Gold Prices Jump since Start of Israel-Gaza War – BBC News

Oct 31, 2023 | The World Bank has been warning of increased risks of price rises of oil but also gold if the Israel-Gaza war escalates. Long seen as a safe haven investment in times of upheaval, the price of the precious metal has risen by about 8% since the start of the conflict in the Middle East. According to a new report from the World Gold Council it is also being bought up by central banks like never before.

Daniel Lacalle: Gold Is Money. Fiat Is Credit

Apr 24, 2023

Mali - Dubai: Die Wege des schmutzigen Goldes | ARTE Reportage

Der Goldbergbau in der Sahelzone entzieht sich zunehmend der staatlichen Kontrolle, immer mehr Goldgräber schürfen in kleinen Minen auf eigene Rechnung. Bewaffnete Gruppen finanzieren sich durch den illegalen Bergbau und den Schmuggel, darunter auch islamistische Terrorgruppen.

Mali etablierte sich so allmählich als Zentrum des Goldhandels der Sahelländer, und das Emirat Dubai wurde in den letzten fünf Jahren zum wichtigsten Aufkäufer der Goldproduktion auf dem afrikanischen Kontinent. Experten werfen den Vereinigten Arabischen Emirate vor, sie förderten indirekt den illegalen Handel mit dem Gold, weil sie nicht darauf achteten, woher die Goldbarren kämen. Institutionen wie die OECD fordern deshalb weitaus strengere Regulierungen. Unsere Reportage berichtet über die neuen globalen Wege des schmutzigen Goldes.

Gold - Dokumentation von NZZ Format (1994)

Dec 6, 2016 • Bis heute wurden etwa 100 000 Tonnen Gold gewonnen, was einem Würfel mit einer Kantenlänge von 17 Metern entspricht. NZZ Format zeigt, wie in Südafrika 3500 Meter unter Tag Gold gewonnen wird.

In einer italienischen Fabrik bei Arezzo werden jährlich 80 Tonnen Gold zu Schmuck verarbeitet. Goldraffinierung, Goldtransport und Goldhandel: Schweizer gehören zur Spitze.

In "Swiss made"»: Alte Goldwaschmethoden im Napfgebiet.

BBC: A History of Art in Three Colours Episode 1: Gold

Switzerland Says “No” to Immigration Limit

Read the short Euronews article here

Sanctions Dodge: India to Pay Gold for Iran Oil, China May Follow

Col Muammar Gaddafi 'Sold 20 Per Cent of Libya's Gold' in Regime's Final Days
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Former Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi sold more than 20 per cent of Libya's gold reserves, worth more than $1 billion, in the final days of his regime, the country's central bank governor said on Thursday.

Qassem Azzoz said 1.7 billion dinars worth of gold, or around 29 tonnes, were sold to local merchants as the regime ran short of cash.

"The gold was liquidated in order to pay salaries and to have liquidity, in Tripoli in particular," Azzoz said.

According to central bank officials the gold likely made its way out of the country to neighbouring Tunisia and beyond.

Azzoz added that the bank's total assets now stand at around $115 billion, of which $90 billion is abroad.

Meanwhile, Gaddafi's loyalists fired at least 10 rockets from inside one of his last strongholds on Thursday, hours after a TV station aired an audio message believed to be from the ousted Libyan leader urging his fighters on. Read on and comment » | Thursday, September 08, 2011

Gold Surges

Stupid People!

Gold Bulls Claim Price Could Double to $3,000 in Five Years
THE TELEGRAPH: Fears that American, British and other governments intend to inflate their way off the rocks of excessive debt prompted record inflows into gold this week.



Now some fund managers claim the price could more than double to $3,000 (£2,080) per ounce within five years.

Heavily indebted governments throughout the developed world are struggling to fill deficits of black-hole dimensions in public finances by imposing spending cuts and tax rises. Both are expected in Britain's emergency Budget on June 22 and neither will be popular.

But keeping interest rates lower than inflation and letting the currency take the strain is another way to reduce the real value of debt. You can see why politicians may feel that is the ''least worst'' option.

Stealthily robbing savers by eroding the purchasing power of money is less likely to cause riots in the streets than spending cuts, because inflation tends to hit older people hardest while unemployment hits the young.

Governments can devalue their own currencies, but it is harder for them to make more gold. That fact helped prompt record inflows of $484m (£336m) into gold exchange-traded commodities this week, while gold trading volumes peaked at $2.1bn (£1.45bn). Read on and comment >>> Ian Cowie | Thursday, May 20, 2010

Max Keiser Takes Offense To Goldman Sachs Story
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Max Keiser >>>

Rekordhoch am Goldmarkt: Misstrauensvotum gegen den Dollar
ZEIT ONLINE: Der Goldpreis bricht Rekord um Rekord. Schwellenländer stocken aus Angst vor einem Dollarverfall ihre Goldreserven auf – und treiben so die Nachfrage. Von Stefan Frank

Ein Juwelier in New York wirbt um Kunden, die Gold und Diamanten verkaufen. Der Goldpreis erreichte am Montag ein neues Rekordhoch. Bild: Zeit Online
Am Montag brach der Goldpreis einen neuen Rekord: Auf mehr als 1.130 US-Dollar kletterte der Preis für eine Feinunze. Das sind hundert Dollar mehr als noch vor zwei Wochen. Innerhalb eines Jahres hat sich das Edelmetall sogar um rund 400 Dollar – oder 50 Prozent – verteuert. Begonnen hat der jüngste Anstieg im September, als der Preis zum ersten Mal seit Anfang 2008 die psychologisch wichtige 1000-Dollar-Marke überspringen konnte.

Vor zwei Wochen beschleunigte sich die Entwicklung. Da wurde bekannt, dass sich der Internationale Währungsfonds (IWF) von der Hälfte seiner Goldreserven trennt – das sind 200 Tonnen. Diese Nachricht hätte den Goldmarkt eigentlich belasten müssen. Doch der IWF wirft das Gold nicht auf den Markt, sondern verkauft es an die indische Notenbank, die damit in die Gruppe der zehn Zentralbanken mit den größten Goldreserven aufsteigt. Offenbar sind die Schwellenländer selbst bei den derzeit hohen Preisen bereit, ihren Dollarreserven einen größeren Anteil Gold beizumischen.

Das ist ein Misstrauensvotum gegen Amerikas Währung. Der Wert des Dollars wird immer fragwürdiger, weil die USA immer mehr Geld drucken müssen, um ihr Budgetdefizit in Höhe von geschätzten zwei Billionen Dollar zu finanzieren. Gold hingegen kann von Regierungen oder Notenbanken nicht aus dem Nichts geschaffen werden. Seine Menge wächst nur sehr langsam. Obwohl sich der Goldpreis seit Beginn des Jahrzehnts vervierfacht hat, sind die Minenbetreiber nicht in der Lage, die Fördermenge zu erhöhen. >>> Von Stefan Frank |, Zeit Online | Dienstag, 17. November 2009

Gold gefragt wie noch nie: Preis pro Feinunze klettert auf Rekordhoch
NZZ ONLINE: Für die Feinunze Gold wird derzeit ein Preis von exakt 1036.40 Dollar bezahlt. Dieser neue Höchstwert überbietet den bisherigen Rekordpreis um 5.60 Dollar aus vom März vergangenen Jahres.

Der Goldpreis ist auf einen neuen Rekordstand geklettert. Die Dollarschwäche trieb den Preis für eine Feinunze (etwa 31 Gramm) in der Spitze auf 1036.40 Dollar. Damit wurde die alte Rekordmarke vom März 2008 bei 1030.80 Dollar übertroffen. >>> sda/dpa | Dienstag, 06. Oktober 2009

Dollar Tumbles on Report of Its Demise
THE INDEPENDENT: Gold price at record high as Independent story sends global markets into a frenzy

The price of gold is surging on world markets amid fears that the old economic order based on the supremacy of the US dollar could be breaking down.

A new spike has sent the cost of the precious metal to a level not seen before. The dollar slid sharply after yesterday's report in The Independent that Gulf Arab states are secretly planning to stop trading oil in dollars, and a senior UN official said that the US should be stripped of its position as the main source of currency reserves for other countries.

The developments come on top of speculation that the Obama administration is operating a policy of benign neglect of the dollar, engineering a devaluation that could help repair some of the economic damage caused by the recession.

Not since the collapse of the Bretton Woods system in 1971 has gold been treated as the equivalent of a world currency, but The Independent reported that it could form part of a basket of currencies that would be used for oil trading by the end of the next decade.

Aram Shishmanian, the chief executive of World Gold Council, said: "The financial and economic instability of the past 18 months has brought gold's historical role into sharp focus and has continued to increase its prominence among policy advisers, central banks, and investors around the world.

Across the world, investors have been reaching for gold as an alternative to the dollar and to other US assets, fearing that the American currency is headed inexorably lower.

The dollar index – which measures the greenback against other currencies – fell 0.7 per cent yesterday and the dollar was lower against all major currencies except the British pound. >>> Stephen Foley in New York | Wednesday, October 07, 2009

Robert Fisk: A Financial Revolution with Profound Political Implications
THE INDEPENDENT: Such large financial movements will have major political effects in the Middle East

The plan to de-dollarise the oil market, discussed both in public and in secret for at least two years and widely denied yesterday by the usual suspects – Saudi Arabia being, as expected, the first among them – reflects a growing resentment in the Middle East, Europe and in China at America's decades-long political as well as economic world dominance.

Nowhere has this more symbolic importance than in the Middle East, where the United Arab Emirates alone holds $900bn (£566bn) of dollar reserves and where Saudi Arabia has been quietly co-ordinating its defence, armaments and oil policies with the Russians since 2007.

This does not indicate a trade war with America – not yet – but Arab Gulf regimes have been growing increasingly restive at their economic as well as political dependence on Washington for many years. Of the $7.2 trillion in international reserves, $2.1trn is held by Arab countries – China holds about $2.3trn – and the nations interested in moving away from dollar-trading in oil are believed to hold over 80 per cent of international dollar reserves.

Saudi Arabia's denials of any such ambitions were regarded by Arab bankers as a normal part of Gulf politics. The Saudis, of course, managed to deny that Iraq had invaded Kuwait in 1990 – even when Saddam Hussein's legions stood along the Saudi frontier, until the US broadcast the news of Iraq's aggression to the world. >>> Robert Fisk | Wednesday, October 07, 2009

Gold Hits Record against Euro on Fear of Zimbabwean-style Response to Bank Crisis
THE TELEGRAPH: Gold has surged to an all-time high against the euro, sterling, and a string of Asian currencies on mounting concerns that global authorities are embarking on a "Zimbabwe-style" debasement of the international monetary system.

"This gold rally is driven by safe-haven fears and has a very different feel from the bull market we've had for the last eight years," said John Reade, chief metals strategist at UBS. "Investors are seeing articles in the press saying governments should deliberately stoke inflation, and they are reacting to it."

Gold jumped to multiple records on Tuesday, triggered by fears that East Europe's banking crisis could set off debt defaults and lead to contagion within the eurozone. It touched €762 an ounce against the euro, £675 against sterling, and 47,783 against India's rupee.

Jewellery demand – usually the mainstay of the industry – has almost entirely dried up and the price is now being driven by investors. They range from the billionaires stashing boxes of krugerrands under the floors of their Swiss chalets (as an emergency fund for total disorder) to the small savers buying the exchange traded funds (ETFs). SPDR Gold Trust has added 200 metric tonnes in the last six weeks. ETF Securities added 62,000 ounces last week alone.

In dollar terms, gold is at a seven-month high of $964. This is below last spring's peak of $1,030 but the circumstances today are radically different. The dollar itself has become a safe haven as the crisis goes from bad to worse – if only because it is the currency of a unified and powerful nation with institutions that have been tested over time. It is not yet clear how well the eurozone's 16-strong bloc of disparate states will respond to extreme stress. The euro dived two cents to $1.26 against the dollar, threatening to break below a 24-year upward trend line.

Crucially, gold has decoupled from oil and base metals, finding once again its ancient role as a store of wealth in dangerous times. >>> By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard | Wednesday, February 18, 2009

SKY NEWS: Bank To 'Print Money' To Tackle Recession

The Bank of England could begin 'printing money' next month in a bid to tackle the recession.

Minutes of the Bank's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) showed members were in agreement that more radical measures were needed to ward off deflation.

The committee voted 8-1 in favour of the half point rate reduction of the interest rate to an historic low of 1%.

The Bank of England does not actually print money when it moves to increase the amount of cash in the economy.

Instead it engages in a process known as quantitative easing, whereby it creates money to buy up Government securities - gilts - and private sector assets. >>> | Wednesday, February 18, 2009

THE NEW YORK TIMES: Fed Offers Bleak Economic Outlook

The Federal Reserve cut its economic outlook for 2009 on Wednesday and warned that the United States economy would face an “unusually gradual and prolonged” period of recovery as the country struggles to climb out of a deep global downturn.

In gloomy economic projections released by the central bank, the Fed’s Open Market Committee said it expected that the economy would contract by 0.5 percent to 1.3 percent this year, that unemployment would rise to 8.5 to 8.8 percent and that inflation would remain under greater pressure.

Bleak economic data reflecting a sharpening slide in housing, trade, industrial production, spending and employment rates “more than offset” any potential impact from an economic stimulus plan, the Fed said, forcing it to cut its economic outlook. >>> By Jack Healy | Wednesday, February 18, 2009

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback & Hardback) – Free delivery >>>

America: From Freedom to Fascism*

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*Viewpoints expressed in these videos are the viewpoints of the the maker of the videos and the people interviewed therein.

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback – USA)
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