Tuesday, March 14, 2023
Wednesday, June 12, 2013
Who Really Owns Your Gold? The Shocking Truth
By WDAGarner | Posted September 22, 2011 | Siesta Key, Florida
The Great American Nightmare
The American Dream is dead and America is flat broke. That’s not to say you can’t still go out for a cold one after work each night, or rent a DVD and veg for hours in your overstuffed lounger in front of that 42-inch Samsung. Or get that wonderful foot massage and pedicure on Saturday morning. Even deep in the economic blood-red of the United States of America, there’s always room for a six pack, a movie and a foot rub..
Way things are now, you can’t possibly pay down all your bills in your lifetime, even though you probably worked out a plan to do so within ten years, but that was 12 years ago when things weren’t so bad and you had a fulltime job with bennies and a small savings account, the IRA and the 401K and all that stuff you probably never thought you’d ever need.
Too high and climbing, your mortgage is overwhelming. The insurance on your home keeps creeping up year after year for no apparent reason, or at least any sane reason the bank can give you, and you can’t very well cancel it because the bank that holds your mortgage won’t let you and they keep threatening you with immediate foreclosure if you as much as think about it.
With this new so-called healthcare reform now in place, your medical bills are skyrocketing, especially since your spouse went into the hospital with intestinal problems, and neither of you can afford health insurance because that would cost you both more than $2,000 a month in premiums, and neither of you takes home more than $1,500 after taxes every 30 days.
You have enough debt to saddle a medieval horse, and that horse’s back is swaying more and more with time. Any day now, it’ll surrender to gravity like a droopy chin, and the once majestic beast will drown in a sea of debt that screams over you like a tsunami that traveled 10,000 miles from the dark, cold Antarctic, gathering more and more momentum with each passing mile.
Is there any recovery from such a force of nature?
The good news is that once you come out from under that bankruptcy, all those material things you accumulated over your lifetime—the beautiful home and the car and truck, and your worldly possessions—will be in someone else’s hands, starting with your bank, which has no use for your stuff anyway except for what it might fetch at auction.
No more dusting off the little Hummel pieces from grandma. No more cleaning the fine silver you got on your wedding day from all your friends who chipped in money they didn’t have. No more vacuuming and cleaning your lovely home you built from scratch and promised to pay down before the end of that 30-year, 6% loan.
You’ll be left with little more than a few articles of clothing, if even those. Life is no longer what you thought it would be. The American Dream has fast become The American Nightmare, brought on by an invisible force some call dark matter, the stuff of science fiction that tells us we can’t see it or smell it or touch it, but it’s effects are there and they’re real so you best believe it.
And in the wake of all this, you’re left scratching your head, wondering what the hell just happened here?
Does anyone have an accurate answer? Does anyone outside your life even care? Your friends have all but abandoned you, because they’re in the same position, facing bankruptcy or having just been spat out by the court system that took everything they once owned. Daily phone calls that once beamed happiness and baseball and Oprah now scream and cry tales of IRS liens, foreclosures and that fourth job, the one that starts at two in the morning when the baby’s crying.
Your family can’t help you, either, because they just got hit with a huge tax bill that they’ll never be able to pay, but hey, wait, there’s always that monthly payment system with the IRS, and they only charge 30% interest on top of what they say you already owe them.
So, no, even family can’t help you. Seems everyone you know is being pulled under by this rip tide of dark matter whose invisible and unyielding gravity takes no prisoners, but it’s all too happy to take you down down down into that forever abyss.
Sunday, June 02, 2013
Nouriel Roubini | After the gold rush
While gold prices may move higher in the next few years, they will trend lower over time as the global economy mends itself
Venice: The run-up in gold prices in recent years—from $800 per ounce in early 2009 to above $1,900 in the fall of 2011—had all the features of a bubble. And now, like all asset-price surges that are divorced from the fundamentals of supply and demand, the gold bubble is deflating.
At the peak, gold bugs—a combination of paranoid investors and others with a fear-based political agenda—were happily predicting gold prices going to $2,000, $3,000, and even to $5,000 in a matter of years. But prices have moved mostly downward since then. In April, gold was selling for close to $1,300 per ounce—and the price is still hovering below $1400, an almost 30% drop from the 2011 high.
There are many reasons why the bubble has burst, and why gold prices are likely to move much lower, toward $1,000 by 2015.
First, gold prices tend to spike when there are serious economic, financial, and geopolitical risks in the global economy. During the global financial crisis, even the safety of bank deposits and government bonds was in doubt for some investors. If you worry about financial Armageddon, it is indeed metaphorically the time to stock your bunker with guns, ammunition, canned food, and gold bars.
But, even in that dire scenario, gold might be a poor investment. Indeed, at the peak of the global financial crisis in 2008 and 2009, gold prices fell sharply a few times. In an extreme credit crunch, leveraged purchases of gold cause forced sales, because any price correction triggers margin calls. As a result, gold can be very volatile—upward and downward—at the peak of a crisis.
Second, gold performs best when there is a risk of high inflation, as its popularity as a store of value increases. But, despite very aggressive monetary policy by many central banks—successive rounds of “quantitative easing” have doubled, or even tripled, the money supply in most advanced economies—global inflation is actually low and falling further.
The reason is simple: while base money is soaring, the velocity of money has collapsed, with banks hoarding the liquidity in the form of excess reserves. Ongoing private and public debt deleveraging has kept global demand growth below that of supply.
Thus, firms have little pricing power, owing to excess capacity, while workers’ bargaining power is low, owing to high unemployment. Moreover, trade unions continue to weaken, while globalization has led to cheap production of labour-intensive goods in China and other emerging markets, depressing the wages and job prospects of unskilled workers in advanced economies.
With little wage inflation, high goods inflation is unlikely. If anything, inflation is now falling further globally as commodity prices adjust downward in response to weak global growth. And gold is following the fall in actual and expected inflation.
Third, unlike other assets, gold does not provide any income. Whereas equities have dividends, bonds have coupons, and homes provide rents, gold is solely a play on capital appreciation. Now that the global economy is recovering, other assets—equities or even revived real estate—thus provide higher returns. Indeed, US and global equities have vastly outperformed gold since the sharp rise in gold prices in early 2009.
Fourth, gold prices rose sharply when real (inflation-adjusted) interest rates became increasingly negative after successive rounds of quantitative easing. The time to buy gold is when the real returns on cash and bonds are negative and falling. But the more positive outlook about the US and the global economy implies that over time the Federal Reserve and other central banks will exit from quantitative easing and zero policy rates, which means that real rates will rise, rather than fall.
Fifth, some argued that highly indebted sovereigns would push investors into gold as government bonds became more risky. But the opposite is happening now. Many of these highly indebted governments have large stocks of gold, which they may decide to dump to reduce their debts. Indeed, a report that Cyprus might sell a small fraction—some €400 million ($520 million)—of its gold reserves triggered a 13% fall in gold prices in April. Countries like Italy, which has massive gold reserves (above $130 billion), could be similarly tempted, driving down prices further.
Sixth, some extreme political conservatives, especially in the US, hyped gold in ways that ended up being counterproductive. For this far-right fringe, gold is the only hedge against the risk posed by the government’s conspiracy to expropriate private wealth. These fanatics also believe that a return to the gold standard is inevitable as hyperinflation ensues from central banks’ “debasement” of paper money. But, given the absence of any conspiracy, falling inflation, and the inability to use gold as a currency, such arguments cannot be sustained.
A currency serves three functions, providing a means of payment, a unit of account, and a store of value. Gold may be a store of value for wealth, but it is not a means of payment; you cannot pay for your groceries with it. Nor is it a unit of account; prices of goods and services, and of financial assets, are not denominated in gold terms.
So gold remains John Maynard Keynes’s “barbarous relic”, with no intrinsic value and used mainly as a hedge against mostly irrational fear and panic. Yes, all investors should have a very modest share of gold in their portfolios as a hedge against extreme tail risks. But other real assets can provide a similar hedge, and those tail risks—while not eliminated—are certainly lower today than at the peak of the global financial crisis.
While gold prices may temporarily move higher in the next few years, they will be very volatile and will trend lower over time as the global economy mends itself. The gold rush is over.
©2013/PROJECT SYNDICATE
Nouriel Roubini is chairman of Roubini Global Economics and professor of economics at the Stern School of Business.
Tuesday, April 02, 2013
This Will Signal The Final Collapse & End Game Has Started
Today John Embry spoke with King World News about what will signal to investors that the final collapse and end game is upon us. Below is what Embry, chief investment strategist at Sprott Asset Management, had to say:
“I think the US stock market is building a massive rounded top, and when it finally buckles it will probably be the start of the end game. The volume keeps declining as the markets rise. This is not a good pattern when viewed from a historical context.
So the whole situation we find ourselves in makes me very uncomfortable. The mainstream media continues with its propaganda in order to mislead people regarding the true state of the economy. At the same time the markets keep being propped up by the Fed, and gold and silver are being wildly suppressed.
The suppression of the metals is taking place to keep people believing everything is fine....
Source
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Thursday, March 28, 2013
Not Even Gold Will Save You From What Is Coming - MARC FABER
Matthew Boesler | Mar. 27, 2013, 4:53 PM
Bloomberg Television
Marc Faber
See Also
Instead Of Doing His Job, Jeroen Dijsselbloem Has Given Us A Glimpse Of The Euro 'End Game'
ANALYST: The Market Reaction To Cyprus Has Been 'Fantastic' Thanks To 'Massive Manipulation'
Global Financial Stress Is Starting To Pick Up Steam, And That's Bad News For StocksMarc Faber, who authors the Gloom Boom & Doom newsletter, is usually pretty bearish on stocks and bullish on gold.
Lately, though, gold doesn't seem like it can catch a bid.
"Despite the continued reverberations regarding the Cyprus bailout and its involvement of bank deposits, gold struggled to maintain the positive momentum created in the first two weeks of March and instead now looks very likely to move lower, towards $1580/oz," wrote Deutsche Bank commodities analyst Xiao Fu in a note this morning.
So, what does Faber have to say about it?
This morning, on Bloomberg Surveillance with Tom Keene and Alix Steel, Dr. Doom was asked why gold wasn't holding up.
Here's his explanation:
When you print money, the money does not flow evenly into the economic system. It stays essentially in the financial service industry and among people that have access to these funds, mostly well-to-do people. It does not go to the worker. I just mentioned that it doesn't flow evenly into the system.
Now from time to time it will lift the NASDAQ like between 1997 and March 2000. Then it lifted home prices in the U.S. until 2007. Then it lifted the commodity prices in 2008 until July 2008 when the global economy was already in recession. More recently it has lifted selected emerging economies, stock markets in Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, up four times from 2009 lows and now the U.S.
So we are creating bubbles and bubbles and bubbles. This bubble will come to an end. My concern is that we are going to have a systemic crisis where it is going to be very difficult to hide. Even in gold, it will be difficult to hide.
Faber is, of course, still bearish on U.S. stocks. He told Bloomberg that he sees "considerable downside risk" in the market.
Source
Friday, March 22, 2013
Get Ready for Some Major Disinformation about America's Gold
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2013
An audit of the gold held at the New York Federal Reserve has been completed and the disinformation campaign has started. Notice how LaTi reports the story:
The U.S. government’s gold in New York is safe in a vault underneath Manhattan, and some of the precious metal there is purer than previously thought.The problem with this is that the gold held at the New York Federal Reserve is not "The U.S. government’s gold." It is gold held, for the most part, by the Federal Reserve for foreign countries.
LaTi goes on:
That’s according to a first-ever audit conducted last year by the Treasury Department of U.S. gold on deposit at Federal Reserve banks in New York and elsewhere.This is curious because it is the government conducting the audit. That's like having Bernie Madoff's brother auditing Bernie's customer accounts. Why wasn't an independent auditing firm brought in? And since the gold is held for countries like Germany, why didn't Germany and others who have gold on account get to pick the auditor?
Here's more LaTi disinformation, which misdirects from the above important questions:
As part of the audit, the Treasury tested a sample of the government’s 34,021 gold bars in the New York Fed’s vault five stories below Manhattan’s financial district, according to the inspector general’s office. Auditors drilled tiny holes into the bars to remove samples that were tested for fineness in a process called assaying.
In three of the 367 tests, the gold was more pure than Treasury records indicated, according to the Treasury's inspector general. As a result, the government notched up the value of its gold holdings by approximately 27 fine troy ounces – or about $43,500, based on gold’s market value Monday.Then LaTi tells us this:
The audit of the Fed gold came after 2012 presidential contender and former U.S. Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) questioned the central bank's gold holdings. While he was in Congress, Paul questioned whether the New York Fed had loaned or otherwise encumbered U.S. gold in financial arrangements, and he advanced a bill that would have required a full assay and audit of the country’s gold reserves.But Dr. Paul was most concerned about "the country’s gold reserves," which is different from what is held at the Fed. The country's gold reserves are held mostly at Fort Knox, which no one is allowed to see, much less audit.
Then we have two more paragraphs of disinformation:
The New York Fed holds 99.98% of the U.S.-owned gold bars and coins in the custody of the Federal Reserve. The rest of the gold is on display at Fed banks in cities such as Richmond, Kansas City and San Francisco.
As of Sept. 30, when the market price of gold was $1,776 an ounce, the Fed banks held $23.9 billion in U.S. gold. (Gold has since declined in value, and on Monday the precious metal was hovering around $1,610 an ounce.)Unlike Fort Knox, the NY Fed gives tours of its vaults, so Americans can see the gold of other countries, but not US gold.
Bottom line: This audit was designed to confuse. Expect more stories about how the Treasury conducted and audit of US gold. Not true. Fort Knox gold, where America's gold supposedly sits, is off limits to all and has never been audited.
Again, the gold held at the New York Fed is mostly gold held for foreign countries. It does not belong to the Federal Reserve or the United States government. LaTi after misdirecting throughout the full story, ends with the limited truth:
The vast majority of the country’s gold reserves is held elsewhere, in Fort Knox, West Point and Denver.
Of course, the full truth is this gold has never been audited and unlike the NY Fed, which provides tours, there are no tours of the Fort Knox gold.
Every year tens of thousands of visitors from around the world visit the gold vault as part of a free, public tour of the New York Fed. This tour is designed to educate visitors about the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and Federal Reserve System. You can register for a tour here.
Bottom Line: The audit of the NY Fed gold will be used to deceive and give the impression that the gold supposedly held for American's has been audited.
Source
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Monday, December 31, 2012
Poison Pill and Gold Debate
Sunday, December 30, 2012 10:15 PM
In Ho Hum - Fiscal Cliff Deal Stalls - Republicans Offer More and More Concessions; Poison Pill Nonsense I stated ...
"The real poison pill is allowing Social Security and Medicare costs to escalate unabated. Does anyone in either party want to admit the truth? ... the best hope still remains that all compromises fail."
The above thought prompted Uncle Frank to respond in a comment "Mish relishes chaos and financial ruin for this country so his gold holdings shoot-up in value. Everyone has an ulterior motive you know."
Ulterior Motives?
Since I get accused of this sort of thing quite frequently, please let me point out a few things:
Gold has been sinking, as it should, if Congress is fiscally prudent.
Government Should be Prudent
Government Won't Be Prudent
Should Congress be fiscally prudent (and the fiscal cliff is not close to being fiscally prudent), I would change my stance on gold in one second flat.
Nonetheless, should Congress fail to address the Fiscal Cliff, I would expect the exact opposite of what Uncle Frank suggests.
In short, regardless of my personal beliefs regarding gold (that one would be prudent to buy and hold gold), I actually advocate government and Fed policies that are contrary to my recommendations.
My reasons are easily explained:
Neither the Fed nor the government gives a darn about what is fiscally prudent.
Both the Fed and Congress are highly likely to debase currency, causing gold to rise, even if I think that is bad economic and fiscal policy, which of course I do.
Thus the accusations of Uncle Frank, and countless others before him are 100% baseless. Should Congress actually do what I expect, I think it would not be good for gold.
I recommend governmental actions on the basis of policy merit alone, not based on my stock market positioning. I find it very sad that few others do the same.
Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com
Monday, November 19, 2012
Bank For International Settlements (BIS): How The Rothschilds Control And Dictate To The World
By William Dean A. Garner - BLN Contributing Writer
For decades, people have urged me, pushed me, prodded me, practically peeled off my skin, pulled out my eyes, and yanked out my brain to prove it, i.e. show them the data, the results, the books, manuals, pamphlets, journals, monographs, voice and video recordings, all the resources I have used to make the statements I do about the Brzezinski Cartel and the Rothschilds.
On the evening of St. Patrick’s Day 2010, I feel now is the time . . . but with a twist.
The list below shows 165 different ways how The First Sphere of Influence (Rothschilds and Brzezinski Cartel) controls the world. One hundred and sixty-five reasons to believe what I say to be 100% accurate and true.
Each entry is a separate and distinct central bank, located in a separate and distinct part of the world. These central banks cover the globe and know absolutely no boundaries, effectively erasing borders between even sworn enemies.
The BIS (pronounced BIZZ) is the Rothschild’s piggy bank, a veritable deep-pit mine, the equivalent of quadrillions of dollars.
quadrillion quad·ril’lion adj.
The cardinal number equal to 1015.
Chiefly British. Septillion.
What’s the significance of having a central bank within a country and why should you concern yourself, your family and colleagues?
Central banks are illegally created PRIVATE banks that are owned by the Rothschild banking family. The family has been around for more than 230 years and has slithered its way into each country on this planet, threatened every world leader and their governments and cabinets with physical and economic death and destruction, and then emplaced their own people in these central banks to control and manage each country’s pocketbook. Worse, the Rothschilds also control the machinations of each government at the macro level, not concerning themselves with the daily vicissitudes of our individual personal lives. Except when we get too far out of line.
The grand plan of The First Sphere of Influence is to create a global mononation. Please do not confuse this with the term globalization. Mononation and globalization couldn’t be more different in concept, scope and purpose. Mononation is one state. It has one government. One set of laws for all ordinary citizens, no laws for the elite. Globalization refers to communicating, trading, interacting, etc. among separate, different, independent, sovereign countries.
The grand plan of The First Sphere of Influence is to create a global mononation.
Our own Federal Reserve is an illegally emplaced private bank that is directly responsible for creating all the US’s depressions, recessions, and the inflation and deflation of our dollar. The Fed controls the printing of our own currency, and then charges the US government interest on those loans. The interest is growing each year, making it difficult if not impossible for our government to pay it. How do we pay this interest? By the US Personal Income Tax. This tax goes to the Rothschild family.
In the coming months, as I continue to gather intel and write a book about The First Sphere of Influence, I will share more and more. For now, I kindly ask that you read each of the 165 lines below. One hundred and sixty-five reasons to believe my intel. You can click on each bank and visit its website. I’ve seen each one. They’re real. And they’re one of the reasons why each country is in such deep debt to this insidious family, the Rothschilds.
By the way, if you’re curious what the US debt is to the BIS, please refer to the table at the end of this article, taken from the latest statistical results provided by the Joint External Debt Hub, which receives data from the BIS, International Monetary Fund, World Bank, and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
BIS Offices
Representative Office for Asia and the Pacific
78th floor, Two International Finance Centre
8 Finance Street, Central
Hong Kong
Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China
Telephone: (+852) 2878 7100
Fax: (+852) 2878 7123
Representative Office for the Americas
Torre Chapultepec
Rubén Darío 281 – 17th floor
Col. Bosque de Chapultepec
Del. Miguel Hidalgo
11580 México, D.F.
México
Telephone: (+52) 55 91380290
Fax: (+52) 55 91380299
The Rothschild-Owned Central Banks of the World
Afghanistan: Bank of Afghanistan
Albania: Bank of Albania
Algeria: Bank of Algeria
Argentina: Central Bank of Argentina
Armenia: Central Bank of Armenia
Aruba: Central Bank of Aruba
Australia: Reserve Bank of Australia
Austria: Austrian National Bank
Azerbaijan: Central Bank of Azerbaijan Republic
Bahamas: Central Bank of The Bahamas
Bahrain: Central Bank of Bahrain
Bangladesh: Bangladesh Bank
Barbados: Central Bank of Barbados
Belarus: National Bank of the Republic of Belarus
Belgium: National Bank of Belgium
Belize: Central Bank of Belize
Benin: Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO)
Bermuda: Bermuda Monetary Authority
Bhutan: Royal Monetary Authority of Bhutan
Bolivia: Central Bank of Bolivia
Bosnia: Central Bank of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Botswana: Bank of Botswana
Brazil: Central Bank of Brazil
Bulgaria: Bulgarian National Bank
Burkina Faso: Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO)
Burundi: Bank of the Republic of Burundi
Cambodia: National Bank of Cambodia
Cameroon: Bank of Central African States
Canada: Bank of Canada - Banque du Canada
Cayman Islands: Cayman Islands Monetary Authority
Central African Republic: Bank of Central African States
Chad: Bank of Central African States
Chile: Central Bank of Chile
China: The People’s Bank of China
Colombia: Bank of the Republic
Comoros: Central Bank of Comoros
Congo: Bank of Central African States
Costa Rica: Central Bank of Costa Rica
Côte d’Ivoire: Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO)
Croatia: Croatian National Bank
Cuba: Central Bank of Cuba
Cyprus: Central Bank of Cyprus
Czech Republic: Czech National Bank
Denmark: National Bank of Denmark
Dominican Republic: Central Bank of the Dominican Republic
East Caribbean area: Eastern Caribbean Central Bank
Ecuador: Central Bank of Ecuador
Egypt: Central Bank of Egypt
El Salvador: Central Reserve Bank of El Salvador
Equatorial Guinea: Bank of Central African States
Estonia: Bank of Estonia
Ethiopia: National Bank of Ethiopia
European Union: European Central Bank
Fiji: Reserve Bank of Fiji
Finland: Bank of Finland
France: Bank of France
Gabon: Bank of Central African States
The Gambia: Central Bank of The Gambia
Georgia: National Bank of Georgia
Germany: Deutsche Bundesbank
Ghana: Bank of Ghana
Greece: Bank of Greece
Guatemala: Bank of Guatemala
Guinea Bissau: Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO)
Guyana: Bank of Guyana
Haiti: Central Bank of Haiti
Honduras: Central Bank of Honduras
Hong Kong: Hong Kong Monetary Authority
Hungary: Magyar Nemzeti Bank
Iceland: Central Bank of Iceland
India: Reserve Bank of India
Indonesia: Bank Indonesia
Iran: The Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran
Iraq: Central Bank of Iraq
Ireland: Central Bank and Financial Services Authority of Ireland
Israel: Bank of Israel
Italy: Bank of Italy
Jamaica: Bank of Jamaica
Japan: Bank of Japan
Jordan: Central Bank of Jordan
Kazakhstan: National Bank of Kazakhstan
Kenya: Central Bank of Kenya
Korea: Bank of Korea
Kuwait: Central Bank of Kuwait
Kyrgyzstan: National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic
Latvia: Bank of Latvia
Lebanon: Central Bank of Lebanon
Lesotho: Central Bank of Lesotho
Libya: Central Bank of Libya
Lithuania: Bank of Lithuania
Luxembourg: Central Bank of Luxembourg
Macao: Monetary Authority of Macao
Macedonia: National Bank of the Republic of Macedonia
Madagascar: Central Bank of Madagascar
Malawi: Reserve Bank of Malawi
Malaysia: Central Bank of Malaysia
Mali: Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO)
Malta: Central Bank of Malta
Mauritius: Bank of Mauritius
Mexico: Bank of Mexico
Moldova: National Bank of Moldova
Mongolia: Bank of Mongolia
Montenegro: Central Bank of Montenegro
Morocco: Bank of Morocco
Mozambique: Bank of Mozambique
Namibia: Bank of Namibia
Nepal: Central Bank of Nepal
Netherlands: Netherlands Bank
Netherlands Antilles: Bank of the Netherlands Antilles
New Zealand: Reserve Bank of New Zealand
Nicaragua: Central Bank of Nicaragua
Niger: Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO)
Nigeria: Central Bank of Nigeria
Norway: Central Bank of Norway
Oman: Central Bank of Oman
Pakistan: State Bank of Pakistan
Papua New Guinea: Bank of Papua New Guinea
Paraguay: Central Bank of Paraguay
Peru: Central Reserve Bank of Peru
Philippines: Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas
Poland: National Bank of Poland
Portugal: Bank of Portugal
Qatar: Qatar Central Bank
Romania: National Bank of Romania
Russia: Central Bank of Russia
Rwanda: National Bank of Rwanda
San Marino: Central Bank of the Republic of San Marino
Samoa: Central Bank of Samoa
Saudi Arabia: Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency
Senegal: Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO)
Serbia: National Bank of Serbia
Seychelles: Central Bank of Seychelles
Sierra Leone: Bank of Sierra Leone
Singapore: Monetary Authority of Singapore
Slovakia: National Bank of Slovakia
Slovenia: Bank of Slovenia
Solomon Islands: Central Bank of Solomon Islands
South Africa: South African Reserve Bank
Spain: Bank of Spain
Sri Lanka: Central Bank of Sri Lanka
Sudan: Bank of Sudan
Surinam: Central Bank of Suriname
Swaziland: The Central Bank of Swaziland
Sweden: Sveriges Riksbank
Switzerland: Swiss National Bank
Tajikistan: National Bank of Tajikistan
Tanzania: Bank of Tanzania
Thailand: Bank of Thailand
Togo: Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO)
Tonga: National Reserve Bank of Tonga
Trinidad and Tobago: Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago
Tunisia: Central Bank of Tunisia
Turkey: Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey
Uganda: Bank of Uganda
Ukraine: National Bank of Ukraine
United Arab Emirates: Central Bank of United Arab Emirates
United Kingdom: Bank of England
United States: The Dirty Nasty Stinky Fed, Federal Reserve Bank of New York
Uruguay: Central Bank of Uruguay
Vanuatu: Reserve Bank of Vanuatu
Venezuela: Central Bank of Venezuela
Vietnam: The State Bank of Vietnam
Yemen: Central Bank of Yemen
Zambia: Bank of Zambia
Zimbabwe: Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe
Joint BIS-IMF-OECD-World Bank Statistics on United States’ External Debt (in Millions US$)
2008Q4 2009Q2 2009Q3 2009Q4
a. Loans and other credits
01_Cross-border loans from BIS reporting banks 3,707,538 3,388,795 3,530,286 ..
02_Cross-border loans from BIS banks to nonbanks 1,363,191 1,337,188 1,330,606 ..
03_Official bilateral loans, total .. .. .. ..
04_Official bilateral loans, aid loans .. .. .. ..
05_Official bilateral loans, other .. .. .. ..
06_Multilateral loans, total .. .. .. ..
07_Multilateral loans, IMF 0 0 0 0
08_Multilateral loans, other institutions .. .. .. ..
09_Official trade credits, total, all maturities .. .. .. ..
10_Official trade credits, nonbanks, all maturities .. .. .. ..
101_SDR allocation 7,547 7,605 55,953 55,364
b. Debt securities
11_International debt securities, all maturities 5,275,668 5,849,272 5,937,740 6,034,582
12_International debt securities, nonbanks 3,540,768 4,074,795 4,174,716 4,259,775
13_International debt securities, Brady bonds .. .. .. ..
c. Supplementary information:
14_Insured export credit exposures, Berne Union 99,113 100,938 102,692 104,039
15_Insured export credit exposures short term (BU) 61,873 58,664 60,227 56,901
16_Debt securities held by nonresidents 4,866,185 .. .. ..
161_Paris Club claims (ODA) .. .. .. ..
162_Paris Club claims (non ODA) .. .. .. ..
d. Loans and other credits (Debt due within a year)
17_Liabilities to BIS banks (cons.), short term 1,074,620 981,718 892,617 ..
18_Official bilateral loans, total, short term .. .. .. ..
19_Official bilateral loans, aid, short term .. .. .. ..
20_Official bilateral loans, other, short term .. .. .. ..
21_Multilateral loans, IMF, short term .. .. .. ..
22_Official trade credits, nonbanks, short term .. .. .. ..
e. Debt securities (Debt due within a year)
23_International debt securities, short term 856,968 850,176 888,271 871,759
24_Intnl debt securities, nonbanks, short term 481,950 491,997 529,169 514,819
f. Memorandum items –selected foreign assets/liabilities
25_International reserves (excluding gold) 66,607 70,448 123,255 119,719
251_SDR holdings 9,340 9,437 57,945 57,814
26_Portfolio investment assets 4,267,865 .. .. ..
27_Cross-border deposits with BIS rep. banks 3,752,843 3,846,483 3,973,186 ..
28_Cross-border dep. with BIS banks, nonbanks 1,802,268 1,628,098 1,716,537 ..
29_Liabilities to BIS banks, locational, total 5,289,063 4,917,133 5,078,389 ..
30_Liabilities to BIS banks, consolidated, total 2,761,479 2,680,326 2,590,003 ..
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: William Dean A. Garner is a New York Times bestselling ghostwriter and editor of many fiction and nonfiction books. A former biophysicist, US Army Airborne Ranger, and Corporate Mercenary, Garner did 211 overseas missions over a nine-year period, escorting clients out of hostile territories so they could have a voice of peace, freedom and liberty. He writes and speaks about the dangers of The First Sphere of Influence, a global cartel controlled by the family Rothschild.
http://thatsjustplumdumb.com/index.php/2010/03/bank-for-international-settlements-bis-how-the-rothschilds-control-and-dictate-to-the-world/
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Monday, November 05, 2012
The Emperor Has No Gold
Are Central Banks Overstating their Gold Holdings?
Romania has demanded for many years that Russia return its gold.
Last year, Venezuela demanded the return of 90 tons of gold from the Bank of England.
The German high court recently ruled that Germany must audit its gold reserves held in foreign countries such as the U.S., England and France. And German inspectors will actually travel to the New York Federal Reserve Bank’s gold depository and the Bank of England to inspect their gold.
Germany will also repatriate 150 tons of gold in order to test it for purity.
As Zero Hedge notes (quoting Bloomberg):
Ecuador’s government wants the nation’s banks to repatriate about one third of their foreign holdings to support national growth, the head of the country’s tax agency said.
Carlos Carrasco, director of the tax agency known as the SRI, said today that Ecuador’s lenders could repatriate about $1.7 billion and still fulfill obligations to international clients. Carrasco spoke at a congressional hearing in Quito on a government proposal to raise taxes on banks to finance cash subsidies to the South American nation’s poor.
Four members of the Swiss Parliament want Switzerland to reclaim its gold.
Some people in the Netherlands want their gold back as well.
Cheviot Asset Management’s Ned Naylor-Leyland says that the Fed and Bank of England will never return gold to its foreign owners.
Jim Willie says that the gold is gone.
The fact that CNBC head editor John Carney is arguing that it doesn’t matter whether or not the Fed has the gold does not exactly inspire confidence.
Gerald Celente notes:
It’s not only Germany (who’s gold is missing), it’s the United Sates, it’s all of the countries. Nobody knows what’s in Fort Knox. They won’t let anybody in. Where’s the gold in the United States? How come we can’t go in and look in Fort Knox?
***
How come the people can’t have a reading? How come we can’t look at it? How come politicians can’t get in there? How come no one can get in there? The gold does not exist. All this does is confirm what so many of us already know, “The Emperor has no gold.”
Egon von Greyerz – founder and managing partner at Matterhorn Asset Management – agrees:
There probably isn’t anywhere near the central bank gold (governments claim they possess).
Ron Paul has called for an audit of Fort Knox, based upon the suspicion by many that the gold was sold off years ago:
How Much Gold is in Fort Knox?
Tommy Decentralized | Myspace Video
Others allege that the gold has not been sold outright, but has been leased or encumbered, so that the U.S. does not own it outright.
$10 billion dollar fund manager Eric Sprott writes – in an article entitled “Do Western Central Banks Have Any Gold Left???“:
If the Western central banks are indeed leasing out their physical reserves, they would not actually have to disclose the specific amounts of gold that leave their respective vaults. According to a document on the European Central Bank’s (ECB) website regarding the statistical treatment of the Eurosystem’s International Reserves, current reporting guidelines do not require central banks to differentiate between gold owned outright versus gold lent out or swapped with another party. The document states that, “reversible transactions in gold do not have any effect on the level of monetary gold regardless of the type of transaction (i.e. gold swaps, repos, deposits or loans), in line with the recommendations contained in the IMF guidelines.”6(Emphasis theirs). Under current reporting guidelines, therefore, central banks are permitted to continue carrying the entry of physical gold on their balance sheet even if they’ve swapped it or lent it out entirely. You can see this in the way Western central banks refer to their gold reserves. The UK Government, for example, refers to its gold allocation as, “Gold (incl. gold swapped or on loan)”. That’s the verbatim phrase they use in their official statement. Same goes for the US Treasury and the ECB, which report their gold holdings as “Gold (including gold deposits and, if appropriate, gold swapped)” and “Gold (including gold deposits and gold swapped)”, respectively (see Chart B). Unfortunately, that’s as far as their description goes, as each institution does not break down what percentage of their stated gold reserves are held in physical, versus what percentage has been loaned out or swapped for something else. The fact that they do not differentiate between the two is astounding, (Ed. As is the “including gold deposits” verbiage that they use – what else is “gold” supposed to refer to?) but at the same time not at all surprising. It would not lend much credence to central bank credibility if they admitted they were leasing their gold reserves to ‘bullion bank’ intermediaries who were then turning around and selling their gold to China, for example. But the numbers strongly suggest that that is exactly what has happened. The central banks’ gold is likely gone, and the bullion banks that sold it have no realistic chance of getting it back.
CHART B
This may sound like a conspiracy theory. But the banks have already been caught raiding allocated accounts. And governments have repeatedly been caught manipulating gold prices. And financial companies have been caught pretending they have assets which they don’t. And gold bars have been found to have been filled with cheaper metals.
And at least one central bank – albeit a tiny one- has already been caught holding fake gold.
And as Eric Sprott points out:
We’re not talking about conspiracy here however, we’re talking about stupidity. After all, Western central banks are probably under the impression that the gold they’ve swapped and/or lent out is still legally theirs, which technically it may be. But if what we are proposing turns out to be true, and those reserves are not physically theirs; not physically in their possession… then all bets are off regarding the future of our monetary system.
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Sunday, June 03, 2012
The Rothschilds, LBMA, and Gold
"It would be insufficient to sum up the (Rothschild) family as still very wealthy. ..(their fortunes are as) ineffable as always....today the family grooms the inaudibility and invisibility of its presence as a result, some believe that little is left apart from a great legend -- and the Rothschilds are quite content to let legend be their public relations." (The Rothschilds, Frederick Morton, 1962)
Gold-Eagle analysts, including the Red Baron's The Grand LBMA Exposés (http://www.gold-eagle.com/gold_digest/baron1110.html) and the Oracle of Alberta's Novus Ordo Seclorum and China (http://www.gold-eagle.com/gold_digest/alberta1030.html), have drawn attention to the role of the London Bullion Marketing Association (LBMA) and to the House of Rothschild, as a key player at the LBMA and global gold markets. The intention of this essay is to provide an in-depth forensic historical and geopolitical assessment of key issues and players in today's markets. For this purpose, an historical analysis is a good teacher. To understand today's currency and gold markets requires a study of the House of Rothschild; undoubtedly the world's most influential merchant banking power for over 200 years.
When a Rothschild Falls in the Forest, Does Anyone Hear It?
Most people would have overlooked the Globe and Mail's (Canada's national newspaper) news clip announcing the very recent death of Baron Edmond de Rothschild in the newspaper's International Business section. The Baron's death is no small event when considering the importance of the Rothschild's in European and global financial history. When a Rothschild dies, does anybody hear it or understand the significance? It is ironic that while days of attention were devoted to the deaths of Princess Diana and Mother Theresa, virtually no attention is given to the death of a member of one of the wealthiest families in the world.
The following description of the Baron's demise appeared in the Globe and Mail under his picture:
"Baron Edmond de Rothschild, philanthropist, international financier and member of the banking dynasty, died Monday in Geneva, of a respiratory illness at age 71, a spokesman said. Mr. Rothschild was president of his Geneva-based bank and financial companies as well as the Luxembourg-based Leicom Fund. He was believed to be the richest family member (of the House of Rothschild) that has played a major role in French business and culture for nearly two centuries. The Rothschilds are widely known for their wineries in the Bourdeaux region of France, including the Baron's Chateau Clarke, where he is to be buried this week in a private ceremony. Mr. Rothschild was named an officer of France's legion of honour in 1994, and its order of arts and letters in 1990. Throughout his life, he donated the equivalent of tens of millions of dollars to hospitals, museums, and the State of Israel. An avid art collector, he gave works to the Louvre museum in Paris. Mr. Rothschild's son Benjamin, 34, will succeed him as president of Paris-based Cie Financiere Holding Benjamin et Edmond de Rothschild."
In a July 1997 edition of the Globe and Mail another rare report of another important Rothschild enterprise was made (see Rothschilds holding company fiscal year profit up 66%): The article referred to the Rothschilds Continuation Holdings AG, parent of N.M. Rothschild & Sons Ltd, "a Swiss holding company for the Rothschild merchant banking business worldwide ...(with) operating profits rising to 179 million Swiss francs ($122.4 million U.S.) in the year ended March 31 from 108 million francs the previous years." A 66% profit increase is no small feat especially when you consider their line of business. In the article, Sir Evelyn de Rothschild, chairman of Rothschild's Continuation, noted "We've got a good balance of businesses and on the whole we've had a pretty good run." Sir Evelyn also noted that the company has three global business lines "treasury and bullion trading; resource banking, or banking for the mining industry; and investment banking." Such stupendous returns on a supposedly barbarous relic, gold, make even George Soros's Quantum Fund returns seem meagre. It is important to note that this rare exposure of the family business coincides with the recent rare exposé by the LBMA that the equivalent of between 30-42 million ounces of gold per day are traded in London.
The more significant cousin of RCH AG is in fact N.M. Rothschild and Sons Ltd, named after Nathan Mayer Rothschild, one of the five sons of Mayer Amschel Rothschild, who operated the London-based house of the family merchant banking enterprise in the latter part of the 18th and early 19th century. The Rothschild business enterprise has changed little in over 200 years. But why change a good thing when such large and sustained profits can be made by trading currency, treasuries, and gold plus gold leasing, financing of gold mining operations, and investment banking?
So what is the significance of the death of one of the richest and greatest philanthropers in the world, and the connection to the London Bullion Marketing Association?
The House of Rothschild: Roots in Germany
To understand the importance of the Rothschild's in world financial markets, one must study the history of the House of Rothschild. Ironically, despite their enormous influence on European finance and banking for over 200 years, there are few references to the House of Rothschild in history books. There are a few exceptions including the exhaustive financial historical account of the House of Rothschild between 1770-1830 entitled the "The Rise of the House of Rothschild" by Count Egon Caesar Corti (1928) and "The Rothschilds" by Frederic Morton (1962 ), undoubtedly a family-commissioned auto-biographical account of two hundred years of the House.
The House of Rothschild was founded in 1776 in Frankfurt, Germany by Mayer Amschel Rothschild - (born 1743 in Frankfurt, Germany). Mayer fathered five boys who would establish the most successful merchant banking network in England (Nathan), France (James), Austria (Salomon), Prussia (Amschel) and Italy (Carl).
From humble beginnings as a rare coin trader, Mayer quickly built a private merchant banking empire which was the choice of not only the German Prince William, but also the financier of choice of the major powers of Europe. The Rothschild name became synonymous with merchant banking quality and safety. The financial acumen of Mayer and his five sons became legendary. The acumen and the accumulated wealth of Mayer has been continually passed down to the next male generation of Rothschilds, without dilution. Their market worth has never been audited or accounted for, following from Mayer's clever accounting practices and the keeping secret books and subterranean vaults which were never the privy of auditor, legal counsel or state taxmen. Their mastery in financing both economic growth and war in Europe with both gold and fiat currencies undoubtedly continues unabated into the 20th century, though romantic auto-biographical accounts might lead you to believe that "that was history."
Their financial hand has been in virtually every major European event, including financing the Duke of Wellington defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo, to financial aid to Prince Metternich of Prussia. The Rothschilds were the first to build the railways of Europe. Studying the Rothschild family acumen for stock markets, gold trade, and financing of nations provides an insight into how 'Smart Money' survives. The Rothschild name is also associated with philanthropy, horticulture, and fine wines (the French house). While romantic autobiographical accounts of the family suggest that their empire has dwindled since World War II, all this may be a clever illusion to avoid publicity and attention. In the words of the autobiographer Frederic Morton "the family grooms the inaudibility and invisibility of its presence as a result, some believe that little is left apart from a great legend - and the Rothschilds are quite content to let legend be their public relation"
Today, their historical ingenuity and financial acumen is undoubtedly at work building new wealth regardless of a bear or bull stock, bond, or gold market. They undoubtedly revolve in circles that include the LBMA, and possibly every important central bank board of directors, including the IMF. While even by conservative accounting, they are undoubtedly the wealthiest family in the world, though you will never see them listed in Fortune magazine.
Through the involvement of N.M. Rothschild and Sons Ltd. in the LBMA in London, I believe they benefit from virtually every transaction in financial trading, whether treasuries or gold bullion, negotiating gold lease terms for central banks and mining companies, or simply purchasing their own share of gold and gold real estate. One could even imagine that they are involved in the trading of oil for gold and dollars (as per ANOTHER's hypothesis), given their family's interests in Royal Dutch Shell, the world's largest oil company. As Count Corti in 1926, we shall examine the "reported" evidence of their past and current influence in world financial events.
The English House of Rothschild (N.M. Rothschild & Sons)
Of the two major Rothschild Houses (French and English), the London House (New Court ), founded by Nathan Mayer Rothschild and operating today as N.M. Rothschild and Sons, is undoubtedly the most influential, especially as it pertains to gold and currency trading. Twice daily a Rothschild agent sits in a cloistered room "fixing" the price of gold in the world's largest bullion trading market: the London Bullion Market Association ( LBMA ). Historically, N.M. Rothschild was owner and operator of England's Royal Mint Refinery and was the primary gold agent to the Bank of England.
Nathan helped finance Britain's conquest of Napoleon at Waterloo, and benefited in London's stock market from advanced knowledge (from his superb courier service using pigeons) of Napoleons defeat at Waterloo. Nathan helped finance the Duke of Wellington's army having bought 800,000 pounds of gold from the East Indian Company for $8 million then selling the gold to the Duke to help defeat Napoleon. Hence, Nathan became chief broker and pay master general to England's most important army; the Rothschilds were England's lifeline for getting paycheques to the English army. Nathan could single handily wipe out savings of many a competitor by dumping "consols" in London driving down their share prices, as he did with the advance news of Napoleon's defeat. Nathan eventually switched businesses to "buying and selling money only."
On a daily basis, Nathan was legendary in London's markets for jumping in and out of the market with tens of thousands of princely rounds, never too early and never too late. Eventually Nathan would become richer than Prince William, his father Mayer's German client. It is said that the Rothschilds were the inventors of the courier service using passenger pigeons to relay news amongst the family and to their client beneficiaries. Nathan's ability to depress stock prices, then buy them up after people panicked was legendary.. He would use Rothschild agents to send false news which would be used by observers falsely leading the crowd astray, then he would buy up the same stock at ridiculous low prices. One of the Rothschild's first victims was the legendary Barings and Ouvard Bank which Nathan almost destroyed after their competitor attempted to wrestle merchant banking business from the House. Ironically, Barings Bank recently suffered an untimely death at the hands of a rouge derivatives trader in Singapore!
More than any other family, the Rothschilds have built and maintained an empire unparalleled by any monarchy in history. Their acumen as money changers and financier to the leaders of Europe over the past 200 years is unparalleled. No single corporation or business entity has survived with so much accumulated wealth intact.
To this day, N.M. Rothschild & Sons of London still lists as its primary business the selling and buying of treasuries and gold bullion. N.M. Rothschild helps fix the price of gold in London each day through the LBMA. A recent London Times articles explained that the gold price fix ceremony where five men (including a Rothschild) talk on their phones for 10 minutes, then lower tiny Union Jacks sitting on their desks, thereby fixing London's gold price each day. This ceremony takes place at 10:30 a.m. and 3 p.m., like clockwork, the same way, in the same place, and with mostly the same firms participating since the first gold fixing was enacted at Rothschild in St. Swithin's Lane on Friday Sept. 12, 1919. The company's name is also associated with many gold mining companies (e.g. Trillion Resources Ltd. and other Canadian mining companies).
The French House (Baron Edmond de Rothschild et.al.)
The French House, which was most recently headed by the Baron Edmond de Rothschild, was the most powerful private merchanting banking arm and the richest of all the Rothschilds and ran the Compaigne Fincanciere, a world wide organization which builds villas, hotels, pipelines, and finances other banks. Rothschild Freres, run by cousing Baron Guy Eduoard, was the largest private bank in France. The French House also controlled mining companies ( De Beers and gold mines in South Africa ) , metal plants ( Rio Tinto ), oil interests ( Royal Dutch Shell ) , and chemical industries (Morton, 1962). The Baron was estimated to be the richest Rothschild and probably the most multiple millionaire/billionaire in Europe. That wealth is now passed on to his son, in Rothschild tradition always to the males, Benjamin ( 34 years of age ) . Edmonds cousin Baron Guy Eduoard was director of the Bank of France. Baron Guy, who owned the Compagnie du Nord railway network in France, was known to use participants to join in ventures serving as initiator and packager as well as guarantor with very deep pockets of cash.
As Morton (1962) notes, the two banks in London and Paris are still probably the largest private institutions in the world. "Although the French house controls scores of industrial, commercial, mining, and tourist corporations, NOT ONE bears the family name." In the 1920s the banks of England and France were organized under the French House into a noisless international syndicate that reached from J.P. Morgan in New York to their cousin Baron Louis' Creditanstallt in Vienna, Austria.
To appreciate the Rothschild's ability to sustain and increase their wealth and avoid the scrutiny of both the public, the markets, and the state taxation system, consider the story of the death of Edouard Rothschild, of the French House. Anticipating the death of Eduoard in 1949, Rothschild agents began to sell their majority stock holdings of Royal Dutch Shell, Rio Tinto and Le Nickel ( giant mining corporation ) to drive down the price of shares just prior to his death to reduce the value of the estate that was subject to taxation by the French Government. This selling created a panic in the world markets depressing stock prices further. A few days following the death of Eduoard, Rothschild agents bought the volume of stock back at depressed prices, and his reported estate wealth was taxed at the depressed price on the day of his death. One should never underestimate the capacity of a Rothschild to influence markets, even today.
Rothschild interests touch virtually every aspect of our lives. They helped found and finance Royal Dutch Shell and De Beers. Following World War II they invested in vast areas of resource rich properties in Canada, possibly gold rich deposits. Joey Smallwood, premier of Newfoundland, Canada, described the 50,000 square mile land purchase by Rothschild as the biggest land deal in Canadian history. Their influence extends to the Bank of England, Bank of France and most likely the U.S. Federal Reserve, and possibly the IMF. They thus have enormous influence on the world's monetary policy.
Accounting for the Rothschild Wealth and Influence Taking $6 billion (and assuming no erosion of the wealth base) and compounding that figure at various returns on investment (a conservative range of 4% to 8%) would suggest the following net worth of the Rothschild family enterprise:
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We shall never have a full accounting of their wealth. All we can go on is Morton's (1962) comment that their wealth is "ineffable as always." Even our conservative estimates suggest a family with staggering wealth and thus influence. In a world awash in debt and unsustainable fiat currencies subject to implosion, the power of gold and the preference of the Rothschilds to gold cannot be easily ignored.
The Rothschilds and the LBMA: The World's Central Bank?
Consider the Rothschild's profound position of influence in the LBMA and the transaction fees they are earning on each and every transaction of treasuries and 42 million ounces of gold transactions DAILY (recently reported volumes of physical, leased, forward sales). . The Rothschild business earns income from "transactions" (including transfers, calls, puts, trades, leases) and one can only begin to imagine the transaction costs associated with last reported trading of over 42 million ounces of gold per day through the LBMA (more than twice South Africa's annual gold production).
Also consider their involvement and influence over monetary policies exercised by the Bank of England and the Bank of France (and possibly the US Federal Reserve System) and in Geneva. Consider the world's above ground gold reserves is roughly 120,000 tons -- with roughly 40,000 tons or 33% held by central banks. How is the remaining "private" gold holdings distributed? Does anyone have such an account? Certainly not the World Gold Council and their statistics. If a single private owner held 5% of world's remaining gold, would that not constitute majority share holdings? If any player could have accumulated, and could afford a 5% holding of the world's gold supply over the last 200 years, it would be the Rothschilds. Could it be that the Rothschilds through their involvement in daily London gold trades are quietly amasing more of the precious metals in their private vaults, while the confidence game of the Central Banks tries desperately to avoid what Soros calls "unsustainable" fiat currency built on unsustainable debt? It was Mayer Amschel Rothschild who kept a secret subterranean vault full of gold beneath the House of Rothschild in Frankfurt in the 1770s (Morton, 1962) .
While the world is led to believe that gold is a barbaric relic of the past, a huge confidence game is being played out in fiat currency markets, illustrated by the events in Asia. In order to maintain confidence in inherently unsustainable fiat currencies and unsustainable debt, confidence in gold must be depressed, given that it is the only alternative store of value. The increasing volume of gold transacted through LBMA reflects the crescendo this confidence game has reached. These large volumes also suggest that gold is trading as currency and not as a barbaric commodity, as the press is apt to suggest. Could it be that the LBMA is being used as a testing ground for the establishment of a new gold-backed world currency system? If so, the Rothschilds are in a position of enormous influence over such a genesis process.
Indeed, will the leadership and system Fisher is speaking come from the House of Rothschild through the central institution of the LBMA? Only time will tell.
The Houses of Rothschild, more than any other players, knows the historical power of gold and importance of a gold-backed currency system. The English system they helped engineer remained resilient and sustainable for over 200 years until the early 1900s. The Rothschilds believe in gold as the ultimate store of value; always have and always will Undoubtedly they do not consider the metal a barbarous relic of the past.
Epilogue
We are reminded of Morton's words, "today the family grooms the inaudibility and invisibility of its presence as a result, some believe that little is left apart from a great legend - and the Rothschilds are quite content to let legend be their public relations."
What is unique about old power and money of the Rothschilds is their uncanny ability to sustain their power and wealth, and keep it within the family. While it is a tribute to the power of family, the danger is their ability to control and influence the daily lives of average human beings, with fewer resources and less power. Such power can lead to the temptation of becoming as powerful as the gods. Control over such important forms of value such as gold, as an instrument of liberty, may lead to the temptation of exercising dominion over such liberty. The maintenance of power and wealth is ultimately motivated by an anxiety of losing the security that such power has provided. The power and wealth of the Rothschilds carries with it enormous privileges and hopefully a sense of responsibility for the welfare of others. While the Rothschilds and Rockefellers have exercised philanthropy to the benefit of many, even this exercise has benefited their corporations through a tax system which rewards such "charitable" and "atruistic" organisations. What distinguishes the Rothschilds from other world power brokers, like Soros, is their diminutive "presence" in the world, in spite of their untold influence on almost every aspect of our economic existence. Their continued bullishness on gold exhibited through their activities in the LBMA and gold trading suggests that we maintain our confidence in the this barbaric relic. Ultimately, however, one must be keenly aware of the potential controlling influence over gold which the Rothschilds and their merchant banking brethren can exercise, and thus placing our liberty in their hands.
It has been said that "the wealth of Rothschild consists of the bankruptcy of nations"
References:
The Globe and Mail (various issues)
The Wall Street Journal
Morton, Frederic (1962). The Rothschilds.
Corti, Baron Egon Caesar (1928). The Rise of the House of Rothschild.
Soros, George (1994). The Alchemy of Finance
Markus Angelicus
November 21, 1997
Monday, August 15, 2011
Today is the 40th Anniversary of Nixon Ending Gold Standard and Creating Modern Fiat Monetary System
Gold has fallen today in all major currencies except the Swiss franc which has fallen sharply again on continued talk of SNB intervention. Gold is trading at USD 1,742.70, EUR 1,220.10, GBP 1,068.70, CHF 1,375.60 per ounce and 133,820 JPY/oz. Gold’s London AM fix this morning was USD 1,738.00/oz, EUR 1,214.11/oz, GBP 1,065.88/oz.
Gold in Swiss Francs reached 1,393.24 an ounce this morning – the highest price so far in 2011. Gold in Swiss francs has climbed 7.7% so far in August, 3.7% in 2011 and 8.2% in the past 12 months as gold reasserts itself as the true safe haven.
On this day, August 15th, 40 years ago, President Nixon announced the end of the Gold Standard and the end of the Bretton Woods international monetary system(see video of Nixon’s dramatic announcement here).
This was one of the most important decisions in modern financial, economic and monetary history and is a seminal moment in the creation of the global debt crisis confronting the U.S., Europe and the world today.
Cross Currency Rates
Nixon ushered in an era of floating fiat currencies not backed by gold but rather deriving value through government “fiat” or diktat.
While Nixon justified the move was that the U.S. , then as today, was living way beyond its means with the Vietnam war and growing military industrial complex leading to large budget deficits and inflation.
Governments internationally including the French and their President Charles de Gaulle were concerned about the debasement of the dollar and began to exchange their dollar reserves for gold bullion bars.
Subsequent to Nixon’s decision 40 years ago, the U.S. dollar has fallen from 1/35th of an ounce of gold to 1/1750th of an ounce of gold today.
Gold in Nominal USD – 1971 to Today (Weekly)
This is not the fault of “speculators”, rather it is the fault of profligate governments and central bankers debasing the U.S. dollar since 1971 (except for Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker).
Today, U.S. dollars and all paper and digital money is declared by governments to be legal tender, despite the fact that it has no intrinsic value and is not backed by gold reserves.
Historically, currencies were based on precious metals such as gold or silver, but fiat money is based on faith and on the performance of politicians, bankers and central bankers.
Because today’s fiat money is not linked to physical reserves of gold and silver, it is becoming worth less with each passing month and risks becoming worthless should hyperinflation take hold.
If people lose faith in a nation's paper currency, the money will no longer hold value.
Throughout history most fiat currencies have not survived more than a few decades and have succumbed to hyperinflation.
The fiat currency or paper and digital based international monetary system has survived 40 years but is in terminal decline with many astute commentators now questioning whether it will survive the global debt crisis.
Gold’s role as a store of value and important monetary asset is being increasingly appreciated. Indeed, there are increasing calls for gold to again play a role in the global monetary system.
The President of the World Bank, Robert Zoellick, wrote in the Financial Times (‘The G20 must look beyond Bretton Woods II’ - November, 2010) that a new monetary system involving a basket of currencies “should also consider employing gold as an international reference point of market expectations about inflation, deflation and future currency values”.
He also said that “although textbooks may view gold as the old money, markets are using gold as an alternative monetary asset today.”
This was an important statement regarding gold especially as it came from the President of the World Bank, the head of one of the most powerful financial and monetary organizations in the world.
Jack Farchy wrote in the Financial Times today, “the return of gold as a prominent financial asset is without doubt the most important development in the bullion market today.”
It is also a very important development for currency markets and for the global financial and monetary system.
Ex Economics Editor of The Telegraph, Edmund Conway wrote over the weekend how “we've had the financial crisis that usually marks the beginning of the end of established monetary systems. And now we are seeing the debasement.”
He wrote that the rising gold price “reflects many factors . . . but chief among them is a diminishing faith in the ability of fiat currencies to maintain their value.”
“These bouts of debasement typically end in disaster, as faith is lost in the currency, inflation shoots through the roof and the economy collapses, after which politicians introduce a new, more credible system.”
Conway warned that the “next stage of the crisis represents a crisis of confidence in the very system which, founded as it is on trust rather than measurable yardsticks, has no reliable, inbuilt way of righting itself.”
We have for many months now been warning of the real risk of an international monetary crisis and this risk looks more likely by the day.
While hyperinflation remains a worst case scenario, stagflation and a virulent bout of inflation looks almost certain in the coming months.
For the latest news and commentary on gold and financial markets follow us onTwitter.
SILVER
Silver is trading at $39.14/oz, €27.35/oz and £23.99/oz.
PLATINUM GROUP METALS
Platinum is trading at $1,789.00/oz, palladium at $754/oz and rhodium at $1,775/oz.
NEWS
(Financial Times)
Central banks polish gold’s shine - System of fiat money is 40 years old today
(MarketWatch)
Gold edges higher amid weaker dollar
(Reuters)
Spot gold falls 1 percent in third session of losses
(Bloomberg)
Gold Declines for Third Straight Day as Equity Rebound Trims Haven Demand
COMMENTARY
(The Telegraph)
Abandoning the gold standard was a seminal moment, and one we're now all paying for
(MarketWatch)
Commentary: What are all those gold-bashers saying now?
(London Bullion Market Association)
Brian Lucey: What do Academics Think They Know About Gold?
(ZeroHedge)
At 50x Leverage And 2% Tier 1 Capital, Is SocGen Truly A Paragon Of Balance Sheet Invincibility?
(Got Gold Report)
Gene Arensberg: Comex swap dealers cover gold shorts like a big dog