One thing is for sure: precious metal prices have soared in the past few days. Those fortunate enough to have put their money into gold and silver as little as 30 days ago saw a rise of 9.64% in their yellow and a staggering 26.84% increase in the value of their white metal. Not bad considering that major indexes are about to test new lows all the way from New York to Tokyo. As reason for the decline in stocks around the world pundits frequently site the $789 Billion US stimulus package expected to pass into law in the next days. It further does not help of course, that  data collected from latest company reports of banks and thrifts with assets greater than $1 Billion suggests that despite all the money poured into the system (note the ‘J’ curve about 2/3rd down) the credit deterioration continues to accelerate.

Add to the mix that Martin Wolf, chief economics commentator for The Financial Times believes that the U.S. is simply too “politically frightened” to admit truth about the banks, that the US Dollar is effectively backed by China, whose government is likely to ask freshly minted secretary of state Hilary Clinton for guarantees that the U.S. will not engage in “reckless policies” threatening to erode its $US682 billion holdings of U.S. government debt and the collapse of the U.S. Bond market practically underway and you have a perfect storm in the making.

So, what else is new? Well, the IMF keeps insisting that it will sell its 400+ tons of ‘gold’. Surely China won’t mind. Dr. Doom & the Mr. Black Swan in the meanwhile continue to predict the worst while being prodded for stock picks on CNBC. And before I forget: precious metal prices are still believed to be manipulated. Reminds me, below for your information the latest analysis of real precious metal prices paid on eBay for 1 ounce U.S. silver eagles as well as 1 ounce gold eagle and buffalo bullion coins:

(yellow = percent premium paid on eBay, blue = COMEX spot price weekly average, red = eBay price weekly average)

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