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Guest Post: Finland's Gold
Submitted by Alasdair Macleod of GoldMoney.com,
On Wednesday Finland gave in to public pressure and revealed where she stores her gold reserves. The statement followed a press release by the Bank of Sweden on similar lines released on Monday.
The totals (in tonnes) for these two Scandinavian countries are as follows:
| Location | Sweden | Finland |
| Bank of England | 61.4 | 25.0 |
| Swedish Riksbank | 15.1 | 9.8 |
| New York Fed | 13.2 | 8.8 |
| Swiss National Bank | 2.8 | 3.4 |
| Bank of Finland | - | 2.0 |
| Bank of Canada | 33.2 | - |
| Total | 125.7 | 49.0 |
So far, so good. But then the Head of Communications for the Bank of Finland added some more information in Finnish in a blog run on the Bank's website. It is not available in English, so I asked her for a translation, but I am still waiting.
Instead, a Finnish reader of my own blog and a Finnish journalist who has been following this topic have independently given me an English translation of a highly relevant and interesting paragraph, three from the end. This is the journalist's:
"Maximum half of the gold has been within investment activity over the years. Gold has been invested among other things in deposits similar to money market deposits and using gold interest rate swaps. Gold investment activity is common for central banks. The risks associated with gold investments are controlled using limits, investment diversification and limitations concerning duration."
And my reader's translation:
"Throughout these years no more than half of the gold has been invested. Gold has been invested in for example deposits similar to money market deposits and gold interest rate swap agreements. Gold investment activities are common for central banks. Risks related to gold investments are controlled with limits, decentralising investments and limits regarding run times."
Half Finland's gold is stored at the Bank of England, and "no more than half" is "invested". If any "investment" is to take place it would be in London. It is not immediately clear what is meant by invested, but presumably this is a result of translation of what has happened from English into Finnish plus explanation for a non-specialist readership. However if it has been invested, then by definition it is no longer in the possession of the Bank of Finland, and will most probably have been sold into the market in return for a promise to redeliver at a later date. This follows the Austrian National Bank's admission to a parliamentary committee a year ago that it had earned EUR300m by leasing its gold through London.
The evidence is mounting that Western central banks through the Bank of England have been feeding monetary gold into the market through leasing operations. Indeed, the Finnish blog says as much: "Gold investment activities are common for central banks".
This explains in part how the voracious appetite for gold by China, India and South-East Asia is being satisfied, without the gold price rising to reflect this demand. It is also consistent with my disclosure earlier this year of the discrepancy of up to 1,300 tonnes between the gold in custody as recorded in the Bank of England's Annual Report, dated 28th February 2013 and the amount recorded on the virtual tour on the Bank's website the following June.
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yeah, investing ... i know you make money ... but you might lost it all ... risky business investing
As Mark Twain said, I am more interested in the return of my capital than on the return on my capital.
“Gold is money. Everything else is credit.” – J P Morgan
“Show me the money!” – Rod Tidwell
“Listen, I'm a politician which means I'm a cheat and a liar, and when I'm not kissing babies I'm stealing their lollipops.” - Jeffrey Pelt
“Life is like a box of chocolates..” - Forrest Gump
“It cannot be seen, cannot be felt, Cannot be heard, cannot be smelt.” – Gollum
“Good luck getting any of that precious back.” -me
Gold follows economic strength, which is why it is now flowing from west to east.
If I were running Finland (there's an ugly thought...), I would take at least half of their holdings from England ASAP and put it a really secure bunker in their own country.
That leased gold is as good as gone. Could these central bankers really be so stupid not to realize this?
Central bankers, by definition do not care.
Their only purpose is to keep and expand the great scam.
The only thing they care about is not getting caught, and I'm not sure that even crosses their mind anymore.
As COMEX says, "Price will solve everything".
To the central bankers of the world, "Please keep selling us your gold. Sincerely, Physical Buyers".
Another step closer.
http://twoshortplanksunplugged.blogspot.com.au/2013/11/the-permanent-squeeze.html
1. http://twoshortplanksunplugged.blogspot.com.au/2013/11/the-permanent-squeeze.html
2. http://twoshortplanksunplugged.blogspot.com.au/2013/10/imf-wealth-smearing-west-to-east.html
" It might be possible, for instance, for an individual to have a second child or to fly a light aircraft 100 hours per year, but not both. Or one might decide to have an air-conditioned house, but if so, an overseas vacation might be possible only once every ten years."
And for "the great body of people, mentally incapable of comprehending the tremendous advantage that capital derives from the system, [whom] will bear its burdens without complaint, and perhaps without even suspecting that the system is inimical to their interests" here is an easy to follow video of exactly what to do. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cwCIkKFFR4
TSP
Something smells Fishy
Many others feel that there are global dealings afoot....go with what your gut is saying!
http://twoshortplanksunplugged.blogspot.com.au/
I think the signs are only there to conclude that the global reset/new system negotiations have begun in earnest,
but with the way the US is behaving, it still refuses to accept a lesser role. The Fed and the merchant banks have long had post-reset plans, but they are learning that they dont have the strongest hands at the table and other players are calling their bluffs
but yes, the oligarchy are shifting from the US to Asia just as they abandoned Europe for the US between the two world wars
Gold has been invested among other things in deposits similar to money market deposits and using gold interest rate swaps.
........and it's gone.
Well good for them. They are putting all their eggs in a basket where the government is free and not unlikely to confiscate them all as they see fit once the basket is full. Authoritarians sometimes do that.
Sometimes the smart money stays home.
good on you for having the balls to put a time line on the switch to the new global financial currency/system
but i think your call of $134k an oz is wildly optimistic when debt forgiveness/jubilee (especially of derivative exposure you factor into your gold price) remains a likely option for much of the global debt problem
OT, but where did this odd phrase "good on you" that I have recently been reading here suddenly come from?
Don't you mean "good for you"?
good on you for unbeknowingly illustrating the point that american turns of phrase are not the only ones in existence in the english speaking world
And good for you for illuminating the issue of your substandard usage of the English language.
The day that I accept a lesson in proper English from an Australian (the laughing stock of the English-speaking world) is the day that I lose the last shreds of my self-respect. No offense intended, of course.
This may not bolster the case, but Canadians use the phrase, too.
Good on you for pointing this out!
akak, you might be a cunt, but that doesn't mean you have to display your sheltered, in-bred ignorance and literary ineptitude for the world to see on a site that generally has good content and analysis.
If you have been around here for 3+ years, you must know that akak is a solid contributor... far from ignorant nor inept.
Not that I have a man crush or anything, just calling it like it is.
Everyone is entitled to go off the rails following a personal pet peeve once in a while... all finance, doom, and gloom make ZH commentary section dull and boring (although I wouldn't pick on our friends down under... gotta love a colony of convicts after all).
Speaking of which,... where the hell is Francis?
I might not disagree with his take on the metals and the world at large, but a cunt is still a cunt when it comes to that inexplicable chip on his shoulder for Australians at large.
Normally I'd have a chuckle, but given it's like the 10th or so snarky dig of such nature in the past year or so, I thought I'd just call it like I see it too.
//TGR, I really don't have much of a chip on my shoulder for Australians (despite so many of them being boorish, loud and obnoxious --- the Texans of the Southern Hemisphere), just an aversion to your copious and incomprehensible slang that you insist on inflicting on all other English speakers, as well as all the crazy and ear-grating things you guys do to the English language. Come to think of it, again much like Texans.
It's a pretty wide brush you're using there to form your opinion. How many years did you live in Aus to accrue this belief? And where on earth did you hang out to be subjected to one sort of Australian so often?
Most countries have the odd a-hole, but if you are going to stretch for higher ground in claiming to be the bastion and saviour of the English language, try to do it with a little less malice. The severity of venom you've used to tar all Australians in the past has been pretty high: it gets a little old after a while.
//OK TGR, I will be the first to admit that my little diatribes here against Australians and their speech, while largely tongue-in-cheek, do have an element of honest feeling behind them. I will also freely admit that at times I have been a bit dickish in my comments relating to Aussies. It is specious and idiotic, of course, to tar an entire nation of people based on only some of them.
Let's just say that I have had a series of bad experiences with Australians, both in the USA and overseas. I realize that that is purely my own bad luck, but I guess the rancor bleeds out into my posts here at times. That is in no way directed at you personally, and your comments have made me realize that my resentment against those Australians in my past is both stronger than I suspected and being reflected in my comments here more than I knew.
Ok fair enough, no (personal) offence taken - more just reacting to a persistent tone coming across in the ad hoc digs at Australians that was not especially good natured. Done with levity, no problem; done with persistent snark, some will react eventually.
I apologize for your unfortunate dealings with Australians, but for every loud-mouthed Aussie a-hole, there'll be a dozen more normal Australians quietly going about their business. It's just that you won't hear them, or even know that they are Australian because most in reality don't feel the need to big-note themselves.
Thanks for the civil and thoughtful response, TGR. Your comments have made me think about, and rethink, some of my reactions and responses both here and in the greater non-ZH world.
good for you is sarcasm used when someone's skiting,
The name of the game is to pass the liability to your successor. If your successor is any good then they will pass the liability to his/her successor. Sooner or later (probably sooner) it is going to explode. Whoever is holding it at that point goes down in history as the chump. It may also be a hanging offence. If it isn't it ought to be.
As for who has the gold, well that is another story.
TITC may be a workqble explanation. Too Insane To Care.
That 1300 tonne discrepancy is totally bogus and is not based on any real facts, just a little web site app which was based on older data from 2012...
Back to the drawing board..
Leased gold does not necessarily leave the central bank.
They (the central banks) can allow bullion banks to lease it and it forms the basis for loans the BB makes. It can be that it is really the good name of the CB that allows these typically lower interest loans to be made.
On the other hand a CB could see to it that gold does flow to another CB if it is deemed politically wise.
Don't forget that many derivatives have gold as a basis. On the Forex markets gold is one of the most highly traded currency pairs.
One must pay careful attention (and try to get good data, if possible) when exploring these murky activities.
What we do know is that the sale of physical gold barely moves the needle of the gold price. There is much paper in the golden world.
It really does not matter if they use rehypothicated accounting and no audits. The ledger entries and trust are sufficient in their game.
Trust however, is gone and if any central bank asks for all their gold, the standard time frame may jump from 7 years to 10 years. Good luck to all small countries when the SHTF.
I was really surprized to see that Venezuela managed to get her gold.
Everything is leased out several times over...possession is all that matters...don't get caught without once the music stops!
I hereby nominate DCRB for King of Finland. Any seconds?
How long do you think it would take for Finland to get it back? Hmm, 7 years?
I bet that DCRB does not speak Finish.
The best way for any country to get their gold back soon is as follows:
It's to late for them, they where conned and now they have lost their gold. That is the problem with storing your gold with someone else, it's only your gold on paper. They took it and will now say we warned you and/or sorry your out of luck, but what are you going to do anyway?
It has little or nothing to do with "economic strength" and everything to do thinking you can play games with putting downward pressure on price and not getting caught doing it.
Half of Sweden's gold is held in the Bank of Canada? Really.
my math is a bit fuzzy but i see 26% not half
@ unrulian - you are right. I was looking at the wrong number. It's about a quarter of their holdings. Which is still a significant number to me ... and why Canada?
Hey Deo...my guess is because ours (i'm a canuck) are empty why not rent the vaults out...or better yet sell all your Gold...fill it with other peoples then when the system goes down you have some free gold
The Riksbank moved their gold coins (but left the bars) from the NY Fed to Bank of Canada, who remelted them into good delivery bars. Not sure why the bars are still in Canada. Perhaps that was part of the deal?
Translation, they're Fuk'ed.
JPM siad "Money is gold and nothing else" Pujo hearings 1912
Mr Twain also made this observation: "it is easier to fool a man than to show him he has been made a fool of"
Seems countries around the world are taking stock of their gold holdings . Guess the Fed must be getting nervous and lining up some excuses.
Easy, it was Bush's fault.
So when it all comes down to it Finland can put their hands on two tons of gold. I almost wet myself.
investing banks...possibly suffer the travails of repeated boating accidents.
i know, its endemic
the global financial titanic is sinking and i too had a boating accident whereupon i lost my preshy metalz
So if we knew the durations of these gold leases, wouldn't that be a clue as to when the music stops? If there comes a point when most central bank's real physical is lent out and repayment in physical comes due, won't that be the draw down / default point on what remains of liquid reserves like the COMEX?
It's probably bad form to not roll the lease. But at some point the music will stop.
I'm not sure even a hard gold standard could pull us back from the insanity these banking maniacs engage in any more.
why do you want a pull back? we going straight ahead ... no return now - too late
..you do not really want a gold standard.
Politicians are beyond redemption and will always muck up the social contract sooner or later.
Gold (silver and the other PM's) should float free against the ever declining value of the politician's and banker's promises.
Yes! + 1
Gold's price should be freed from currencies. Then each currency would decline at the rate of their politicians' promises..., lol!
"..you do not really want a gold standard."
Yeah? Try me.
ALLEGEDLY, we do have free-floating gold and silver prices right now. All the manipulation they've thrown at it of late and STILL the price hasn't completely fallen out of bed. If we had gone from $1900/oz to $600/oz., that would be "falling out of bed" and would imply it was mostly speculation and other short-term reasons driving the run-up. They've thrown everything including the kitchen sink at it and still I see nothing but fibonacci numbers in the retracement. And that's just the "paper gold" numbers. Physical tells a different story with premiums over spot and long wait times for delivery. WORLDWIDE, mind you, not just in one country or continent.
I will again remind everyone that I am NOT a gold-bug, though I do seem to carry water for them at the present time because that's just what the numbers and facts tell me to do, and for no other reason. It's just another asset class to me.
..patience, patience, patience..
Central bankers destroyed investment and price discovery in November 2011 with the onset of LTRO I followed by LTRO II, US Fed swaps to back all that crap up, the IDSA "Greece did not default" scam, "whatever it takes"... and QE whatever and forever... and that does not include all of the secret scams, the BIS gold rigging, the LIBOR rate fixing and only God knows whatever other evil, lies and deception. .
So.. reality will take hold one of these days, but only these things are certain
- A fair and just monetary system can only be had if the underlying collateral is allowed to float in the marketplace.
- You can never trust a banker to be fair and honest.
- Gresham’s Law will sort it all out.
re Gresham's...Is it just me or should all U.S. savings now be in the form of nickels?
Time to reinforce the floorboards like Gilbert Grape...
@NoDebt. Hold on because Precious Metal Pete states that's exactly where gold is going before its revalued to a much higher level.
Manthong
the fact that you have 20+ up arrows for a comment like yours here at ZH both surprises and excites me.
In the freegold world we call strict 'gold standard' folks Hard Money Socialists. They would have the government (and thus the hungry collective) determine the value of gold. This has never been a good thing for savers in gold. The Euro has led the way by putting gold on its balance sheet and allowing it to be marked to market. Of course the current gold price is a bit fidgity but the idea is ...you tell us what the Euro is worth.
Gold und fein silber. It's what's for breakfast.
TAK...
Tak jest, pano.
there is no gold
Only Zool?
"When someone asks if you're a god, you say YES!"
Just corporate criminals playing in tanks...
Hopefully this charade will soon be Finnished.
give it some time ... they are patient
Peter Schiff finally agrees that paper gold is slammed.
"its just like currency intervention" He said on his show.
Which is true. Anytime CB like Japan slams its currency, it looks exactly like the gold charts for the last 5 years.
Schrodinger gold. Its in this box. Next to the alive/dead cat. Or maybe not.
Fort Knox = Schrodinger's lock box. Does it contain gold or a dead cat? No way to know without opening it.
Schrodinger. Uncertainty principle. Ahh...now I remember what "re-hypothecation" reminds me of.
My translation: "Half of your gold is gone."
Holy shit. India has it!
Over.
Actually India has about $28 billion worth of leased gold. Most of it aquired at much lower prices years ago. So India may actually have it. Sort of.
Since countries count their gold "reserves" even when they are leased out, while other countries count the leased gold as reserves even when they are not in the country, does anybody really know how much gold there is in the world? Simply adding up reserves of all the counries on earth could be misleading considering how the gold has been loaned out, hypothicated, rehypothicated, pledged, stored outside the owners country and is never audited.
Where is the gold, who REALLY owns it, and how much of it is physically real? Who came up with this system Jon Corzine and MF Global?
That is why I advocate my patent pending Indian-to-Oil™ program. If the US DOE approves my proposal Indian gold will a windfall but their contributions to our hydrocarbon base will extend our supremacy for 10+ years.
Over.
"I don't have the treeasure, I, I, spent it."
Where's that wanker Jim (gold will never see below $1600 after Cyprus) Sinclair been?
he is now predicting 50.000 USD for Gold
What a wanker he is.
All those King World News guys, They were great to listen to when gold was bullish. 18 month down trend they sound like a pack of retards. Andy Maguire is a Joke, TF metals has become a 40 man hillbilly circle jerk. Sure gold will probably go higher but not with these nutjobs on board.
Actually which would you prefer , getting your brain sucked out by food stamp riot Zombies or stuck in a bunker with Gerald Cellente, Max Kaizer, Alex Jones ,Turd Fergurson and TMosley cleaning your guns and taking turns using the chemical toilet. EEEEEEEEEEEEEE tricky.
Lol, I hear ya there. I go to the KWN site for comedic relief when I'm feeling in need of a good belly laugh. Eric King sounds like the guy who does the previews at the movie theatre.
$50 gold? That would be a dreamy if the costs of things went back to the days of the plains settlers.
wait till it goes under 1000 bucks as per Stolper's associates latest call ... lol ... good point though!
I don't know if you read Martin Armstrong, but he thinks gold can go to $850, but that'll be about it.
The gold charts are ugly. After being up for, like, 12-13 years in a row, I guess gold is "allowed" to have a pull back.
will see wont we? anything goes ... if germany can wait 7 years why not ...
And I sometimes wonder, why, after that revelation about Germany's gold, the price of gold did not take off. Seven years to get their gold back? Uh, that implies a shortage of their gold, I should think. But Au continues to go lower.
my two cents, this is US gold "promised" to Germany back after World War II in order to assist their economic reconstruction ... however, it remains US Gold, thats why is still in NY and the Germans do not really complain, because it was promised to be given to them, it was not their gold.
Where's Cajun Man when you need him: "Paper price suppres-sion opera-sion to buy back lease posi-sion and repay obliga-sion with minimum cash compensa-sion"
As I recall, the NY Fed is "holding" about 1500 MT of German gold. They only agreed to return 300 MT over 7 years. The rest, 80%, is in limbo. So the situation is far more amazing than when misrepresented that they agreed to return all the gold over 7 years.
How Hugo Chavez managed to repatriate his countries gold before he died is a story which I hope will be told some day. Seems Hugo had a bit more clout than Angela. Most of it was in London, not the NY Fed.
Good point...maybe it's a simple case of first one to the exit combined with it wasn't all that much gold in the CB scheme of things.
Motorhead
a gold price that low would cause a dangerous decrease in the amount of gold in the banking system. If it falls fast like in April it could get sucked up in a week.
They must be able to deliver physical or the whole derivatives market (and thus the world) falls apart.
Any idea how many of us cheap fuckers are sitting waiting for $750 again.
It's just a dream but nice to share.
Over.
you want to know dont you ... stolper?
Over.
Already know bro. Long ago announced my All-In break is $3470. The WGAS, just buy it number.
Heckscher Ohlin that bitch(es)!
Over.
The trick is to maximize yields. Pick your asset classes accordingly. Some have been riding metals since Nixon decoupled. Good return but not max return.
Go.
Jim Sinclair was probably shorting the hell out of gold the entire time, wouldn't surprise me a bit. Nothing does anymore.
I can't really figure out why a central bank, that prints currency, expects anyone to believe they are leasing their sovereign charge to gain an interest rate. Obviously, there is no reason at all for a central bank to ever lease out gold for interest,
Quinvarius, I look at all the gold material I can stand to read, and THAT (central bank gold leasing) still mystifies me.
It's a lie. The gold has been sold to keep the sheeple in currency.
so central banks assume that somebody is willing to pay just to hold the gold for a little while? what could go wrong?
this whole story actually shows which central banks are the suckers and which one lease out other nation gold. though none of the gold belongs to the nations as central banks are private to begin with(at leas fed is) and correct me if i'm wrong, but gold is not there as a deposit from treasury, but it belongs to the central bank?
This shell game is getting very close to blowing up in somebody's face.
So the western central banks lease out their gold, and then get it back eventually, presumably through new production - let's see, 2700 tons/year (and dropping, since for many the current 'price' is below production cost) and all of that and then some accounted for in deliveries to China, India, Russia, etc.... yes, this is going to end well for the leasors.
Well luckily we can count those Asians to just keep accumulating gold while living a 3rd world lifestyle so we can continue to milk the western, USD-based credit system and live beyond our means. It's sure lucky for us those Asians are so good natured, self-sacrificing, and willing to give so much to keep us in the standard of living to which we've grown accustomed.
we have to see and find out - lets hope you are correct on Asians' nature
Like when Timmy Geithner was speaking to Chinese student telling them about the 'strong US Dollar'...the crowd busted up laughing.
Surely they were laughing WITH him, and not AT him...
To what you just said.
Just keep in mind that cozy little resort thats awaiting all those Americans that are overstuffed with GMO foods that have diabetes and have maxed out there 12th credit card.
Which sector and FEMA camp do you belong to?
The "Golden Rule" as it pertains to Gold:
Possession is not 9/10th's of the law, IT IS THE LAW. If you don't possess your physical gold in your own grubby hands, you don't have shit.
End of discussion.
You should consider changing your screen name to DogmaticDirk.
I got some shit, not a lot but every couple months I visit the Doctor for a 3 to one Gold/Silver fix.
I don't give a fuck what happens to the price, won't retire for 3-5 more years.
this bitcoin thing is upsetting me a bit, it is digital money. Ok, what happens to our networks/comms if a strong enough EMP hits earth? and Bitcoins' strength is in its protocol? Really???
Gold is money, period.
If an emp hits, gold is nothing. Only food, defense, heat, medicine, tools, seeds, toiletries will matter. An emp knocks out 90 percent of the population. Very bad and our govt refuses to take simple steps to harden the system. Better to spend the money on broken healthcare websites
As far as I'm concerned, gold is only valuable to large central banks vaults...you need it tonnage to mean anything....what good does a wee bag of gold really do for an individual? I don't see it, I think it's all just a joke.
SheepDog
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBh_g2YSUCE
Zimbabwe gold-check it out.
If an emp hits, gold will still be a store of value and will be used as soon as trade begins again.
i hear you Kito - i am with you!
God damn that BITCOIN thing, can it just roll over and collapse.Constantly reminding me of a possible shift.
I lost all my bitcoins in an unfortunate booting accident.
@ kito
If a big EMP hits, well, most of us are toast. Great observation on how our .gov chooses to spend our tax money.
Gold would still be worth something, there will always be a need for some kind of "money". But, the worse the SHTF, the more practical survival goods (as you list) become more important.
I try to think in terms of probabilities. I think a SHTF will not (probably) turn into a TEOTWAWKI (The End Of The World As We Know It), that is, I think Great Depression v. II is more likely than Mad Max. Assuming no Mad Max, gold will likely do very well, just as it did in the Great Depression v. 1 (1930s).
Gold is most likely a bet on the current system being saved through revaluation, small Silver might prove handy in a stressed economic transition period. Either way, Government is broke and Banks insolvent, get your money before they do.
"If an emp hits, gold is nothing"
No, no, no ...
If an emp hits, gold is still MONEY.
It's still a medium of exchange for seed, food, medicine ...
I love how preppers have some sort of utopian view of SHTF. seeds, farming, medicine, crops, a brakedrum kiln for making horse shoes etc. ...yea i don't think it will be quite like that...if there is an SHTF event in this society it will be more like the "Road". If, for example, an EMP takes down the grid; who's going to keep the generators going at you neighbourhood nuke plant? not me, let's try a Fukishima or ten in most states....the only thing traded for "seeds" will be lead if we survive at all. I don't think people realize that Japan is lost...as are we; we have killed ourselves, it just hasn't happened.... yet.
A brake drum kiln for horseshoes?
Is that for real? And to think I just threw out my old ones.
You can make a forge out of a truck brake drum, fire it with home made charcoal and shoe your own horses if you know how.
You're right! Most nuke plants have 60 days max of fuel to run backup generators (assuming those don't get fried). After that we're all toast.
which is utterly absurd considering you could use the energy FROM the nuclear fuel to power the whole damn thing, and have a shut-down automatic mechanism that drops all rods to a safe zone (I know, they don't, but could) if cooling can't be maintained.
All the more reason to use a thorium liquid fuel reactor.
SHTF has happened many MANY times before.
Nothing has changed. This time is not different.
If Fukishima ends the world it won't be SHTF it will be total apocalypse.
I have a well and a solar pump. I told all the neighbors that if the SHTF event happens they can get water at my place. Since I am giving them 'real' water, I would like to have 'real' money in return. I also have a supply of toilet paper. And they probably have too; just different texture. :-)
But if you give some water to your neighbors, you'd have widespread goodwill. I'd prefer that.
If an EMP hits, I have a lot of stored food I would trade for gold. Your point is?
if gold was nothing in the use of an EMP, then gold would be nothing before we even HAD all the infrastructure that would be taken out by an EMP.
Except that defies all history as gold was EVERYTHING.
And still would be, and would be MORE so because transactions MUST HAPPEN without that grid.
No gold? NO TOILETRIES, NO MEDICINE, NO FOOD.
Few people will have the resources (skills, land, security) to grow their own food. They WILL trade for gold. If they didn't the world population would take a 90% drop because you better believe no more than 10% of the population of the PLANET can credibly grow enough food to live off of on their own.
it is no longer in the possession of the Bank of Finland, and will most probably have been sold into the market in return for a promise to redeliver at a later date.
They really think China is going to return it? LOL
They don't have to return it, as long as they never do anything with it other than collect it, and never call bullshit on the whole western paper market. This is the key to our ongoing standard of living in the west, although I'm sure the traitorous, criminal bankers and politicians selling us down the river will do fine in the transition.
The Fed has leased US gold over the years and made a small profit. Now the entire contents of the US gold depositories are sitting in the gold depositories of it's new owners-the Chinese. So now there really is nothing backing the US dollar.
What is this "US gold" you speak of?
$50,000/oz gold, but by then the dollar won't be anything but a joke.
But it would pay off all my families mortgages.
At which point they modify mortgage laws. And they will.
Exactly, sheepdog. Thinking of gold in terms of fiat should be madness to a true bug. And it's exactly what our masters want us to do.
Trust is a virtue for fools.
Gold Catalyst: COMEX Deliverable Gold Falls to 658,443 Ounces, Claims Per Deliverable Ounce at 55
Jesse reports the COMEX deliverable Gold inventory which goes on fumes now. Maybe this will be the Catalyst Jim Puplava is looking for the Gold? The Game of Musical Chairs in the Gold Fractional Reserve System is getting more dangerous for its participants by the day now.
As ZeroHedge has put it with the chart above: "when it comes to physical gold and China's appetite for it, one word explains it best:unstoppable."
http://sufiy.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/gold-catalyst-comex-deliverable-gold...
Why do you think the Morgue sold the NYC building adjacent the FED? Except for the gold syphoned off to his private island Jamie Dimon sold all the US Gold Reserves out of Fort Knox to the Chinese.
Arrest him. I want an investigation.
The central bwanksters are selling gold at a pittance to China.
China on the other hand can't believe their luck!
suprise! ... the return of yamashita's stash.
Leasing Gold?
Isn't that like leasing your Wife or Daughter?