We know what’s coming and we are prepared.
2023 Gold Demand Peaks Amid Global Uncertainties
The Global Gold Council's 2023 report unveils the complex dynamics of gold demand. Louise Street, a senior analyst, predicts that ongoing conflicts, trade tensions, and numerous global elections will likely steer investors towards gold.
This year, gold demand, excluding the over-the-counter (OTC) market, fell slightly to 4,448 tons, down 5% from last year. Yet, when including OTC and other sources, demand hit a record high of 4,899 tons, pushing the average annual gold price to its peak for 2023.
Central bank purchases maintained a swift pace, reaching 1,037 tons, the second-highest ever, only 45 tons below last year's record.
Despite strong demand from OTC and central banks, ETFs saw a third year of net outflows, totaling 244 tons, mainly in Europe.
Bar and coin investments dropped by 3%, balancing out with varying market strengths. European demand notably decreased by 59%, while China saw a 28% increase to 280 tons. India, Turkey, and the United States also reported significant rises.
The jewelry sector remained robust despite high prices, with a slight annual increase. China, recovering from COVID-19 lockdowns, saw a 17% rise in demand, contrasting with a 9% fall in India.
Mining output was stable with a 1% growth, and recycling went up by 9%, leading to a 3% increase in overall supply, which was lower than anticipated considering the high gold prices.
Street highlighted central banks' steady demand as a crucial support for the gold market, compensating for other market areas' weakness. She pointed out that geopolitical uncertainties often boost gold demand. With the expected influence of conflicts, trade tensions, and elections in 2024, investors might turn to gold as a safe asset.
Street also noted that central banks frequently mention gold's crisis performance as a purchase rationale, implying that this sector's demand is likely to stay strong.
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Yanis Varoufakis (former Greek Minister of Finance) describes AI as a new form of capital that produces not goods, but behavioral modification. This is achieved by engineering perceptions.
The answers provided by ChatGPT, or the images rendered by StableDiffusion — as these increasingly inform our perceptions, they in turn define the reality we experience.
This is what makes AI so powerful — he who controls the AI, defines the reality of tomorrow.
⚡️🇺🇸 Some more things coming out for the 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).
Under the preliminary drafts of the bill, the USAF is requesting a release of $57,000,000 USD ($57.0 Million) to retire all remaining 162 A-10 Thunderbolt IIs in current service. Apart of the 2023 NDAA, there was a clause for a few million dollars to be released every so often to gradually retire the (then) 250 airframes by 2034; however due to the push by the Dept of Defense to ‘shed’ obsolete or obsolescent airframes that cannot be overhauled or upgraded further without a whole new airframe, it appears the USAF wants to retire all 162 remaining A-10s by the end of 2026.
The USAF plans to fully divest the 340-total remaining A-10s entirely, including those that currently serve in a handful of Air National Guard units in some states; which will be replaced by F-15EX Eagle IIs (like what is already happening with the Michigan State Air National Guard’s A-10s), or F-35A/Bs.
Included ...
My older sister lives in the country in between Velma Oklahoma and Duncan Oklahoma near the Fuqua Lake area, this story was told by a rural mail delivery woman who delivers the mail in the country.
The incident happened while she was on her route, when she came upon to the mailbox a male Chinese nation came out brandishing a, AK-47 rifle being very hostile,
I don't know if he pointed it at her since it is against the law to do so but she was terrified and said she was never going back and that the location that had a guard tower. Was the sheriff department notified, I don't know, did she notify her supervisor, don't know. But word is from the country folk who live in the area they have seen the guard tower at the pot place;
I refuse to call it a farm because it is an insult to farmers.
And yes she was traumatized by that ordeal
