“No assets of the Libyan Central Bank have been stolen, gold or otherwise,” declared the bank’s new governor, according to a Reuters dispatch out of Tripoli.  Here’s the dispatch:

TRIPOLI (REUTERS) –

Libya’s central bank, under control of the country’s new leaders, said on Thursday none of its assets had been stolen and that it had sold 29 tonnes of gold to help pay salaries.

“No assets of the Libyan Central Bank have been stolen, gold or otherwise,” the bank’s new governor Gassem Azzoz told reporters in Tripoli, adding that if fallen leader Muammar Gaddafi had taken gold, it was not from central bank coffers.

Only a few days ago, supposedly credible witnesses said that hundreds of trucks were seen leaving Libya loaded with gold.  Now, only days after “new leaders” have taken over, 29 tons have been sold to “help pay salaries.”  Is Libya’s gold really safe?

Twenty nine tons at $1850 gold would be some$1.7 billion dollars.  That’s a lot of money to “help pay” salaries.  Supposedly, Libya was financially sound, being one of the world’s largest oil exporters.  So, why was it necessary to sell the family jewels to meet payroll?

I’m not so sure that Libya’s gold is safe, nor its other assets, especially its oil.

I hope everyone had a fantastic Labor Day weekend. I truly enjoyed myself and was able to have some creativity with my 18 month daughter. I got some new office chairs last week and I finally had time to assemble them during the rainy and windy black Monday here in Canada… Just like a child on their birthday, I tossed the chair parts aside and played with the large boxes with Mirabelle.

With the black clouds rolling overhead, waves pounding the shoreline, rain gushing off the roof, and a pirate book sitting on the coffee table. It was only an hour later which Mirabelle was riding a huge cardboard pirate ship across the room AArrrr’n everything… So I truly enjoyed my day off with the family to say the least

Ok back to the market…

So after I built the Brown Pearl I jumped on the computer so see what the futures market was up to. The good news was that our short trade on the equities market was up 10% from our entry point last week. The bad news was that the stock market overseas was selling off big and so were US stocks. It was a black Monday in both the sky and on the screen…

I’m not really sure how many people watch the futures market but I do know the majority of people do not. So Tuesday morning there will be a lot of people in a panic when they see stocks gap down sharply.

Taking a look at the 4 hour charts you can see the recent price action which unfolded today. We have been anticipating this from early last week. So none of this should be a surprise.

Dollar Index 4 Hour Chart:

The dollar index broke out of it falling pattern and has made a run up to the first resistance level of 75.40. I feel we could see it go a little higher on Tuesday but overall it looks ready for a pause or pullback here.

SP500 Futures 4 Hour Chart:

The equities market has fallen sharply in the past week and the green circle is where we shorted the market using the SDS etf. We did take partial profits last week to lock in 7.4% profit in a couple days, but we still hold the balance of the position which is currently up over 10% using today’s futures price.

The SP500 looks to be getting oversold here and is now entering the previous low set a few weeks back. I will be looking to tighten stops and or exit the position early this week before a sharp rebound takes place.

Bond Futures 4 Hour Chart:

Bonds are a safe haven for investors when fear is running high. The past couple trading session’s the price of bonds have shot up. This tells me panic selling in the stocks market has starting and that generally means we are nearing and tradable bottom for stocks…

Gold Futures 4 Hour Chart:

Gold is the other safe haven. Here again we see money flow into gold at a very quick pace… We will need to see some resolutions in Euro-land before gold will trade lower or sideways, but until then I think scared money is going to keep rolling into gold.

Crude Oil Futures 4 Hour Chart:

Oil has drifted its way up into a resistance level as of late last week only to find overhead supply. Once the selling started oil slid lower at a steady rate all the way back down to a short term support zone. Now we are waiting to see if it will make a double bottom at $79 or bounce here

Weekend Trading Conclusion:

In short, Tuesday will be a volatile session judging from today’s sharp price action. Fear is driving prices at the moment and until everyone panics out of stock positions and dumps their money into the save havens we will not see a bottom form. Generally this takes 2-5 days to play out but time will tell.

I hope this quick Labor Day update helps get you back on track for trading this week. 

 

Consider joining me at TheGoldAndOilGuy for ETF trade ideas on the SP500, Oil, Gold, and Silver with great accuracy. Check it out at

Chris Vermeulen

http://www.thegoldandoilguy.com/free-preview.php

Many people have asked if there is any way to place precious metals away for retirement. The answer is obvious—Yes!

However, what has been determined is that many people in the USA have most of their funds in some type of retirement account and do not have the ability to invest outside of their already existing account.

Therefore this is directed primarily at those that wish to know how to establish a precious metals IRA.  Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) can be funded with physical gold and silver, yet very few investors are aware of this fact. They are exempt from all capital gains taxes while in the IRA exactly like any other investment that is placed into an IRA account. Thus, if your investments perform well over a long period of time, it can result in huge savings. Of course upon distribution the appropriate tax consequences would be applied.

Diversifying your retirement portfolio with precious metals is fundamentally required if you properly understand asset allocation (see the Ibbotson study). Additionally precious metals normally rise during periods of unsettling events such as wars, terrorism, inflation, deflation, downturns in the stock market and the US dollar. Precious metals usually yield large profits in these circumstances.

What is unique about this plan is that you can take physical possession of the actual gold or silver when you make your withdrawals. That’s correct! You can cash out in real honest-to-goodness gold and silver instead of fiat dollars. This is the most important feature of all. Down the road, in this generational bull market in gold and silver, the odds are in your favor that you will want and need the physicals when it’s time to access your investment.

Once you decide that you want to include precious metals in your retirement planning, you need to determine how much you want to invest. How much depends on your annual contribution, your personal goals and your individual investment philosophy. Factors to consider are your age, total assets and risk tolerance.

Very few institutions are set up to handle the precious metals component of retirement plans. There are basically only three, Sterling Trust, Goldstar Trust, and Entrust.

Establishing a Precious Metals IRA

From the Midas Resources website…

“If you currently have an IRA or a qualified plan such as a 401(k), 403(b), etc most likely your plan does not allow you to own physical gold or silver in your account. If that is the case, there is a way to do it that is relatively easy and inexpensive. What follows is a step by step explanation of how to do it. The first step is to find a custodian that will allow such a transaction. There are several including Sterling Trust Company, Goldstar Trust Company and Entrust. There are many others. These three are the most experienced with holding metals. Once you select a custodian, you will need to open a self directed IRA. This involves a minimum amount of paperwork and a fee to set up the account.

Taking possession of your IRA is qualified as a distribution. Under that circumstance, the IRS requires that a possible penalty and the appropriate taxes be paid. To avoid the penalty and taxes you want to have your IRA gold stored with a custodian that handles precious metals self directed IRAs. Midas Resources’ brokers will work with you to select a custodian, and help you through the process of filing the required paperwork to start your self directed IRA.

Once your new account is funded, you can then direct your broker to purchase gold, silver, platinum and palladium for your account. Your broker will withdraw payment for the purchase and send the appropriate amount of metals to the custodian’s storage facility. The storage facility will report the receipt to your custodian and show the metals in your account.”

As you can tell setting up a precious metals IRA is not that difficult. I have discussed in some of my public appearances particularly at the Money Show throughout the U.S and Canada.

What Type of Gold and Silver Can Be Held In an IRA?

The United States government currently allows Gold American Eagles and Gold proof American Eagles in IRA’s. Gold American Eagles are mass produced bullion coins. The value of these gold bullion coins is tied to the gold price. The price of gold fluctuates moving up and down like a heart monitor. This fluctuation in the price is directly tied to investors that buy and sell in an attempt to take advantage of the price volatility.

 Three Easy Steps…

1. Submit the paperwork. /> 2. Fund the account. /> 3. Direct your broker which precious metals to buy.

The metals are stored at approved metals depository, which at times can be the same used by COMEX and other major commodities exchanges. Annual storage fee vary but I would not base my entire decision on the storage costs alone.

Steps #1 and #2 involves completing the proper forms to transfer the funds to custodian. Again there are three choices as outlined above. Normally, the funds are transferred directly from an existing IRA or Qualified Retirement Plan.

In Step #3, the IRA investor directs a dealer which precious metals to buy.

For those wishing to send me an email for more information you can go to www.MyRealIRA.com