http://harveyorgan.blogspot.com/2013/02/more-troubles-for-rajoy-in-spain-and.html
( For all of the news items , go to the link... )
Good evening Ladies and Gentlemen:
First off, I have decided to replace the Google's comment feature with Disqus. There have been a lot of attacks that have been going on for far too long, and thus I decided to have more robust moderation capabilities.
You will still be able to use your Google profile to post comments. I always appreciate your posts and discussions on this blog and I hope that this would encourage better conversations as we move forward.
Gold closed down $18.50 to finish the comex session at $1647.60, whereas silver closed down 51 cents at $30.88. When the CME announced late Thursday night that they were going to lower gold and silver margins, I was just waiting for an attack. We certainly got one today.
The whack occurred despite oil being up and also the Euro was higher. There was absolutely no reason for the attack, but then again, the criminal bankers do not need a reason. All they need is to have the regulators on their side. Actually, all they need is for the regulators to sleep during the day and the bankers do the rest.
The silver OI released at 1:30 pm today also gave enough reasons for the bankers to raid as again the OI rests above the 150,000 mark. It is totally fruitless to discuss actual gold/silver trading as these two precious metals are manipulated around the clock.Eric Sprott gives an interesting interview with Eric King, of Kingworldnews where Sprott has noticed that scrap coming into the refiners is down and in some cases over 50%. We are now reaching a point where owners of gold refuse to part with it. Sprott is of the opinion that a default will occur at the comex shortly.
In paper stories, the G7/G20 meeting is this Friday and the agenda is a discussion of halting currency wars.
The big news of the day came from Italy, where we learn that the Central Bank of Italy lent 2 billion euros worth of sovereign bonds to Monte dei Paschi who swapped worthless mortgage backed securities. Then Monte dei Paschi swapped the sovereign bonds for freshly minted euros. The problem: this was secret and not disclosed. Three days after receiving the euros, executives of Paschi stated that their bank was solid
In Spain, the citizens did not buy the release of Rajoy's income tax returns. The populace are very angry and they are ready to throw this bum out.
France continues to spiral down a never ending vortex as its leading car manufacturer Peugeot had to write off another 4.7 BILLION euros on top of another loss. There is no question that a bailout or nationalization of this car company is in the cards. Peugeot only operates in Europe and not in the two stronger areas: the USA and China.
In France, the government controls 56% of French GDP. Very soon it will be 100%.
In a surprise move, Argentina's President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner decided to ban all advertising.
This nation is heading for hyperinflation shortly.Egypt announced over the weekend that it has only 13 billion USA in foreign reserves as it's currency, the pound drops in value from around 6.00 pounds per dollar at the start of 2012 to 6.79 as of today.
The citizens of Venezuela are in total shock as to the surprisingly 46% devaluation of their currency the bolivar falling from 4.3 to the dollar to 6.3. The reason for the devaluation was due to the shortage of foreign reserves i.e. namely the USA dollar. The devaluation helps somewhat in that category but it also stimulates massive inflation.
Trouble occurred today at the border between Turkey and Syria where a car with Syrian license plates, exploded killing 9 people. Expect Turkey to answer this.
In USA news, food stamps again are on the rise. And the economy is getting better?
Also zero hedge discovered that most of the dollar printing in the USA is heading to USA based foreign banks. No wonder the Fed should be audited.
We will discuss these and many other stories but first let us head over to the comex and assess trading today............
The total comex gold open interest rose by 1991 contracts (basis Friday) from 420,766 up to 422,757.
The active front month of February saw it's OI rise by 28 contracts from 2062 up to 2090 despite the fact that we had 0 delivery notices filed on Friday. We thus gained the full 28 contracts or 2800 oz of additional gold will stand for delivery in February. The non active March contract saw it's OI rise by 103 contracts up to 1221. The estimated volume at the gold comex today came in at a good 178,716. The confirmed volume on Friday was very tame at 102,646.The total silver comex OI continues to hover over the 150,000 level. Today the OI rests at 151,176 a gain of 1065 contracts from Friday. This high level of silver OI bothers are bankers to no end and is thus a major factor in the decision to continually raid in the hopes that the OI will drop. The non active February silver contract month saw it's OI rise by 44 contracts. We had 0 delivery notices on Friday so we gained a full 44 contracts or an additional 220,000 oz of silver will stand in February. The big active contract month of March is 2 and 1/2 weeks away from first day notice. The total OI for the March contract month surprised everyone with a fall of only 2868 contracts from 66,757 contracts to 63,889. Our banker friends are not amused with this level of OI for the upcoming delivery month. Generally we see a good contraction in OI as the front delivery month advances to first day notice. The estimated volume at the silver comex today was light at 32,660. The confirmed volume on Friday was much better at 46,705.
* * *
http://www.gata.org/node/12226
http://jessescrossroadscafe.blogspot.com/2013/02/gold-daily-and-silver-weekly-charts_11.html
( KWN interview of the day embedded below regarding death of gold recycling business from Eric Sprott - he opines only source of gold and silver comes from mining - yet mining stocks have performed poorly ? Discussion of Comex default part of this interesting interview.)
Obama will deliver the State of the Union address tomorrow.
This week is a stock market expiration week.
Eric Sprott sees the gold scrap market drying up, and a default coming on the COMEX.
The G7 issued a statement ahead of their meeting in Moscow saying that there would be no escalation in the currency war.
To paraphrase Orwell, economic language 'is designed to make lies sound truthful and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.'
When the G7 show us a workable, sustainable solution to the reserve currency crisis, that is acceptable to the world at large including the BRICs, perhaps one might tend to take their diplomatic dispatches more seriously.
Meanwhile, the currency war continues as the Anglo-American economic empire, its multinational companies, and its client states resist change and reform at every opportunity.
( For all of the news items , go to the link... )
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2013
More troubles for Rajoy in Spain and BMPS in Italy/Foodstamps on the rise in the USA again/
Good evening Ladies and Gentlemen:
First off, I have decided to replace the Google's comment feature with Disqus. There have been a lot of attacks that have been going on for far too long, and thus I decided to have more robust moderation capabilities.
You will still be able to use your Google profile to post comments. I always appreciate your posts and discussions on this blog and I hope that this would encourage better conversations as we move forward.
Gold closed down $18.50 to finish the comex session at $1647.60, whereas silver closed down 51 cents at $30.88. When the CME announced late Thursday night that they were going to lower gold and silver margins, I was just waiting for an attack. We certainly got one today.
The whack occurred despite oil being up and also the Euro was higher. There was absolutely no reason for the attack, but then again, the criminal bankers do not need a reason. All they need is to have the regulators on their side. Actually, all they need is for the regulators to sleep during the day and the bankers do the rest.
The silver OI released at 1:30 pm today also gave enough reasons for the bankers to raid as again the OI rests above the 150,000 mark. It is totally fruitless to discuss actual gold/silver trading as these two precious metals are manipulated around the clock.Eric Sprott gives an interesting interview with Eric King, of Kingworldnews where Sprott has noticed that scrap coming into the refiners is down and in some cases over 50%. We are now reaching a point where owners of gold refuse to part with it. Sprott is of the opinion that a default will occur at the comex shortly.
In paper stories, the G7/G20 meeting is this Friday and the agenda is a discussion of halting currency wars.
The big news of the day came from Italy, where we learn that the Central Bank of Italy lent 2 billion euros worth of sovereign bonds to Monte dei Paschi who swapped worthless mortgage backed securities. Then Monte dei Paschi swapped the sovereign bonds for freshly minted euros. The problem: this was secret and not disclosed. Three days after receiving the euros, executives of Paschi stated that their bank was solid
In Spain, the citizens did not buy the release of Rajoy's income tax returns. The populace are very angry and they are ready to throw this bum out.
France continues to spiral down a never ending vortex as its leading car manufacturer Peugeot had to write off another 4.7 BILLION euros on top of another loss. There is no question that a bailout or nationalization of this car company is in the cards. Peugeot only operates in Europe and not in the two stronger areas: the USA and China.
In France, the government controls 56% of French GDP. Very soon it will be 100%.
In a surprise move, Argentina's President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner decided to ban all advertising.
This nation is heading for hyperinflation shortly.Egypt announced over the weekend that it has only 13 billion USA in foreign reserves as it's currency, the pound drops in value from around 6.00 pounds per dollar at the start of 2012 to 6.79 as of today.
The citizens of Venezuela are in total shock as to the surprisingly 46% devaluation of their currency the bolivar falling from 4.3 to the dollar to 6.3. The reason for the devaluation was due to the shortage of foreign reserves i.e. namely the USA dollar. The devaluation helps somewhat in that category but it also stimulates massive inflation.
Trouble occurred today at the border between Turkey and Syria where a car with Syrian license plates, exploded killing 9 people. Expect Turkey to answer this.
In USA news, food stamps again are on the rise. And the economy is getting better?
Also zero hedge discovered that most of the dollar printing in the USA is heading to USA based foreign banks. No wonder the Fed should be audited.
We will discuss these and many other stories but first let us head over to the comex and assess trading today............
The active front month of February saw it's OI rise by 28 contracts from 2062 up to 2090 despite the fact that we had 0 delivery notices filed on Friday. We thus gained the full 28 contracts or 2800 oz of additional gold will stand for delivery in February. The non active March contract saw it's OI rise by 103 contracts up to 1221. The estimated volume at the gold comex today came in at a good 178,716. The confirmed volume on Friday was very tame at 102,646.The total silver comex OI continues to hover over the 150,000 level. Today the OI rests at 151,176 a gain of 1065 contracts from Friday. This high level of silver OI bothers are bankers to no end and is thus a major factor in the decision to continually raid in the hopes that the OI will drop. The non active February silver contract month saw it's OI rise by 44 contracts. We had 0 delivery notices on Friday so we gained a full 44 contracts or an additional 220,000 oz of silver will stand in February. The big active contract month of March is 2 and 1/2 weeks away from first day notice. The total OI for the March contract month surprised everyone with a fall of only 2868 contracts from 66,757 contracts to 63,889. Our banker friends are not amused with this level of OI for the upcoming delivery month. Generally we see a good contraction in OI as the front delivery month advances to first day notice. The estimated volume at the silver comex today was light at 32,660. The confirmed volume on Friday was much better at 46,705.
Gold and silver data below.....
Comex gold/February contract month:
Feb 11.2013
Ounces
Withdrawals from Dealers Inventory in oz
63,659.156 (Brinks,Scotia)
Withdrawals from Customer Inventory in oz
nil
Deposits to the Dealer Inventory in oz
nil
Deposits to the Customer Inventory, in oz
289.35 (Brinks)
No of oz served (contracts) today
0 (nil oz)
No of oz to be served (notices)
2062 (206,200) oz
Total monthly oz gold served (contracts) so far this month
10,322 (1,032,200 oz)
Total accumulative withdrawal of gold from the Dealers inventory this month
63,755.606
Total accumulative withdrawal of gold from the Customer inventory this month
75,941.547
Ounces
| |
Withdrawals from Dealers Inventory in oz
|
63,659.156 (Brinks,Scotia)
|
Withdrawals from Customer Inventory in oz
|
nil
|
Deposits to the Dealer Inventory in oz
|
nil
|
Deposits to the Customer Inventory, in oz
| 289.35 (Brinks) |
No of oz served (contracts) today
|
0 (nil oz)
|
No of oz to be served (notices)
|
2062 (206,200) oz
|
Total monthly oz gold served (contracts) so far this month
|
10,322 (1,032,200 oz)
|
Total accumulative withdrawal of gold from the Dealers inventory this month
|
63,755.606
|
Total accumulative withdrawal of gold from the Customer inventory this month
| 75,941.547 |
February 11.2013: The February silver contract month
| Silver |
Ounces
|
| Withdrawals from Dealers Inventory | nil |
| Withdrawals from Customer Inventory | 451,777.652 (Brinks, CNT scotia) |
| Deposits to the Dealer Inventory | nil |
| Deposits to the Customer Inventory | 198,937.09 (Delaware,JPM) |
| No of oz served (contracts) | 60 (300,000 oz) |
| No of oz to be served (notices) | 18 (90,000 oz) |
| Total monthly oz silver served (contracts) | 136 (680,000 oz) |
| Total accumulative withdrawal of silver from the Dealers inventory this month | 984,015.06 |
| Total accumulative withdrawal of silver from the Customer inventory this month | 1,994,331.61 |
Eric Sprott talks to Eric King of Kingworld news and states that the USA's unfunded pension liabilities and unfunded medicare and medicaid will guarantee the crackup in the USA.
(courtesy Eric Sprott/Kingworld News) |
Unfunded liabilities guarantee crackup, Sprott tells King World News
Submitted by cpowell on Sun, 2013-02-10 21:56. Section: Daily Dispatches
CHINA………………………………$3,312,000,000,000
USA……………………………………$150,000,000,000
Germany………………………………$256,000,000,000
Italy……………………………………$187,000,000,000
France…………………………………$190,000,000,000
Presently, China has 22 TIMES MORE the total Foreign Reserves than the USA. In fact CHINA’ s Total Foreign Reserves are MORE THAN 4 TIMES GREATER than the combined Total Foreign Reserves of the USA, Germany, Italy and France…together.
China is truly the world’s Goliath of Total Foreign Reserves.(Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_foreign-exchange_reserves )
NEVERTHELESS, China’s FOREX risk is infinitely greater as only a tiny fraction of its Total Foreign Reserves are in gold.
Country…………………Percent Gold Reserves
USA……………………………76.6%
Germany………………………..73.7%
Italy……………………………..73.4%
France………………………….71.8%
Average……………………….73.9%
CHINA………………………….1.8%
( Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold_reserve )
If one assumes China may soon recognize the prudent and sensible merits of gold's FOREX diversification, The Peoples Bank of China Central Bank would need to buy an additional 44,600 tonnes of the shiny yellow. It is imperative to put this quantity into perspective by comparing it to two bench marks:
The world's total existing above ground gold is about 172,000 tonnesThe world's total yearly mine production is only about 2,600 tonnes
THEREFORE China's gold deficit represents 26% of the total existing above ground gold (172,000 tonnes). Furthermore, if China were to buy up ALL the newly mined gold in the world, it would take the next 17 years to accumulate 44,600 tonnes (which would obviously leave NOTHING for the demand of everyone else).
To procrastinate in increasing its gold reserves, China will continue to suffer grievous purchasing power losses in its Total Foreign Reserves portfolio…today estimated at $5 TRILLION…and counting.
IT IS IMPERATIVE TO APPRECIATE that China is obliged to implement an URGENT accumulation plan to buy gold in the open market from existing holders, and to buy up newly mined gold when available. This will inexorably forge new yearly all-time record highs in the value of the yellow metal.
TO BE SURE, China's demanding increased gold necessity will grow apace with its relentlessly bigger Trade Surpluses, which RELENTLESSLY rise year after year after year.
In light of The Peoples Bank of China's insatiable need for gold reserves, there will NEVER be a peak gold price. To be sure there will be technical corrections when gold rises too much too fast. However, these will only be temporary technical reactions…and will constitute buying opportunities for those new investors who have just ‘discovered' gold's incredible total return as compared to all other investment vehicles.
Here are the relative returns (ie performance) of gold vis-a-vis other asset classes since 2001:
Gold……………………………………..up +510%US T-Bonds……………………………..up +38%
Dow Stock Index…………………...…..up +30%
S&P500 Index………………………….up +15%
US Dollar…………………………DOWN -27%
http://stockcharts.com/h-sc/ui?s=$GOLD&p=W&st=2001-01-01&en=(today)&id=p36900901008&a=285817299&listNum=2
Actually, US$6,000/oz might be a tad conservative when we take into account that “…If China were to raise its gold reserves to the level of the aforementioned four countries, the Sino country would have to buy up ALL the newly mined gold in the world, which would take 17 years to accumulate 44,600 tonnes. This is virtually impossible without causing the price of gold to go parabolic. Who knows?... US$10,000?...US$15,000?
4:56p ET Sunday, February 10, 2013
Dear Friend of GATA and Gold (and Silver):
Unfunded pension and other liabilities guarantee a crackup of the Western financial system, Sprott Asset Management CEO Eric Sprott tells King World News today. Sprott expects gold to do well and silver to do spectacularly well, especially since investors today are buying 50 times more silver than gold. An excerpt from the interview is posted at the King World News blog here:
The full audio is posted at King World News here:
CHRIS POWELL, Secretary/Treasurer
Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee Inc.
Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee Inc.
end
The following is very important for you to read.
I have been hearing the same thing that scrap metal is disappearing and the only gold supply entering the market is that of the mines. Generally scrap is around 600 to 800 tonnes per year.
Gold demand for jewellery and hoarding is around 4,500 tonnes per year. Supplies from the mines (ex China ex Russia) comes to 2200 tonnes per year. The scrap supply helps the bankers in their supply deficit. If you run out of scrap then we have a huge deficit of 2,300 tonne.
Sprott believes that a default at the comex will occur sometime in the future:
(courtesy Kingworldnews/Eric Sprott)Sprott sees scrap gold disappearing, expects Comex default
The following is very important for you to read.
I have been hearing the same thing that scrap metal is disappearing and the only gold supply entering the market is that of the mines. Generally scrap is around 600 to 800 tonnes per year.
Gold demand for jewellery and hoarding is around 4,500 tonnes per year. Supplies from the mines (ex China ex Russia) comes to 2200 tonnes per year. The scrap supply helps the bankers in their supply deficit. If you run out of scrap then we have a huge deficit of 2,300 tonne.
Sprott believes that a default at the comex will occur sometime in the future:
(courtesy Kingworldnews/Eric Sprott)Sprott sees scrap gold disappearing, expects Comex default
Submitted by cpowell on 01:05PM ET Monday, February 11, 2013. Section: Daily Dispatches
4p ET Monday, February 11, 2013
Dear Friend of GATA and Gold:
Sprott Asset Management CEO Eric Sprott today tells King World News that scrap gold supply is disappearing, that he expects the Comex gold futures market to default, and that when it does, gold "will make up for these past two years in no time." An excerpt from the interview is posted at the King World News blog here:http://kingworldnews.com/kingworldnews/KWN_DailyWeb/Entries/2013/2/11_Sp...
CHRIS POWELL, Secretary/Treasurer
Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee Inc.
The Russian appetite for gold is now well known as we see this Bloomberg article on how
Putin has turned his oil profits into gold:
(courtesy Bloomberg)
4p ET Monday, February 11, 2013
Dear Friend of GATA and Gold:
Sprott Asset Management CEO Eric Sprott today tells King World News that scrap gold supply is disappearing, that he expects the Comex gold futures market to default, and that when it does, gold "will make up for these past two years in no time." An excerpt from the interview is posted at the King World News blog here:http://kingworldnews.com/kingworldnews/KWN_DailyWeb/Entries/2013/2/11_Sp...
CHRIS POWELL, Secretary/Treasurer
Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee Inc.
The Russian appetite for gold is now well known as we see this Bloomberg article on how
Putin has turned his oil profits into gold:
(courtesy Bloomberg)
Putin Turns Black Gold Into Bullion as Russia Out-Buys World
By Scott Rose & Olga Tanas - Feb 10, 2013 3:00 PM ET
When Vladimir Putin says the U.S. is endangering the global economy by abusing its dollar monopoly, he’s not just talking. He’s betting on it.
Not only has Putin made Russia the world’s largest oil producer, he’s also made it the biggest gold buyer. His central bank has added 570 metric tons of the metal in the past decade, a quarter more than runner-up China, according to IMF data compiled by Bloomberg. The added gold is also almost triple the weight of the Statue of Liberty.
“The more gold a country has, the more sovereignty it will have if there’s a cataclysm with the dollar, the euro, the pound or any other reserve currency,” Evgeny Fedorov, a lawmaker for Putin’s United Russia party in the lower house of parliament, said in a telephone interview in Moscow.
Gold, coveted by Russian rulers including Tsar Nicholas II and the Bolshevik leader whose forces assassinated him, Vladimir Lenin, has soared almost 400 percent in the period of Putin’s purchases. Central banks around the world have printed money to escape the global financial crisis, sapping investor appetite for dollars and euros and setting off a scramble for safety.
In 1998, the year Russia defaulted on $40 billion of domestic debt, it took as many as 28 barrels of crude to buy an ounce of gold, Bloomberg data show. That ratio tumbled to 11.5 by the time Putin first came to power a year later and in 2005, after it touched 6.5 -- less than half what it is now -- the president told the central bank to buy.
During a tour that November of the Magadan region in the Far East, where Polyus Gold International Ltd. and Polymetal International Plc have operations, Putin told Bank Rossii not to “shy away” from the metal. “After all, they’re called gold and currency reserves for a reason,” Putin said, according to a Kremlin transcript.
LUCKY GUY
At the time, gold was trading at an 18-year high of $495 an ounce and the Moscow-based central bank held 387 tons, or 2.2 percent of its $165 billion total reserves. The share reached 3.5 percent within a month, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
An ounce of gold for immediate delivery traded at $1,670 as of 7:24 p.m. Moscow time on Feb. 8. It rose 7 percent last year, the 12th straight year of gains. Analysts expect the metal to advance again in 2013, to $1,825 by the end of the year, according to the median of 26 forecasts in a Bloomberg survey.
“Putin’s gold strategy fits in with his resource nationalism, statist agenda,” said Tim Ash, head of emerging- market research at Standard Bank Plc in London. “It’s kind of a defensive play, but it worked, right?” Ash said in an interview in Moscow. “You need luck in politics and business, and clearly the guy has it.”
BROWN’S BOTTOM
Other world leaders haven’t been as lucky. Gordon Brown, as U.K. finance minister, sold almost 400 tons of gold in the 30 months to March 2002, when prices were at two-decade lows. London tabloids have referred to the period as Brown’s Bottom.
Quantitative easing by major economies to support financial asset prices is driving demand for gold in the emerging world, said Marcus Grubb, head of investment research at the World Gold Council. Before the crisis, central banks were net sellers of 400 to 500 tons a year. Now, led by Russia and China, they’re net buyers by about 450 tons, Grubb said by phone from London, where his industry group is based.
While Putin is leading the gold rush in emerging markets, developed nations are liquidating. Switzerland unloaded the most in the past decade, 877 tons, an amount now worth about $48 billion, according to International Monetary Fund data through November. France was second with 589 tons, while Spain, the Netherlands and Portugal each sold more than 200 tons.
NUMBER EIGHT
Even after Putin’s binge, though, Russia’s total cache of about 958 tons is only the eighth-largest, the World Gold Council said in a Feb. 8 report. The U.S. is No. 1 with about 8,134 tons, followed by Germany with 3,391 tons and the Washington-based IMF with 2,814 tons. Italy, France, China and Switzerland are fourth through seventh. While gold accounts for 9.5 percent of Russia’s total reserves, it accounts for more than 70 percent in the U.S., Germany, Italy and France.
Russia keeps about two-thirds of its stockpile in a greenish gray stone-and-glass building on Ulitsa Pravdy, or Truth Street, in central Moscow. The street is named after Pravda, the official newspaper of the Communist Party, which also was headquartered there.
Then-Prime Minister Putin became the first Russian leader to visit the complex on Jan. 24, 2011, according to the government’s website. He toured the 17,000 square-meter facility, which includes 1,500 square meters of storage, with First Deputy Chairman Georgy Luntovsky, posing for photographs lifting an ingot. Most of the bars weigh 10 to 14 kilograms (22 to 31 pounds) and are boxed in plastic or wooden crates alongside an emergency supply of banknotes.
BANK BUYING
Technically, state metals depositary Gokhran has the exclusive right to buy all gold mined in the country. In practice, it lets commercial banks buy from producers directly, usually in the form of project financing, said Sergey Kashuba, chairman of the Russian Union of Gold Producers in Moscow.
When the central bank buys gold, it’s from those commercial banks, led last year by OAO Sberbank, OAO Nomos Bank, VTB Group and OAO Gazprombank, Kashuba said. Russia produced 205 tons of gold last year, making it No. 4 after China, Australia and the U.S., according to U.S. Geological Survey estimates.
Security is tight along the entire production chain, Kashuba said. Just two organizations are allowed to move partially refined gold from miners in the Far East and northern Siberia to processing facilities in other parts of the country, he said. One is FeldSvyaz, a courier service that reports directly to Putin. The other, SpetsSvyaz, was split off from Stalin’s NKVD secret police in 1939 to transport precious metals and state secrets, according to its website.
TSAR PURCHASES
Russia has gone through bouts of hoarding before. Tsar Alexander II ordered his government to start amassing bullion in 1867, just months after selling Alaska, now the No. 2 gold- producing U.S. state, for $7.3 million. His grandson, Nicholas II, introduced the gold standard in 1897, then needed a loan from France to ward off speculators and save the system in 1906.
Nicholas, Russia’s last tsar was forced to free the ruble in 1914 as war broke out in Europe. Lenin’s revolutionary government reinstated the gold link along with a new currency in 1922. While Soviet rubles were nominally backed by gold, sales of the metal to citizens were halted in 1930, making the peg meaningless.
When Lenin’s Bolsheviks seized power in Petrograd, as St. Petersburg was then known, in 1917, one of their first targets was the State Bank and its gold, which they captured at 6 a.m. on Nov. 7, according to Bank Rossii’s website. They soon nationalized all the banks, confiscating any gold found in vaults and deposit boxes.
NO HOARD
Communist secrecy regarding the country’s gold holdings fueled speculation that party elites had amassed a huge hoard of bullion that they spirited out of the country before the Soviet Union disintegrated in 1991.
Viktor Gerashchenko, the last Soviet central banker and a two-time chairman of Bank Rossii, has repeatedly denied such speculation, including last February.
“When people ask about the party’s gold, my answer is always: Are you an idiot or something?” Gerashchenko, 75, told Afisha magazine.
For now, with more than five years left in Putin’s term, Russia plans to keep on buying.
“The pace will be determined by the market,” First Deputy Chairman Alexei Ulyukayev said in an interview in Davos, Switzerland, on Jan. 25. “Whether to speed that up or slow it down is a market decision and I’m not going to discuss it.”
To contact the reporters on this story: Scott Rose in Moscow at rrose10@bloomberg.net; Olga Tanas in Moscow at otanas@bloomberg.net
Here is another article on China amassing huge tonnage of gold
(courtesy Vronsky/Goldeagle.com)
(courtesy Vronsky/Goldeagle.com)
China’s Gross Shortage of GOLD RESERVES
vronsky
CHINA SUFFERS A DIRE NEED TO DIVERSITY ITS FOREIGN RESERVES
Compare the Total Foreign Reserves of the world’s major countries:CHINA………………………………$3,312,000,000,000
USA……………………………………$150,000,000,000
Germany………………………………$256,000,000,000
Italy……………………………………$187,000,000,000
France…………………………………$190,000,000,000
Presently, China has 22 TIMES MORE the total Foreign Reserves than the USA. In fact CHINA’ s Total Foreign Reserves are MORE THAN 4 TIMES GREATER than the combined Total Foreign Reserves of the USA, Germany, Italy and France…together.
China is truly the world’s Goliath of Total Foreign Reserves.(Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_foreign-exchange_reserves )
NEVERTHELESS, China’s FOREX risk is infinitely greater as only a tiny fraction of its Total Foreign Reserves are in gold.
Country…………………Percent Gold Reserves
USA……………………………76.6%
Germany………………………..73.7%
Italy……………………………..73.4%
France………………………….71.8%
Average……………………….73.9%
CHINA………………………….1.8%
( Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold_reserve )
If one assumes China may soon recognize the prudent and sensible merits of gold's FOREX diversification, The Peoples Bank of China Central Bank would need to buy an additional 44,600 tonnes of the shiny yellow. It is imperative to put this quantity into perspective by comparing it to two bench marks:
The world's total existing above ground gold is about 172,000 tonnesThe world's total yearly mine production is only about 2,600 tonnes
THEREFORE China's gold deficit represents 26% of the total existing above ground gold (172,000 tonnes). Furthermore, if China were to buy up ALL the newly mined gold in the world, it would take the next 17 years to accumulate 44,600 tonnes (which would obviously leave NOTHING for the demand of everyone else).
CONCLUSIONS
China is sorely short in gold reserves as percentage of its Total Foreign Reserves.To procrastinate in increasing its gold reserves, China will continue to suffer grievous purchasing power losses in its Total Foreign Reserves portfolio…today estimated at $5 TRILLION…and counting.
IT IS IMPERATIVE TO APPRECIATE that China is obliged to implement an URGENT accumulation plan to buy gold in the open market from existing holders, and to buy up newly mined gold when available. This will inexorably forge new yearly all-time record highs in the value of the yellow metal.
TO BE SURE, China's demanding increased gold necessity will grow apace with its relentlessly bigger Trade Surpluses, which RELENTLESSLY rise year after year after year.
In light of The Peoples Bank of China's insatiable need for gold reserves, there will NEVER be a peak gold price. To be sure there will be technical corrections when gold rises too much too fast. However, these will only be temporary technical reactions…and will constitute buying opportunities for those new investors who have just ‘discovered' gold's incredible total return as compared to all other investment vehicles.
Here are the relative returns (ie performance) of gold vis-a-vis other asset classes since 2001:
Gold……………………………………..up +510%US T-Bonds……………………………..up +38%
Dow Stock Index…………………...…..up +30%
S&P500 Index………………………….up +15%
US Dollar…………………………DOWN -27%
http://stockcharts.com/h-sc/ui?s=$GOLD&p=W&st=2001-01-01&en=(today)&id=p36900901008&a=285817299&listNum=2
HOW MUCH MIGHT THE GOLD PRICE RISE IN THE NEXT 4 YEARS?
Since Obama became President, the US Fed’s Quantitative Easing policies fueled gold up 100% --- and this without the help of CHINA buying the yellow metal to diversify its burgeoning FOREX RISK. Moreover, Dr Bernanke of the US Fed has publicly stated Quantitative Easing policies will remain in effect until the UNEMPLOYMENT RATE is reduced to acceptable levels. Obviously, we are looking at 2016 – at the earliest! Meanwhile , CHINA will soon be buying gold hand over fist to reduce its US Dollar exposure. In light of all the above, it appears logical the price of gold may rise to over US$6,000/oz by the time Obama leaves office.Actually, US$6,000/oz might be a tad conservative when we take into account that “…If China were to raise its gold reserves to the level of the aforementioned four countries, the Sino country would have to buy up ALL the newly mined gold in the world, which would take 17 years to accumulate 44,600 tonnes. This is virtually impossible without causing the price of gold to go parabolic. Who knows?... US$10,000?...US$15,000?
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http://www.gata.org/node/12226
Russia, China know what GATA knows about gold, Embry tells King World News
Submitted by cpowell on Mon, 2013-02-11 20:03. Section: Daily Dispatches
3p ET Monday, February 11, 2013
Dear Friend of GATA and Gold:
Russia and China know what GATA long has been telling the world about the rigging of the gold market and they are acting on it, Sprott Asset Management's John Embry today tells King World News.
"This is why," Embry says, "the Western gold is headed East and the Western hoards are being hollowed out. I just think the Westerners are making a catastrophic error here, and as a committed Westerner I hate to see what's happening."
As gold demand rises, Embry adds, gold production will be collapsing as the suppressed price puts junior mining companies out of business. That, he says, argues for a price explosion when the paper manipulations in the futures markets end.
An excerpt from the interview with Embry is posted at the King World News blog here:
CHRIS POWELL, Secretary/Treasurer
Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee Inc.
Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee Inc.
http://jessescrossroadscafe.blogspot.com/2013/02/gold-daily-and-silver-weekly-charts_11.html
( KWN interview of the day embedded below regarding death of gold recycling business from Eric Sprott - he opines only source of gold and silver comes from mining - yet mining stocks have performed poorly ? Discussion of Comex default part of this interesting interview.)
Gold Daily and Silver Weekly Charts - G7 'All Is Well' - Raid in Honor of Chinese New Year
Obama will deliver the State of the Union address tomorrow.
This week is a stock market expiration week.
Eric Sprott sees the gold scrap market drying up, and a default coming on the COMEX.
The G7 issued a statement ahead of their meeting in Moscow saying that there would be no escalation in the currency war.
To paraphrase Orwell, economic language 'is designed to make lies sound truthful and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.'
When the G7 show us a workable, sustainable solution to the reserve currency crisis, that is acceptable to the world at large including the BRICs, perhaps one might tend to take their diplomatic dispatches more seriously.
Meanwhile, the currency war continues as the Anglo-American economic empire, its multinational companies, and its client states resist change and reform at every opportunity.
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