There is a very curious new development with respect to gold. In many European countries, people can no longer buy retail gold coins for bullion. Shops will buy but no one is selling. Banks that previously offered gold to the public have shut down in Spain. If someone leaves Spain wearing a lot of jewelry, authorities will pull them aside to weigh whatever jewelry they may have.
Little by little, this hunt for money by desperate government is turning toward gold. Shutting down retail sales is quite alarming, for what typically follows is some decree of forcing the public to turn over bullion by a certain date, or thereafter it can be confiscated and illegal to even own.
Meanwhile, April saw the biggest decline in gold shipment to China that traditionally goes through Switzerland. In April, they fell 67%. As the economy has been turning down in Asia, the demand for gold has fallen by about 36%.
With governments in Europe cutting off the ability to buy gold, which is already declining in demand, mixed with the rising dollar, everything warns that the final low for gold may be on the horizon.
