VIDEO - Andy Schectman: Gold’s “Great Awakening” Bringing in New Buyers

2020 brought a marked increase in gold demand from investors — but where did that demand come from, and is it set to continue in 2021?

Recapping last year, Andy Schectman, president of Miles Franklin, said gold investment demand was unprecedented, and came partially from people who hadn’t previously been buyers.

“I’ve been in this industry for 30 years, and working 18 hour days, seven days a week would have been something I would have laughed at … I think there’s been a great awakening, I guess that’s the way that I would explain it,” he said in conversation with the Investing News Network.

Schectman doesn’t seen an end to this increased gold buying, and noted that there’s been a major shift since 2017, when a slew of countries, led by Germany’s Bundesbank, began repatriating their gold.

“In 2018, the next year, the central banks went from (being) net sellers of gold the year before to accumulating more gold than at any time in the previous 60 years combined — out of nowhere. It was very interesting,” he continued. 2019 only brought more gold buying, and in April of that year the Bank of International Settlements reclassified gold as a tier one asset, an improvement from tier three.

For Schectman, this sequence of events should be of particular interest to investors.

“Look at what the big men and women are doing since 2017 — buying copious amounts of gold and silver, taking physical possession of it, pulling it off of the exchanges, taking it away from the (US Federal Reserve) and the Bank of England. Levitating it to a tier one status,” he said. “Things are happening and we’re not getting the information, and that’s allowing the big money to position themselves.”

Watch the video above for more from Schectman on what’s going on in the the gold market, as well as where silver could go in 2021.

Key quote from Schectman

“The COMEX market is manipulated, period. Anyone who says otherwise doesn’t know what they’re talking about. JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM) settled a US$920 million fine, the largest fine ever by the justice department levied against a commercial bank for manipulating the metals market. There are eight large, concentrated traders that are commercial banks on the COMEX market right now that are short — they’re losing billions and billions of dollars, they’re holding the paper price down; they’re trapped, they’re trying to get out.

“I think if you look at what JPMorgan did, it’s classic misdirection. They were the large short; they’re now net long. They double crossed the other commercial banks. But they used the paper short price, really since 2011, to amass a billion ounces of silver — that’s the largest physical position of silver the world’s ever seen … and north of 25 million ounces of gold. All told, it’s the single largest position of physical metal the world’s ever seen, and they own it, bought at subsidized prices by holding down the price” — Andy Schectman, Miles Franklin

Don’t forget to follow us @INN_Resource for real-time updates!

Securities Disclosure: I, Charlotte McLeod, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.

Editorial Disclosure: The Investing News Network does not guarantee the accuracy or thoroughness of the information reported in the interviews it conducts. The opinions expressed in these interviews do not reflect the opinions of the Investing News Network and do not constitute investment advice. All readers are encouraged to perform their own due diligence.