GOLD

The V-Tex Technology Drink Chiller which cools drinks in just 45 seconds was recently unveiled by Enviro-Cool (UK) Limited (Ltd). It is designed to reduce energy consumption by 90%.

India has gone into frenzy mode trying to locate what could be a massive pot of gold based on the dream of Swami Shobhan Sarkar, a sadhu or holy man. Mr Sarkar claimed he dreamt of once-ruler Rao Ram Baksh who allegedly told him where the latter kept his riches before he was hanged in 1858 after rising up against the British.

M23 militants in eastern Congo have infiltrated several lucrative gold mines in order to bankroll their rebellion by smuggling out nearly $500 million of the precious metal a year, claimed a Washington-based human rights group on Thursday, accusing four African gold exporters for enabling the militia group, which has had a history of human rights violations.

It can't be a great feeling when the stock price of the company you work at rises when you announce that you're leaving. But such was the lot of the CEO and the Chairman of gold miner Newcrest this week. Australian's biggest gold producer is grabbing the broom and sweeping out the dirty closet. It's been a tough year. It might get even tougher for the gold juniors.

The circus from Washington has arrived on Wall Street. Stocks put in a big rally overnight on the hope that politicians would achieve some sort of debt ceiling agreement. Both the S&P500 and the Dow Jones Industrials finished up a big 2.2%.

Let's take a look at gold. It hasn't responded to US$85 billion per month of QE (which launched in December 2012)...it hasn't responded to the US government shutdown and it hasn't responded to the threat of a technical US default.

Where to start on this brisk Melbourne Friday the 13th morning? Gold copped a beating overnight, the S&P500 bumped up against an invisible ceiling, and Vladimir 'peacenik' Putin penned an op-ed article in the New York Times. In Australia, we saw that employment fell yesterday while the property boom rages on.

After telling readers how awful it was, now the mainstream press is back to neutral on gold. Barron's recently ran an article titled 'Gold Regains Its Glitter'.

After telling readers how awful it was, now the mainstream press is back to neutral on gold. Barron's recently ran an article titled 'Gold Regains Its Glitter'.

Dow down, gold up. That's two days in a row. We don't know what to make of it! Actually, we're not sure many people know what to make of the overnight action. Markets were all over the shop and the usual explanations for why things happen didn't seem to stack up.

Markets are looking 'toppy' as our colleague Greg Canavan has been saying. We've had a few days of stocks falling and gold rising. That's an odd combination.

Yesterday, Wall Street stirred. The Dow fell. Gold rose. We believe these are portents of coming trends. The bond market has topped out. The stock market has topped out. Gold has bottomed. Stay tuned for confirmation...or further guesswork.

Well, this is kind of confusing. In a week when commodities and mining stocks get a general lift, the Wall Street Journal puts the spotlight on Chinese banks and finds a lot to reckon with on the downside.

Yesterday we were talking about the gold market in terms of paper gold. The volume of gold paper sloshing around the market is huge compared to the volume of physical gold that underpins it. Price discovery happens in the paper market.

If at first you don't succeed, try and try again. That's probably what Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is thinking right now on the news that Japan's economy grew much less than expected in the second quarter. The expectation was that nominal economic growth would come in at an annual rate of 3.6%. Instead, the economy expanded by just 2.6%.

The everyday charts don't show it. Yes, the price of gold has fallen - that's in the charts. But physical gold is still scarce. That is, it's getting more difficult and more expensive to borrow gold. There's not enough physical gold to meet the needs, and the rent is rising, so to speak.

The Fed's preferred measures of inflation are so low they're in the Fed's panic zone. It seems like right now, from their standpoint, the playbook isn't working. What gives?

The airport in Paris must be the most efficient in the world. Our cab drove up at exactly 6 am. By 6:04, we were having a cup of coffee, waiting to board the plane. In just four minutes, we'd gotten our ticket, been inspected by security and made it to the gate.

In recent months, the price of gold has tumbled. Along the way, lower gold prices have undermined the share price of many mining plays. The yellow metal is selling for its approximate cost of production at many of the world's largest mines.

It looks to us that the bond market has topped out. Some sovereign yields are up as much as 45% in the last three months. But we'll have to wait - perhaps years - to see if the bond market has truly rolled over.

In today's Daily Reckoning we're going to take on the topic of gold. It's a nice change from talking endlessly and aimlessly about Ben Bernanke and the Federal Reserve, something we're guilty of doing a little too often.

In an interview with Kitco's Daniela Cambone, Jim Rogers stated that he doesn't think gold has found a bottom. 'I bought a little more at $1,200 just in case, but I don't think we made the final bottom.'

There isn't a central bank in the world that wants to go back to a gold standard. But that's not the point. The point is whether they will have to.

But gold must be getting close to a bottom. No one has anything nice to say about it.

Traders stampeded out of gold, emerging markets and bonds, setting record monthly outflows in June. Ever since the Federal Reserve hinted in May that signs of a stronger economy could allow for a slowdown of stimulus, markets have protested the news.

Yesterday, we took the train from Paris to Zurich, passing through the valley of the Rhone... past castles... medieval churches... lazy, picturesque rivers... quaint villages... to Lyon... Basel... and then skirting the Alps and lakes to Zurich.

When folks sell their electronic-traded-fund (ETF) gold and other electronic bullion, where does it go?

Oil prices rose to a nine-month high as Asian stocks took a beating and social unrest in Egypt led to uncertain global economic outlook. The sell-off in Asia and Australia ensued after President Mohammed Morsi of Egypt held on to his position despite calls for a resignation. The army had also threatened the President that it would consider the constitution null and void.

This is good news. Gold is doing what it should do. And it is giving us another good opportunity to buy a life vest before the boat sinks.