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Gold’s London AM fix this morning was USD
1,658.00, EUR 1,255.02, and GBP 1,047.91 per ounce.
Friday's AM fix was USD 1,651.00, EUR 1,246.04 and GBP
1,040.85 per ounce.
Gold rose 1.23% in New York on Friday and closed at
$1,666.22/oz. Gold rose sharply at the open in Asia before determined selling
at the $1,670/oz level saw gold fall. Weakness continued
at the open in Europe which has gold now trading at $ 1,657.80/oz.
 
Cross Currency Table – (Bloomberg)
Gold prices pushed higher in Asia at the open Monday as
the dollar fell near a 2 week low, which supported bullion’s safe haven
appeal.
Bullion futures saw their greatest advance in 4 weeks
on March 23 with many investors believing that gold demand will continue as
an alternative to the weak dollar. Market participants will watch the pending
US Home Sales for February today.
This morning German business sentiment surprised
markets as it rose for the 5th month in a row in March, showing that Europe's
largest economy continues to outpace other euro zone members struggling with
the sovereign debt crisis.
The Munich-based IFO think tank said on Monday its
business climate index, based on a monthly survey of some 7,000 companies,
rose to 109.8 in March from a revised 109.7 in February. Although German
manufacturing contracted this year, the closely-watched IFO index blew away
expectations for a steady reading and climbed to its highest level since July
2011.
1 Kilo Tungsten Filled Gold Bar Found in UK
What appears to be a tungsten filled gold bar has been
found – this time in the UK. It is believed that a scrap dealer bought
the Metalor 1 kilo gold bar of 99.98% purity from a
member of the public.
Tungsten Filled Gold Bar
Metalor are a leading international
gold refiner and bar manufacturer, headquartered in Zurich. The bar appears
to have been tampered with and may have had holes drilled into it or melted
out and then had tungsten rods inserted or tungsten poured into the holes.
Tungsten is a metal with a similar density to gold but
which bullion dealers and experts in physical bullion can easily identify.
It follows an incident of a tungsten filled gold bar (500 gram)
originating from an unnamed bank being found by Heraeus
in Germany two years ago and there have been rumours
of tungsten filled gold bars in Asia, China and in Vietnam.
There was also an unverified report in 2009 that the
Chinese received a fake shipment of gold that, in fact, was tungsten. The
bars have led to much speculation regarding the possibility that some of the
gold bars making up central bank gold reserves may not be investment grade
gold bullion.
Presidential candidate, Ron Paul has raised the
question as to whether the gold bars in Fort Knox are authentic and even
asked whether some of the US gold reserves have been secretly sold off and
asked questions regarding the authenticity of the US gold reserves gold bars.
In the UK, there have been doubts about the quality of
Britain's paltry remaining gold stock as some of the gold bars
are reportedly cracked, have fissures and are ‘beginning to
crumble’. The Bank of England have denied
suggestions that the gold may have been ‘adulterated’, and
insisted that most of the hoard is in ‘mint condition’.
Some have simplistically suggested that this
latest discovery is bearish for the gold market as uncertainty will put off
prospective investors and buyers. We believe this is incorrect and that the
discovery is in fact bullish for the market.
If there are many fake or forged gold bars in the
bullion market then there is even less supply of physical bullion then had
hither to been assumed.
Also, it is important to remember that tungsten filled
gold bars still have value as tungsten is a rare and expensive metal. Many of
MF Global’s clients who lost their entire
gold investment (every cent) would wish that they had owned gold bars –
even if some or all of them had been adulterated with tungsten.
Uncertainty regarding the provenance of gold bars will
lead to gold buyers becoming more diligent in their purchases. It will add to
the existing trend of moving away from ETFs and other large institutional
vehicles where audit and authenticity of gold bars is an issue – not to
mention significant counter party risk.
Australian 1 oz Nugget from
Perth Mint
It will likely lead to further demand for bullion coins
and gold sovereigns as 1 ounce formats (and 0.2354 ounce coins) are
uneconomical and nearly impossible to forge and forgeries are very easily
detected. It will also lead to further demand for storage of small coins and
bars in allocated accounts in specialist depositories.
The incident shows the importance of dealing with
reputable and trusted experts in physical bullion coins and bars and with
dealing with counter parties who take these issues seriously.
For breaking news and commentary on financial markets
and gold, follow us on Twitter.
OTHER NEWS
(Bloomberg) -- Economist Gartman
Says He’s Buying More Gold Priced in Yen
Economist Dennis Gartman said
he’s buying more gold priced in yen after selling some of his position
last week. He commented today in his daily Gartman
Letter.
(Bloomberg) -- Gold Traders Trim Bets on Price Rise,
CFTC Data Shows
Hedge-fund managers and other large speculators
decreased their net-long position in New York gold futures in the week ended
March 20, according to U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission data.
Speculative long positions, or bets prices will rise, outnumbered short positions by 131,463 contracts on
the Comex division of the New York Mercantile
Exchange, the Washington-based commission said in its Commitments of Traders
report. Net-long positions fell by 19,443 contracts, or 13 percent, from a
week earlier.
Gold futures rose this week, gaining 0.4 percent to
$1,662.40 a troy ounce at today's close.
Miners, producers, jewelers and other commercial users
were net-short 166,138 contracts, down 25,550 contracts, or 13 percent, from
the previous week.
Each Friday the CFTC publishes aggregate numbers for
long and short positions for speculators such as hedge funds and
institutional investors, as well as commercial companies that buy or sell
futures to protect against price moves. Analysts and investors follow changes
in speculators' positions because such transactions can reflect an
expectation of a change in prices.
(Bloomberg) -- Silver Traders Trim Bets on Price Rise,
CFTC Data Shows
Hedge-fund managers and other large speculators
decreased their net-long position in New York silver futures in the week
ended March 20, according to U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission data.
Speculative long positions, or bets prices will rise, outnumbered short positions by 21,169 contracts on
the Comex division of the New York Mercantile
Exchange, the Washington-based commission said in its Commitments of Traders
report. Net-long positions fell by 647 contracts, or 3 percent, from a week
earlier.
Silver futures fell this week,
dropping 1.0 percent to $32.27 a troy ounce at today's close.
Miners, producers, jewelers and other commercial users
were net-short 32,126 contracts, down 3,505 contracts, or 10 percent, from
the previous week.
Each Friday the CFTC publishes aggregate numbers for
long and short positions for speculators such as hedge funds and
institutional investors, as well as commercial companies that buy or sell
futures to protect against price moves. Analysts and investors follow changes
in speculators' positions because such transactions can reflect an
expectation of a change in prices.
(PTI) -- 300-year-old gold coins found in Sandur
Over 200 ancient gold coins, believed to be 300-years
old, were today unearthed during a drainage work near a house at nearby Sandur.
A total of 213 antique gold coins, depicting the images
of Lord Shiva, his consort Parvati and the Moon, were found by the house owner while taking up
drainage work on his land, police said.
The gold coins also bear a brief description in Devanagiri script.
The coins were seized after the house owner informed
the police, they said.
Archaeological officials from Hampi
are expected to reach Sandur to conduct numismatic
studies, police said.
(Bloomberg) -- Jewelers in India to Protest in Delhi
Over Higher Gold Taxes
Jewelers in India, the world’s biggest gold
buyer, will hold a rally in New Delhi today to protest against higher taxes
as a shutdown extends into a tenth day, an industry group said.
About 80,000 people are expected to gather to demand a
withdrawal of a 1 percent excise duty on non-branded jewelry, said Bachhraj Bamalwa, chairman of
the All India Gems & Jewellery Trade Federation
in a phone interview. About 75 percent of the nation’s jewelers will
keep stores closed today and some are seeking an indefinite strike, he said.
It’s the longest shutdown by the industry, he said.
“We are losing a lot of money every day,” Bamalwa said. “There’s pracitcally
no demand from India for gold,” he said.
(Bloomberg) -- TD Securities Cuts 2012 Gold Forecast to
$1,765 An Ounce
Gold prices will average $1,765 an ounce this year,
down from an earlier forecast of $1,925, Bart Melek,
the head of commodity strategy at TD Securities in Toronto, said in a report
today. The bank also cut its forecasts for silver, platinum, palladium,
copper, nickel, zinc, lead and aluminum.
NEWS
Reuters
Gold hits one-week high; dollar, oil eyed
Bloomberg
Spot Gold, Futures Advance After Weekly Gain; Silver
Climbs
MarketWatch
Gold up nearly $20 to finish higher for the week
The Financial Times
Spain ‘causing concern,’ Monti warns
COMMENTARY
The Financial Times
Spain Welcome back to the crisis
Zero Hedge
"Fiscally Credible" UK And Its Upcoming
100 Year Gilts
Zero Hedge
Tungsten-Filled 1 Kilo Gold Bar Found In The UK
The NY Times
The Age of the Shadow Bank Run
Max Keiser
“Everyone should own a little Silver.”
Is this even possible given today’s tight supplies?
The Big Picture
Big Banks Continue to Suck at the Government Teat
With Never-Ending Stealth Bailouts
Mark
O’Byrne
Goldcore
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