Infinite Unknown

Kolchak’s gold in a Russian bank Kazan in 1918 before being moved onto the Lake Baikal train

A RUSSIAN mini-submarine may have found billions of pounds worth of lost gold in a Siberian lake, it was revealed yesterday.

Explorers have long searched for lost Tsarist treasures dating from the Bolshevik Revolution, when forces loyal to the deposed royal family fled the advancing Red Army.

Legend has it that 1,600 tons of gold – which could now be worth billions of pounds – was lost when anti-Communist commander Admiral Alexander Kolchak’s train plunged into Lake Baikal, the world’s oldest and deepest freshwater lake.

Last year, parts of a train and ammunition boxes were found.

And in recent days, the Mir-2 submersible has discovered “shiny metal objects” 1,200 feet below the surface at Cape Tolstoy. “Deep-sea vehicles found rectangular blocks with a metallic gleam, like gold,” said one source.

Explorers attempted to grab hold of the blocks with a manipulator arm but failed because of loose gravel on the bottom of the lake. Sources say that the submariners know the exact spot and are planning a new mission to determine if they have found the gold.

The Moscow News independent newspaper yesterday ran a story on the find, with the headline: “Lost gold of the Whites found in Baikal”. The story described the lost gold as “one of the great mysteries” of the Russian Revolution.

Continue reading »

Tags: Global News, Gold, Russia, Siberia

“If there was no question about the gold being there, you think they would be anxious to prove gold is there,” said U.S. Rep. Ron Paul of the Federal Reserve.

Editor’s Note: Catch Dr. Ron Paul at the upcoming Kitco Metals eConference September 12-13, 2010. A not-to-be missed event featuring Marc Faber, James Dines and other industry heavyweights. The eConference is free with Pre- Registration www.kitcoeconf.com.

Texas (Kitco News) — U.S. Rep.  Ron Paul , R-Tex., plans to introduce a new bill next year that will allow for an audit of US gold reserves, he told Kitco News in an exclusive interview.

Paul dropped the news in the interview, indicating that the bill still does not have an official name yet but will be unveiled at the start of the new U.S. Congress.

“If there was no question about the gold being there, you think they would be anxious to prove gold is there,” he said of the Federal Reserve.

This is not the first time the congressman has made his pitch. “In the early 1980s when I was on the gold commission, I asked them to recommend to the Congress that they audit the gold reserves - we had 17 members of the commission and 15 voted not to the audit,” said Paul. “I think there was only one decent audit done 50 years ago,” he said.

Though Paul did not say whether there is any truth to claims that there is no gold in Fort Knox or the New York Federal Reserve, he said, “I think it is a possibility.”

“If we ever get around to deciding we should use gold in relationship to our currency we ought to know how much is there,” said Paul.  ”Our Federal Reserve admits to nothing and they should prove all the gold is there. There is a reason to be suspicious and even if you are not suspicious why wouldn’t you have an audit?” he said.

Continue reading »

Tags: Congress, Economy, Fed, Federal Reserve, Gold, Government, Politics, Ron Paul, U.S.

For months now insiders have sold their stocks and the elite puppet financier heavyweight George Soros also slashed his exposure to US equities.

Before George Soros told us that: “The ultimate asset bubble is gold.”

But look what the did after telling us about the ‘gold bubble’:

- George Soros not only doubled his gold investment, but also bought call options

- George Soros More Than Doubled Gold ETF Stake in 4th Quarter

And now he has probably bought even more gold.

Got gold (… and silver!!!)?

George Soros has slashed the amount of money he is willing to gamble on the fortunes of the US stock market in the second quarter as market volatility increased.

George Soros’ fund has approximately $25bn under management Photo: Reuters

The legendary investor’s Soros Fund Management - which has approximately $25bn (£16bn) under management - reduced its equity investments by 42pc to $5.1bn by the end of June, down from $8.8bn at the end of March.

The asset allocation decisions were made during a period in which the Standard & Poor’s 500 index - the broadest US equity index - fell 12pc.

The fact that Mr Soros - best known as the man reputed to have made $1bn by “breaking the Bank of England” during the 1992 fiscal crisis - has decided to make such a concerted shift out of equities will send a clear message to other investors.

Gone are Soros’s investments in Petrobras, Brazil’s oil giant, with investments in bellwether stocks such as Wal-Mart, JP Morgan Chase and Pfizer drastically reduced, cut by 99pc, 97pc and 95pc respectively.

Of those equities that do remain, the fund’s holding in a gold exchange traded fund constitutes his largest investment, some 13pc of the equity portfolio, worth $638m.

Although neither Mr Soros of his fund typically do not explain their quarterly investment decisions, it is likely some of the money has been shifted into government bonds (Sure! ROFL!), as well as investing in commodities and other safe havens. Continue reading »

Tags: Economy, George Soros, Global News, Gold, Stock Market, U.S., Wall Street

Gold imported into the UAE by traders and investors turned out to be fake on closer inspection

Gold imported into the UAE by traders and investors turned out to be fake on closer inspection. (FILE)

Several tons of gold imported into the UAE by traders and investors turned out to be fake on closer inspection, resulting in millions of dirhams in losses and high levels of stress to the victims.

Speaking to Emirates 24|7, Mohamad Shakarchi,, Managing Director of Emirates Gold, said: “A lot of people in the UAE who tried to import gold at lower prices or through dubious overseas companies have been cheated.

We have inspected many consignments from African countries, especially Ghana, and found that there is not an ounce of gold in them.

For importing pure dust or other metals with yellow colour, these traders have paid several million dirhams.”

Dubai Customs sources confirmed the incidence of fake gold imports, but did not reply to a questionnaire sent by Emirates 24|7 ten days ago.

“The concerned official is on leave,” said a spokesman.

Emirates Gold has stopped examining gold imported from Africa. “We send specialists to examine a gold consignment only if it is routed through a local company.

We don’t have time to waste because most of these so called gold imports are fake. The traders got greedy. They thought they were getting gold at a discounted rate.”

Mohammed said that at least five tonnes of fake yellow metal is lying with Dubai Customs.

A tonne of gold will cost approximately $40 million. Merchants estimated that the minimum loss of fake gold imported by local traders is nothing less than $200 million.

He said many clients and Dubai Customs have requested the use of company’s expertise to verify the purity of gold. “The fake gold issue has affected many people. Some of the traders got heart attack, after our inspectors said there is no gold in the tonnes of imports brought from Africa,” Mohammed said.

Continue reading »

Tags: Economy, Global News, Gold

The government monitors how much gold you possess!

Why?

Current federal law allows gold bullion to be confiscated by the federal government in times of national crisis.

The Greatest Depression has already started. Gold is your lifeline and your government is after your lifeline.

The dollar will be only bad toilet paper very soon.

The US government is preparing for the Greatest Depression.

Remember this post?

- The US Government Is Preparing For Collapse: Your Legal Right To Redeem Your Money Market Account Has Been Denied

Amendment Slipped Into Health Care Legislation Would Track, Tax Coin and Bullion Transactions

The issue is rising to the fore just as gold coin dealers are attracting attention over sales tactics.

Those already outraged by the president’s health care legislation now have a new bone of contention — a scarcely noticed tack-on provision to the law that puts gold coin buyers and sellers under closer government scrutiny.
California authorities investigating Goldline’s sales practices.

Section 9006 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will amend the Internal Revenue Code to expand the scope of Form 1099. Currently, 1099 forms are used to track and report the miscellaneous income associated with services rendered by independent contractors or self-employed individuals.

Coin Dealers Flipping

Starting Jan. 1, 2012, Form 1099s will become a means of reporting to the Internal Revenue Service the purchases of all goods and services by small businesses and self-employed people that exceed $600 during a calendar year. Precious metals such as coins and bullion fall into this category and coin dealers have been among those most rankled by the change.

This provision, intended to mine what the IRS deems a vast reservoir of uncollected income tax, was included in the health care legislation ostensibly as a way to pay for it. The tax code tweak is expected to raise $17 billion over the next 10 years, according to the Joint Committee on Taxation.

Continue reading »

Tags: Barack Obama, Economy, Global News, Gold, Government, IRS, Law, Obama administration, Politics, Taxpayers, U.S.

The Bank of International Settlements is the central banks of central banks controlled by the same elite criminals that have created the entire financial crisis.

Whatever game they can play to suppress the ‘price of gold’ - their greatest enemy - they will do it..

See also:

- BIS: Currency Collapse May Stimulate Economic Expansion

- Renaissance 2.0: Lesson 5 - The Emerging Global Empire - The New World Order

Interestingly enough this article mentions the Baltic Dry Index, which has been a really good indicator of what is coming, because it cannot be manipulated (that easily). Prepare for collapse.

It takes a lot to spook the solid old gold market. But when it emerged last week that one or more banks had lent 380 tonnes of gold to the Bank of International Settlements in return for foreign currencies, there was widespread surprise and confusion

Secret gold swap has spooked the market

The news that a mystery bank has just pawned the family jewels gave traders a jolt - nervous about the sudden transfer of almost 20pc of the world’s annual gold production and the possibility of a sell-off.

In a tiny footnote in its annual report, the bank disclosed its unusually large holding of gold, compared with nothing the year before. The disclosure was a large factor in the correction of the gold price this week, which fell below $1,200 for the first time in more than a month.

Concerns hinged on whether the BIS could potentially sell on this vast cache of bullion in the event of a default, flooding the market with liquidity. It appears to have raised $14bn for whoever’s been doing the swapping - small fry on the currency markets, but serious liquidity in the gold market.

Denominated in euros, gold has fallen 8pc since the beginning of the month and is now trading at a seven-week low of €937 per troy ounce.

The big gold exchange traded funds (ETFs) - having peaked at record inflows in May - have also been showing net outflows over the past few days.

Meanwhile, economists and gold market-watchers were determined to hunt down which bank is short of cash - curious about who is using their stash of precious metal for what looks suspiciously like a secret bailout.

At first it looked like the BIS was swapping gold with a troubled central bank. After all, the institution is the central bankers’ bank and its purpose to conduct transactions with national monetary authorities.

Central banks in the troubled southern zone of Europe were considered the most likely perpetrators.

According to the World Gold Council, central banks in Greece, Spain and Portugal held 112.2, 281.6 and 382.5 tons of gold respectively in June - leading analysts to point fingers at Portugal, or a combination of the three.

But Edel Tully, an analyst from UBS, noted that eurozone central banks would be severely limited with what they could do with the influx of extra cash - unable to transfer it straight to governments or make use of the primary bond markets.

She then listed the only other potential monetary authorities with enough gold as the US, China, Switzerland, Japan, Russia, India and Taiwan - and the International Monetary Fund.

This led to musings that the counterparty was the IMF, making sense because the lender of last resort is historically prone to cash shortages and has been quietly selling off gold in the first half of the year.

Renowned gold expert Jim Sinclair adopted this explanation. The panic came when people mistook a lease for a swap, he argues. Far from being a big release of gold into the market, it is simply a commercial arrangement between the IMF and BIS with a favourable rate of interest paid for the foreign currency. Continue reading »

Tags: Baltic Dry Index, BIS, Central Bank, Economy, Europe, Global News, Gold, IMF, Politics

A Spanish precious metals trading company bought the world’s largest gold coin for £2.68 million, its exact material worth, from the estate of an insolvent investment firm at a rare auction in Vienna on Friday.

The 220.5 lb piece, one of only five Canadian $1,000,000 Maple Leaf coins the Royal Canadian Mint has ever produced, was snapped up immediately in a written bid from ORO direct, a gold trading company based in Madrid.

There were no counter offers in an auction room packed with more journalists than potential buyers. It sold for the catalogue sum, the coin’s pure gold value based on Friday’s market price. This was four times its face value.

The auction was ordered by the administrator of Austrian investment group AvW Invest, which filed for insolvency in May after its owner and chief executive was arrested on suspicion of fraud, breach of trust and other charges.

AvW had acquired the coin in 2007, joining an exclusive club of owners including Queen Elizabeth, who is also displayed on one side of the coin, two unidentified investors in Dubai and one who is so reclusive even his or her residence is unknown. Continue reading »

Tags: Global News, Gold

Again: Only physical gold (held by you) is real, everything else is an illusion.

Is it safe in a bank?

- James G. Rickards: Possible Run on the Gold Bank, Fed Insolvent, Currency Endgames in US Debt Crisis:

Holding your gold in a bank correlates you to the banking system, the very risks which you are trying to avoid

I would get out of BullionVault NOW and buy real gold instead.

This is not an investment advice!

£12.5m is NOTHING (but a red herring to make people - that don’t know anything about Lord Rothschild - believe that their investment is safe).

An investment fund backed by Lord Rothschild has joined the World Gold Council to put £12.5m into BullionVault, the online gold investment platform.

Investment demand for gold has risen on concerns that sovereign debt problems could spread

Tim Levene of Augmentum Capital, a fund backed by Lord Rothschild’s RIT Capital Partners, said the investment was not a bet on the gold price but on “the future growth of the BullionVault platform”, which stores physical gold for private clients in London, New York and Zurich. RIT currently has 9pc of its assets in physical gold.

Investment demand for the metal has risen on concerns that sovereign debt problems could spread and the value of currencies plunge. The gold price hit a new nominal all-time high above $1,260 on Friday and analysts expect the price will continue to rise.

In return for the £12.5m investment, the World Gold Council and Augmentum will receive an equity stake in BullionVault.

Continue reading »

Tags: BullionVault, Economy, Gold, Rothschild

Surprise!

AP Business Writer= CAIRO (AP) — Saudi Arabia’s central bank holds more than twice the amount of gold previously estimated, a shift that analysts said reflected more of an accounting adjustment than an indication the oil rich nation was veering away from its conservative reserve policy.

A June report by the World Gold Council, an industry group that tracks gold bullion holdings by nations the world over, showed the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency’s gold reserve figure climbed to 322.9 tons compared to 143 tons reported in March.

The council said its gold data was “modified from the first quarter 2008 as a result of the adjustment of the SAMA’s gold accounts.”

Analysts said the change either signaled an accounting revision or that the kingdom, which sits atop the world’s largest proven reserves of conventional crude oil, had stepped up buying gold in 2008 as the metal’s value took a frequent beating during the global economic meltdown.

The same financial downturn also pummeled the price of oil, Saudi Arabia’s chief export.

Gold prices have gained steadily this year, settling Friday at a record $1,258.30 an ounce.

At that level, SAMA’s total official holdings of the precious metal are worth about $14.33 billion, or roughly 3.5 percent of the country’s total $413 billion in foreign assets.

“The only reason (for the change) beside the accounting of a larger portion of gold as SAMA assets, was they could have bought more gold in 2008,” said John Sfakianakis, chief economist at the Riyadh-based Banque Saudi Fransi-Credit Agricole Group.

“I think it was purely a buying opportunity in 2008,” he said. “There isn’t a shift away from their conservative approach of managing their foreign assets — being liquid, low risk and very long-term based.”

But those increases, recorded in SAMA’s April Monthly Statistical Bulletin, fail to even remotely explain the more than doubling of its gold reserves, as reported by the World Gold Council.

Saudi figures show that gold holdings by the country climbed by 867 million riyals ($231.2 million) in 2008 from the previous year. Continue reading »

Tags: Economy, Global News, Gold, Saudi Arabia

Gold is the money of the elite and the rest is worthless paper backed by nothing.

We already know that the eurozone money markets seized up violently in early May as incipient bank runs spread from Greece to Portugal and Spain, threatening the first big sovereign default of our era.

Last week gold surged to an all-time high

Jean-ClaudeTrichet, the president of the European Central Bank (EC), talked days later of “the most difficult situation since the Second World War, and perhaps the First”.

The ECB’s latest monthly bulletin gives us some startling details. It reveals that the bank’s “systemic risk indicator” surged suddenly to an all-time high on May 7 as measured by EURIBOR derivatives and stress in the EONIA swaps market, exceeding the strains at the height of the Lehman Brothers crisis in September 2008. “The probability of a simultaneous default of two or more euro-area large and complex banking groups rose sharply,” it said.

This is a unsettling admission. Which two “large and complex banking groups” were on the brink of collapse? We may find out in late July when the stress test results are published, a move described by Deutsche Bank chief Josef Ackermann as “very, very dangerous”.

And are we any safer now that the EU has failed to restore full confidence with its €750bn (£505bn) “shock and awe” shield, that is to say after throwing everything it can credibly muster under the political constraints of monetary union? This is the deep angst that lies behind last week’s surge in gold to an all-time high of $1,258 an ounce.

The World Gold Council said on Friday that the central banks of Russia, the Philippines, Kazakhstan and Venezuela have been buying gold, and Saudi Arabia’s monetary authority has “restated” its reserves upwards from 143m to 323m tonnes. If there is any theme to the bullion rush, it is fear that the global currency system is unravelling. Or, put another way, gold itself is reclaiming its historic role as the ultimate safe haven and benchmark currency. Continue reading »

Tags: Bonds, Debt, ECB, Economy, EU, Europe, Gold, Government, Politics, Quantitative Easing