With gold once again getting the slamdown treatment this morning (even as stocks shrug off any taper tantrum fears) the following article from Venezuelan newspaper El Nacional seems quite prescient. As Liberty Blitzkrieg's Mike Krieger notes [12], it appears to imply that the struggling South American nation has agreed to sell or swap the gold it still holds overseas at the Bank of England to Goldman Sachs. Perhaps that helps explain where Maduro got the money for the Samsung deal...
Via Liberty Blitzkrieg blog, [12]
This is one of the major problems with gold. Despite what some may say, it is probably the most manipulated asset on the planet. Given the fact that so much of the gold is in the hands of sovereign nations and Central Banks that can be pressured by the U.S. empire, this is what happens. In fact, as I have said on many occasions, many of the Central Bank purchases we hear about do not consist of countries actually moving gold to within their borders, but rather just paper purchases. This does nothing to tighten supply/demand for gold. The main countries whose Central Banks actually appear to buy and deliver gold within their borders are China, Russia, Iran, and well, Venezuela. Until that changes, gold will be relatively easily manipulated, which is exactly why I support Bitcoin [13] and why is taking off as it has.
From a sentiment perspective I think gold is buy, but personally I am waiting to see if we get one more major flush.
Here are excepts from the article courtesy of GATA [14]. I believe it is a google translation and the actual sourced article in Spanish can be found here [15].
Venezuela’s Central Bank and Goldman Sachs are ready to sign an agreement to swap or exchange international gold reserves, with a start date in October, as stated in the contract, and until October 2020.
The negotiated amount, equivalent to 1.45 million ounces of gold, are deposited in the Bank of England and the transfers are made directly to Goldman Sachs once delivery times are stipulated.
The operation involves the delivery of gold from the central bank, which will receive dollars from the U.S. firm. The transactions are made through the creation of a financial instrument that is traded in the international market.
During the term of the instrument is an account called “margin,” in which the central bank agrees to deposit a larger amount of gold in the event that the price of gold falls or in which Goldman Sachs deposits a larger amount when gold increases. “At the expiration of the transaction the contributions are returned to their owners,” the document says.
There will be an adjustment to the asset value of 10 percent, to be used as a hedge in case the international market price falls, indicating that the U.S. bank takes care that if it produces a depreciation it will be covered and Venezuela would assume risk. The annual interest rate will be a combination of dollars with the call BBA Libor equivalent to 8 percent.