Russia Buys 300,000 Ounces Of Gold In March – Nears 2,000 Tons In Gold Reserves

 

Russia buys 300,000 ounces of gold in March and nears 2,000t in gold reserves
– Russia now holds just over 1,861 tonnes, more than officially reported by China at 1,842t
– Both Russia and China have the power to destabilise US dollar by dumping dollar-denominated assets
– Turkey has removed all gold held in the U.S. opting for Bank of England and BIS
– Turkey follows trend set by both Germany, Netherlands and others to remove gold reserves stored in the United States
– Central bank decisions regarding gold reserves are examples of countries becoming nervous about the outlook for the dollar under the Trump administration

Russia bought another 300,000 troy ounces of gold in March bringing Russia’s total gold reserves to 1,861 tonnes or 60.8 million troy ounces as of the start of April, the central bank announced loudly at the weekend.

The continuing robust and steady accumulation of gold reserves continues and it was notable how Russian media channels loudly (more loudly than usual it seemed with many outlets covering) pronounced the continuing diversification into gold bullion by the Russian central bank. It suggests that gold is being used as a bulwark to protect Russia from the stealth financial, trade and currency wars which appear to be deepening.

China Battles “Impossible Trinity”

 

Just because something is inevitable does not mean it cannot be postponed.

The popular name for this is “kicking the can down the road,” which is a perfectly good description.

I prefer more technical terms such as dynamic systems in “subcritical” and “supercritical” state space, but it amounts to the same thing.

A financial crisis can be a long time in the making, but it will definitely erupt. When it does, there will be huge losses for those who ignored the warning signs.

China is in a pre-crisis situation today.

George Soros and German Media

 

While Russian political tampering concerns dominate news headlines, one area of concern that has been overlooked for many decades is Germany’s mounting influential power over media, academia, and/or book publishing, something which Dr. Robert E. Kaplan of Jerusalem calls “soft power” in his illuminating book titled The Soros Connection, where he demonstrates the very real possibility that George Soros is a political and economic wrecking ball working as a foreign agent for the German state. Dr. Kaplan received his Ph.D. in history from Cornell University. He was heavily influenced by historian Edward Whiting Fox.

‘STORM IS COMING’ Top economist warns financial disaster LOOMS as banks are NOT prepared

Sir John Vickers has warned about the safety of UK banks

 

A SEVERE financial storm is going to hit and the Bank of England hasn’t done enough to prevent a repeat of the last financial crisis, Sir John Vickers has warned.

Britain’s banks and financial systems are still too fragile, which could lead to another disaster in the face of a big downturn, blasted the economist who led the Independent Commission on Banking.

Sir John told ITV News: “A storm is going to come, we can’t predict when, but you want to be ready for it.

European Central Bank gold reserves held across 5 locations. ECB will not disclose Gold Bar List.

Table 1: Central bank FX and Gold transfers to the ECB, January 1999

 

The European Central Bank (ECB), creator of the Euro, currently claims to hold 504.8 tonnes of gold reserves. These gold holdings are reflected on the ECB balance sheet and arose from transfers made to the ECB by Euro member national central banks, mainly in January 1999 at the birth of the Euro. As of the end of December 2015, these ECB gold reserves were valued on the ECB balance sheet at market prices and amounted to €15.79 billion. 

The ECB very recently confirmed to BullionStar that its gold reserves are stored across 5 international locations. However, the ECB also confirmed that it does not physically audit its gold, nor will it divulge a bar list / weight list of these gold bar holdings.

Questions and Answers

BullionStar recently put a number of questions to the European Central Bank about the ECB’s gold holdings. The ECB Communications Directorate replied to these questions with answers that appear to include a number of facts about the ECB gold reserves which have not previously been published. The questions put to the ECB and its responses are listed below (underlining added):

Central banks ‘have never been on thinner ice’

Banks are in over their heads in trouble. Central banks are over their heads in trouble as well. The only thing left to bail them all out would be the IMF — which is within the realm of possibility as we enter a harsh downturn.

 

Sentiment at IMF annual meeting sours on Fed, BOJ, ECB

The global financial elite has soured on global central bank policy, believing that it’s now counterproductive, doing more harm than good.

That was the message on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund’s annual meeting in Washington, where in informal survey of more than 100 bankers found more than 70% saying monetary policy is now part of the problem instead of a solution.

China facing full-blown banking crisis, world’s top financial watchdog warns

China has failed to curb excesses in its credit system and faces mounting risks of a full-blown banking crisis, according to early warning indicators released by the world’s top financial watchdog.

A key gauge of credit vulnerability is now three times over the danger threshold and has continued to deteriorate, despite pledges by Chinese premier Li Keqiang to wean the economy off debt-driven growth before it is too late.

Eurozone rocked by Brexit: Now George Soros bets €100m on German bank collapse

BILLIONAIRE investor George Soros took out a staggering €100MILLION bet that a major German bank would collapse after Britain decisions to cut ties with the crumbling EU.

The man who “broke the Bank of England” took a short position of 0.51 per cent in Deutsche Bank shares on Friday – the day after the people of Britain backed Brexit.

In growing signs that desperate Angela Merkel’s economy is struggling in the wake of the nation’s decision to leave the EU – Soros Fund Management said its short position was now 0.46 per cent – suggesting it had begun to take profits from the trade.

Soros Buying Gold On BREXIT, EU “Collapse” Risk

Gold in USD (2009 to 2012)

 

George Soros is again buying gold and selling and going short stocks due to BREXIT and EU “collapse” risk, after a six year hiatus from the gold market.

The multi-billionaire hedge fund manager, the man who “broke the Bank of England” and one of the richest and most powerful men in the world has now publicly warned that inflation is likely soon and is voicing concerns about BREXIT, the disintegration of the EU, a Chinese financial crash, global contagion and a new World War.

Soros Fund Management, which manages around $30 billion for the Soros family, is now aggressively selling and going short stocks and diversifying into gold and shares in gold mining companies, due to his now even “gloomier” view of the global financial system and the global economic outlook.

Bank of England busy preparing for Brexit vote

The Bank of England is consumed with preparing contingency plans for Britain to leave the EU, with staff across its financial stability, monetary policy and regulatory wings ready to calm any turmoil.

In the days leading up to the June 23 poll, the Bank will hold additional auctions of sterling to ensure the banking system has sufficient funds to operate in a potentially chaotic moment.

Three exceptional auctions of cash have already been planned for June 14, 21 and 28. But stuffing the banks full of cash will not prevent foreigners and UK households and companies dumping sterling in the event of a Brexit vote.

Beware 2018, when the next perfect banking storm may hit

Those looking for when the next financial crisis might be should set a reminder for January 1, 2018.

That’s when a host of new rules are scheduled to come into force that are likely to further constrain lending ability and prompt banks to only advance money to the best borrowers, which could accelerate bankruptcies worldwide. As with any financial regulation, however, the effects will start to be felt sooner than the implementation date.

Can anything rescue Japan from the abyss?

“Shunto” season has failed to grip Japan.

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Translating as “spring wage offensive”, Shunto marks the annual Japanese ritual of wage bargaining between business groups and labour unions.

This year’s negotiations have been preceded by months of feverish lobbying from prime minister Shinzo Abe who has urged the country’s business groups to raise wages and help smash Japan’s deflationary mindset once and for all.

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Olivier Blanchard, the former chief economist at the International Monetary Fund and Adam Posen, a former Bank of England policymaker, have called for an unprecedented 10pc increase in nominal wages in 2016. In the last two years, average wages have risen by just 1pc.

Why Is Germany Eliminating Paper Money?

 

 

Getting rid of paper money may help fight terrorism and even help prop up the banks—but is there a more sinister reason for these new financial controls?

Germany is considering abolishing the €500 note and introducing a €5,000 (us$5,600) limit on cash transactions. It is part of a plan proposed by Chancellor Angela Merkel’s partners in the Social Democratic Party to cut off terrorist financing in Europe. Banning the bills will supposedly help make people safer. In reality, it will do the exact opposite.

German Deputy Finance Minister Michael Meister told Deutsche Welle on February 3 that Germany would push these reforms at the European level. “Since money laundering and terrorism financing are cross-border threats,” it makes sense to adopt a European Union-wide “solution,” he said. But “if a European solution isn’t possible, Germany will move ahead on its own” (emphasis added throughout).

The Antichrist’s Cashless Utopia: War on Cash in 2016

(TRUNEWS) The push for a cashless society has begun to gain steam around the globe, with nearly every major nation taking strides to adopt digital currencies, centrally governed cash controls and incentivize cashless transactions.

A Bloomberg Op-Ed published on January 31^st called for the end of paper currencies, touting that “cash had a pretty good run for 4,000 years or so,” but was “dirty, dangerous, unwieldy and expensive, antiquated and so very analog.”

Now though each of these reasons all have some merit of truth behind them, such as paper currency serving as a vector for disease, incentivizing physical robberies, and complicating P2P long distance transactions, the existence of physical legal tender has an equal set of priceless characteristics.

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In the Book of Revelation, God forewarned his people through the Apostle John, that during the Tribulation period the global system will be dictatorially ruled by a single political authority, known as the antichrist. In Chapter 13 verses 16-17 the antichrist’s control over the economy is described as absolute: “He also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of his name.” Cashless technology and centralized restrictions of transactions fit this warning.

Update on Bundesbank Gold Repatriation 2015

Source: Bundesbank

 

Deutsche Bundesbank has just released a progress report on its gold bar repatriation programme for 2015 – “Frankfurt becomes Bundesbank’s largest gold storage location“.

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As a reminder, the Bundesbank is engaged in an unusual multi-year repatriation programme to transport 300 tonnes of gold back to Frankfurt from the vaults of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York (FRBNY), and simultaneously to bring back 374 tonnes of gold back to Frankfurt from the vaults of the Banque de France in Paris. This programme began in 2013 and is scheduled to complete by 2020. I use the word ‘unusual’ because the Bundesbank could technically transport all 674 tonnes of this gold back to Frankfurt in a few weeks or less if it really wanted to, so there are undoubtedly some unpublished limitations as to why the German central bank has not yet done so.