold bars, with prices fluctuating according to the current market price.

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By Pratima Desai and Veronica Brown

Fri Nov 6, 2009 3:35pm GMT

LONDON (Reuters) – Gold surged to a record high above $1,100 per ounce on Friday as investors pounced on the metal in volatile trade after data showed U.S. employers cut a bigger-than-expected 190,000 jobs in October.

Dealers also said the market continued to find residual support from the prospect of central bank buying of gold to diversify their reserves.

“The market has the bit between their teeth — all these investors have piled into gold in a quasi-physical sense and now they are being supported in that by the actions of Mr Central Bank,” said RBS metals analyst Stephen Briggs.

The precious metal hit a record high at $1,100.90 per ounce earlier, having gained more than 25 percent this year.

By 3:14 p.m., it was bid at $1,097 a troy ounce from $1,089.55 late in New York on Thursday.

The trigger for the surge this week was news that the International Monetary Fund had sold 200 tonnes of gold to the Reserve Bank of India for $6.7 billion (4 billion pounds).

“People are focusing on pent up demand for gold from central banks in emerging markets,” said Michael Lewis, head of commodities research at Deutsche Bank.

“The central bank community for the first time in 20 years is possibly going to be a net buyer of gold having been a net seller since 1988 … Today the market will also focus on the U.S. jobs data and how the dollar reacts.”

WEAK JOBS DATA

Data released earlier showed the U.S. unemployment rate rose to 10.2 percent, the highest in 26-1/2 years, as employers shed 190,000 in nonfarm payrolls in October.

The dollar initially rose as investors were at first risk averse after the numbers, but as U.S. stock market indexes turned positive the greenback fell against the euro and a basket of currencies.

A weaker U.S. dollar makes commodities cheaper for holders of other currencies, while gold is often used by investors as an alternative to the dollar.

Gold rallied $25 on Tuesday, largely driven by India’s purchase of gold from the IMF, which soothed investor nerves about possible oversupply.

“Most central banks outside of the US and Europe have low gold reserve ratios,” Calyon said in a note.

“Those central banks with low reserve ratios and are keen to diversify into gold, notably those located in Asia, will be potential candidates to buy the remainder of the IMF’s 203.3 tonnes of gold in an off-market purchase.”

The high chances of Asian central bank gold purchases were reinforced by Sri Lanka, which said on Thursday it had been buying gold for the last five or six months.

Linked in with this is the dollar, which central banks will sell when they switch to gold from U.S. Treasuries.

However, some think Asian central banks may not hurry to follow India’s lead given current record prices and the availability of cheaper domestically produced gold.

“Indian buying was very significant, but those getting excited about the potential for copy cat moves need to consider a number of factors,” said David Thurtell, analyst at Citi.

“Culturally, India is more favourably disposed to gold than every other country. Second, it might be politically dangerous to be accumulating reserves at the all-time price high.”

The central bank story has offset some selling by investors as seen in the world’s largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, SPDR Gold Trust.

SPDR’s holdings fell 0.055 tonnes to 1,108.344 tonnes on Thursday, marking the first decline since October 30.

Silver was bid at $17.48 from $17.37 late on Thursday, platinum at $1,349 from $1,353.50 and palladium at $329.50 from $328.50.

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Filed at 2:49 p.m. ET

NEW YORK/LONDON (Reuters) – Gold swept to a record high above $1,080 an ounce on Tuesday, defying dollar strength as the International Monetary Fund’s 200 tonne sale of gold to India’s central bank boosted sentiment towards the metal.

The purchase by the Reserve Bank of India underscored gold’s increasing status as an official reserve. Gold’s rally in the face of a stronger dollar also signalled the metal could rise further, dealers said.

Spot gold was at $1,087.25 per ounce at 2:20 p.m. EST (7:20 p.m. British time), up 2.6 percent from $1,059.15 quoted late in New York on Monday. Earlier, gold hit an all-time high of $1,087.45.

U.S. December gold futures settled up $30.90, or 2.9 percent, at $1,084.90 an ounce on the COMEX division of NYMEX.

The IMF said on Monday it had sold 200 tonnes of gold to India for $6.7 billion. The sale lifted some uncertainty from the market by helping soak up potential supply.

“It all generates from the fact that the IMF sold 200 tonnes to the Reserve Bank of India. That is very bullish as it takes 200 tonnes away from the direct market,” said Bill O’Neill, partner at New Jersey-based LOGIC Advisors.

“That shows that future IMF sale will be conducted in a similar manner,” O’Neill said.

The IMF sale, part of an agreement to sell about an eighth of the Fund’s stock, fuelled speculation that other governments — including Beijing — may be ready to diversify their reserves even at near record prices.

Some traders noted that selling pressure was limited during Tuesday’s sudden rally as major dealers were away from the trading desks attending the London Bullion Market Association’s annual conference in Edinburgh.

NEXT STOP, $1,100?

The dollar hit a one-month high against a basket of currencies on Tuesday as investors retreated from risk assets, before paring those gains. The greenback later pared gains.

A strong dollar makes gold and other commodities priced in the U.S. unit less attractive for non-U.S. investors.

Gold’s sharp rally in spite of a dollar rise showed that strong demand will continue support the metal.

“Gold is rallying regardless of currency actions,” said Adam Klopfenstein, senior market strategist at futures broker Lind-Waldock.

Stephen Briggs, commodity strategist at RBS, said gold has clearly broken away from the relationship with the dollar.

“We wouldn’t be surprised to see $1,100. It’s gone up $25 in the space of half an hour, so how can one say?”

U.S. traders also said the gold market was finding support from potential for accelerated producer buybacks in as miners are keen to back gold they had previously sold forward.

Miners Anglogold Ashanti <ANGJ.J> and Barrick gold <ABX.TO> both told Reuters on Monday that closure of their hedgebooks might happen ahead of schedule.

Looking ahead, the U.S. Federal Reserve begins a two-day policy-setting meeting later this session.

While the bank is expected to keep benchmark interest rates unchanged near zero, there is speculation it might alter its pledge to keep rates low for an “extended period.”

Other precious metals rallied in gold’s wake, with silver adding 5.2 percent to $17.28 an ounce, against $16.43 an ounce late on Monday.

Less-liquid silver tends to be more volatile and often outperforms gold in a metals rally.

Platinum rose to $1,356 an ounce compared with $1,334.00, while palladium was at $324.00 against its previous session late quote of $321.50.

(Additional reporting by Michael Taylor and Maytaal Angel in London)

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IMF sells India 200 tonnes of Gold for $6.7bn
	Published: 2009/11/03 01:08:49 PM

The International Monetary Fund has sold 200 tonnes of gold to the Reserve Bank of India for $6.7 billion, quietly executing half of a long-planned bullion sale that has threatened to slow gold’s ascent.

The deal, which surprised traders who expected China to be the most likely buyer, will relieve the gold market of some uncertainty over how and when the IMF would sell 403.3 tonnes of gold, about one-eighth of its total stock. The deal will increase India’s gold holdings to the tenth largest among central banks.

It also fuelled speculation that other governments — including Beijing — may be ready to diversify their reserves even at near-record gold prices, helping soak up IMF supply that the fund may otherwise be forced to sell on the open market.

“Central banks in India and China will be happy to accumulate gold at these levels. I will not be surprised to see even some Southeast Asian banks buying gold,” Aaron Smith, Asia head of the $1,65 billion technical trading fund Superfund, told Reuters.

For graphics on the world’s top gold reserve holders:

Spot gold prices earlier rose by nearly one%, but later reversed those gains to trade little changed at around

$1058 an ounce on Tuesday, within striking distance of last month’s $1070,40 record despite a rallying dollar. Traders said the IMF news could add to the market’s upward momentum.

“Its potentially bullish from several points of view,” said Commerzbank analyst Eugen Weinberg. “Gold was kept off the market and sold directly to cental banks so potential sales on market are limited by this.”

“Secondly, it showed large buyers are ready to accept the current price levels. Thirdly, the central banks are increasing their gold reserves. Last but not least the central bank gold agreement sales of 400 tonnes … is half empty already.”

The Reserve Bank of India said the purchase was an official sector off-market transaction and was executed during Oct.

19-30 at market-based prices.

An IMF official said the sale was concluded at an average price of about $1045 an ounce and that the transaction would be paid in hard currency and not in IMF Special Drawing Rights.

SURPRISE BUYER

Although the IMF’s plan to sell a share of its gold holdings in order to increase low-cost lending to poor countries had been flagged for a year before it was formally approved in September, the speed, scale and identity of the buyer were a surprise.

“It was always thought that some of it would be sold off market but it was a bit of a surprise that as much as 200 tonnes had been sold off market,” said Simon Weeks, director of precious metal sales at Bank of Nova Scotia.

Although India is the world’s biggest consumer of gold, primarily in the form of jewellery and investment among its billion-plus people, its central bank had given few signs of seeking to diversify its reserves pool into bullion.

The proportion of gold as part of its total foreign reserves has fallen from over 20% in 1994 to just under 4%.

India’s foreign exchange reserves held at the central bank totalled $285,5 billion on Oct. 23, of which gold comprised just over $10 billion. The latest purchase will lift its share of gold holdings from near 4% to about 6%, much less than most of the developed world but four times China’s share.

The RBI does not officially talk about its diversification strategy. On Tuesday, the RBI said the purchase of IMF’s gold was done as part of its foreign exchange reserve management.

For a graphic on the share of gold in central bank reserves:

http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/119/GLD—RSVS1109.gif

But there may also be a geopolitical motive behind the deal: India, like China, is also seeking closer ties with the IMF to assert its authority on the global economic stage.

“This transaction is an important step toward achieving the objectives of the IMF’s limited gold sales program, which are to help put the fund’s finances on a sound long-term footing and enable us to step up much-needed concessional lending to the poorest countries,” the IMF’s managing director, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, said in a statement on Monday.

NO MARKET DISRUPTION

A senior IMF official, speaking on condition of anonymity, declined to say whether other central banks have expressed interest in buying the remaining gold for sale.

He said if no other central banks came forward, the IMF would proceed as planned to sell the gold in the market, but reiterated that the fund would publicize its intentions before doing so to avoid disrupting the market.

Still, the threat of further open-market sales remains a source of concern for gold traders, mindful of the five-year pact among European central banks to sell down a maximum 400 tonnes a year of their holdings, an agreement that was renewed in August and includes the IMF volume.

The market’s focus has now shifted to China, which has reportedly been in talks with the IMF about buying some of the fund’s bullion as Beijing seeks to shift some of its more than

$2 trillion in foreign exchange reserves away from the US dollar.

“Now people may think China will buy the other half,” said Ronald Leung, director of Lee Cheong Gold Dealers in Hong Kong.

Already the world’s top producer of gold and rivalling India as a consumer, China revealed this year that it had quietly lifted its own government holdings of gold stocks to 1054 tonnes from 600 tonnes when it last reported its holdings in 2003.

It is the first time since 2000 that the IMF has sold gold to a central bank. Between December 1999 and April 2000 in separate transactions, the IMF sold a total of 12,9 million ounces of gold to member countries Brazil and Mexico.

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Dennis Gartman, Editor, The Gartman Letter

Bloomberg Television Interview

October 30, 2009

Bloomberg: We know you’re a reluctant gold bull.  Do you have gold bars in your basement?

Gartman: I have some coins and we’ll let it go at that.  Yeah, I actually have a little gold bullion.  I think everybody should have a little bit just in case.  But do I like that?  No.  Do I like being bullish of gold?  And I am bullish.  I have been long of the gold market for a long time in dollar terms, in euro terms, in British pound sterling terms.  But am I happy when I’m bullish of gold?  No, because its really not a bet on all things great.  It’s a bet on inflation.  It’s a bet on monetary policy going awry  It’s a bet on the things that John [earlier interview] was just saying that my old friend Paul Tudor Jones owns gold for.  Because one, it’s its time and as Einhorn [David Einhorn, manager of hedge fund Greenlight Capital which holds physical gold] says, it’s a monetary circumstance.

Bloomberg: How much farther does the dollar have to go, because you can’t talk about gold without talking about the dollar?

Gartman: Well actually, you can talk about gold going up in terms of other currencies and that’s what’s important.   Great bull markets in gold are not just predicated in dollar weakness.  Great bull markets in gold are predicated in monetary policies going awry everywhere.   Gold has become, for all intents and purposes, the second or third reservable asset, and I think that’s what’s taking it higher. Obviously people that think gold goes up when the dollar gets weak, and it does indeed go up in dollar terms.  But if you looked at a chart of gold in sterling terms, if you looked at a chart of gold in euro terms, they would look very similar to a chart of gold in dollar terms.  Gold’s going up in all terms.

Bloomberg: Can we see $1,300 oz by March?

Gartman: By March?  I guess you can.  I like to say that the trend is moving from the lower left to the upper right.  We’ll go higher.  I think we’ll be higher a month from now than we are now. I think we’ll be higher six months from now than we will be a month from now, but if you say will it get to a price by a certain time and if you miss either one, people come back and call you a fool.  So having been in this business for 35 years, I’ll simply say that [you should] take a look at the chart you have in front of you now.  It’s moving from the lower left to the upper right.  It’ll probably continue to do that.

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SeekingAlpha.com
October 30, 2009

In his latest letter to investors, hedge fund manager and legendary trader Paul Tudor Jones outlines his firm’s thoughts on the topics of equities, bonds, and currencies. Tudor’s letter is one of those ‘must reads’ as his macro sense is phenomenal and he is one of the greatest traders of all time (performance returns summary here). What’s interesting about his latest letter is the fact that they included a special section addressing the all too talked about precious metal.

Gold

The macro perspective section of their letter notes how gold is not consumed but rather accumulated as a store of value as it has been a ‘medium of exchange for over 5,000 years.’ What’s interesting is that they plot out inflation-adjusted gold prices and note that we are still far off from the highs seen over 2 decades ago. Tudor puts the inflation-adjusted peak price of gold to be between $1,600-$2,400, with the previous high coming in at $2,422. While Tudor says he has never been a gold bug, he says all assets have a time and a place. And conveniently enough, he says now is gold’s time. Tudor joins an army of other prominent hedge fund managers bullish on the precious metal including David Einhorn of Greenlight Capital who has gone as far as storing physical gold. Additionally, John Paulson of Paulson & Co has $4 billion in gold investments, among many other managers.

Tudor’s econometric model has determined that gold is 20% undervalued over the next 24 months. This takes into consideration real rates on the price of gold, inflation, and M2 growth. Tudor expects the velocity of money to rise over the next two years, enhancing the bullish case for gold. Additionally, they also cite the supply/demand equation and prudently bring up the fact that a new class of investors has arrived: retail investors gaining access to the metal through exchange traded funds (most notably GLD). Tudor then presented these amazing facts: “The trailing 12-month ETF accumulation has “bought” the equivalent of 25% of new mine production consistently since the beginning of the year. By year-end 2009, the total ETF gold position will hold 3% of global available supplies, making ETFs the sixth largest holder of gold in the world.” Tudor expects inflows into these vehicles to continue, furthering the case for a position. Lastly, Tudor highlights another important factor in the gold equation: central banks. He notes that in the second half of this year, the ‘official sector will become a net buyer of gold.’ We also yesterday posted up an excellent technical analysis video on gold which concurs that gold is in a long-term uptrend. The video outlines $1000 as a key level to stay above and outlines buy points at support as well as price targets going forward.

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By Kim Kyoungwha

Oct. 28 (Bloomberg) — Gold may rise to a record $2,000 an ounce in the next three years as investors hedge against “massive” inflation sparked by governments printing money, according to Superfund Financial Singapore Pte’s Aaron Smith.

“In the next few years, after the deflation cycle, we’ll see massive inflation,” Managing Director Smith, 30, said in an interview. “Soon, when you go to buy a cup of coffee, you’ll pay $20 or $30 because the dollar won’t be worth anything.”

The company’s Superfund Green Gold A Fund, which has more than doubled since its inception in 2005, has lost 15.6 percent this year because of higher volatility, said Smith, who joined in 2002. Gold rose to an all-time high this month as governments including the U.S. boosted debt to combat the global recession.

“When the U.S. dollar crashes, all the paper currencies have to crash, otherwise if their currencies are too strong, their economies will be weak,” said Smith, who issued similar gold forecasts in May and earlier this month. “Another excellent buying opportunity for investors is silver.”

Gold for immediate delivery, which touched a high of $1,070.80 an ounce on Oct. 14, traded at $1,039.32 at midday in Singapore. The metal has strengthened 18 percent this year, while the Dollar Index, a six-currency gauge of the dollar’s strength, fell 6.4 percent.

Gold Forecasts

Smith joins investors including Shayne McGuire, director of global research at the Teacher Retirement System of Texas, and Jim Rogers in forecasting higher gold prices. Pension funds will increase gold holdings as currencies decline, McGuire said on Oct. 22. Gold will probably top $2,000 in the next decade as the dollar weakens, Rogers said Oct. 7.

Superfund, founded in 1995 and backed by $1.6 billion in assets, specializes in so-called managed futures, using its own trading system to generate buy and sell calls on stock, bond, currency and commodity futures. Still, the company’s flagship Superfund A, which gained 35.4 percent last year, has lost 24 percent this year, Smith said.

The ratio of silver to gold, currently at 62.35, will be “cut in half” in the next three to five years as millions of people in South Asia and China buy the metal as an alternative because they can no longer afford gold, Smith said. Silver has soared 46 percent this year to $16.65 an ounce.

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