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<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image"><p class="source"><span>RBC Capital Markets</span></p></div><p></p></div></div>Silver has been on a roll.</p><p>The price of silver is up over 20% since the end of last year, and is at its highest levels since May 2015.</p><p>The metal's rally has pushed the gold-silver ratio down closer to historical averages. The price of gold is now around 74 times that of silver's, down from March, when it was around as much as 83 times that of silver.</p><p>And some analysts think the ratio may have more room to fall.</p><p>"We think that the gold/silver ratio is set to fall further after hitting a high in February," argued the RBC Capital Markets commodity strategy team in a recent note to clients.</p><p>"Conviction around the view on relative value comes from both sides as we think gold may have already hit its peak for this year, and that H2 16 will likely bring more weakness as the bulls from the start of the year recede as the year marches on," they wrote.</p><p>Moreover, the team added that if data coming out of China continues to surprise on the upside - "or at least not materially deteriorate" - that should likely pump up silver, too.</p><p>Notably, silver prices traditionally closely track gold prices, which means that when gold surges, silver soon follows. <span>But the past year has seen a sort of unusual spell, where</span><span> silver prices </span><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/the-gold-silver-ratio-says-its-obvious-something-is-wrong-2016-4">trailed behind</a><span> gold prices, which </span><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/citi-doesnt-think-golds-rally-will-continue-2016-4">surged</a><span> </span><span>like crazy amid stock market volatility.</span></p><p><span></span>Silver is down 1.11% at $16.93 an ounce, while gold is little changed at $1,253.90 an ounce as of 9:49 a.m. EST.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"><p class="source"><span><a href="http://www.investing.com/">Investing.com</a></span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/why-you-have-to-lift-airplane-window-shades-2016-4">Here's why airlines ask you to raise the window shades for takeoffs and landings</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="N5N3VsMjE6pesk0sA-a83WVtGZAI0fEa" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

Silver's probably going to keep gaining on gold

<p>The price of silver has exploded on Tuesday and is trading at its highest level in ten months.</p><p>Just after 11:00 a.m. BST (6:00 a.m. ET) the metal synonymous with finishing second is the biggest gainer of all major commodities, up by more than 3% on the day. It is trading at roughly $16.75 per ounce.</p><p>Here's how that looks:</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Investing.com</span></p></div><p></p></div></div>The cause of silver's rally looks to be a correction in the trading ratio between gold and silver. Traditionally, silver prices track gold carefully, meaning that when gold rises, so does silver. However, this year, silver prices have lagged a little behind.</p><p>At the start of April, gold had gained more than 13% on the year, while silver was up just 8%. However in the past couple of weeks, silver has started to gain momentum, as investors look to close the appreciation gap between the metals.</p><p>As UBS analyst Joni Teves puts it, <a href="http://www.ft.com/fastft/2016/04/19/silver-bullet-prices-rush-to-10-month-high/">as quoted by the Financial Times</a>: "It's a combination of silver getting a bit of attention over the past week with the big move in the gold/silver ratio and quite a few market participants looking at silver in and its relative performance to gold and thinking it might be time for a bit of catch up."</p><p>Gold has been garnering most of the attention in markets in recent months, enjoying its most successful quarter in 30 years in Q1 of 2016.</p><p><a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/hsbc-note-on-the-fed-and-the-gold-price-rally-2016-3" target="_blank">The safe-haven metal appreciated hugely in the first quarter</a>, driven by high market volatility and a weakening dollar, however on Tuesday, it is silver that is in focus, with gold pulled higher by silver's surge. It is up by roughly 0.8% on the day. Platinum, one of few metals more expensive than gold, has gained just less than 1.9%.</p><p>Strong metals on the day are helping boost Europe's miners. On the FTSE 100, <a href="http://www.investing.com/indices/uk-100">Anglo American, Fresnillo, and BHP Billiton are amongst the biggest gainers.</a></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/hamilton-makes-over-2-million-month-producer-jeffrey-seller-broadway-musical-theater-2016-4">Broadway's biggest hit 'Hamilton' is making over $2 million a month - here's why the producer thinks it could be making a lot more</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="hqaGdtMjE6TuOLd1QuJ1UzvqOkB9_J_a" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

Silver is going nuts

<p><div class="image-container float_right click-to-enlarge"><div class="image"><a title_source="Citi via King World News" title_caption="The gold/silver ratio." class="zoomin" href="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/521def8769bedd6809a837b5-960/kwn-fitzpatrick-iv-8_27.jpg"><span class="click-to-enlarge-icon" title="Click to enlarge"></span></a><p class="source">Citi via King World News</p><p class="caption">The gold/silver ratio.</p></div></div>After falling by more than 20% from its recent highs, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/gold-is-on-a-huge-2-month-run-2013-8">gold is now nearly 20% off of its lows</a>.</p>
<p>Citi's top technical analyst <keyword id="709406" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Tom-Fitzpatrick">Tom Fitzpatrick</keyword> has been a long-time bull on <keyword id="18712" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="60" keywordseo="Gold">gold</keyword>.</p>
<p>And in a new interview with <a href="http://kingworldnews.com/kingworldnews/KWN_DailyWeb/Entries/2013/8/28_Gold_Poised_To_Super-Surge_150_%26_Silver_A_Staggering_300.html">King World News' Eric King, Fitzpatrick reiterates</a> his view that the yellow metal could head to $3,500.</p>
<p class="paragraph_style_1" style="padding-left: 30px;"><span class="style">“Within the gold dynamic, we believe this recent correction was very similar to what the gold market witnessed from 1974 to 1976 -- as the equity markets recovered from the bear market bottom in 1974.  In this instance, very recently gold went 14% below the 55-month moving average, exactly as it did back in 1976.</span></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span class="style">After the low in gold in 1976, the equity market peaked 4 weeks later.  So far, following the $1,181 low in gold, the peak in the equity markets has been 5 weeks thereafter.  And as we started that historic upward movement in gold, beginning in 1976, this was also when the equity market peaked and went into a corrective phase, and that is when gold really came into its own.</span></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span class="style"><strong>So we believe we are back into that track where gold is the hard currency of choice, and we expect for this trend to accelerate going forward.  We still believe that in the next couple of years we will be looking at a gold price of around $3,500</strong>.  As the gold/silver ratio plummets near 30, this would also suggest a silver price above $100.”</span></p>
<p>To be clear, this is not Citi's house view. According to Bloomberg, Citi metals analyst David Wilson is much more cautious with year-end targets of $1,150 in 2013, $1,145 in 2014, and $1,250 in 2015.</p>
<p>Read more about Fitzpatrick's near-term views on gold and silver at <a href="http://kingworldnews.com/kingworldnews/KWN_DailyWeb/Entries/2013/8/28_Gold_Poised_To_Super-Surge_150_%26_Silver_A_Staggering_300.html">KingWorldNews.com</a>.</p>

CITI: GOLD $3500

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span><a href="http://pictures.reuters.com/C.aspx?VP3=SearchResult&amp;VBID=2C0BXZIFLIAUF&amp;SMLS=1&amp;RW=1445&amp;RH=862#/SearchResult&amp;VBID=2C0BXZIFLIAUF&amp;SMLS=1&amp;RW=1445&amp;RH=862&amp;PN=6&amp;POPUPPN=343&amp;POPUPIID=2C0408WR1VKS2">Reuters/Issei Kato</a></span></p><p class="caption">A worker holds silver pachinko balls at a pachinko parlour in Fukaya, north of Tokyo.</p></div><p></p></div></div>Silver is finally catching up to gold.</p><p>The price of silver has rallied over the last week, pushing the gold/silver ratio back to around 75x, from 83x at the beginning of March, according to figures cited by analysts at Capital Economics.</p><p>"Admittedly, the surge in the silver price has also been flattered by the recent weakness in the US dollar, which may not be sustained if the Fed hikes rates sooner rather than alter," the Capital Economics team argued.</p><p>"Nonetheless, further recovery in industrial metals prices should see silver continue to outperform gold over the next few years."</p><p><span>Typically, silver prices closely track gold prices, which means that when gold surges, silver follows soon after. </span></p><p><span>However, the past year has seen a sort of unusual spell where</span><span> silver prices </span><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/the-gold-silver-ratio-says-its-obvious-something-is-wrong-2016-4">trailed behind</a><span> gold prices, which </span><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/citi-doesnt-think-golds-rally-will-continue-2016-4">surged</a><span> </span><span>like crazy amid volatility.</span></p><p><span></span>Silver is up 4.44% up at $16.98 per ounce as of 3:02 p.m., after reaching as high as $17.02 per ounce <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/silver-prices-april-19-2016-4">earlier</a> in the morning.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Capital Economics</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/consumer-reports-costco-sams-club-comparison-2016-4">Consumer Reports put Costco and Sam's Club head-to-head - here's the verdict</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="Yzb2RzMjE6tMXWBrKBo6QmybmXFiz8Tv" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

Silver is finally catching up to gold

<keyword id="20762025" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="silver-prices" source="keywords">Silver prices</keyword> have reached a significant milestone on Monday, touching Rs 1,00,000 on the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) for the March contract.<br /><br />According to the experts, this surge is being driven by escalating <keyword id="19955176" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="geopolitical-tensions" source="keywords">geopolitical tensions</keyword> in the Middle East, actions by China, and uncertainties related to the upcoming U.S. elections. These global risks are pushing silver prices to fresh all-time highs, as investors seek <keyword id="21286754" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="safe-haven-assets" source="keywords">safe-haven assets</keyword> amidst the growing instability.<br /><br />"Silver prices have aligned with expectations, and we anticipate a potential rally towards the usd 40 mark in the next six months. <keyword id="23623786" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="MCX-March-contract" source="keywords">MCX March contract</keyword> silver tested Rs 1 lakh, as geopolitical tensions are expected to continue supporting its safe-haven appeal. Additionally, high ETF investments and China's economic support contribute to a positive outlook. With <keyword id="23623788" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="gold-silver-ratio" source="keywords">GOLD SILVER RATIO</keyword> dropping towards the 80 level, it is likely to outperform gold. We expect silver to reach Rs 1.3 lakh by March 2025" said Ajay Kedia, Director of <keyword id="23623787" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Kedia-Advisory" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Kedia Advisory" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Kedia Advisory">Kedia Advisory</keyword>.<br /><br />Silver remains strong in the market, with industrial demand expected to further boost prices. Analysts predict that silver could soon approach the USD 40 mark, as demand continues to rise. The metal plays a key role in industries such as electronics, solar energy, and manufacturing, making it highly sought after for both investment and practical purposes.<br /><br />In the commodity markets, contracts refer to agreements to buy or sell a specific quantity of a commodity at a predetermined price on a future date. These contracts are standardized and traded on exchanges like MCX. Traders use them to hedge against price fluctuations or to speculate on price movements.<br /><br />For instance, in the case of silver, the March contract represents an agreement to trade silver at a fixed price in March, allowing traders to lock in prices now to avoid future volatility.<br /><br />The ongoing geopolitical tensions and global risks are driving the prices of commodities like silver, as investors look for stability in uncertain times.<br /><br />The surge in silver prices reflects both the increasing demand for industrial use and its value as a safe-haven asset. With the global outlook remaining uncertain, silver could see further gains in the coming months.<br /><br />

Silver touches Rs 1 lakh mark on MCX march contract

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Costco sells an estimated <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/costco-gold-bars-silver-coins-monthly-sales-wells-fargo-bullion-2024-4">$200 million of gold bars and silver coins</a> a month.</li><li>A gold expert, Taylor Huff, says that with the popularity, some buyers may not know what to expect.</li></ul><p>Gold bars and silver coins are some of Costco's hottest items this year, with the warehouse club selling through its supplies to the tune of $200 million a month.</p><p>Each new batch of gold bars sells out "<a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/costco-sold-100-million-in-gold-bars-last-quarter-2023-12">within a few hours</a>" of being released, Costco's chief financial officer has said, for a small markup over the spot price.</p><p><a target="_blank" href="https://www.wsj.com/finance/investing/selling-costco-gold-bars-f14e966f">The Wall Street Journal</a> reported that some buyers had been getting a crash course in commodity trading as they tried to make a quick profit on their gold stash.</p><p>But Taylor Huff, the CEO of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.mygoldadvisor.com">My Gold Advisor</a>, says that's the wrong approach.</p><p>"Some people will just go buy gold from Costco, even though they don't know why they're buying it or what to do with it," he said.</p><p>Huff shared his top three tips that shoppers should remember when buying gold.</p><h2><strong>1: Gold is for saving, not quick profit</strong></h2><p>"You don't buy <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/how-to-invest-in-gold">physical gold</a> to flip a profit. You buy physical gold to store wealth and to protect what you've earned," Huff said. "You're trading out your dollars for a physical asset outside of the banking system."</p><p>Gold appreciates at about 8% a year on average, according to <a target="_blank" href="https://privatebank.jpmorgan.com/nam/en/insights/markets-and-investing/is-it-a-golden-era-for-gold">JPMorgan</a>, which makes it popular among those seeking a hedge against inflation.</p><p>But that also means buyers should plan to hold onto any physical gold they buy for a minimum of one year, and preferably much longer. Huff says.</p><p>An increase of 8% would also help cover any discounts or expenses necessary to sell the gold for cash since dealers don't always pay spot prices.</p><h2><strong>2: Start researching dealers early on</strong></h2><p>While waiting for <a target="_blank" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/commodities/gold-price-forecast-outlook-spot-fed-interest-rate-cut-rosenberg-2024-4">gold to appreciate</a>, Huff recommends researching and connecting with reputable dealers who would buy the bars at a fair price.</p><p>This can be especially helpful if circumstances require an earlier-than-planned selling of the gold stash.</p><p>"Whenever the time comes, you already have that in your back pocket. You've already vetted them out and know the process," he said.</p><p>In addition, Huff says silver makes a nice complement to gold for a simple investing strategy.</p><p>"A ratio that we watch is the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/how-to-buy-silver">gold-to-silver</a> ratio," he said. "When gold becomes cheaper relative to silver, you could sell some of your silver or trade some of your silver for gold and flip-flop your portfolio that way."</p><h2><strong>3: Keep it safe</strong></h2><p>While silver can take up a lot of space, Huff says gold is surprisingly compact.</p><p>"You could fit a million dollars' worth of gold in two hands," he said.</p><p>To secure smaller stashes, Huff says a small <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/guides/home/best-home-safe">fireproof safe</a> — preferably bolted to the floor — is probably sufficient. A fully insured self-storage unit is also a reasonable option.</p><p>Larger holdings can be kept at private depositories that specialize in precious metals and collectibles and include insurance.</p><p>"The approach should be that you never want to sell it," Huff said. "You never want to spend your savings, and gold should be approached that same way."</p>

3 things Costco shoppers should know before buying gold bars

<p>The price of silver has exploded once again on Thursday, seeing huge gains in early trading.</p><p>Just after 8:45 a.m. BST (3:45 a.m ET) the metal most famous for being given to runners-up, is the biggest gainer of all non-agricultural commodities on the day. It is up more than 1.8% to hold at around 11-month highs, and trade at roughly $17.46 per ounce. Earlier in the morning, gains were almost 3%, but have since pared.</p><p>Here's how silver looks over the last few hours:</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Investing.com</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>Silver's continuing rally is all to do with a correction in the trading ratio between gold and silver. Generally speaking, silver prices track <span>gold carefully, meaning that when gold rises, so does silver. However, this year, silver prices have lagged a little behind, and markets are now starting to correct that gap.</span></p><p><span><span>At the start of April, gold had gained more than 13% on the year, while silver was up just 8%. However in the past couple of weeks, silver has started to gain momentum, as investors look to close the appreciation gap between the metals.</span></span></p><p><span> As HSBC's James Steel noted in the bank's daily precious metals update: "we still believe they will outperform gold and enjoy positive fundamentals. Silver is benefitting from a recovery in solar power demand."</span></p><p><span>Silver's strong performance on Thursday follows on from a huge day on Tuesday, <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/silver-prices-april-19-2016-4">when the metal gained almost 5%</a>.</span></p><p><span>Generally speaking, metals are enjoying strength right now, with gold, platinum and palladium all gaining on the day. Gains are smaller than silver however, with prices up 0.26%, 0.01%, and 0.05% respectively.</span></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/goldman-sachs-history-banks-finance-markets-ed-morris-2016-4">THE STORY OF GOLDMAN SACHS: From foot peddlers to a powerhouse</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="NxNWJ1MjE6u0RxXow5D79vSG1wtQyHQT" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

Silver is having another crazy day

A roller-coaster ride may have fewer ups and downs than what the gold market has had in 2022, industry experts said while looking back at the year that is set to end soon.<br /><br />"A roller-coaster ride has less ups and downs than what the bullion market had in the year 2022. Both the metals, <keyword id="508294" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="gold-and-silver" source="Orion">Gold and Silver</keyword>, kept the market participants on edge," <keyword id="377165" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="navneet-damani" source="Orion">Navneet Damani</keyword>, Senior Vice-President of Currency &amp; Commodity, Motilal Oswal Financial Services, said.<br /><br />According to <keyword id="630853" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="damani" source="Orion">Damani</keyword>, the Comex Gold has made a high of about $1,935 and a low of about $1,630, while silver on other hand made a high of about $25 and a low of about $18.<br /><br />There are a few factors which triggered volatility in the market like, a move in the Dollar Index and yields, aggressive monetary policy stance from major central banks, rising inflationary concern and geo-political tension, which led to this volatility.<br /><br />Concurring with him are Chirag Mehta, CIO and Ghazal Jain, Fund Manager- Alternative Investments, <keyword id="594214" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="quantum-amc" source="Orion">Quantum AMC</keyword> who said in a report: "Gold prices approached an all-time high of around $2,070 in March on the back of risk aversion triggered by the Russia-Ukraine war. But later, as the geopolitical risk premium waned coupled with the Federal Reserve's tightening spree to combat sky-high inflation, prices faced heavy downside pressure."<br /><br />Pointing out the repo rate hikes by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the <keyword id="6356435" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="us-federal-reserve" source="Orion">US Federal Reserve</keyword>, the two experts said the action resulted in the flight of money from risky assets to the US dollar as the real interest rates (indicated by US 10Y Treasury Inflation Protected Securities) turned positive for the first time in two years in May 2022.<br /><br />"This led to a sell-off in gold taking prices down to a two-and-a-half-year low of $1,614. However, as inflation started to moderate sequentially in Q4 2022, investors started anticipating a less aggressive <keyword id="45672" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="fed" source="Orion">Fed</keyword> in 2023, and the dollar came under pressure helping gold prices to scale back up," the Quantum AMC report said.<br /><br />"Stepping into 2023, we can't be sure if this reaction is justified given that inflation in the US remains well above the Fed's two per cent target, and the Fed has made it clear that while the pace of rate hikes could slow down from here on, but the slower pace does not mean lower rates which the markets had started anticipating," the Quantum AMC officials said.<br /><br />According to the Quantum AMC report, there can be another 50-75 basis points hike in the first half of 2023 by the US Fed which in turn could result in bouts of volatility in both risk assets and gold as real rates rise in an environment of cooling inflation and higher nominal rates.<br /><br />Damani said the gold's domestic story is quite different, as even after such macro happenings there was not a great on the MCX, amidst factors like sharp depreciation in the rupee coupled with a hike in basic customs duty by five per cent on gold.<br /><br />He said 2022 has definitely given a boost in market participants' confidence as to gold and silver.<br /><br />Along with Russia-Ukraine tensions, inflationary concerns and the Covid scare in China, market participants will also carry the baggage regarding slower global growth into the next year, Damani said.<br /><br />"Going ahead, market participants will keenly focus on the monetary policy stance of major central bankers. A move in the Dollar Index and Yields will also be watched by the market. The gold/silver ratio has also fallen from the recent peak of about 97 to about 75, supporting the move in silver. And also apart from safe-haven bets, advancement in green technology and increase in industrial demand could continue to support silver prices," Damani remarked.<br /><br />According to him, there seems some signs of exhaustion in gold and silver and dips could be used as buying opportunities for any medium-to-long-term investor for the target of Rs 58,000 in gold and Rs 73,000 followed by 82,000 in silver.<br /><br /><b>SEE ALSO:<br /></b><a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/homebuyer-affordability-declines-in-2022-but-still-better-than-pre-pandemic-2019-level-says-knight-frank-india/articleshow/96597187.cms"><strong>Homebuyer affordability declines in 2022 but still better than pre-pandemic 2019 level, says Knight Frank India</strong></a><b><u><strong><br /></strong></u></b><a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/sustainability/news/coals-and-other-unapproved-fuels-to-be-banned-across-ncr-from-january-1/articleshow/96575746.cms"><strong>Coals and other unapproved fuels to be banned across NCR from January 1</strong></a><b><u></u></b>

Gold & silver markets most likely to see signs of exhaustion in 2023

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right click-to-enlarge"><div><div class="image on-image"><a title_source="Wikimedia Commons" title_caption="Some regular non-Apple gold." class="zoomin" href="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/54fd9d1bdd0895203e8b45d7-960/king-tut-gold-ancient-egypt-1.jpg"><span class="sprites click-to-enlarge-icon" title="Click to enlarge"></span></a><p class="source"><span>Wikimedia Commons</span></p><p class="caption">Some regular non-Apple gold.</p></div><p></p></div></div>On Monday, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-watch-apple-watch-event-2015-3">Apple is finally going to tell us a lot more about the long-anticipated Apple Watch</a>. Namely: how much it costs.</p><p>Predictions for the price of the coveted gold "Edition" version of the Apple Watch are ranging as high as $10,000 (or even higher!) - but there are suggestions it could cost significantly less. Why? Because, <a href="http://leancrew.com/all-this/2015/03/apple-gold/">as Dr. Drang points out on Leancrew</a>, Apple says it has invented a new kind of gold.</p><p>We know the watch is going to be 18-karat gold. But 18K gold isn't pure gold - it's an alloy of three parts gold to one part other material.</p><p>What Apple has done is <a href="http://pdfaiw.uspto.gov/.aiw?PageNum=0&amp;docid=20140361670&amp;IDKey=A9058DEAFBAB&amp;HomeUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fappft.uspto.gov%2Fnetacgi%2Fnph-Parser%3FSect1%3DPTO1%2526Sect2%3DHITOFF%2526d%3DPG01%2526p%3D1%2526u%3D%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.html%2526r%3D1%2526f%3DG%2526l%3D50%2526s1%3D20140361670.PGNR.%2526OS%3D%2526RS%3D">produce a new patented alloy that contains less gold per volume</a> while retaining the same 3:1 ratio and 18K classification. The other material isn't one of the standard metals used in alloys; it's ceramic, which is less dense. <a href="http://leancrew.com/all-this/">Dr. Drang on Leancrew explains this in more detail</a> (emphasis ours):</p><p style="padding-left: 30px;">How can this be? It's because Apple's gold is a metal matrix composite, not a standard alloy. Instead of mixing the gold with silver, copper, or other metals to make it harder, Apple is mixing it with low-density ceramic particles. <strong>The ceramic makes Apple's gold harder and more scratch-resistant </strong>- which Tim Cook touted during the September announcement - and it also makes it less dense overall.</p><p><a href="http://www.marco.org/2015/03/07/apple-gold">As developer Marco Arment points out on his blog</a>, this reduced gold content opens the door to a significantly cheaper Apple Watch Edition than people are speculating. "The uncomfortable issue of an extremely expensive watch that's completely obsolete in a few years would all be significantly less problematic if the Edition was priced closer to $2,000-$3,000," he writes. "We don't know yet if Apple <em>will</em> do that, but it sure looks like they <em>can</em>."</p><p>Apple design chief Jony Ive also talked about Apple's special gold <a href="http://howtospendit.ft.com/technology/77791-the-man-behind-the-apple-watch">in a recent profile in the Financial Times</a>. He explained how Apple's new gold methods made it "twice as hard as standard gold."</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/apple-watch-functions-features-2014-9">Here's How The Apple Watch Works</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="BsZXQ3cDpk2gQKHCK0r8tWL3a11SxxlV" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

Apple has invented a new kind of gold

New Delhi, <keyword id="10443303" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="smartphone-maker-oppo">Smartphone maker OPPO</keyword> on Wednesday launched a new A-series smartphone '<keyword id="10430345" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Oppo-A15S">OPPO A15s</keyword>' for ₹11,490 in India.<br /><br />According to the company, the smartphone will be available across all mainline retail channels and Amazon starting December 21 in three vibrant colour variants - dynamic black, fancy white as well as rainbow silver.<br /><br />The smartphone <keyword id="35660" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="features">features</keyword> a 6.52-inch waterdrop display with an 89% screen-to-body ratio and an HD+ resolution and 720 x 1600 pixel.<br /><br />Under the hood, OPPO A15s is powered by Helio P35 processor coupled with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage. It is backed up by a 4,230 mAh battery.<br /><br />The phone has a square-shaped AI triple-rear camera setup of 13MP, 2MP (macro), and 2MP (depth) sensors which includes features like Night mode, Time-lapse, slow-motion and more. For selfies, there is 8MP camera on the front with AI beautification mode.<br /><br />The device runs on ColorOS 7.2 that supports features such as system-wide dark mode, <keyword id="10443302" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="icon-pull-down-gesture">Icon Pull-Down Gesture</keyword> feature. The phone also sports a fingerprint reader on the back.<br /><br /><strong>SEE ALSO:<br /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/top-stocks-to-watch-idbi-bank-pnb-bank-axis-bank-mm-embassy-reit-pvr-and-others/articleshow/79750662.cms">Top stocks to watch — IDBI Bank, PNB Bank, Axis Bank, M&amp;M, Embassy REIT, PVR, and others</a><br /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/defense/news/india-inaugurates-new-railway-line-with-bangladesh-to-save-its-chickens-neck-from-china-on-vijay-diwas/articleshow/79750869.cms">After 55 years, India will inaugurate a new railway line with Bangladesh to save its ‘Chicken’s Neck’ from China</a><br /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/finance/news/gold-loan-providers-in-india-face-a-rise-in-robberies-as-gold-prices-rise/articleshow/79752387.cms">Gold loan providers in India face a rise in robberies as gold prices rise</a></strong><br />

Oppo launches A15s budget smartphone in India at ₹11,490

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="35264" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="silver">Silver</keyword> has become a new target for Reddit day traders after multiple posts on the infamous <keyword id="9346197" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="wallstreetbets">WallStreetBets</keyword>.</li><li>One post on the now-famous subreddit called the silver market "one of the most manipulated on Earth."</li><li>The <keyword id="210591" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="iShares-Silver-Trust">iShares Silver Trust</keyword> ETF was up as much as 7.2% on Thursday.</li></ul><p>Reddit day traders are turning to silver for their next short-squeeze target after being restricted from hot stocks like GameStop and AMC on some <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/robinhood-removes-gamestop-amc-reddit-wallstreetbets-fueled-stock-rally-gme-2021-1-1030015292">trading platforms.</a></p><p><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/wallstreetbets/">Reddit's WallStreetBets</a> has been the talk of the market over the past few weeks as the forum used retail traders' purchasing power to put the squeeze on institutional investors and short-sellers.</p><p>Now it appears the day traders of Reddit have found their next target in <keyword id="119992" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="precious-metals">precious metals</keyword>.</p><p>"Silver Bullion Market is one of the most manipulated on earth. Any short squeeze in silver paper shorts would be EPIC," <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/wallstreetbets/comments/l68ill/the_biggest_short_squeeze_in_the_world_slv_silver/"> a user on Reddit's WallStreetBets posted</a>. "We know billion banks are manipulating gold and silver to cover real inflation. Both the industrial case and monetary case, debt printing has never been more favorable for the No. 1 inflation hedge Silver."</p><p><strong><em>Read More:</em></strong><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/stock-market-investing-strategy-updated-shiller-pe-ratio-leuthold-group-2021-1?utm_source=markets&amp;utm_medium=ingestgest" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> <em>A Wall Street firm tweaked the Shiller PE ratio to create a superior gauge of the strongest stock-market returns - and broke down why the beloved metric won't cut it anymore</em></a></p><p>Another post on the site said, "inflation-adjusted Silver should be at 1000$ instead of 25$. Why not squeeze $SLV to real physical price. Think about the Gainz. If you don't care about the gains, think about the banks like JP MORGAN you'd be destroying along the way."</p><p>The iShares Silver Trust gained as much as 7.2% on Thursday morning after the posts, a significant move for an ETF that normally has low volatility.</p><p>Spot silver also gained 6.8% before paring gains, while individual names in the industry like First Majestic Silver were probably the biggest beneficiaries of the move.</p><p>Shares in First Majestic soared as much as 39% before paring gains. Still, First Majestic is up over 20% as of 2:35 PM EST.</p><p>"There's a short squeeze going on in silver. The 'hoodies' are all rolling into silver, and the party is on," Phil Streible, chief market strategist at Blue Line Futures, <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-01-28/silver-is-the-latest-market-hit-by-reddit-day-trader-frenzy">told Bloomberg</a>. "All those other stocks like GameStop and AMC, they're dumping because they've been restricted, and they gotta go into other short opportunities, and silver is an easily identifiable target."</p><p><strong><em>Read More:</em></strong><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cathie-wood-ark-invest-analysts-top-10-stock-picks-q4-2021-1?utm_source=markets&amp;utm_medium=ingestgest" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> <em>'We're very surprised we didn't underperform in the 4th quarter': Cathie Wood and her analysts break down their stock-selection process and the top 10 picks that contributed to the outperformance of ARK ETFs in Q4 2020</em></a></p><p>Silver prices have been muted for months after falling from highs of $28.30 an ounce last August.</p><p>The precious metal is generally not a volatile commodity, making Thursday's spike in price notable. Spot silver has traded between $14 and $28 for the past five years.</p><p>Precious metal bulls are taking note of the price action. Peter Schiff, CEO of Euro Pacific Capital, <a href="https://twitter.com/PeterSchiff/status/1354795525086859266">said on Twitter</a>, "It looks like the #reddit raiders have turned their attention to #silver stocks. They're getting smarter. Silver stocks are actually cheap, and represent good investment value. The fact that some investors were foolish enough to short these stocks makes their trade even better."</p>

Reddit day traders look to silver as the next short-squeeze after being restricted from hot stocks

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Francis Boulle</span></p><p class="caption">Francis Boulle in Ghana</p></div><p></p></div></div>Viewers of Channel 4's "Made in Chelsea" will know 27-year-old Francis Boulle as a popular member of West London's rich and partying jet set.</p><p>But the reality TV star has spent the past three years mining for gold in Ghana - far away from SW3 - and has big plans for other projects, including a huge agricultural operation in the country.</p><p>Boulle sat down with Business Insider to discuss his extremely bullish view on the gold and silver market, the future of currencies and how his television profile has affected his ability to raise capital.</p><p>Below is a transcript of the interview, edited for clarity: </p><p><strong>Business Insider's Ben Moshinsky: Could you talk about your fascination with gold? What are you doing in that industry?</strong></p><p><strong>Francis Boulle: </strong><span style="font-weight: 400;">I really started to become interested in gold when I was at school studying for my economics A-level. I suppose it was then that I began to understand the place of gold in society, as a store of value and as this natural hedge against the government the sanctioned debasement of currencies - I was actually also studying the collapse of the Weimar republic at the time, so the inevitable consequences of governments trying to print their way out of debt was pretty very fresh in my mind.<span style="font-weight: 400;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">And I think when you learn more about the history of gold in international trade and its roots as this amazingly elegant solution to "the problem of the coincidence of needs" in the barter system you begin to understand how important gold really has been to mankind. </span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Gold is the original money, as it facilitated the indirect exchange of goods via this non-perishable, fungible, and homogeneous metal which doesn't lose any value regardless of how many times you divide it. </span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">All of these commodities were competing for the crown of being the most suitable thing to be considered money and gold was the clear winner.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">After finishing my A-levels I went to Edinburgh University to study philosophy and economics in 2007, just as the sub-prime mortgage crisis hit and we saw the credit-based system collapse. This caused one of the biggest bull runs in gold and silver in my lifetime and I began to pay close attention. </span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">I started to become a bit obsessed and began studying economic history in great depth and slowly got to grips with the mechanics and history of our banking and monetary systems. It was ultimately through this study that I began to truly understand the gravity of the systemic flaws in our current system and how vulnerable it really is to collapse - but I was also kind of amazed when I started to speak to people in the economic, political and financial spheres, how unaware most of them were about this.</span></p><p><strong><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Francis Boulle</span></p><p class="caption">Boulle's gold</p></div><p></p></div></div>BM: What is the most concerning thing about that?</strong></p><p><strong>FB: </strong><span style="font-weight: 400;">Just looking at fiat currencies for example and their significance in our current financial system. Fiat currencies - like the Dollar or Sterling - created by governments and central banks and are backed by absolutely nothing, they are ultimately worthless but are attributed a type of illusory value based on the blind faith in them by the masses and through government taxation. </span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">But throughout history there have been thousands and thousands of these fiat currencies and all of them, every single one, has collapsed to absolute zero and became totally worthless. Not a single fiat currency has survived, and there is nothing special or uniquely different about the fiat currencies that we use today. </span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">But what's really poignant is that for the first time in history, the entire world is now using fiat currencies. When these types fiat currencies have collapsed throughout history, all the way back to collapse of the Roman Denarius which ultimately led to the fall of the Roman Empire, people have always reverted back to things that hold value, and ultimately they go back to using gold and silver as money.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Unless governments start acknowledging this, which is doubtful, I think there is a genuine probability that we will, in our lifetime, see some kind of global currency crisis on a truly unprecedented scale. <span style="font-weight: 400;">Unprecedented because the whole world is using fiat currency but also largely because we've never before seen this level of global public and private debt. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Before Nixon reneged on the Bretton Woods system in 1971, gold had acted as a kind of hand break on credit expansion in an economy, prohibiting wasteful governments from printing money to their hearts' content. Since the Nixon shock however, we have been living in a totally fiat world, and governments have been able to accumulate colossal levels of debt. </span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Just look at the USA for example, which I think is now the greatest debtor nation in the history of the world with a national debt of over $20 trillion dollars and the <keyword id="6354868" type="COUNTRY" weightage="60" keywordseo="UK">UK</keyword> with national debt of £8.6 trillion at the end of last year. But also the private debt levels are arguably the biggest problem, if you look through history to major economic collapses, they are often preceded by a period of boom time that are often perceived to be some kind of economic miracle. But they are all characterised by soaring private debt levels relative to GDP, the Roaring Twenties for example or the Japanese Miracle in the 80s. </span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">It's almost like these soaring levels of private debt act as a drag on the economy tipping it in to crisis. I think the private debt to GDP ratio in the USA is around 150% now but it's even higher in China at around 200%. When the US financial crisis hit in 2008 private debt to GDP ratio was at around 170%, so I think it's very possible we will see a crisis in China in the near future.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">But we are also in this situation where our banks are insolvent and are being bailed out by central banks, who are also insolvent, and then who is going to bail out the central banks? The Bank for International Settlements (BIS)? It can't really carry on like this - it has to come to a crunch point.<span style="font-weight: 400;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">And once faith is lost again in fiat currencies, I think we will essentially see a major a transfer of value and purchasing power from those that are holding the collapsing currencies to those holding hard assets, be it gold or silver or other hard assets. It's a bit like a game of musical chairs, if you don't protect yourself by holding some hard assets, you could end up sitting on the floor.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">But I think as much as something like this would cause significant global disorder, it should also be understood for the huge opportunity that it represents to those who educate and prepare themselves. If you have aligned yourself with it and your timing is right, you can absorb a lot of that value lost from the failing currencies and become very rich.</span></p><p><strong>BM: But in that world, what's the point of being wealthy if the dollar becomes worthless?</strong></p><p><strong>FB: </strong><span style="font-weight: 400;">To be wealthy just means to own things of value, be it land, commodities, jewellery, antiques, classical art or indeed gold and silver. Currency is just a means of exchange. <span style="font-weight: 400;">I'm not necessarily suggesting the dollar is suddenly going to become worthless next week. I think most likely things will come to a crunch point and the powers that be, the Bank for International Settlements for example, will meet in secret and we will all wake up one morning to gold having been repriced significantly higher, perhaps they will even begin to issue some type of new global reserve currency combining special drawing rights.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;"> Maybe they will even involve gold somehow. It's difficult to predict exactly how it will play out, but what I do think one can confidently predict is that in these types of scenarios gold and silver will positively benefit.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">So I guess in light of all this and a number of other quite compelling reasons, I decided to align myself with what I saw as the significant upside potential in precious metals and sought to become an expert in the processes of gold exploration and extraction. </span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">I went out to Ghana four years ago with the idea of packaging up some gold properties to begin to structure a West African gold play for an eventual IPO. I had options on three prospective 'greenfield' licences or licences with no geological work on them, put together a good team of advisors and exploration geologists and came back to London to do a bit of a road show presenting to various mining investors, but I found there was not much appetite at that time for these types of less-developed assets. </span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Francis Boulle</span></p></div><p></p></div></div>They were much more interested in production and more developed properties, so I ended up mothballing the exploration and focusing on extraction. We bought some excavators and built some processing plants and started large scale alluvial mining in Ghana. </span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">So that's what I have been doing for the past three years. </span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Obviously the gold price has taken a battering and this has led to me having to be very hands-on and having to run a very lean, efficient mining operation. Pretty much anyone can run a mining operation in a boom time, but when there's a downturn you really have to cut back and tighten the belts operationally and personally to survive.<span style="font-weight: 400;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The reality is that it has been a game of survival rather than victory for most miners these past few years and I very nearly lost my shirt several times. But I hope that, coming out of the tough downturn, having had to be extremely efficient and lean to survive, you can take those lessons forward when the price comes back and pass back that value to your shareholders.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In the long term, I'm obviously very bullish on gold and silver. I think there are some incredible opportunities in gold and silver going forward. If you look at the fundamentals, it's a no brainer. But also looking at historic bull markets in gold and silver, from technical analytical perspective, these things go on for years and we're really just at the beginning. If you look at the 50 and 200 daily-moving-average (DMA) for example, which act as kind of supports in the bull market, we still haven't broken below the 200 DMA and I think this is going to go on for years to come, I think the dips below the 50 DMA should be bought.</span></p><p><strong>BM: Do you have an end price for gold?</strong></p><p><strong>FB: </strong><span style="font-weight: 400;">Well gold is currently priced in dollars. In theory if a dollar becomes worthless then continuing to price gold in dollars would be an exercise in futility, so I don't think we will be pricing in dollars when that happens. I can't give you an end price for gold in dollars, I think we need to think in terms of purchasing power. What will an ounce of gold buy you? What will be its real purchasing power? Who can say exactly but I think it has to be many multiples to its current purchasing power.</span></p><p><strong>BM: In that scenario, there's still going to have to be something other than gold that's exchangeable as money...</strong></p><p><strong>FB: </strong><span style="font-weight: 400;">I think financial technology and innovation will present some viable solutions to these problems, be it bitcoin or some sort of blockchain ledger system involving gold perhaps.</span></p><p><strong>BM: What other stuff are you looking at from a business angle?</strong></p><p><strong>FB: </strong><span style="font-weight: 400;">I've been focusing on gold but the recent downturn has led me to explore other sectors. One of the most exciting to me is the African agriculture sector. Africa has huge potential for agricultural development. It has the largest amount of unexploited arable land in the world, which is still incredibly cheap to acquire. I'm currently conducting a feasibility study for a 2,000 hectare agricultural project in Ghana, I'm very excited about how this is progressing.<span style="font-weight: 400;"></span></span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">I have also been working on some solar projects, in Ghana but also other parts of Africa. I think there is huge potential for African renewables particularly solar. So I suppose to speak in general terms I'm most focused on agriculture, gold and renewables.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">I also think Bauxite has got some way to go up as well. There's shrinking supply and demand still seems to be quite buoyant from Chinese alumina producers. No-one really knows what's happening with oil. Eventually it will have to go up. I think we've had something like the lowest level of new discoveries in 70 years, something like a tenth of the average. So we will have a rally sooner or later but I think new opportunities in oil and gas will begin to reveal themselves in the next few years.</span></p><p><strong>BM: What sort of investor appetite have you had for those projects?</strong></p><p><strong>FB: </strong><span style="font-weight: 400;">There is a huge amount of appetite from investors for agriculture in Africa but the feasibility studies and plans need to be bankable. But I think there is huge potential here and I am very excited about our project in particular. The potential for renewables in Africa is massive, but the current issue here is the integrity of the PPA's (Power Purchase Agreements) and the ability of the off-takers/utility companies to pay you for the power produced. </span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">There's a lot of money to be raised for good quality mining and gold properties. As we see gold continue to rally, we'll see more capital come into less developed assets and greenfield exploration, which has been nascent for some time now. But I think more likely in the short term we will see rollups or consolidation of distressed assets that the juniors have been unable to maintain in the downturn. </span></p><p><strong>BM: How does your television profile help or hinder what you do in business?</strong></p><p><strong>FB: </strong><span style="font-weight: 400;">I think ultimately in business, maybe more particularly in mining, it doesn't really matter who you are as long as you deliver and create value for your shareholders. As long as you find that gold in the ground and you can perform, it's not going to be hard to find investors. But I think in many cases, especially with institutional investors, my media profile has been seen with some distaste. So I think the reality is this just makes it all the more important for me to prove myself and what I know.</span></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/krugman-financial-markets-arent-taking-trump-seriously-2016-8">KRUGMAN: Financial markets aren't taking a Trump victory very seriously</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="RrNXdtNTE6A2yVb-FAhQwFsUcSxyV1lf" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

Made in Chelsea's Francis Boulle: We face a currency crisis 'on a truly unprecedented scale'

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span><a href="http://pictures.reuters.com/C.aspx?VP3=SearchResult&amp;ALID=2C0BF1FH0GK1H&amp;VBID=2C0BX41G68BE&amp;POPUPPN=7&amp;POPUPIID=2C0BF1FHQITMX">Reuters/Amir Cohen</a></span></p><p class="caption">An Israeli woman takes a selfie in a buttercup field near Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak in southern Israel, just outside the Gaza Strip.</p></div><p></p></div></div>Here is what you need to know.</p><p><strong><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/live-netflix-reports-q1-earnings-2016-4">Netflix is getting destroyed on guidance</a>.</strong> Shares of Netflix are down more than 8% ahead of the opening bell after the company issued disappointing guidance. Netflix expects second quarter international subscriber growth of 2 million, which was well short of the 3.45 million that Wall Street was hoping for. The news wasn't all bad as the company announced earnings of $0.06 per share, beating the $0.04 that was anticipated. Revenue surged 24.5% to $1.96 billion, matching estimates.</p><p><strong><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/ibm-reports-first-quarter-earnings-2016-4">IBM beat</a>.</strong> The company announced earnings of $2.35 per share, easily topping the $2.09 that was expected by the Bloomberg consensus. Revenue fell 4.6% to $18.68 billion, which was better than the $18.28 billion that analysts were hoping for. However, the first quarter marked the 16th consecutive quarter of declining revenue. IBM expects its <span>full-year free-cash flow to be at the upper end of its $11 billion to $12 billion guidance.</span> "<span>IBM has established itself as the industry leader in total cloud, analytics and cognitive, all of which helped drive our strategic imperatives revenue growth at a strong double-digit rate, substantially faster than the market," <span>IBM chairman, president and chief executive officer Ginni Rometty said.</span></span></p><p><span><span><strong><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/goldman-sachs-q1-earnings-2016-4">Goldman Sachs reports</a>.</strong> The investment bank is expected to earn $2.49 per share on revenue of $7.11 billion, according to the Bloomberg consensus. Goldman will try to reverse the first quarter trend of Wall Street banks  beating expectations, but seeing a huge drop in profit. The report will cross the wires around 7:30 a.m. ET.</span></span></p><p><span><span><strong><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/r-china-sovereign-fund-to-seek-majority-control-of-yum-unit-bloomberg-2016-4">China is trying to buy a big stake in Yum Brands</a>.</strong> Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the matter, says <span>China Investment Corp, China's state-owned sovereign wealth fund, is backing an investor group bid to buy a majority stake in Yum Brands' China unit. According to the report, a deal could be for as much as $8 billion. If a deal were to be completed, Yum China would trade on the New York Stock Exchange and possibly the Hong Kong Exchange, the report says.</span></span></span></p><p><strong><a href="http://www.bok.or.kr/contents/total/eng/boardView.action?menuNaviId=634&amp;boardBean.brdid=18253&amp;boardBean.menuid=634&amp;boardBean.rnum=2">South Korea downgraded its growth forecast</a>. </strong>The Bank of Korea held its key interest rate at 1.50% for a 10th straight month and lowered its GDP forecast<span> to 2.8% from 3%.</span> The central bank noted unemployment was a bit higher than a year ago and that inflation will fall "considerably short of the 2% inflation target for the time being, due mainly to the low oil prices." Four new members of the Bank of Korea's board will make their debuts at the May meeting. In a note released at the end of March, Morgan Stanley said, "<span>Nominations of dovish BoK members increase the probability of near-term easing, in our view." The Korean won ended stronger by 1.2% at 1136.28.</span></p><p><strong><a href="http://www.zew.de/en/presse/pressearchiv/konjunkturaussicht-hellt-sich-auf/?cHash=3afba8c1424c61a4e92ff4603b5f45f7">German business confidence is on the rise</a>.</strong> The April reading climbed to 11.2 from March's 4.3 and easily beat the 8.0 that was expected by the Bloomberg consensus. "<span>Surprisingly positive economic news from China seem to have improved the sentiment amongst financial market experts," said Professor Sascha Steffen, Head of the Research Department "International Finance and Financial Management" at ZEW. "On balance, however, the continued poor growth in China and other important emerging markets continues to be a burden for the German export industry." The euro is up 02% at 1.1333.</span></p><p><strong><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/silver-prices-april-19-2016-4">Silver is surging</a>. </strong>Tuesday's 3% gain has the precious metal trading near $16.75 per ounce, its highest level in 10 months. The Financial Times quoted UBS analyst Joni Teves as saying, "<span>It's a combination of silver getting a bit of attention over the past week with the big move in the gold/silver ratio and quite a few market participants looking at silver in and its relative performance to gold and thinking it might be time for a bit of catch up." Gold is higher by about 0.9% at $1243 per ounce.</span></p><p><strong>Stock markets around the world are higher. </strong>Japan's Nikkei (+3.7%) led the gains in Asia and Germany's DAX (+2.2%) leads the advance in Europe. S&amp;P 500 futures are higher by 9.25 points at 2095.75.</p><p><strong>Earnings season picks up. </strong>Harley Davidson, Johnson &amp; Johnson, Philip Morris International and UnitedHealth are among the names reporting ahead of the opening bell. Intel, VMWare and Yahoo highlight the names releasing their quarterly results after markets close.</p><p><strong>Economic data remains light.</strong> Housing starts and building permits will cross the wires at 8:30 a.m. ET. The US 10-year yield is up 2 basis points at 1.78%.</p>        <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/rising-sea-levels-study-millions-americans-affected-coastal-counties-2016-4">4.2 million Americans could be displaced by rising sea levels this century - see if your county is at risk</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="1kMm1sMjE6AUd0dGnGrEB_C8Ni4Y-pH-" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

10 things you need to know before the opening bell

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span><a href="http://pictures.reuters.com/Package/2C0BF1F6C2ZIY?PBC=2CKRYD1D85D:2C04082VM4GXA:2C0BF1F6C2ZIY#/SearchResult&amp;ALID=2C0BF1F6C2ZIY&amp;PBC=2CKRYD1D85D:2C04082VM4GXA:2C0BF1F6C2ZIY&amp;VBID=2C0BX42WTZQP&amp;POPUPPN=1&amp;POPUPIID=2C0BF1FH02WG3">Reuters/Reuters Staff</a></span></p><p class="caption">A U.S. airman guides a U.S. Air Force MQ-9 Reaper drone as it taxis to the runway at Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan.</p></div><p></p></div></div>Here is what you need to know.</p><p><strong><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/swedens-kronor-jumps-against-the-euro-2016-4?r=UK&amp;IR=T">Sweden's central bank upped its QE program</a>.</strong> The Riksbank held its key interest rate at -0.5%. However, the big story was the announcement it would buy an additional <span>45 billion kronor ($5.6 billion) worth of assets this year in an effort to "<span>ensure the positive development of the Swedish economy and that the rising trend in inflation continues."</span> Additionally, the central bank says it's "highly prepared" to increase asset purchases or cut rates further, even if it means acting between scheduled meetings. The Swedish kronor is weaker by 0.1% at 8.1185 per dollar.</span></p><p><strong><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/heres-what-to-expect-from-the-ecb-today-2016-4?r=UK&amp;IR=T">The ECB meets</a>. </strong>The European Central Bank will announce its policy decision at 7:45 a.m. ET. Expectations are for the central bank to keep both its key interest rate and asset purchase program unchanged after both cutting rates and expanding asset purchases at the March meeting. Mario Draghi's press conference explaining the decision will begin at 8:30 a.m. ET. The euro is stronger by 0.1% at 1.1306.</p><p><strong><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/r-volkswagen-shares-surge-as-us-dieselgate-deal-looms-2016-4">Volkswagen is reportedly nearing a deal to resolve its emissions rigging scandal</a>. </strong>Reuters reports, the German automaker is nearing a deal where it would offer to buy back 500,000 diesel cars in the United States. People familiar with the matter told Reuters, the company would increase its provisions to an unspecified double-digit number from its current <span>€</span>6.7 billion. Back in September, Volkswagen admitted to cheating on admissions testing for more than 11 million vehicles over the six years prior.</p><p><strong><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/yum-brands-crushed-earnings-and-the-stock-is-taking-off-2016-4">Yum Brands crushed earnings estimates</a>.</strong> The fast food giant announced adjusted earnings of $0.95 per share, topping the $0.83 that was expected. Revenue was flat at $2.62 billion, just missing the $2.66 billion that was anticipated by the Bloomberg consensus. The company saw c<span>omparable store growth of 2% worldwide and total sales growth of 5%.</span> Yum <span>raised its profit growth guidance from 10% growth in 2016 to 12%.</span></p><p><strong><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/american-express-earnings-q1-2016-4">American Express posted a big beat</a>.</strong> The credit card company earned an adjusted $1.45 per share, easily beating the $1.33 that was expected by the Bloomberg consensus. Revenue slipped 2.4% to $8.1 billion, edging out the $8.05 billion that analysts were hoping for. American Express reaffirmed its full-year earnings forecast. "Despite strong competition throughout the payments industry, we generated a 4 percent increase in FX-adjusted revenues," CEO Ken Chenault said in the earnings release.</p><p><strong><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/dell-plans-to-ipo-secureworks-2016-4">SecureWorks will price its IPO</a>.</strong> It's likely we find out the pricing of Dell's spinoff later on Thursday. Expectations are for shares of the security firm to price in the $15.50 to $17.50 range, making SecureWorks worth as much as $1.4 billion. Dell is expected to raise between <span>$134.3 million to $154.9 million, but says the money won't be used to fund its acquisition of EMC. SecureWorks will trade on the Nasdaq under the ticker 'SCWX.' </span></p><p><strong><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/precious-metals-prices-april-21-2016-4">Silver's rally continues</a>.</strong> The white metal trades higher by 1.6% at 17.41 per ounce, and is at its best level in 11 months. The rally that began in early April has tacked on more than 16%, and has brought the gold-silver ratio (the price of gold compared to the price of silver) more in line with its historical average. In a recent note, HSBC's James Steel noted, "<span>Silver is benefitting from a recovery in solar power demand."</span></p><p><strong>Stock markets around the world are mixed. </strong>Japan's Nikkei (+2.7%) led the gains in Asia and France's CAC (-0.8%) sets the tone in Europe. S&amp;P 500 futures are little changed at 2098.25.</p><p><strong>Earnings reporting is heavy. </strong>Alaska Air, DR Horton, General Motors, Pulte Group, Southwest Airlines, and Verizon highlight the names reporting ahead of the opening bell. Google, Microsoft, Norfolk Southern, Schlumberger, Starbucks, and Visa are among the companies releasing their quarterly results after markets close.</p><p><strong>US economic data picks up. </strong>Thursday's data begins to flow at 8:30 a.m. ET with the release of initial and continuing claims and the Philadelphia Fed. The FHFA Housing Price Index is due out at 9 a.m. ET and leading indicators will cross the wires at 10 a.m. ET. Finally, at 10:30 a.m. ET, natural gas inventories will be released. The US 10-year yield is up 1 basis point at 1.86%.</p>      <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/photos-show-china-overcrowded-2016-4">These striking images show just how overcrowded China's population really is</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="11Yjg0eTqd5rZxjrUtLggDV0VoibCYIv" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/mobile-world-congress-2015"></a></p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table click-to-enlarge"><div><div class="image"><a title_source="Huawei" title_caption="" class="zoomin" href="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/54f31e366bb3f7697f797d83-960/huaweiwatch.png"><span class="sprites click-to-enlarge-icon" title="Click to enlarge"></span></a><p class="source"><span>Huawei</span></p></div><p></p></div></div>Chinese smartphone maker Huawei just unveiled its first smartwatch, the Huawei Watch, and it looks like it may be one of the best-looking smartwatches to date. The watch is powered by Google's Android Wear operating system, and the company has yet to say how much it will cost or when it will launch.</p><p>The Huawei Watch looks more like a timepiece that a gadget, and Huawei said it worked with watchmakers on the gadget's design. The watch itself is made of more than 130 components and comes in gold, silver, and black.</p><p>It has a round screen like the Moto 360 and LG G Watch R. Huawei is also calling it the most "vibrant" Android Wear smartwatch since its screen has a high contrast ratio. The touchscreen works when you're wearing gloves also according to Huawei.</p><p>The company is positioning the watch as a fitness accessory, too, emphasizing that it comes with a built-in heart rate monitor, a motion sensor, and a barometer for detecting whether you're walking, running, biking, or sleeping. Like most fitness trackers and smartwatch, Huawei's new watch can measure your calories burned, heart rate, steps taken, distance traveled, and how high you climb.</p><p>We won't really know how comfortable and attractive the watch is until we see it in person, but based on Huawei's product images it seems like it could give the Moto 360 some real competition in terms of design. </p>

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