Over 50% of Finland’s Gold in Bank of England

The Bank of Finland has announced that over 50% of the countries Gold reserves are held in London. Finland joins a long list of Western countries whose Gold reserves are stored at either New York, London or both. This leads credibility to the claim that Central Banks have been leasing and loaning out its Gold reserves to help surpress gold prices.

The Bank of Finland’s reserves include 49.035 tonnes of gold, valued at a market price of EUR 1,559 million as at 25 October 2013.

The Bank has confirmed the current arrangements for storing the gold held in its reserves. Having received the agreement of the central banks involved, it has decided to publish this information. The gold is stored on a geographically decentralised basis at a number of central banks: 51% is in the United Kingdom (Bank of England), 20% in Sweden (Sveriges Riksbank), 18% in the United States (Federal Reserve Bank of New York), 7% in Switzerland (Schweizerische Nationalbank) and 4% in Finland (Bank of Finland).

 

Source: Bank of Finland

500 Tons Of Gold Per Month Move From West To East

Gold price may be dropping but the demand for physical gold in the East is unprecedented. James Turk reckons 500 tons are being shipped each month. So much so, transportation is struggling to keep up with the demand. Turk discusses some of the reasons behind the takedown other than the obvious.

“We have recently seen one of the greatest interventions in the history of the gold market by Western central banks.  Gold is one of the world’s least transparent markets, and misleading central bank accounting keeps it that way.  But sometimes, by looking at different pieces of the puzzle, a picture starts emerging.  So I have put together some of the pieces together….

“For example, there have been bottlenecks in moving metal, which is clearly flowing from West to East.  Supply from mining in the West, excluding Russia and China which do not export their production, is about 160 tons per month.  In addition, there may be another 50-to-80 tons per month of gold already in the above ground stock which moves around as a result of normal flows among countries and changing demand for different gold products.

 But I estimate that recently over 500 tons per month have been moving around.  This has had the effect of creating some transportation bottlenecks.  The transport providers have not been able to cope with this remarkable development.  Similarly, the refiners have not been able to cope with the historic level of demand by fabricating the metal needed to meet the frantic buying, even though they are operating 24/7.  So we have to ask ourselves, where is all this metal coming from?

 We are talking here about physical metal, Eric, and not just selling paper-gold with futures and other derivatives.  The reality is that there has simply been too much metal moving from West to East — far beyond what has been dishoarded from ETFs and other visible sources like the Comex vaults.  Much of this physical metal had to come from central bank vaults.  That point is clear.  But an important question still remains unanswered.

 Even though Western central banks killed the gold price during the last couple of months with their dishoarding, we do not yet know precisely why they killed the gold price.  What did the central planners want to accomplish by dishoarding so much metal in such a short period of time?

 Of course we know the obvious reasons, like trying to keep people in national currencies, and the various risks these currencies involve, particularly the risk of keeping money on deposit in banks.  Reasons such as these have been in play for more than a decade as the central planners have attempted to hold together a financial system that is no longer sustainable because of insolvent banks, unmanageable levels of debt and governments that cannot control their spending.  These reasons have been well documented by the various analysts whose work has been published at places such as GATA and King World News. 

 But we have never before seen such a massive amount of dishoarding from central banks in such a short period of time.  Given that the central bankers all recognize the importance of gold as a key monetary asset on their balance sheet and one they only sell gold reluctantly, why did they do it?  Why the selling frenzy?  And why right now?

 Here is one possibility:  It was to provide liquidity to ailing banks in Italy, or perhaps Spain.  This is difficult to prove because central banks still do not prepare their accounts according to generally accepted accounting principles.  But look at it this way, every 100 tons of gold is $4 billion of liquidity.  So if central banks sold 500 tons, and I think at least this much was dishoarded by them recently, it is $20 billion, which is enough to provide a big lifeline to some insolvent banks.

 It works like this.  The banks borrow gold from the central bank, which they then sell for dollars/euros.  The transaction is hidden from view because of central bank accounting, and the gold debt on the borrowing bank’s balance sheet is hidden among its total liabilities.  The added benefit is that its gold liability diminishes as the gold price falls, making the bank appear even more solvent.  Of course the bad assets remain, so this scheme is just a fig leaf for the insolvent banks to buy time.

 However, there is an irony here for holders of gold:  The dishoarding by central banks has caused the gold price to drop precipitously, but the central bank’s use of gold makes clear gold’s greatest attribute, which is the exceptional liquidity gold provides.  Gold is money, and in this case it is rainy-day money in the sense that if I am right about how it is being used here, it is giving insolvent banks a lifeline.

 The net result is that gold continues to flow from the West to the East where it is more highly valued.  But even if desperate Western central banks are dishoarding gold in order to bail-out insolvent commercial banks, don’t take your eye off the ball.  Keep accumulating physical gold and silver because they have always stood the test of time as the world’s only true money.  All of these schemes by Western central planners will ultimately fail and the current financial system will end in disaster.  As the system implodes, one of the only things left standing will be physical gold and silver.”

Source: King World News

Hong Kong Mercantile Exchange To Close

Two years after opening, the Hong Kong Mercantile Exchange (HKMEX) is to cease trading on Monday and close out all open positions. Clearly physical gold will not be delivered and the the question to ask is will the LBMA or COMEX be shortly behind it.

When the Rothchild’s HKMEx was launched in 2011, much of the metals community assumed that the COMEX & LBMA, were they not to outright default, would fade into irrelevance with the advent of the new Asian metals exchange.
Two years to the day after the exchange’s launch however, in perhaps the most glaring evidence of physical gold & silver shortage to date, the HKMEx has announced it will voluntarily cease trading, and all open positions will be closed out and financially (cash) settled on Monday 5/20!

…….

We suspect that come Monday morning, more than one Chinese investor who believed he owned a gold position (and learns that in fact he held paper) will immediately attempt to source and take delivery of physical metal.  As the Shanghai Gold Exchange appears to have stopped delivering gold as well, we suspect that the LBMA may be in for a bit of a physical run.

The first domino appears to have fallen in the ponzi fractional gold system.

Source: Silver Doctors

World Bank Whistleblower Says Paper Currencies To Be Back By Precious Metals

Many people have claimed that the worlds reserve currency, the US Dollar will eventually cease to provide that role only to be replaced by a basket of currencies or one backed by gold. Karen Hudes, World Bank whistleblowe,r has confirmed that paper currency will be underpinned by precious metals.

I had the opportunity yesterday to speak with one of the western world’s most courageous and astute women, Karen Hudes, Former Senior Counsel to the World Bank—now turned whistle-blower.
It was a powerful conversation, as Karen spent 20 years with the World Bank as an attorney and economist, before being “let-go” after reporting internal fraud and corruption.
During the interview Karen indicated that the world is rapidly changing, with western power structures breaking down, economic & political influence gravitating to BRICs nations, all amid a pending currency transition which will highly favor precious metals.   Hudes stated: “All of the countries of the world are going to allow precious metals to serve as currency, and this will be an underpinning for paper currency, as we’ll have both systems at the same time.”

From Tekoa Da Silva:

Starting out by discussing the shocking centralized power she witnessed while working at the World Bank, Karen explained that, “A study done by three [Swiss] systems analysts who used mathematical modeling [shows] how the [world’s] 43,000 transnational corporations were being controlled through interlocking corporate directorates. There’s a group of 147 companies, most of them are financial institutions, and what they’ve done, is through the interlocking directorates, they control 40% of the net worth of these [43k] companies, and 60% of their earnings…so that group has been using the presidency of the World Bank as kind of a puppet to dominate the world—that’s [now] finished.”

A major shock to that centralized power base, according to Karen, was the recent move by BRICs nations leaders to bypass the World Bank for their financing needs, by establishing their own development bank. “As the BRICs [nations] economic power grows,” she explained, “they’re not going to be strangled anymore through the grabbing [of] their resources…So their decision to start their own development bank was their way of letting [world] governments know…that its time to end this corruption.” 

Major moves toward monetary independence are also being made by growing numbers of U.S. states, Karen added. She explained that, “The states are starting to have legislation recognizing gold and silver bullion as legal currency. This is [also] a very strong signal the states are sending to the federal government, that the time to get serious about ending the corruption in the financial system is now here.”

When asked her thoughts on what this all means for the world monetary system, Karen said, “What’s going to happen, is we’re going to have all the countries of the world, sit down and figure out what’s going to be the best, most orderly transition from the current system that we have, [which has] profound imbalance and unsustainable deficits…[this change] is going to happen as each country makes its preference known, because the system we have now is not transparent, and the biggest change [in the new system], is that there’s going to be transparency.”

That transparency may be found through a gold-backed currency system, Karen noted, as, “All of the countries of the world are going to allow precious metals to serve as currency, and this will be an underpinning for paper currency, [as] we’ll have both systems at the same time. This is my guess, as I mentioned—I am an economist.”

As a final comment speaking towards her difficult journey as a World Bank whistle-blower, Karen said, “I’ve been struggling now for years, to tell the American public what’s [been] going on. I haven’t gotten through, because this [financial] group has bought up the press and has been spreading disinformation systematically. That undermines the whole point of a democracy. How can voters vote without an informed opinion, without the information that they’re entitled too? So this strangle-hold on information is going to end in very short order.”

For further background on corruption in the World Bank check out the interview of whistleblower Karen Hudes.

Source: Silver Doctors, NSNBC

Arizona Makes Gold & Silver Legal Tender

Arizona follows Utah’s lead by making gold and silver legal tender.  More than a dozen states have considered similar moves in the last few years. This is a further kick in the stones for people’s faith in the US dollar since Central Bankers have gone full retard with the printing presses. At least now in Arizona there is an alternative that cannot be inflated so easily. Watch this space as more will undoubtedly follow.

 

PHOENIX (Reuters) – The Arizona Senate on Tuesday approved a measure to make gold and silver legal currency in the state, in a response to what backers said was a lack of confidence in the international monetary system.

The legislation cleared the Republican-controlled Senate by an 18-10 vote after being approved by the state House earlier this month. It now goes to Republican Governor Jan Brewer, who has not indicated if she will sign it into law or veto it.

The bill calls for Arizona to make gold and silver coins and bullion legal tender beginning in mid-2014, joining existing U.S. currency issued by the federal government.

If signed into law, Arizona would become the second state in the nation to establish these precious metals as legal tender. Utah approved such legislation in 2011.

More than a dozen states have considered similar legislation in recent years, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

The use of gold and silver as currency would be strictly voluntary, with businesses left free to accept the precious metals as payment for goods and services as they choose.

State Senator Chester Crandell, a Republican and sponsor of the bill, said the ability to use gold and silver in everyday life in the state is still a “work in progress” and that more legislation was needed before it could be viable.

“This is the first step in getting it into the statute so we can build on it,” Crandell said at an earlier hearing on the bill.

But Democratic state Senator Steve Farley said the bill could create massive problems for businesses in the state and government officials trying to administer what would in effect be a dual monetary system.

“There’s no reason for us to do this,” Farley told lawmakers during the final vote on Tuesday. “This is another one of those things that gets national press for us – and not in a good way.”

He also pointed to the recent decline in the value of gold – which sank to $1,321.35 per ounce on April 16, its lowest price in more than two years – noting that “anybody who thinks gold or silver is a really safe place to put your money had better think again.”

The push to establish gold and silver as currency has become increasingly popular in the United States in recent years among some hardline fiscal conservatives, with the backing of groups including the Tea Party movement, American Principles Project and the Gold Standard Institute.

Keith Weiner, president of the Gold Standard Institute advocacy group and a supporter of the bill, said the legislation was needed to counter what he sees as insolvency in the global monetary system.

“The dollar system and all of the other derivative currencies, including the euro, are a recipe for worldwide bankruptcy,” Weiner told lawmakers at an earlier hearing, adding that a “sound and honest money system such as gold and silver” was needed to bring stability.

Source: Yahoo

Jim Sinclair: Elites Plan To Control The Masses

As growth grinds to a halt Worldwide, debt levels increase  and unemployment queues continue to grow longer, someone always profits from a collapsing system but the question remains, was it by design or accident? For the US to go off the Gold Standard and dump unlimited dollars into the global financial system coupled with a massively over leveraged banking system, were we not always going collapse under he weight of fiat currency and toxic derivatives? Jim Sinclair goes even further to suggest it was no accident but a frightening plan to control the masses. It may not be too far from the truth, especially when you read Matt Taibbi’s article “Everything is rigged”.

One thing is for sure in light of the Cyprus decision to confiscate deposits and having seen a similar move in the US regarding MF Global customers, you have got to be forewarned when the inevitable collapse comes your way.

The enormous violence in the markets is obscuring a very clear message.  The message from Cyprus, that has also been written in various white papers and signed by central banks, the FDIC, Bank of England, and the BIS, is to get out of the system.

….

People have to understand that going forward large deposits by ‘non-insiders’ are no longer going to be permitted.  The goal of this pre-arranged wealth destruction is to equalize the ‘new rich’ and the ‘upper middle-class.’  Those not on the inside, with the right families and the right companies, are not going to be tolerated in the ‘New Paradigm’ of currency and metal that we are now moving into.

 So the only means of being able to protect yourself will be to understand the answer to the question, ‘What is the final end game for the most powerful families that are in fact running countries and markets?’….

“Take into consideration that the recent and violent drop in the gold price, especially if followed by an equally violent recovery, was primarily for the transfer of physical gold from financial and other entities to the families that are running the Western governments and financial world.

In my opinion that’s exactly what has just happened.  A very strong and immediate recovery, that is sustained, makes the message clear that gold is an ingredient for these wealthy families to maintain their wealth and power, not simply over a generation, but over multiple generations.

We are coming very close to a point where the manufacturing of unprecedented amounts of fiat currency has to have a global impact.  You simply can’t increase the amount of currency as violently as what been done, without having to face the consequences, one of which is the collapse of the purchasing power of those fiat currencies.

The massive and ongoing currency war the world has been witnessing may come to a head much sooner than any of us realize.  So investors must have an understanding of how the system will be preserved, and eventually reset, in order to survive the coming wealth destruction.

Maintaining significant deposits inside banks in the current financial system is setting up that portion of your wealth to be destroyed or stolen from you.  Whereas maintaining physical gold inside a private storage, outside of the banking system, is one of the ways you can survive what is coming.

Physical gold will be the primary beneficiary of the ‘Great Unwind’ that is still in front of us.  This is why the latest attempt to smash gold in the paper market was met with one of the most ferocious physical buying sprees the world has ever seen. 

 Owners of physical gold may end up being the quality non-North American gold companies, as well as individuals which move out of fiat money and into physical gold while the price is cheap.  From now on every dip you see in paper gold will be met by a corresponding move by savvy investors around the world to trade in their fiat money for physical gold.  

“The time to get out of the system is immediately in order not to be destroyed by the ‘Great Equalization’ that is about to take place”.

This phase will serve to bring humanity to its knees.  It is going to be about control of the masses, for the benefit of the few.

Derivatives will be a primary tool for the destroyers of wealth, and bank deposits all over the Western hemisphere will be invaded. So investors must get out of the system and have physical gold and gold related investments in order to survive what is still to come.”

“The price of gold is going to significant new highs, and that drive to new highs will be as a result of a continued move into physical gold.  Because the manipulative tool of the paper market has been revealed as a fraudulent determiner of price, the physical gold price will now be free to move to levels that even you and I will be surprised at, and it will be maintained at that level for generations.”

Source: King World News

Swiss Bank Refused To Hand Over Gold

As a consequence of the gold takedown last week, there has been a huge interest in physical gold. Many gold dealers have had to increase premium over spot or have simply had to wait for further supplies. Jim Sinclair reports of a friend being denied his gold in an allocated Swiss account.

Today legendary trader Jim Sinclair stunned King World News when he revealed that a dear friend of his who is very affluent just had a Swiss bank refuse to return his large hoard of gold when he asked for it out of an allocated account. Below is what Sinclair, who was once called on by former Fed Chairman Paul Volcker to assist during a Wall Street crisis, had to say in this remarkable and candid interview.

Eric King: “Maguire spoke on KWN yesterday about the fact that one of his clients went to the LBMA to get the metal from them and could not get it. They told him he would be cash settled. This is what you have been talking about is the failure of the physical markets.”

Sinclair: “A person that I know with significant deposits in one of the primary Swiss banks, in allocated gold, wanted to take out his gold and was just refused on the basis of directives from the central bank….

“They told him the amount was in excess of 200,000 Swiss francs and the central bank had instructed them not to do it because it has to do with anti-terrorism and anti-money laundering precautions.

I really wonder whether those are precautions or whether the gold simply isn’t there. Now you tell me that a London delivery has basically failed. It has to raise our suspicions that the lack of physical gold behind the paper gold is literally so severe that we are coming to understand that it is in fact not there.

The gold that people think is stored is not stored, and the inventory of the warehouses for exchanges may not be holding deliverable gold. There has always been speculation about whether or not the physical gold the US claims to store is in fact in those vaults.

The greatest train robbery in history might be all of the gold, and it would only be something like we have described above that would happen right before gold makes historic highs.

There simply is no gold behind the paper. One example is AMRO, a second is your example with Maguire, and a third is my dear friend who was refused his gold on the basis that its value was too high. Remember this friend of mine had his gold in an allocated account in storage at a major Swiss bank. I repeat, there is no gold.”

Eric King: “Jim, when I listen to what you are saying, to what Maguire is saying, it really does tell me we are at the end game in terms of the paper market. It’s collapsing right now as you have been warning.”

Sinclair: “The vicious and blatant manipulation of the gold price (lower) via paper, on Friday and on Monday, may very well be the biggest mistake that the manipulators ever conceived of. I firmly believe it revealed that the price of gold has nothing to do with gold itself.

But I would add that if in fact the physical demand remains at these levels or even increases as the price of gold rises, I believe that the warehouses for the exchanges will be so significantly drawn down that it will force cash settlement.

The bottom line here is the paper market for gold may have just lit itself on fire, and served to burn the manipulators’ houses to the ground. You’ve heard of the phrase, ‘The emperor has no clothes.’ Well, this is infinitely worse because it is finally being revealed that the paper market for gold, in fact, has no gold.”

This follows on from Andrew Maguires claim’s yesterday that the LBMA has now defaulted on a client and is settling in cash.

What’s happened now is they are in a position where that leased gold is being asked for and they don’t have it.  I know of a very large client who actually turned up for his bullion, was refused his bullion, and told he would be settled in cash.  I felt I should go public with that (on KWN).

…(ABN AMRO) really was the tip of the iceberg.  What happened was that we saw that first bullion bank create the first visible default of the LBMA fractional reserve system.  I hear of other clients who are now panicking, and what happens?  You get an official intervention.  That’s what it (the takedown in gold and silver) was all about.”

Source: King World News

Was The Gold Smash Making Way For A COMEX Default ?

The last time we saw a major takedown of gold was in 2008 just before the Lehman default. There is no doubt that the drop in gold price was orchestrated, combined with COMEX hiking its margin rate, but was this all in preparation for a COMEX default ? There seems to be logic in this theory.

Submitted By Bill Holter, Miles Franklin Ltd,:

Last week Barrick Resources announced the postponement of their giant Pascua Lama mine.  This was to be one of the worlds largest mines and is now tied up in litigation over true ownership as it appears to show that Barrick does not have clear title.  The probale reserves were nearly 18 million ounces of Gold and almost 700 million ounces of Silver.  Work on this mine was completely ceased last Wednesday.

“Last Wednesday” was also an important day for the Kennecott copper mine in Utah, the ground started to shift more rapidly prior to this weekend’s landslide.  They knew this was coming as they closed the visitor center on April 1st and had all equipment and personel out of harms way.  This mine produces some 400,000 ounces of Gold and over 3 million ounces of Silver as a by product of copper, this is the largest copper mine on the planet.  Have you heard even a peep out of the mainstream media on this on?  I didn’t think so.

Is it not strange that these two events came to a head last Wednesday?  The same day that out of nowhere Gold reversed from being up and give up $40?  And then of course there was Friday with $85 and another $75 this morning.  Gold is now down $200 per ounce in just over 3 trading days.  Between these two projects, one not coming online and the other going off line, a VERY significant amount of production is not going to happen.  Does this make sense?  Did you not learn in school that “less” supply meant higher prices?  In the real world?

We don’t live in “the real world”, we live in a world where everything financial is manipulated.  Here is what I see happening.  They knew that this mine was going to collapse and the production would stop.  Then the ruling on the Pascua Lama mine was sent down.  Last Thursday president Obama met with 15 heads of the biggest banks and brokers in the country, THIS was discussed as sure as the Sun came up this morning: we have hit the bottom of the barrel!  Reserves that could be fed into the market are and have dried up at the same time that production has dropped and future production delayed.  The paper game is blowing up …RIGHT NOW and the topic of discussion at the White House was about “how it would play out”.

The COMEX will default in the next week or several weeks and people will be “settled” with Dollars, no more metal will be delivered!  So, knowing that “game over” has arrived, they are dumping a massive volume of  paper contracts with impunity to push the metals prices as low as possible before the “default”.  This way the “shorts” do not have to and will not be “covered” when “supply” cannot be obtained because of “an act of God”.  They will be settled in cash (at a profit no less) because these “unforeseen” disruptions in supply.  “Who could have seen it coming?” will be the mantra.  I would suspect that banking stress and “bail ins” will also become prevalent globally.  The pricing structure” will now push any and all physical sellers away from the markets and the “door” to safety is effectively being shut.  Either you own metal or you don’t.

I tried to “be nice” in my piece from last night talking to those who worry about price.  What is now happening is exactly what I spoke of, you must count ounces because “availability” is going away right here and right now!  After the closure of the COMEX and LBMA doors there will be no availability and “price” will be meaningless.  Your ability to protect yourself is right now for all intents and purposes being eliminated. 

We received  a few (very few) angry letters from customers who say that Jim Sinclair, Mr. Sprott and Embry, James Turk and others including myself are and were wrong.  That we should hang our heads in shame and that we are nothing more than charlatans hawking Gold and Silver.  We will soon, very soon see just how right or wrong we really are.  What is happening right now is very clear to me, what I don’t understand is how anyone could miss this as it has all been laid out for you and dropped in your e-box to see (for years now), understand and prepare for.  Life, all of life as we knew it is about to change forever.  Hopefully you understood this and have already prepared for it!

Regards,  Bill H.

Source: Silver Doctors

Maguire: No Physical Gold Left

After fridays massive sell off in gold whereby 500 tonnes of paper sold off, its the Eastern Central Banks who took advantage. The drop of over $80 in one day is almost unheard of which suggest the gold cartel is getting seriously worried. Dr. Paul Craig Roberts explained golds falling prices as follows:

…I know where the gold is coming from in the market, it’s just paper.  It’s naked shorts, there is no gold there.  If somebody wanted to take delivery on those contracts nobody would be able to provide it.  I don’t know what the source of the (physical) gold is.  Some people are saying that the actual stocks available for possession are rapidly declining.”

Andrew Maguire suggests that the takedown was to mask the fact that there is no more physical left. Might explain why Cyprus is being forced to sell its gold reserves.

On the heels of a cascade of selling in gold and silver, today whistleblower Andrew Maguire spoke with King World News about the extraordinary intervention which took place in both of these markets.  Maguire also told KWN about the staggering amount of physical gold tonnage that Eastern central banks were attempting to buy today alone, in a market that, remarkably, is not seeing any supply.  Below is what Maguire had to say in part II of his remarkable and exclusive interview.

Maguire:  “It’s pure short selling in the paper market, and the focus of all of this all is to reach and target as many long-stops as possible which they have done this afternoon.  Then they can obviously cover these paper short sales.

 

Historically, in order to succeed when the official sellers have come in, they have relied on being able to back up the paper market interventions with real physical supply, albeit, hypothecated or re-hypothecated, borrowed or leased bullion….

 

“It’s easy to look at the technicals today and see this cascade down, that’s the long stops being tripped.  But what we are seeing now is none of the physical supply is appearing.  None of it is going to back up these sales.  So this is a clear sign of weakness. 

 

Now the bullion banks are really trading the Fed’s ‘virtual market book,’ but they are constrained.  They are really constrained as to how far they can push these paper prices because the … Eastern hemisphere central banks, who are competing with each other to buy (physical) bullion, these are the guys that are picking up this discount.  This (smash in gold) results in an exponential ramp-up in their physical buying. 

 

All they (central planners) are doing is delaying an extremely disorderly rebound (in the price of gold).  Give it a few days because at least 90 tons of central bank buying today was seen below $1,550, into the afternoon fix (in London).  As we cascade down here you can guarantee that what they (Eastern buyers) are doing is ‘spot indexing,’ which is basically locking in the price in the paper market and will allocate that at an upcoming fix (in London). 

 

So I give it (at the most) two to three days before this has a massive rebound effect, and the short fuel above the market now is at absolutely unprecedented levels.” 

 

Maguire also added: “The fact that official sellers are even more reliant on massive coordination on mainstream media and verbal interventions to back up these virtual sales, it’s not going unnoticed by Middle-Eastern and Eastern centric central banks and sovereigns.”

Source: King World News

Jim Rickards – Texas Wants Its Gold Back

Jim Rickards interview on Bloomberg regarding bi-partisan support for bill in Texas to take its gold back from the NY Fed.

Some key points:

• Prudent move in light of all the confiscation going on, most notably Cyprus.
• When all else fails, you deflate against gold (gold never changes in value, it’s just currencies go up and down)
• The US Government has a history of gold seizures, Texas doesn’t.
• 13 states have pending legislation to make gold legal tender in the US.
• With physical gold on deposit you can tell the Federal state get lost.
• There is a global re-monetization of gold ongoing.

Global Risk

Grant Williams explains Global risk and hedging through a Gold leasing system which is about to collapse.

Texas Wants Its Gold Back From The NY Fed

The latest to get in on the gold repatriation act looks to be Texas if the new bill introduced by Rep Giovanni Capriglione  passes. More and more nations are wising up and are not prepared to accept blindly that the gold is there.

This is one of the most interesting stories I have read regarding the precious metals market in quite some time.  It appears that Texas Rep. Giovanni Capriglione has a bill in play that would move the state’s gold from New York (where its under the “safekeeping” of the ultra shady Federal Reserve) to a depository within the state of Texas itself.  The reason this would be such a big deal if it happens, is because a lot of the gold bought and sold globally is not very likely not actually owned by those that “buy” it.  From my perspective, pretty much the only countries that actually buy gold and bring it within their borders are China, Russia and Iran.  Most other nations that claim they “bought” gold, most likely hold a certificate that states they have gold in London or New York.  So in other words, they have no gold.  It looks like Texas is wising up.

From the Star-Telegram:

 Freshman Rep. Giovanni Capriglione, R-Southlake, is carrying a bill that would establish the Texas Bullion Depository, a secure state-based bank to house $1 billion worth of gold bars owned by the University of Texas Investment Management Co., or UTIMCO, and stored by the Federal Reserve.

“If you think gold is a hedge, or a protection, you always want it as close to the individual and the entity as possible,” Paul told The Texas Tribune on Thursday.” Texas is better served if it knows exactly where the gold is rather than depending on the security of the Federal Reserve.”

Source: ZeroHedge

The Swiss People Show Us How Its Done

With corrupt politicians the world over selling out, its hard not to lose faith in democracy. But there’s hope and the Swiss model points the way forward whereby a petition can force a referendum. This ensures the people can override their government. DirectDemocracy in Ireland (in its infancy) is one such political movement inspired by the Swiss. In Ireland’s case, this could have been used to force a referendum on the bailout that was hoisted upon its citizens. Thus giving the people their say rather than a shady decision between 2 politicians in the dead of the night.

Now the Swiss People’s Party in a move which shifts the power back to the people from dodgy politicians and greedy Central Bankers have over 100,000 in a petition, enough to call a referendum on its gold reserves. The aim is to stop any further gold sales by the SNB and to repatriate any remaining gold stored in the US.

The Swiss National Bank (SNB), which supposedly guarantees price stability in Switzerland, currently holds about 1,040 tons of gold reserves after gradually selling off at least 1,550 tons and now members of the Swiss People’s Party, the far-right Swiss Democrats and the Lega dei Ticinesi movement, is confident a nationwide vote will be called (after they gathered 106,000 signatures) on stopping the sale of gold reserves held by the SNB. It also wants gold bars stored in the US to be returned. As Swiss Info reports, the People’s Party leader Luzi Stamm comments, “Gold reserves guarantee the stability of the Swiss franc. They ensure that that private savings, salaries, pension keep their value,” warning that gold must not be the object of speculation for the SNB or for politicians and demanding the SNB keep a minimum of 20 per cent of its assets in gold, twice the current level. In addition, they want to force the government to disclose where the gold reserves are stored, since “it is only in safe hands if it is kept in Switzerland.”

Source: ZeroHedge

Jim Willie: The Collapse Is At Our Doorstep

Jim Willie is not one for holding back and in his latest interview with Silverdoctors sums up where the global financial system currently stands. With each passing week the situation worsens. Willie see a global financial collapse now close at hand and the endgame will be triggered by a small-medium sized bank failure in Europe.

The European collapse will ignite a global Gold rush as the only remaining safe haven ultimately ending  USdollar as worlds reserve currency.

  The Doc began by asking the Golden Jackass what will most likely be the trigger event for a complete systemic collapse:

 I don’t think we’re going to see a default as a trigger event in gold or silver. I didn’t say we won’t see a gold and silver default, I said that it won’t be the trigger. There are just too many deep sources for gold that the central banks have access to. I refer to Basel Switzerland, the Roman catacombs, and the BOE, I think they’re pretty close to the bottom of their gold barrel, but they have big powerful friends in Rome and Basel Switzerland.

The trigger is not even going to come from within the US, because it’s just so controlled- the markets are being controlled from multiple different centers, in particular the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Dept, JPM, Goldman Sachs.

It’s just so corrupt to the core, and we’re seeing a blossoming of the fascist business model and the corruption that’s accepted.

Attention should be drawn to Europe. Look at some of the most recent events that are really quite staggering.

The Italian elections kicked out the GSax preppy Mario Monti. I’m surprised that he’s not being thrown off a palace balcony. It’s directly in response to hikes that Monti imposed on property tax to finance the bankers! The Italian people have a much more effective political system than the US!

Italy actually has elected a comedian! This is like electing John Belushi to form a coalition government! Mario Monti is on the way out. What does that mean?

The defense of their dead banks with liquidity lines and property tax hikes will end in the near future!

In Spain you have new high level financial corruption events that have paralyzed the nation at a time when they’ve already seen a string of big financial firm failures!

This at a time where they have 25% unemployment. I think that the likelihood of violence on the streets is greater in Spain than in any other country.

Spain’s bank insolvency and wretched unemployment is causing tremendous distress, and there will be a breaking point there.

Then in France you have Hollande, the leader of the socialist clowns has raised the highest tax brackets to 90%. The resulting capital flight to Scandinavia is astounding, leaving the nation extremely vulnerable.

Then you have the German economic slowdown which is really capturing some attention, which will remove ability and patience of bank rescues.

Then you have the London banks which are joined by French banks in broad deep exposure to Southern Europe. They’ve set themselves up to have their heads cut off.

Recall that the Draghi solutions like LTRO were recently insulted by debt downgrades, which was unprecedented.

Then you have the USFed, which is the only buyer of USTBonds, and the Euro Central Bank as the only buyer of PIIGS Govt Bonds.

Here is a note as to the stress in the system: the European banking system received $1.2 trillion in Dollar Swap funds from the NY Fed in January alone to prop up the ECB banking system.

European banks are collectively much larger than the US banks, but are in suspended animation while the US banks are being supported by narcotics money laundering.

A big European bust is coming. When the European bust events occur, the mad scramble for safety will be on, and they’re not going to be looking for Switzerland any longer because of their Euro peg. A massive rise in the European gold price is coming and it will be staggering, shocking and not reversible. It will ignite a global Gold rush, a massive short covering rally, and powerful 30% to 50% rise in the gold price will come in response to the European collapse.

Following that will come the arrival of the Gold Trade Finance platforms. Gold settlement for trade across the world- primarily though coming out of the East.

In other words, trade involving two parties not involving the US, one of them being an Eastern nation, and they will settle not in dollars anymore, they will settle in gold, and they will have some help from their friends in Turkey.

We’re going to see an end to the USDollar reserve status following these events, and the funeral will have a speech given by the Saudis to bring an end to the Petro-Dollar itself.

You have to look to Europe and not to the US, the US is a joke in regards to crisis, management, propaganda, the ESF, narcotics money laundering, sponsored fraud, it’s just unbelievable what’s going on in the US, it’s not going to be the trigger, the trigger will be Europe.

We have 15 to 20 potential sites to force the breakdown. It’s not just one or two. Every couple months there are a few more potential areas to cause the breakdown. That’s very, very dangerous, and new. We didn’t see that 3-5 years ago. Back in 07 it was really just sub-prime. We have about 12 different areas now which are just as dangerous as sub-prime, and both of them are in Europe.

 

With QE4 and the recent return of NINJA loans as the Fed attempts to re-inflate the housing bubble, The Doc asked Willie whether the Fed would be able to kick the can down the road one more time with one last bubble:

They have 15-20 fingers and toes, but there are just too many different areas that they need to plug.
This real estate bubble is a joke.  There’s no new bubble coming or even on the horizon.  What we’ve got is the US government has sponsored a whole new round of sub-prime mortgages.  Expect instead of the big banks underwriting them, it’s the Federal government.  We have not seen a rebound in demand for housing, even though the 30 year mortgage rate is under 4% and has been for quite a few months.

What’s not shown in the press is that there’s still 10 million homes that are sitting on the bank balance sheets.  They’re called REO’s, and they’re selling their REO’s or short sales, which ARE NOT INCLUDED IN THE CASE SHILLER INDEX! 

It’s a parallel of the discouraged workers no longer included in unemployment!  They’re bringing labor market calculations to the housing market.  They’re not going to revive the housing bubble for a simple reason- there’s not widespread finance available, it’s exclusively coming out of the FHA.  The other reason is that people have a great distrust for buying homes after they saw so many people foreclosed on.  Another reason is that the people don’t have brisk income.
The factors are not there, it’s kind of a lunatic claim to state that the housing market is going to be re-bubbalized.  Not even close, it’s stuck in a depression!

 

 

The Doc asked Jim whether we face a lost two decades like the Japanese, or what type of collapse we face in the US:

 

I said this back when Lehman Brothers fell in the autumn of 2008.  The US is on a path that cannot escape systemic failure and total dependence on the printing press to cover its debt and for a debt default of the US government debt, which will come in the form of a global conference to organize and co-ordinate the debt write down.  There will be US military outside the room to make sure everyone complies.

If the US goes ahead with sequester cuts, they’re talking about $4 trillion over 10 years.  I cannot emphasize how small that is.  But let’s go through some of the points why I believe the collapse is at our doorstep:

The collapse is happening now- it’s no longer ultra-slow motion like 2 years ago.   It’s a new event every few days or weeks.  The pace is quickening.   

The extreme nature of current events is alarming.  Just in the last few months:

The US Fed announces every month their extension of 0% forever (denigrating their own exit Strategy talk).

 $1.2 trillion was doled out by the USFed to European banks in January alone!

We have the Germans demanding repatriation of their official gold account (Allocated Accounts).

We have the Italians electing a comedian like John Belushi to halt the property tax hikes that bail out banks.  This is an insult to their entire political system which experienced that Mario Monti appointment without an election.

We have the London banks recently sponsoring a Chinese Yuan Swap Facility, cow-towing to Asia.  This is unprecedented!  New York will not do such a thing, but London did, which means that London and NY might be at odds!

We have an attack announced on Mali in North Africa to wrest gold & uranium timed when the  Germans asked for repayment of their gold reserves.  The quantities really fit.  There was a suspicious comment by the French and British saying it will be repaid in 7 years.  300 tons over 7 years is approximately what Mali produces in gold that will cover almost exactly the German repayment.  That was organized by France and the US. 

We have the shutdown of the gigantic Mongolian copper & gold mine by Rio Tinto which is an example of resource nationalism. 

We have raids larger and bolder of the GLD inventory that prevents a COMEX default and will produce a bigger price discount vs. the spot for GLD shares.  I think it will go down towards a 20% discount, which will cause alot of problems. 

We have the USFed preparing for QE5 (or rather QE187, as in QE to Infinity). 

We have events like the major central banks losing credibility while engaging in open currency war.  The franchise system of central banks is being questioned.  They’re in battle with each other. 

We have the US facing a fiscal cliff, which forces a quantum leap in job cuts (recession alert).

We have the Japanese ratcheting up the competitive currency devaluations (only USTBond buyer).

We have the Swiss managing their Euro-Franc peg, but suffering losses in Japanese & British bonds.

We have the Russians hosting a G-20 Meeting to coordinate the alternative to US$-based trade.
THEY ARE NOT GOING TO CONTINUE WITH DOLLAR BASED TRADE SETTLEMENTS!  NOT GOING TO HAPPEN!!

We have the emergence of Turkey and soon India as gold trade finance intermediaries.  They’re going to supply 1 of 2 parties engaged in trade with gold so they can make the settlement of the trade. 

We have the Iranian sanctions coming to a conclusion in US acquiescence.  The US is surrendering to the Iranians! 
All these events have occurred just since the new year began less than two months ago!  The pace of extreme events is quickening!

Extreme events have become the norm, putting tremendous additional stress on the system which the boys are trying to manage.  They don’t have enough people, enough resources, enough channels, and they don’t have enough brains to do it.

The managed system cannot succeed, it’s too complex.  They are attempting to work towards a system of total system management, and it’s just not going to work.

A series of climax events is coming very soon.  The changes will be rapid and breath-taking. 

Vast wealth has been moving East the past 3-4 years, and with it great power. 
Look for some seemingly minor bank failure to cause a ripple effect of deeper damage. 
It’s going to involve larger banks tied with commitments such as counter-party contracts or intermediary supply functions, and things are just going to start wrecking. 

I think vast wealth is going to be lost in the US and the West, except by gold and silver owners. 
Owning gold and silver will become harder to do because the rules are becoming stricter.
Those who have set themselves up in the last few years are going to be the big, big winners, and the ones who are bold enough and brave enough to do it now are going to be glad for their actions. 

I have a family member who refused my advice three years ago, and now that family member is facing the conversion of her very large privately managed IRA pension fund into these new special Treasury bonds.  That’s going to cause a real firestorm by the public, and they’re going to wish that they had converted their IRA’s into a gold account.

Source: SilverDoctors

Path From USDollar to New Gold Note Global Trade System

Much has been written of the coming demise of the US dollar and a possible return to the gold standard. Jim Willie explores how he believes this will come about and what to expect along the way. 2013 being the key year.

The crux of the non-US$ trade vehicle devised as a USDollar alternative will be the Gold Trade Note. It will enable peer-to-peer payments to be completed from direct account transfers independent of currency, and most importantly, not done through the narrow pipes and channels controlled by the bankers with their omnipresent SWIFT code system among the world of banks. The Gold Trade Note will act much like a Letter of Credit, serve as a short-term bill, and maybe even push aside the near 0% short-term USTreasury Bills that litter the banking landscape. Any bond or bill earning almost no interest is veritable clutter. The zero bound USTreasurys open the door in a big way for replacement by a better vehicle. The new trade notes will involve posted gold as collateral, whose entire system for trade usage will bear a massive gold core that also will include silver and platinum, maybe other precious metals. The idea is to avoid the FOREX systems, to avoid the USDollar, and to avoid the banks as much as possible in a peer-to-peer system that can be executed between parties holding Blackberry devices or simple PC to complete the payments on transactions. If Gold is ignored by the corrupt bankers, then Gold will be the center of the new trade system and the solution in providing a globally accepted USDollar alternative.

 Do not be surprised to see the Chinese Yuan later as interchangeable with the Gold Trade Note. But first the Yuan must be convertible into the many major currencies actively traded in the world. Numerous reports have come in recent weeks that the Yuan currency will soon have a gold backing, yet unconfirmed. My expectation is for the Chinese Yuan eventually to be interchangeable with the Trade Note. That will signal its implicit gold backing. While many events and steps are not known, and many surprises will be thrust on stage, the guiding pathways are slowly coming to light.

Currency wars ongoing with no sign of abatement.

The list of nations undergoing active currency intervention is growing markedly. Currency manipulation actions are routine, each action inviting a reaction by other nations. It is not just Japan and the United States, the usual suspects. It is Luxembourg, Switzerland, South Korea, Sweden, Norway, and Brazil. Heck, even the venerable England has taken steps to create a Chinese Yuan swap facility. They do not wish to be left out when the Yuan becomes a more global currency, with full convertibility. London is aiding the path to a convertible Yuan. Who’d a thunk it? London wishes to remain a major trading center. Look for someday soon a Chinese Govt Bond auction denominated in Yuan, the offering managed by London banks. Such a development is not welcome news for New York, which must be seething with anger and flush with disgust. This is the more than a currency war, but rather a global currency tumult and transformation, with grand tectonic shifts, on the disruptive path to a return of the Gold Standard.

The Swiss and Japan will make an eventual switch from the current system to an Eastern orientated solution.

Watch for the Swiss and Japan to knock on the door for entrance in the Eastern Alliance, which will produce the USDollar alternative. It requires a critical mass for success. The stress felt in these two nations will motivate their pursuit of the USDollar alternative solution. They are being seriously wounded by the fiat paper currency system with floating rates.

The G20 meeting held in Russia later in the year(Sept) is one to watch out for as Willie suspects the plans will be put in place in the rumoured absence of US/UK.

Rumor is circulating in London that neither the United States nor the United Kingdom will attend the G-20 Meeting in Moscow. Refusal to attend by the Anglos would open a giant gate to coordinate plans by the leading Eastern nations (trade participants) on the new trade settlement system with attendant platforms. Rather than creating a new and better currency, they are more likely to establish a gold-backed trade settlement process that will render the USDollar obsolete. Failure to attend by the US-UK tagteam of financial fascists would ignite the Eastern-led consortium on motivation toward the launch of the new system in a more open public vocal manner with press conferences. The Third World awaits the nations that refuse to become part of a growing critical mass in global trade, which desires a more fair and equitable system of trade settlement. It is coming, but awaits a climax of collapse.

Source: silverdoctors

Gold Delivery For Feb Way Up

Gold delivery for the 1st notice day in February was 43 tonnes, when compared to the normally busiest month of December was less than 10 tonnes.

Today was first notice day for February delivery in gold, and as usual, we had a waterfall raid in gold to $1655.  The cartel MO has long been to raid gold and silver on options expiration as well as first notice day, to help prevent longs from standing for delivery.

While the the cartel raid was successful based on the paper futures price, it was an epic fail based on physical gold delivery requests, as a monumental 1.391 million ounces, or 43.26 tonnes of gold stood for delivery today on first notice day. 

To put this number in perspective, December delivery in gold, which is traditionally the largest delivery month of the year, saw less than 10 tonnes stand for delivery.

Has the Buba’s gold repatriation request ignited a full-fledged run on the cartel gold bank?

 

From Harvey Organ’s COMEX update:

Today we had first day notice and what a surprise.  We had a massive 1,391,000 million oz of gold stand or 43.26 tonnes of gold.  I have been following the gold and silver comex data from the mid 1970′s and I have never seen anything like this before.  You will recall that this past December we had only 10 tonnes of gold delivered upon.  Generally December is the biggest delivery month of the year.  The comex is not a physical market.  If one needs physical they generally head over to London at the LBMA and purchase the metal over there.  The high amounts standing may mean that our gentlemen from Eastern persuasion are having difficulty finding metal and thus they are heading over to our neck of the woods to obtain this very valuable commodity.

The total comex gold open interest rose 425 contracts to settle at 431,137 from Wednesday’s level of 430,712.  We now have the number of contracts for gold standing as today is first day notice.  The total number of contracts standing for gold is a whopping 13,910 contracts or 1,310,900 oz of gold which translates to 43.26 tonnes of gold.  I am sure that Blythe will be one busy girl these next few weeks as she tries to entice some longs standing to accept paper instead of metal.  The next non active contract month is March and here the OI rose from 1087 up to 1211 for a gain of 124 contracts.  The estimated volume today at the gold comex was fair at 161,916.  The confirmed volume yesterday was quite good at 245,696.

 

In all the years that I have covered the comex I have never seen such a high amount of gold standing.  The comex is a paper market and too see such a high level of gold standing seems to suggest that the gold investor boys (and sovereigns) are crossing the pond because physical gold is scarce.  London must be out or close to it.

Source: SilverDoctors

WGC: Chinese Move Toward Gold Backed Yuan

Its been discussed by gold bugs over the last few years but Keith Barron in an interview with King World News talks about  the World Gold Council’s commissioned a report which basically says the Chinese are looking to launch a gold backed yuan. Jim Rickards in his book Currency Wars has written about the obvious move for China to back the yuan with gold and its no secret that China with its large dollar reserves are not happy with how its being debased.  With every major Central Bank flat-out printing money combined with gold repatriation stories and hedge fund Pacific Group converting its holdings to physical gold, one cannot help wonder that 2013 could be a very significant year for gold.

The second thing I want to make KWN readers aware of is the report which was commissioned by the World Gold Council.  This is an incredible document, especially coming from the World Gold Council because it’s basically saying that the Chinese are going to back their currency with gold.  This would, in turn, displace the US dollar and make the Chinese yuan the world’s reserve currency.

 The Chinese are sitting on piles of dollars right now, and while the US continues its decline, the reality is that all of the fiat currencies are in a race to the bottom.  We just saw the Bank of Japan yesterday talk about opening up QE and printing vast sums of money.  This will be an attempt to reverse their deflation with inflation.  This move by the Japanese is very, very bullish for gold.

 But between what is happening with the set up for the coming short squeeze in gold, coupled with the Chinese moving to back the yuan with gold, and the shortages we are seeing in the silver market, the outlook for gold and silver going forward are spectacular.  Quite frankly, the gold and silver bulls are going to begin to trample the bears at some point in the near future.”

Last month Stephen Leeb spoke of a chinese diplomat admitting China’s intention only to backtrack shortly afterwards.

There is a ritual we see in overnight trading.  Gold is usually up $4 or $5 at around midnight or 1 AM east coast time.  I’ll be watching gold trade at this time and I can’t count the number of times that in just a minute or two, instead of gold being up $4 or $5, it’s now down $20.  No one is trading at 12 or 1 or 2 in the morning.  Somebody is doing this and it always happens when there is no liquidity.  So you have a game of desperation going on here and the Chinese are aware of this. 

 I was just speaking to a Chinese diplomat and I said to their diplomat, ‘Your two most important commodities are water and gold.’  And this diplomat said to me, ‘Yes, we need gold to back up the yuan.’  Well this diplomat realized very quickly they had made a terrible mistake in admitting that and began to back off and stated, ‘No, it’s not to back the yuan.  It’s because of jewelry.’  But it was too late, the horse had left the barn so-to-speak.

 So the Chinese get this in spades.  The only way for them to become the world’s powerhouse and continue accumulating materials in the resource war is if they have a currency that’s backed up by gold or they have the actual physical gold itself.

The bottom line here is that when I see gold engaged in one of these drops I know it doesn’t make any sense.  The Chinese let the price of gold dip because they are smart buyers and we are playing into their hands with this ridiculous manipulation.

 This game of manipulation we are engaged in with the gold market is going to stop sooner rather than later.  Time is running out on these schemes and when it does stop and when they lose control, you had better be positioned in gold because this will be a bull market to end all bull markets.”

World Gold Council : – Gold Renminbi Mulit Currency Reserve System

Swiss Referendum To Repatriate Gold?

Germany has ratcheted up the pressure on other countries to repatriate their gold reserves. The latest country to press  its Central Bank over gold reserves, is Switzerland. Of course they are unique in that they have true democracy unlike the corrupt Dumb-ocracy version the rest of us have. In Switzerland they can force a referendum  if they can get over 100,000 petition signatures. In this instance its the Swiss National Bank that the people are unhappy with and have 3 demands. Now thats real democracy 🙂

With last week’s announcement by the Bundesbank of the repatriation of 674 tons of German gold from Paris and NY over the next 7 years, we predicted that an avalanche of gold repatriation requests would soon be made to the BOE and the NYFed. 
It appears that Switzerland may be next to the game, much to the dismay of the SNB.  The Swiss gold initiative, an initiative to Secure the Swiss National Bank’s Gold Reserves, launched in March 2012 by four members of the Swiss parliament, has grown to 90,000 supporters. 
Once 100,000 supporters are achieved, the Swiss Parliament must take up the referendum. 

The initiative asserts that the Swiss people should have a right to vote on 3 things, none of which will please the banking cartel:

1. To keep Swiss gold physically in Switzerland (ie repatriate Switzerland’s gold)
2. Preventing/forbidding the SNB from selling any more of its gold reserves
3.  Requiring the SNB to massively increase their gold holdings to a minimum of 20% of its reserves within 5 years, held within Switzerland.

Not surprisingly, the Swiss National Bank doesn’t wish to disclose where it’s physical gold is held, but it may soon be forced to once the initiative achieves 100,000 supporters. 

674 tons repatriated here, 1040 tons repatriated there, pretty soon we’re talking real money!

Checkout google translate of article from Post Finance

Gold initiative prepares the SNB headache
by Lukas Hässig – home to Switzerland must get their gold from abroad? The SVP initiative calling for the missing, only 10,000 signatures. The SNB could get into trouble.

“Already in March 2013 is the deadline for the submission of Gold initiative,” wrote the St. Gallen SVP National and co-founder Lukas ReimannAlthough it was with some 90,000 signatures on its way. “But to crack the necessary 100’000, now the use of all is needed.”

Where are the 1,040 tonnes of gold the Swiss National Bank? The question is now being seriously discussed with us. The response of the SNB remains nebulous. Most of it is here, but some lie abroad, said the central bank. “We do not want to be precise,” says SNB spokeswoman Silvia Oppliger. “Maybe we will express more precisely, should the gold initiative come about.”

German gold repatriation provides in USA for red heads

The German Bundesbank initially thought that she needed to accept the emotional issue any further. But so are a growing number of applied citizens and politicians were not satisfied. They put the central bank so long under pressure until it gave way recently. Now bring the Germans back 674 tonnes of gold from the U.S. and from France to England. This corresponds to a value of 27 billion euros currently.

The large gold repatriation of our northern neighbor provides worldwide headlines. «Germany Moving Its Gold Back Home To Satisfy The Paranoid”, headlines the U.S. Internet newspaper Huffington Post; pure populism to appease a population that is seeing ghosts. In Germany, had previously taken hold doubt the actual existence of the gold that is stored in the gold vaults of the Americans. The bars may indeed be covered with a thin layer of gold and otherwise consist of inexpensive iron was feared.

SNB would have to buy up to 100 billion gold

Interestingly, Switzerland has been a long time before the Germans and taken without public vertebral the topic. Circles from the People’s Party launched 16 months ago, the gold initiative. Because the project in parliament remained chance would just started as the last remaining means an initiative, the initiators said then. By referendum, they want to force the SNB to store all the gold in Switzerland and sell no single ton more. In addition to the SNB within 5 years after voting to increase their gold holdings massively so that it accounts for a fifth of the minimum in the whole balance.

At current prices, the rest would go into the money. Currently, the share of gold in all the assets of the National Bank is only at 10 percent. If the SNB reduced its balance sheet is not strong, then it remains a possible adoption of the initiative no other choice than double its gold reserves to 2000 tonnes.

A ton of gold currently costs about $ 55 million. Now can be expected: 2000 tons came to 110 billion dollars, equivalent to about 100 billion francs. By comparison, the SNB now has a capital of 62 billion francs. This does not include higher gold prices that could arise due to the demand of the SNB.

Headache at the guardian of the currency

Where did all that money to come for gold purchases is not clear. It would be nice to reduce the mountain of about 170 billion euros in order to buy gold bars. Only it would take for the many Euros first buyer, and the single currency would yet remain so stable that billion-sales of the SNB would not immediately strengthen the franc against the euro again. This consideration alone makes it clear that the gold initiative although many Swiss arrives, but whose implementation the responsible persons would cause big headaches.

Source: Silver Doctors, Post Finance

NY Fed Does Not Have Germany’s Gold

According to the Bundesbank press release 16th Jan 2013, the Bundesbank is planning a phased relocation of 300 tonnes of gold from New York to Frankfurt as well as an additional 374 tonnes from Paris to Frankfurt by 2020. James Turk asks why take 7 years for Germany to get its gold back from New York when it should be able to get it back in 7 weeks, unless it was never there.

The Bundesbank made another suspicious statement when it claimed that it would leave its remaining gold reserves in New York untouched because it is a major trading centre, but this clearly in not true. Most of the trading is done through London and Zürich.

Today James Turk told King World News that the German gold is being held hostage by the Fed.  Turk also believes that one portion of the Bundesbank’s press release was particularly misleading.  Turk reveals the reality of what is taking place with Germany’s gold, and it’s not what the mainstream media and the Bundesbank are telling people.

 Here is what Turk had to say in this extraordinary interview:  “It’s quite clear that the German gold is being held hostage.  They are not getting what they want.  They are getting what the Federal Reserve is telling them they can have.  The fact that they are doing it over 7 years rather than 7 weeks, is just an indication that gold probably isn’t in the Federal Reserve, and the Federal Reserve doesn’t want to have to go out and buy it overnight to fulfill the German demand.  They are trying to stretch it out as long as possible in order to keep gold prices controlled.”

“I mean you can do 5 tons at a time on an airplane shipment.  A few hundred shipments and you can have that (1,536 tons of) gold back (in Germany) in a matter of weeks.  The only possible conclusion you can make is the gold isn’t there. 

You can do what France did back in the 1960s….

“You send over a couple of ships and bring the gold back to your country that way. 

When Charles de Gaulle asked for his gold out of the Federal Reserve, it didn’t take 7 years.  He got it right away.  But back then the gold was in the Federal Reserve because it wasn’t going out in the leasing and lending program that governments have been using in recent years in order to keep the gold price suppressed.

Recently, the Audit Committee of the Bundestag (their parliament),  has been requesting that the Bundesbank actually audit the gold because it has never been audited, and presumably is never going to be audited.  So the Bundesbank is in a tough spot.  The gold is not there, but they have the pressure to audit it and bring it back home. 

The fact that they (Fed) are not sending the gold back right away, to me is just a clear sign the German gold is being held hostage.  It’s potentially a powder keg here in terms of how the gold market is positioned at the moment because there is so much paper (claims on gold) out there, relative to so little physical, that a lot of paper gold is going to be defaulted upon.

 It will be interesting to see whether this leads to other central banks also asking for their physical gold.  And more importantly, since there are so many paper (claims on gold) in the various gold ETFs around the world, it will be interesting to see whether the institutional investors are starting to recognize what the central banks are doing, and take some of that GLD and all of the other ETF paper and start saying, ‘Look, I don’t want shares, I actually want ounces.  Deliver me the physical metal.’

There is another point here, Eric, that needs to be considered.  The Bundesbank made this announcement, but I think they were just trying to put it out in the best possible light.  I believe they were trying to stretch for reasons in order to explain why they are still leaving physical gold in New York.

They said, for example, that New York is a trading center for physical gold.  That’s not true.  It’s not been a trading center for physical gold ever since 1933, when the gold was confiscated by Roosevelt and all of the physical gold trading went to Europe.

That’s why in the physical market you talk about London or Zurich.  You never talk about New York because there is no physical gold trading in New York.  It’s just a bogus excuse you see in this announcement.  It’s just more evidence to me the gold isn’t there.  It’s been taken out of the vault and used surreptitiously in order to try to cap the gold price.”

Source: King World News

Bundesbank Looks For Its Gold Back From New York Fed – Who is Next?

The move everybody suspected would happen one day has been reported by Handlesblatt that the Bundesbank is looking to repatriate its gold from the New York Fed. There has been much noise in Germany about auditing its gold within the New York Fed only to be rebuffed.  Indeed Germany will not be alone in repatriating its gold if this story proves to be true. Chavez started the trend but expect many more countries to follow quickly. Nobody wants to be the last man standing.

In what could be a watershed moment for the price, provenance, and future of physical gold, not to mention the “stability” of the entire monetary regime based on rock solid, undisputed “faith and credit” in paper money, German Handelsblatt reports in an exclusive that the long suffering German gold, all official 3,396 tons of it, is about to be moved. Specifically, it is about to be partially moved out of the New York Fed, where the majority, or 45% of it is currently stored, as well as the entirety of the 11% of German gold held with the Banque de France, and repatriated back home to Buba in Frankfurt, where just 31% of it is held as of this moment. And while it is one thing for a “crazy, lunatic” dictator such as Hugo Chavez to pull his gold out of the Bank of England, it is something entirely different, and far less dismissible, when the bank with the second most official gold reserves in the world proceeds to formally pull some of its gold from the bank with the most. In brief: this is a momentous development, one which may signify that the regime of mutual assured and very much telegraphed – because if the central banks don’t have faith in one another, why should anyone else? – trust in central banks by other central banks is ending.

Much more importantly, it is being telegraphed as such, with Buba fully aware of just what the consequences of this (first partial, and then full; and certainly full vis-a-vis the nouveau socialist regime of Francois Hollande which will soon hold zero German gold) repatriation will be in a global monetary arena, which is already scraping by on the last traces of faith in a monetary system that is slowly but surely dying but first diluting itself to oblivion. And in simple game theory terms, the first party to defect from the prisoner’s dilemma of all the bulk of global gold being held by the Fed, defects best. Then the second. Then the third. Until, in this particular case, the last central bank to pull its gold from the NY Fed and the other 2 primary depositories of developed world gold, London and Paris, just happens to discover their gold was never there to begin with, and instead served as collateral to paper gold subsequently rehypothecated several hundred times, and whose ultimate ownership deed is long gone.

It would be very ironic, if the Bundesbank, which many had assumed had bent over backwards to accommodate Mario Draghi’s Goldmanesque demands to allow implicit monetization of peripheral nations’ debts has just “returned the favor” by launching the greatest physical gold scramble of all time.

A translated paragraph from Handlesblatt reads

The German Bundesbank is developing a new approach as to where its gold will be stored. According to exclusive information, to be fully announced on Wednesday, the bank will in the future hold less gold in the New York Fed, and no more hold in Paris (Banque de France). As a result, the distribution of German gold, of which 45% is held in New York, 13% in London, 11% in Paris and 31% in Frankfurt, is about to change.

ZeroHedge pointed out in its article, a number of speeches given by German officials outlying its trust for the New York Fed but asks what has happened since then.

So we wonder: what changed in the three months between November and now, that has caused such a dramatic about face at the Bundesbank, and that in light of all of the above, will make is explicitly very unambigous that the act of gold repatriation, assuming of course that Handelsblatt did not mischaracterize what is happening and misreport the facts, means the “excellent relationship” between the Fed and Buba, not to mention Banque de France which will shortly hold precisely zero German gold, has just collapsed.

Also, if the Bundesbank is first, who is next?

Finally, once the scramble to satisfy physical gold deliverable claims manifests itself in the market, we can’t help but wonder what will happen to the price of gold: both paper and physical?

Source: ZeroHedge