Wall Street concerned over China’s gold hoarding

Wall Street concerned over China’s gold hoarding

The People’s Bank of China, China’s central bank, is the world’s biggest gold hoarder and the bane of Wall Street traders, reports the Chinese-language financial news website BwChinese, citing a Hong Kong financial analyst.

Leung Hai-ming told the portal that China’s central bank took advantage of the US Federal Reserve’s quantitative easing program in 2013, when the price of gold fell by 27%. The bank bought in over 1,000 tonnes of gold, representing almost one third of the world’s 3,756 tonnes last year.

There is reportedly less than 180,000 tonnes of gold reserves left, and only 20% of that remaining gold is tradable. This means that the People’s Bank of China will likely keep hold of the gold, limiting the gold trading volume — a concern for both the US government and Wall Street traders.

Leung said that the US Federal Reserve loans gold to investment banks such as Goldman Sachs, Citibank, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley and others every year to trade in the market. The amount of gold ranges between 400-500 tonnes and the move acts to artificially suppress gold prices. When the prices are in their favor, these investment banks buy back the gold and return it to the Fed.

But this measure is absolutely useless because China’s is hoarding the gold and does not follow the rules, Leung said. When it sees that gold prices are going down, the first thing it does is buy them, and does not sell when prices continue to fall. It seems that Wall Street cannot do anything to counter China on this, according to Leung.

The analyst said that the People’s Bank of China is putting pressure on Washington and Wall Street as the US dollar has been linked with gold prices since its rise as the leading global currency. The Fed hopes to manipulate gold prices in its favor, Leung said, but the Chinese central bank is standing in its way.

Businessman “who bought HK$270m of gold” ends up with rusty metal bars

Police were last night making arrangements with a mainland businessman to check whether HK$270 million of gold bullion he bought in Africa was genuine after part of the consignment was swapped with metal bars.

On Wednesday, Zhao Jingjun, 43, opened part of his shipment in front of his buyer in Hong Kong and discovered the gold had been switched for worthless metal.

A senior officer said it would be the city’s biggest heist in a decade if it was confirmed that all the gold had been stolen.

An initial inquiry showed Zhao purchased 998kg of gold bars from a company in Ghana in mid-April, police said.

The consignment, in 14 cases, was escorted by his staff and delivered from Ghana on a chartered flight late last month.

“Officers were told that his employee confirmed the cases contained the gold before it was loaded onto the chartered flight in Ghana,” a police source said.

The source said the employee left Hong Kong after the consignment was handed to the staff of a logistics company at Chek Lap Kok airport. It was then couriered to a Tsuen Wan warehouse.

The businessman arrived from Hebei province on Monday and checked into the Kowloon Shangri-La hotel in Tsim Sha Tsui. On Wednesday, he had five of the cases couriered to his buyer’s Hung Hom office.

“When he opened the boxes, he found they were filled with metal bars instead of gold bullion,” the source said. “He told officers the cases appeared to have been tampered with.”

Police received a report from Zhao on Wednesday night when he returned to his hotel room.

He went to Tsim Sha Tsui police station yesterday with documents proving he bought the bullion in Ghana and that it was delivered to Hong Kong.

A police investigator said: “We don’t rule out the possibility that the gold bullion may have been switched for metal bars before being delivered to Hong Kong.”

Zhao has reportedly made several such transactions. His business activities include the purchase of iron ore from Australia, Africa and South America.

Four years ago, 265 gold bars were taken from a Yuen Long company. Police arrested three men and recovered most of the HK$90 million in bullion stolen.

Link:  http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1525986/all-glitters-businessman-who-bought-hk27m-gold-ends-metal-barsLinl:

Marine Le Pen: EU robbed us of all liberties, we should fight to get them back (FULL INTERVIEW)

A truly remarkable woman, France may not yet be completely swallowed by the Obama administrations imperialism with people like her there is still hope for the Country. Long live Marine Le Pen. 

EU's foreign policy sovereignty stolen and replaced with USSA sovereignty – Marine Le Pen

By labelling the FN "far-right" the mainstream media seek to marginalise and demonise grass roots movements such as FN - It is subtle and effective (nobody wants to be seen as extremist). Mme Le Pen knows this, which is why she is threatening to sue media organisations labelling them as "far-right" Long Live Marine Le Pen! She is a politician trying to look after the people who have voted for her rater than to promote the "globalisation" agenda of a global elite. 

The EU will indeed collapse. A country needs full control over its currency and other monetary policies.

the leftists are always first to cry racism, but never in favor of their own kind...
what a traitorous bunch of fools. I sincerely hope when Europe finally breaks out in the next civil/race war, these muso appeasing Politicians will be hanging from the streetlamps first.

Marine La Pen the New Joan of Arc! Long Live Marine!!! 

The EU has lost control of its foreign policy to Washington, France's National Front leader Marine Le Pen told RT, calling the bloc's diplomacy a “catastrophe” in which no independent voice of reason could be heard.
“The European Union's diplomacy is a catastrophe,” Le Pen told RT'sSophie Shevardnadze in an exclusive interview to be broadcast Monday. “The EU speaks out on foreign affairs either to create problems, or to make them worse.”
Where Ukraine is concerned, Le Pen believes that Europe had no right to blackmail the country into breaking up its historical and cultural ties to Russia.
“When offering a partnership agreement to Ukraine – which would mean breaking off of its allied relations with Russia – the EU has clearly set blackmail in motion. And that can't help but fuel dissent inside the country,” Le Pen told RT, adding that “pouring oil onto the fire” could lead to an increasing risk of a civil war.
“The EU has been doing nothing but making the situation worse using threats, blackmail and sanctions, which, as we can see now, clearly do not encourage anyone to sit at the negotiation table in order to come up with a peaceful and reasonable solution to the conflict.”
Le Penn, whose National Front party in late May secured a third of France’s seats in the European Parliamentary elections, says the EU's foreign policy has been badly misguided by the United States – Syria and Libya being just some of the most recent examples.
“We've made a great deal of foreign policy mistakes under Washington's influence, but the worst of them is Syria,” Le Penn said.
There are “no independent states left in Europe” that would call for peaceful solutions to conflicts, the National Front leader says.
“We [National Front] have been the only party to stand against the option of intervening in Syria. When the crisis first started, we said France is supplying arms to jihadists, who would spread terror if they win. That's what already happened in Libya.”
“That's the way the US acts in the international arena. But what is even more horrible, is that one can't hear the voices of European countries,” Le Pen added.
Watch the full interview with Marine Le Pen on RT’s SophieCo on Monday, June 9.

Lessons Learned from the Tokyo Commercial Real Estate Market

During the first quarter of 2014, Tokyo held the honor of having the largest commercial real estate market in the world, according to a report published by The Wall Street Journal. What is particularly astonishing about this news report is the fact that this marks the first time that the Japanese capital climbed to the top of the list since a survey of the commercial real estate market in major cities around the world was first launched 10 years ago. Much of the strong demand for commercial real estate in Tokyo has been driven by an increase in international investment, which surged by more than 70 percent year-over-year, catapulting Tokyo past both New York and London. Such growth is even more surprising considering that Tokyo has endured more than 20 years of continual price declines since a bubble collapse in the early 1990s. Prices finally began to increase in 2013 and have been further buoyed by a pro-growth economic program instituted by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. As prices continue to rise in Tokyo, an increasing number of investors are turning their attention beyond the capital to seek out viable property investments. Higher prices have also encouraged some occupants to purchase the properties they previously rented. By comparison, the commercial real estate market in the United States has made significant strides toward recovery in the last year. According to data released by CoStar Group, commercial real estate represents $12 billion of the U.S. economy. Market value declined by 25 percent during the financial crisis as many businesses shut their doors, leaving office spaces empty. Recently, however, the demand for commercial real estate in the United States has strengthened and prices are finally returning, but have not yet managed to attain the same level of activity as that of Japan. So, what can U.S. investors learn from the Japanese commercial real estate market? With financial pundits predicting that commercial real estate recovery will continue to accelerate in 2014, investors should be prepared to jump ahead of the fray or be caught unaware. As prices continue to rebound, investors who have been sitting on the sidelines waiting to see how far the market will drop before jumping in should note that the time to take action could be now. While distressed properties may still remain on the market, they will likely become increasingly fewer. Foreign investment in commercial real estate is already on the rise in the United States, as foreign investors recognize the significant potential that remains untapped in the U.S. market. This is particularly true as a number of countries around the world face record inflation. While countries such as Russia, Japan, and China have traditionally had an interest in commercial real estate investments in the U.S., even the Israelis are now increasingly looking toward the U.S., with Israel becoming the third-largest foreign investor in American commercial real estate in 2013. With foreign investment in U.S. commercial real estate on the rise and prices poised to continue increasing throughout the remainder of the year, the United States could be in position to soon overtake Tokyo. Investors would do well to sit up and pay attention today.

Jim Rickards 9/11 was the most blatant case of Insider trading Ive ever seen, thats from a top legal economist Pentagon CIA advisor.

James G. Rickards is an American lawyer, economist, and investment banker with 35 years of experience working in capital markets on Wall Street. He is a writer and is a regular commentator on finance. Rickards has been advising clients, including the Pentagon and the CIA, of an impending financial collapse, of a decline in the dollar, and a sharp rise in the price of gold for years. Rickards is the author of The New York Times bestseller Currency Wars, published in 2011.

Marine Le Pen: EU will collapse like the Soviet Union

 

 Marine Le Pen "The interests of France lay in a deepening relationship with Russia and taking back Frances sovereignty"  She can lead France out of the EU zone.  She has the sovereign people of France behind her to take back the reins of their sovereignty , re-establish their national identities and usher in their own foreign policies that benefit their own countries and not the EU.

Let's not forget that the lofty purposes the EU originally set for itself included: to give Europeans the convenience of one currency, to enhance mutual prosperity, and to reduce political tensions after centuries of animosity and war. However the inconvenience of not being able to print your own money or set your own interest rates across massively disparate economies would seem to have been overlooked. Hence negating the second two ideals or even making the situation worse, due to the inertia, bureaucracy and cost of such a monstrous dystopian failure.

 

Nationalism is the future, even the left know this hence their hysteria at the mere mention of European countries regaining their sovereignty.

 

 

 

QE And Ultra-Low Interest rates don’t fight deflation – they CAUSE Deflation

Sure, Japan is the template for the West and prime example, 25 years of printing yen with Zero rate bank rates. The RE market is still 80% below it's 1990 peak and struggling to tread water along with the Nikkei stock market which is around 70% down from its heady 1990  >40,000 peak. Low bank rates + QE leads to deflation

“I Died Defending Junk Economics and Market Fundamentalism”

JIM WILLIE BOMBSHELL: CHINA & RUSSIA HAVE ACCUMULATED OVER 40,000 TONS OF GOLD RESERVES FOR USD REPLACEMENT!

Jim Willie Interview providing some of his BOLDEST & MOST SHOCKING Information

• Willie dissects the Holy Grail Gazprom gas deal, which he states is an OPEN DOOR for the dumping of Treasury bonds in exchange for energy
• Russia Liquidating T-bonds through Euroclear in Belgium to acquire gold
• Big Surprise Coming for London Boys: Frankfurt to Become Financial Hub For All of Europe & Asia- Willie reveals insider details
• Large sovereigns (Russia, China, India, Saudi Arabia) now working together to source massive gold reserves for gold-backed USD replacement
• China & Russia Have Accumulated Over 40,000 Tons of Gold Reserves for USD Replacement!!

Rigging the price of Gold interview with Lars and Bill

A fascinating interview with Lars and Bill discuss gold price suppression and the flawed policies of the world’s central banks.

Bill’s understanding of the gold market is second to none, so if you have an interest in the yellow metal, you’ll want to watch this...

What If China Has a Fukushima?

What If China Has a Fukushima?

China has never suffered a Three Mile Island-like nuclear power plant accident, much less a Chernobyl meltdown or a Fukushima disaster.

But now that the government under Premier Li Keqiang has put the country on a fast-track for nuclear power development, with dozens of new reactors scheduled to launch by 2020, the insurance industry is focusing attention on the difficult question “what if?”

China’s insurers have been taking a cue from the National People’s Congress, the nation’s top legislature. A special panel under the NPC’s Environmental and Resources Protection Committee was recently ordered to draft a nuclear safety law, the nation’s first, with a built-in framework for power plant accident compensation.

NPC Standing Committee Vice Chairman Shen Yueyue said in February the law has reached the legislative agenda.

Zuo Huiqiang, general manager of the Chinese Nuclear Insurance Pool, expects the law to be enacted within two years. The 15-year-old CNIP is a collaborative effort of 25 Chinese insurance companies including China Reinsurance Group, Peoples Insurance Company of China and Ping An Insurance Co.

“During the early period for nuclear power development,” Zuo said, “coming up with plans for what to do if something goes wrong is the responsible thing to do.”

Certainly, there’s plenty of work to be done in the insurance arena to make sure China’s has a compensation response plan in place before an accident occurs. For example, liability caps for China’s nuclear accident insurance policies are now the lowest in the world.

Under a 2007 State Council directive spelling out nuclear accident compensation plans, any of China’s 19 nuclear power plant operators such as China Guangdong Nuclear Power Holding Co.(CGN), operator of the Daya Bay Nuclear complex in the southern province of Guangdong, and China National Nuclear Corp. (CNNC), which runs the Qinshan nuclear power plant in the eastern province of Zhejiang, must have insurance that covers financial losses and injuries up to 300 million yuan. If a legitimate compensation claim exceeds that maximum liability, the central government will provide up to 800 million yuan extra to cover the costs.

“Liabilities of 300 million yuan or less are to be assumed by nuclear operators, and the government is responsible for the next 800 million,” Zuo said. “Even though there’s no clear wording for anything over 1.1 billion yuan, the public nature of nuclear accidents almost definitely means that the government will bear the burden.”

Thus, the 2007 directive in effect is a form of government policy support for the nation’s nuclear plant operators. But because of the nation’s liability caps, the level of support is relatively modest compared to what’s in place in other countries that use the atom to generate electricity.

China’s limited liability insurance system stands in sharp contrast to the unlimited liability coverage that protects the public in Germany, Switzerland, Japan, Belgium, Russia and the United States.

All other countries with nuclear power around the world, including Britain and Spain, have a limited liability system like China’s.

The Chinese insurance pool’s direct underwriting capacity is a respectable US$ 898 million, behind only Japan, Britain and Switzerland. In terms of compensation caps, Belgium has the highest at US$ 1.5 billion, followed by Japan and Switzerland at US$ 1.2 billion each.

In China, a lot more money would be needed to cover damage in the event of a major catastrophe.

“If there’s ever a problem, this liability limit will certainly be too low,” said Liu Yubo, CNIP’s deputy general manager....

*** caixin / link