BullionStar Blogs

BullionStar Provides Food Relief to Over 200 Families

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• BullionStar
• 4 Comments

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In August 2020, BullionStar helped to provide food and groceries to over 200 poverty-stricken families living in Batam, Indonesia. Most of these families do not have a breadwinner that holds a steady job. With COVID-19 restrictions, already tough living conditions have sadly deterioated further. Continue Reading

London Gold Bait-and-Switch as LBMA Prepares Bigger Changes

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• Ronan Manly
• 2 Comments

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Claiming a sudden need for increased transparency, the Bank of England and LBMA in London have now moved from reporting gold and silver vault inventories on a 3 month lagged basis to a 1 month lagged basis.

However, there is more to this move than meets the eye, and the change looks to be part of a regulatory concession before rolling out COMEX contract delivery using metal... Continue Reading

LBMA-COMEX Collusion Intensifies

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• Ronan Manly
• 9 Comments

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A few weeks ago, in a very stealthy manner, CME Group in coordination with the LBMA, massively expanded the lists of approved gold and silver bar brands that can be delivered against the flagship COMEX GC 100 gold and SI silver contracts.

While this signals gold and silver bar delivery constraints at the COMEX, that is only half the story, as the real intention of these changes... Continue Reading

GLD Escalates Sourcing of Gold at the Bank of England

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• Ronan Manly
• 15 Comments

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The latest SEC filing by the SPDR Gold Trust (GLD) released this week contains the bombshell detail that the world’s largest gold-backed ETF is increasingly resorting to sourcing gold bars at the Bank of England. At least 70 tonnes of gold and possibly up to 150 tonnes.

With GLD and its custodian HSBC resorting to such tactics and interfacing with the murky world of central... Continue Reading

The Sustainability of Today's Gold Bull Market vs. 2011

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• Ronan Manly
• 2 Comments

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After rising rapidly to the $2070 range, the US dollar gold price has now corrected sharply . What took nearly 2 weeks to go up, has now unwound in a matter of 3-4 days. But sometimes this is the nature of corrections, sharp and extreme.

Corrections are healthy and form stronger support. Markets never continually move in one direction. Over 12 years ago, famous gold guru Jim... Continue Reading

Gold & Silver Roar Higher: The Canaries in the Coal Mine

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• Ronan Manly
• 7 Comments

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In what is a memorable week for gold and silver prices, the US dollar price of gold is approaching an all time high, while the price of silver has surged this week by over 18%.

The current price action in gold and silver is igniting investment interest in everything from gold and silver mining shares to precious metals ETFs, while in the physical bullion markets, savers and... Continue Reading

Rising Gold Prices Attract Global & Local Attention

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• Ronan Manly
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Zing News, one of Vietnam’s leading news and media platforms, this week published an article examining the reasons behind the strong upward move in the gold price and its sustainability, quoting extensively from BullionStar's input.

In Vietnam, which has a very strong tradition of gold ownership and use of physical gold in transactions, the Zing News digital newspaper has... Continue Reading

COMEX Adds 730 Tonnes of Gold Since Late-March

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• Ronan Manly
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Triggered by a COMEX-Spot spread blow out in the wake of a delivery failure in gold Exchange for Physical (EFP) transactions, an unprecedented 730 tonnes of gold has flowed into COMEX gold vaults between 24 March and 30 June, mostly into the vaults of JP Morgan and Brink's.

The chain of events can be traced back to the LBMA rush on 24 March to “facilitate physical delivery of... Continue Reading

Central Bankers Play Musical Chairs at the LBMA

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• Ronan Manly
• 2 Comments

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As a former Banque de France central banker joins the board of the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) as an “Independent” director, replacing a former New York Federal Reserve central banker who also served on the same board as an “Independent” director, we must ask ourselves why have these central bankers so much interest in gold and the LBMA.

Particularly as the... Continue Reading

The Curious Case of COMEX Gold Deliveries in April & June

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• Ronan Manly
• 9 Comments

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The unprecedented shock which London and New York gold markets experienced beginning 23-24 March left a lot of fallout in its wake, from bullion banks scrambling to secure physical gold to send to New York, to deteriorating liquidity in both the COMEX and London markets.

Yet three months on from the detonation whose blast waves were felt on both sides of the Atlantic, the... Continue Reading

Bullion Retail Shop Re-Opening 19 June 2020

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• BullionStar
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BullionStar's Retail Shop at 45 New Bridge Road will re-open 19 June with normal operating hours.

Feel free to place your order online now at www.bullionstar.com and lock in the price. Collect your order from 19 June. For orders with cash payment, cheque payment, card and NETS payment, you are allowed to place your order now and make payment for your order no later than 22 June. Continue Reading

Interview With SG Wealth Builder: Gold at 8 Year High

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• BullionStar
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BullionStar’s precious metals analyst, Ronan Manly, was recently interviewed by Singapore-based financial and investing website SG Wealth Builder. Here, we reprint the questions and answers from that interview.

The wide-ranging discussion covers the recent behaviour of the US dollar gold price and how the price discovery process works, the supply disruptions of March and... Continue Reading

Bullion Center Information

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• BullionStar
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Update on BullionStar's services. Bullion Center may not open 2 June after all. We are open for online orders at BullionStar.com 24/7! We offer FREE shipping for orders within Singapore and discounted rates for international shipping. Vault storage orders are processed as per normal. We are also accepting customer sell orders. Click here for more information and a service update. Continue Reading

Amid London Gold Turmoil, HSBC Taps BoE for GLD Gold Bars

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• Ronan Manly
• 5 Comments

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There is something broken in the London gold market and the evidence points back to HSBC, both in physical and paper gold. During April, HSBC began turning to the Bank of England gold vaults to source at least 45 tonnes of gold for the world’s largest gold-backed ETF, the SPDR Gold Trust (GLD). Did HSBC run out of gold in its own secretive London vault?

Now it emerges that... Continue Reading

BullionStar's 'QE Defender' Browser-Based Video Game

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• BullionStar
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Helicopter cash - Negative interest rates - Government and Central Bank Asset Purchases - Universal Basic Income. Central banks and governments across the globe have unleashed a series of monetary and fiscal interventions on markets and economies which are unprecedented in their magnitude and which are boarding on the destruction of the current financial system. Are we gearing up for a... Continue Reading

LBMA Gold Price Benchmark Ignoring Market Conditions

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• Ronan Manly
• 11 Comments

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While media focus has recently been on the current gold price dislocation between London spot and COMEX New York futures, there is another persistently large discount that so far has evaded the spotlight. That is the twice daily LBMA Gold Price benchmark.

By ignoring the much higher COMEX gold futures prices while setting the LBMA Gold Price auction starting price, the auction... Continue Reading

We Are Open For Orders – Update of Services: 20 May 2020

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• BullionStar
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We are open for orders! Place your order on BullionStar.com 24/7! BullionStar has been exempted from the circuit breaker suspension as an essential service company for e-commerce orders. This means that orders can be shipped for delivery (FREE within Singapore or Discounted for International Shipping) or processed into vault storage as per normal. We are also accepting customer sell... Continue Reading

U.S. Mint Closes West Point, Adding to Gold Coin Shortage

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• Ronan Manly
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The US Mint has just implemented an indefinite shutdown to its West Point Mint facility due to a surge in coronavirus cases in Orange County New York where the West Point Mint is located.

As the only production facility for the famous American gold Eagles and American gold Buffalo bullion coins, the West Point shutdown puts a further strain on an already constrained supply... Continue Reading

COMEX Drops Bombshell About 'Eligible' Vaulted Gold

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• Ronan Manly
• 11 Comments

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A newly discovered document from COMEX operator CME to the CFTC contains a full-scale admission that much of the ‘eligible gold inventory’ in COMEX New York vaults is held by long-term holders and cannot be included in deliverable supply.

The COMEX concedes that eligible gold should therefore have a 50% haircut applied. With this bombshell admission, it means there is far... Continue Reading

How Mints Will Be Affected by Surging Bullion Coin Demand

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• JP Koning
• 3 Comments

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The demand for gold and silver coins has exploded as fears of COVID-19 sweep the globe. This post explores how this increase in coin demand is translated back to the producers of bullion coins, with a special focus on the U.S. Mint and Royal Canadian Mint. Continue Reading

Bullion Bank Nightmare as LBMA-COMEX Spread Blows Up Again

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• Ronan Manly
• 5 Comments

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As the saga of the large price differential continues to persist between COMEX gold futures prices and London gold spot prices, it is obvious that all is not well with the bullion banks in the paper gold markets.

And this is despite statements galore from the LBMA and COMEX and the launch of a new gold futures contract. The underlying problem seems to be the LBMA gold market... Continue Reading

We Are Open For Orders – Update of Services: 11 April 2020

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• BullionStar
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We are open! This is an important update to all BullionStar customers covering the impact of COVID-19 on BullionStar's operations. BullionStar is open for orders but operate in limited capacity as an essential business with measurements taken against the spread of COVID-19. Continue Reading

LBMA & COMEX Try to Reassure the Market – Twice in One Week

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• Ronan Manly
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In the space of a week, the bullion bank dominated LBMA and CME(COMEX) in an air of panic, have issued not one, but two rushed out statements to try to placate the global gold market.

In the modern gold market this is unprecedented. While LBMA-CME claim that physical gold stocks in London and New York are at healthy levels, the reality is far more concerning. Continue Reading

COMEX Can’t Find a 400 oz Gold Bar For New Futures Contract

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• Ronan Manly
• 8 Comments

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As the LBMA and CME scramble to keep the paper gold show on the road and monopolise gold price discovery, they have now launched a new gold futures contract which is deliverable using 400 oz gold bars.

But according to the COMEX gold vault inventory report, there are no 400 oz gold bars in any of the COMEX approved vaults in New York. Is this yet again a giant smokescreen by... Continue Reading

Important BullionStar Update: 27 March 2020

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• BullionStar
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This is an important update to all BullionStar customers covering the situation in the precious metals market. As one of few precious metals dealers globally, BullionStar still accepts orders and has plenty of bullion in stock for immediate delivery. Due to record demand, we have however had to temporarily increase our minimum order for both customer buy and customer sell orders to SGD... Continue Reading

Are LBMA & COMEX Colluding to Lock Down the Gold Market?

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• Ronan Manly
• 6 Comments

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With extreme demand and supply shortages in the physical gold market, it was only a matter of time before the paper gold markets in London and New York would come under strain. That time is now.

With the spot price of gold lagging the price of COMEX gold futures for the third day running, the LBMA is now colluding with the COMEX on bailing out bullion banks. But who is bailing... Continue Reading

Reuters Confused About Gold Demand, Supply, and Pricing

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• Ronan Manly
• 4 Comments

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Unprecedented demand for physical precious metals. Unprecedented supply chain delays in the precious metals supply chain. Real and present disconnects between the physical gold price and the prices set by COMEX/LBMA.

In theory you would think that this is all great material for reporters covering the latest developments in the physical gold market in Asia. Maybe for some, but... Continue Reading

Banknotes and Coronavirus

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• JP Koning
• 4 Comments

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With the coronavirus pandemic sweeping the globe, many people are worried about infected banknotes. Over the last few weeks, central bankers have themselves taken a number of measures to mitigate virus transmission risks on banknotes.

But what does science have to say about the presence of pathogens, such as viruses, on banknotes? Continue Reading

The Window to Buy Gold & Silver With Paper Money is Closing

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• BullionStar
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In the current environment, we are continuing to witness overwhelming demand for physical precious metals, while at the same time scarce supply due to global bullion supply chain issues.

Price discovery for precious metals is now broken, with paper spot and futures precious metals markets not reflecting physical metal demand and supply. This price disconnect is... Continue Reading

Will Gold Be the Last Man Standing in the Perfect Storm?

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• Ronan Manly
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The turmoil engulfing financial markets is unprecedented in its breath and intensity. You might call it a perfect storm. In such an environment, no asset class has been immune. But will gold be the last man standing? Continue Reading

Gold Shortages – Price of Physical Gold Decouples from Paper Gold

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• BullionStar
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With volatility and turmoil continuing to impact global financial markets, we are witnessing a huge increase in demand for physical precious metals amid record orders and customer visits.

The surge in demand has created supply chain constraints, with some of BullionStar’s suppliers completely out of stock.

As the gold price on COMEX is not reflecting this physical... Continue Reading

Infographic: Central Bank Gold Buying & Gold Repatriation

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• BullionStar
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Annual central bank gold demand is currently running at a 50-year high. A whole host of central banks have also recently repatriated gold from London and New York.

But why are central banks buying more gold bars than at any time since 1971? And what has spooked sovereign nations to fly their gold back to their home countries?

With this easy to grasp and visually... Continue Reading

Gold Confiscation – Can It Happen Again?

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• JP Koning
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Democratic governments have forced citizens to sell their gold in the past, the US in 1933 and the UK in 1939. Should modern gold owners worry about similar forced gold sales or seizures in the future? Continue Reading

Physical Gold Demand at Record; Paper Gold Price Disconnect

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• Ronan Manly
• 20 Comments

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As global stock markets reeled last week on continued newsflow around the coronavirus, the US dollar gold price made a seven-year high early in the week, only to fall sharply on Friday.

But with this ‘gold price’ derived on the COMEX gold futures market, it is detached from the reality of the current strong demand that BullionStar is seeing for physical gold. Continue Reading

China’s Gold Market Not Immune to a Wider Downturn

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• Ronan Manly
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From quarantined cities to lower consumer demand, from reduced flight traffic to closed frontiers and boarders, the economic shock to the domestic Chinese gold market caused by the outbreak of the coronavirus should not be underestimated.

While we can't examine much live data from the Chinese gold market right now, we can review Chinese gold market activity up to the end of... Continue Reading

Eight Centuries of Interest Rates

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• JP Koning
• 7 Comments

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Today's era of low - even negative - interest rates have been described as absurd, crazy, and an abomination. But economic historian Paul Schmelzing's recent paper covering eight centuries of interest rates shows that periods of zero or negative rates are not rare. Continue Reading

The Shrinking Window For Anonymous Exchange

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• JP Koning
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To help reduce money laundering, German authorities have reduced the amount of precious metals that citizens can purchase anonymously with cash to €2000. While cash limits like this may work in theory, we still have very little evidence to show that the benefits of anti-money laundering regulations exceed the costs. Continue Reading

German Government Escalates War On Gold

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• Ronan Manly
• 9 Comments

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In a brazen attack on precious metals and economic freedom, the German government has just introduced draconian new rules on buying precious metals.

Brought in with zero evidence under the guise of money laundering prevention, short term it created panic gold buying by Germany’s population but long term it's a continuation of the all too familiar statist war against gold and... Continue Reading

LBMA Claims Record Amount of Gold in London’s Vaults

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• Ronan Manly
• 12 Comments

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This week the LBMA in London claims that a record 8,228 tonnes of gold is held in the London vaults, vaults which include those at the Bank of England and the commercial vaults of such bullion banks as JP Morgan and HSBC.

But beyond the headline figure, how much of this gold is available to underpin the gargantuan daily trading volumes of the London gold market? Very little as... Continue Reading

A New Era of Digital Gold Payment Systems?

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• JP Koning
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Ever since the internet emerged in the 1990s, entrepreneurs have been trying to created digital gold payments networks. But these efforts haven't garnered much success. Will the newest push, so-called "blockchain gold," make digital gold payments more popular? Continue Reading

Quantum Leap as ABN AMRO Questions Gold Price Discovery

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• Ronan Manly
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In a quantum leap for an investment bank to make, Dutch bank ABN AMRO has just gone on record questioning if a world with two gold prices would be better, one price that would reflect trading of real physical gold, and the other which would represent paper and synthetic gold products.

Although a welcome step from the Dutch bank, it fails to acknowledge the structural forces... Continue Reading

How Militaries Use Gold Coins as Emergency Money

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• Ronan Manly
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Gold is and always has been universal money that can be used anywhere and is accepted everywhere. The world’s elite military detachments know this, which is why they issue their troops and pilots with gold coins and other gold bullion items for use as emergency money when they go behind enemy lines. Continue Reading

Polish Central Bank Airlifts 8,000 Gold Bars From London

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• Ronan Manly
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The Polish central bank has just succeeded in extracting 100 tonnes of its gold from the Bank of England in London, and this gold now rests safely back in Poland in the vaults of the National Bank of Poland.

Moving 100 tonnes of gold - 8000 central bank gold bars - Poland’s gold repatriation operation involved top secret motorcades, elite police escorts, jumbo jet air... Continue Reading

Life Under a Gold Standard

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• JP Koning
• 10 Comments

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Consumer prices react differently under a gold standard and a fiat standard due to the relative flexibility of each system.

What would life be like living under a gold standard, and how would it differ from our day-to-day and year-to-year experience under a fiat standard? Continue Reading

New COMEX Pledged Gold: Shrinking the Inventory Pool

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• Ronan Manly
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Ever been confused between the COMEX ‘registered’ and ‘eligible’ gold categories on the COMEX New York gold vault reports? You wouldn’t be the first. But now the CME has made it even more complex by introducing a new ‘pledged gold’ category representing COMEX registered gold that has been used as collateral.

But with pledged gold unable to be used for gold futures... Continue Reading

Chinese Central Bank Gold Guying – On a Need to Know Basis

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• Ronan Manly
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After announcing gold reserve purchases for ten straight months between December 2018 and September 2019, the Chinese central bank, the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) has now paused gold buying for October, at least according to latest figures.

But what to make of Chinese official gold buying communication in general? It’s instructive to look at China’s stop-start gold... Continue Reading

The Power of Gold in Times of Crisis

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• Ronan Manly
• 6 Comments

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History is replete with examples of gold being the ultimate asset in times of crisis and emergency, where time and time again, gold comes to the rescue and provides its holders with choice and freedom.

These crisis situations range from fiat currencies collapses, to gold buying safe passage across international borders, from periods in which gold can rescue an entire nation, to... Continue Reading

Why Are Gold & Bonds Rising Together?

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• JP Koning
• 4 Comments

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In the 1970s, gold and bond prices tended to move in opposing directions. This is because higher-than-expected inflation pushes up the price of gold, but hurts the price of bonds.

But over the last two decades, the prices of these two assets have moved together. Why has this relationship changed? Continue Reading

Wag the Dog – the New COMEX & SGE Gold Contracts

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• Ronan Manly
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In a development whose impact is still unclear, the world’s largest gold derivatives trading venue, the US COMEX, and the world’s largest physical gold trading exchange, the Chinese SGE, have just jointly launched gold derivatives contracts, potentially binding each other into a price feedback loop.

Could this be a case of the massively influential COMEX gold trading now... Continue Reading

Why You Should Buy & Store Gold & Silver in New Zealand

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• BullionStar
• 10 Comments

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With the addition of a bullion storage offering in New Zealand, BullionStar customers can now diversify bullion storage internationally across New Zealand and Singapore, two of the safest and securest precious metals storage jurisdictions in the world.

Geographically located in one of the safest areas of the world, in a stable jurisdiction with strong property rights and a... Continue Reading