The Big Currency Reset

[The Machine]

 

Buying gold & silver miners in anticipation of "the big reset"...

 

The NETHERLANDS-based Commodity Discovery Fund focuses on mining discoveries and start-up producers in precious, base and specialty metals.

 

Founded by author, entrepreneur and publicist Willem Middelkoop, and with senior researcher Terence van der Hout also studying critical metals, the Commodity Discovery Fund's key belief is the world's reserve currency will "reset" away from the US Dollar in the next decade, forcing gold prices to rise and mining equities to follow.

 

Here, Van der Hout and Middelkoop tell The Gold Report that by focusing on producers, near-producers and turnaround stories, they plan to capitalize on opportunities in North America, Africa and beyond.

 

The Gold Report: Willem, your first book predicted the collapse of the global financial system a year before the 2008 fall of Lehman Bros. In your new book The Big Reset: War on Gold and the Financial Endgame, you're predicting the demise of the Dollar as the reserve currency by 2020. You said it can occur as a carefully planned event or as the result of a crisis. What would these two scenarios look like?

 

Willem Middelkoop: Authorities always prefer to act within a well-planned scenario. The US and the International Monetary Fund understand that the US Dollar has to be replaced one day. It could be 2020. It could be 2018. It could be 2023. It has to be replaced by another anchor to support the worldwide monetary system.

 

Both the US and the IMF will try to stay in the driver's seat as they propose the transformation of the worldwide financial system. They could introduce special drawing rights, an international reserve asset created by the IMF in 1969 to supplement its member countries' official reserves. Its value is based on a basket of four key international currencies, and SDRs can be exchanged for freely usable currencies. The US and the IMF could propose that the SDRs be used to replace the Dollar as the anchor for the worldwide financial system. 

 

However, the IMF and its partners, the central banks around the world, will need at least five more years to prepare the system for such a change. A crisis of confidence around the Dollar could occur before the IMF and its partners are ready for a reset operation. If a crisis of confidence occurs, the IMF would have to mount a rescue operation to save worldwide trade, as we saw in early 2009. We had some similar, but smaller, resets following the crisis in Germany after the Weimar hyperinflation in 1923 and, more recently, in Cyprus. 

 

The SDRs could act like a monetary umbrella and consist of Dollars, Euros, British pounds and Chinese Yuan after a monetary reset.

 

TGR: A lot of this plan is going on backstage. Most people don't know about it. What signs should we look for to signal the shift so we can adjust our portfolios?

 

Willem Middelkoop: This is a very important question. Investors need to understand that such a transformation in our monetary system might be introduced over a weekend. In Cyprus, there were not many warning signs. That's why I started thebigresetblog.com, where I follow the latest information, and I'm publishing the latest signs pointing toward such a reset. On March 17, I published a story that was based on an interview with George Soros. In that interview with the Financial Times, Soros said the system is broken and needs to be reconstituted. I also published an interview with Christine Lagarde, head of the IMF. She used the term "reset" multiple times in interviews during the World Economic Forum.

 

Another important sign is an editorial by the Chinese state press agency recently saying that the time has come for a new international reserve currency to be created to replace the dominant US Dollar. 

 

Both East and West sent out specific signals pointing toward this transformation. Of course, it's important to watch the gold and Dollar charts on a daily basis, because when a reset is close, you can expect major moves.

 

TGR: What does this mean for gold? The signs are out there – why is the price hovering around $1300 per ounce?

 

Willem Middelkoop: It's quite easy to understand why central banks would like to revalue gold to devalue the Dollar at a certain stage of this reset. The US's official gold reserves, which are still 8,000 tonnes, are valued at the historical cost price of $42 per ounce. A revaluation toward $4,200 per ounce would grow the value of these gold reserves from the current $11 billion to $1.1 trillion. Without such a revaluation, gold prices will have to rise as well given the structural deficits in the gold market. Worldwide gold production can't keep up with the growing demand for physical gold. Recent figures by the World Gold Council show a deficit of 700 tonnes physical gold.

 

We have seen lots of manipulation of the gold price, similar to the 1960s when the London Gold Pool was keeping gold prices at $35 per ounce. Central bankers have done this for a number of years by selling large amounts of gold from the official reserves of Western central banks. We've seen another round of manipulation of the gold price in the last few years. This can't go on for another 5 to 10 years. 

 

TGR: If the gold price went up, would the precious metals mining stocks follow or, because of the manipulation, would there not be a connection?

 

Willem Middelkoop: The gold price started to rise at the end of December. When the gold price went up 10%, precious metal mining stocks went up sometimes as much as 30%. Investors will come to understand that the gold price might trade higher in the following weeks and months, and precious metal mining stocks should also go higher. 

 

Countries like China and Russia are also growing their gold reserves enormously. With estimates for yearly deficits in the physical gold market up to around 1,000 tons/year, more investors see precious metal companies as the only ones that own huge amounts of physical tons still in the ground. When they can be sold at higher prices, these companies will become hugely profitable. 

 

We've seen that in the past. In the 1970s, we had the last gold rush and lots of free cash flow was generated by gold and silver producers. In the late 1970s and the early 1980s, these amounts were enormous. Senior producers had gains of 200-300% in the last two years of the gold bull market. The junior producers and the exploration companies showed gains of more than 1,000% on average.

 

TGR: What markets do you think are good right now? What commodities do you like?

 

Willem Middelkoop: We still have 60% of our equity investments in gold-related equities, 20% in silver-related and the last 20% in base metals and specialty metals. The only change in the last two years has been that we decreased our investment in exploration companies and increased our investment in royalty companies and senior producers.

 

TGR: Why was that?

 

Willem Middelkoop: Because of the low valuation in the correction since the middle of 2011. The valuation for gold producers became almost laughable. Of course, a producer, which is creating cash flow and is still profitable at these prices, has only upside in the current market. It was a defensive move. 

 

Terence van der Hout: Technically, an exploration company that has no assets can just go to zero – there are a number that are doing that – whereas producers will always be worth something, even at fire sales. 

 

That's another consideration that we've been looking at on the downside. Very recently, we've been subtly shifting from producers and near-producers to advanced developers. We see a turn in the markets. Those companies are well leveraged to the gold price and have a fairly extreme undervaluation to catch up with. Normally, they will be revalued to something relating to the amount of resource they produce.

 

TGR: A number of the companies in your fund are in Africa. How do you assess risk for a given region in Africa?

 

Terence van der Hout: There are various types of risks in Africa. There is a cost risk in West Africa because power is expensive and infrastructure is lacking. South Africa has energy issues and social and labor unrest. We have 70% of our portfolio invested in less risky areas, like North America. We used to avoid South Africa entirely, but something has changed in the way that we look at platinum. For one thing, we very much like the future for platinum group metals given that the Chinese automobile market is exploding and will need all the PGMs that the world can provide.

 

TGR: Considering South Africa has posed risks in the past, what do you look for in a successful miner?

 

Willem Middelkoop: A strong, proven, successful mine manager or entrepreneur can build companies time and again. The longer we are in this business – we're investors for more than 10 years now – the more we try to follow the good management teams.

 

Terence van der Hout: That's a derisking aspect of the business: management. Management is one of the prime parameters for us.

 

Willem Middelkoop: However, we're quite fed up with the high salaries being paid to executives running companies that don't perform. The industry has to understand that investors are taking these compensation packages into consideration when they decide if they should invest or not.

 

TGR: Do you predict an impact from the conflict in Russia as it is a supplier of PGMs?

 

Willem Middelkoop: Only if more sanctions are applied. Russian president Vladimir Putin understands how vulnerable the US and the Dollar have become. If strong sanctions were applied against Russia, it would be very easy for the Russians to stop selling oil in Dollars and start selling it in Yuan, rubles or even in gold. The US knows it should be careful not to make Putin too mad because the Dollar is too vulnerable. This is why no strong sanctions have been implemented until recently. 

 

TGR: Any final advice for our readers as we're going into this shifting world?

 

Willem Middelkoop: I would like to talk a little about silver. We talked a lot about gold, and gold is very important. It's my opinion that gold will come back in the monetary system. I don't expect a full gold standard, but gold will become more important. But silver is poor man's gold. When the gold price goes up too much, more people start to buy silver instead. However, there are no large, above-the-ground stockpiles available anymore. Silver was still used to produce coins until the 1980s. These above-the-ground silver stockpiles are almost completely gone. We're very interested in great silver companies with lots of ounces in the ground.

 

TGR: Thank you both for your time.

 

[RVWITHME]

2018?

2020?

2023?

 

What happened to "The RV has already happened"?

 

If this keeps up, I may have to change my handle to NORV4ME

 

Nah, 2023 is in the "coming days", right?

[SnowGlobe7]

yup...soon

[RVWITHME]

yup...soon

 

Afterall, what's another decade when you're amongst friends!

[SnowGlobe7]

whooooo I am friends with RVWITHME!!!

 

and yes you are right...the nicest peeps on the internet are right here!!!

[Butifldrm]

Thanks Thug.  I'm gonna steal this article and place it in my SDR thread.    

 

2018?

2020?

2023?

 

What happened to "The RV has already happened"?

 

If this keeps up, I may have to change my handle to NORV4ME

 

Nah, 2023 is in the "coming days", right?

RVWITHME,  I have thought about this many times.  I'm gonna put out there a  plausible case scenario.  Many who I read and listen too feel we are on the verge of a currency reset, but none who believe in this believe in the Dinar.  They, the experts, are more Gold bugs.  I, myself, kind of incorporate the knowledge they have and what I know about the Dinar.  The Scenario:  What if the Dinar revalues and we are forced to cash into USD, within a limited amount of time?  At the same time The Global Currency Reset happens.  Many believe the dollar could loose between 30% to 50% of it's value during this reset.  So say we get close to a dollar for the Dinar.  WE could loose 30-50% of our gains by cashing into the dollar.  I, myself believe we are and have been seeing a well hidden devaluation of the dollar at this present time. I know, every time I go to the grocery store, I pay more for the same food I bought the last time.  I have always thought that prices of things were determined by the cost of gasoline.  Here's a chart of gasoline prices historically http://energyalmanac.ca.gov/gasoline/retail_gasoline_prices.html and here's a chart of commodity  prices historically http://www.indexmundi.com/commodities/ . You will notice commodity prices dropped dramatically in 2009 when the price of gasoline dropped, but where are the food prices in this chart?  Food prices have never dropped  http://www.inflationdata.com/inflation/consumer_price_index/historicalcpi.aspx?reloaded=true.   There are many articles out there that attribute the cause of the Arab Spring, directly  to the cost of Food. http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/food-matters/2014/04/24/rising-up-using-escalating-food-costs-to-predict-riots-revolutions-and-rebellions/ So, if there is to be an American Spring, will it be attributed to the cost of food?  So we  are seeing food prices increasing.  We are seeing the markets manipulated.  It appears financially from a debt to GDP ratio the US is the Best Horse in the Glue Factory, (other than the IMF).   If and when the Dinar does make a move, and a reset is ongoing or in the future, how do we protect our investment?  I know many of us tare thinking about this. I would love some input.  

Edited April 24, 2014 by Butifldrm

[The Machine]

Thanks Thug.  I'm gonna steal this article and place it in my SDR thread.  

 

Ahem !! ........ Thug ......

[Butifldrm]

Ahem !! ........ Thug ......

Machine Sorry lol the same thing happens to me all the time so sorry.  I was multitasking so please forgive and please give me your input on my post.

Edited April 24, 2014 by Butifldrm

[RVWITHME]

Thanks Thug.  I'm gonna steal this article and place it in my SDR thread.    

 

RVWITHME,  I have thought about this many times.  I'm gonna put out there a  plausible case scenario.  Many who I read and listen too feel we are on the verge of a currency reset, but none who believe in this believe in the Dinar.  They, the experts, are more Gold bugs.  I, myself, kind of incorporate the knowledge they have and what I know about the Dinar.  The Scenario:  What if the Dinar revalues and we are forced to cash into USD, within a limited amount of time?  At the same time The Global Currency Reset happens.  Many believe the dollar could loose between 30% to 50% of it's value during this reset.  So say we get close to a dollar for the Dinar.  WE could loose 30-50% of our gains by cashing into the dollar.  I, myself believe we are and have been seeing a well hidden devaluation of the dollar at this present time. I know, every time I go to the grocery store, I pay more for the same food I bought the last time.  I have always thought that prices of things were determined by the cost of gasoline.  Here's a chart of gasoline prices historically http://energyalmanac.ca.gov/gasoline/retail_gasoline_prices.html and here's a chart of commodity  prices historically http://www.indexmundi.com/commodities/ . You will notice commodity prices dropped dramatically in 2009 when the price of gasoline dropped, but where are the food prices in this chart?  Food prices have never dropped  http://www.inflationdata.com/inflation/consumer_price_index/historicalcpi.aspx?reloaded=true.   There are many articles out there that attribute the cause of the Arab Spring, directly  to the cost of Food. http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/food-matters/2014/04/24/rising-up-using-escalating-food-costs-to-predict-riots-revolutions-and-rebellions/ So, if there is to be an American Spring, will it be attributed to the cost of food?  So we  are seeing food prices increasing.  We are seeing the markets manipulated.  It appears financially from a debt to GDP ratio the US is the Best Horse in the Glue Factory, (other than the IMF).   If and when the Dinar does make a move, and a reset is ongoing or in the future, how do we protect our investment?  I know many of us tare thinking about this. I would love some input.  

 

Butifldrm;

My crystal ball says that long into the future this event will be known as the Great Speculation. Congress is fighting tooth and nail to not vote in the 2010 reforms when the rest of the world wants every currency to be based on economic merit. This is the SDR scenario currently being discussed, but to me it looks like just a different shade of lipstick being put on the same (rothschild) pig. Once the IMF or whomever has complete control over the world's currency, it will make no difference who writes the laws as it will all be nothing more than a show of semantics. National Sovereignty will have died by then.

 

That can mean only one thing, the Fed Reserve is (still) in control of the printing presses and until we hit a titanic (currency) sinking type iceberg, they don't want the status quo to change. It seems that, even with veiled IMF threats to go ahead without us, they really don't want to make that kind of move. Perhaps it is because we are already under a one world order and they want to suck every last drop out of the American economy before the rats jump ship.

 

As to being "forced" to cash in our dinar, I see no law that says we cannot exchange for (and hold) new, lower denom IQD, Canadian Dollars, Swiss Francs, Yuan, Russian Ruble or even Bitcoin for that matter so I see that there will come a time when we have to decide where our best exchange value is and move towards that currency that suits us best. Or maybe we don't cash in (much) IQD to begin with.

Then we may be in a position to drop some of those funds into hard assets (farmland, gold, silver, water & oil rights etc).

 

Once the dust settles and we can assess the value (somewhat) of the new TRN vs the FRN... IF that event actually happens, we will be in a much better position to decide how and where to cash in or transfer into other currencies.

The one thing that seems certain is the call to panicked sheeple to cash in as quick as we can then convert to TRN if that is possible before the (induced) crash of the FRN.

 

I don't know for sure, but I'm not inclined to jump the gun on that one and take "whatever" is being offered in TRN to get out of FRN overnight. I remember the stories of exactly those same techniques being used to scare the herd into selling their stocks at fire sale prices in the "crash" of 1929 to the the rich, who immediately got richer off the backs of the timid.

 

Again, this is all based on speculation because none of us knows for sure if the IQD or VND or any other currency we may be holding will jump 100+ fold. The longer it takes for Iraq to add SOME value to this Camel-Wrap (even moving to 1000 iqd to 1 usd) the more I feel that the lack of a move is politically based and not economic.