Yearly Archives: 2013

A Shuffle of Aluminum, but to Banks, Pure Gold

"The story of how this works begins in 27 industrial warehouses in the Detroit area where a Goldman subsidiary stores customers’ aluminum. Each day, a fleet of trucks shuffles 1,500-pound bars of the metal among the warehouses. Two or three times a day, sometimes more, the drivers make the same circuits. They load in one warehouse. They unload in another. And then they do it again. This industrial dance has been choreographed by Goldman to exploit pricing regulations set up by an overseas commodities exchange. The back-and-forth lengthens the storage time. And that adds many millions a year to the coffers of Goldman." Continue reading →

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The Gold Lease Story You Haven’t Heard

"A recent article in the Financial Times described a shortage of so-called 'leased' gold. According to the Times, the cost of borrowing gold 'has risen to the highest since the post-Lehman Bros. scramble for supplies as bullion markets adjust to a new era in which Western investor demand is less dominant.' The numbers are small, but the trends are intriguing. The one-month gold leasing rate rose from 0.12% in early June to 0.3% in early July. That’s a 150% rate rise in one month! It’s the highest gold lease rate since 2009, although still well below the peaks of previous eras." Continue reading →

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80% dip in India gold imports linked to rampant smuggling

"Customs officials recently apprehended a gold consignment at Delhi's IGI Airport coming from Dubai where the smuggler had converted gold bars into staple pins with silver coating. These pins were stapled on the boxes of TVs he was legally importing. In another case, DRI officials apprehended a consignment where capacitors of picture tubes of TV sets were made of gold. 'Unless you have specific information you can't catch such consignments. Who would break open a TV and look at the capacitor of its picture tube for smuggled gold. Though we have had good success, we believe a lot of consignments are finding their way into the country,' said the officer." Continue reading →

Continue Reading80% dip in India gold imports linked to rampant smuggling

India witnesses spurt in Gold smuggling

"Customs officials foiled the attempt by a passenger hailing from Koyilandy to smuggle 3.99 kg of gold concealed in his baggage. The gold, in the form of gold bars, was hidden in a metal box in the rear side of a TV. The gold bars were detected during the X-ray scan. Assistant commissioner Rohit Kumar led the search and seizure operation. Meanwhile, some of the airports have upgraded the scanners and x-ray machines to detect gold smuggling which has risen following the increase in import duty to 8% and differential in gold prices in India and abroad, market analysts said." Continue reading →

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Central bank further restricts gold imports in India

"In a late evening development, the Reserve Bank of India has once again tightened gold imports in the country mandating that 20%, or one fifth, of every lot of imported gold has to be used for the purpose of export. Exporters will henceforth be required to retain 20% of the imported quantity in the customs bonded warehouses, and would be permitted to undertake fresh imports of gold only after the exports have taken place to the extent of at least 75% of the gold remaining in the customs bonded warehouse. Any import of gold into the country would henceforth have to follow the 20/80 principle set out by the apex bank." Continue reading →

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India Department of Post to stop gold coin sales

"Following the Centre's decision to halt the import of gold coins and bars in the country, the department of post will stop their sales from its counters from August 1. So, if you want to buy 24-carat gold coins with India Post logo, better hurry up. Otherwise, you will miss the last chance - for the time being - to buy them. The department has so far been selling gold coins from 0.5gm to 50 gm in weight. India Post had entered into a tie-up with a private sector company to sell gold Suisse which were certified by the Switzerland-based International Gold Council. The government has asked India post, banks and other financial institutions to stop the supply of gold." Continue reading →

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John Paulson: Rationale for owning gold is valid

"CNBC's Carl Quintanilla speaks to John Paulson, founder and president of Paulson & Co., about his firm's investments, and his level of concern about the Fed's monetary policy. 'Although the Fed has printed a lot of money, to date there is little inflation,' he says in discussing the gold market." Continue reading →

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Television set injuries on the rise in the U.S.

"Television sets injure one child every 30 minutes in America, and the rate of emergency room visits is increasing with the popularity of flat-screen TVs, according to a new study. Just over half (52 percent) of all TV injuries for those under 18 from 1990 to 2011 were due to the equipment falling and hitting the patient, said the study in the journal Pediatrics. The number of falling TV injuries was 5,455 in 1990, but that more than doubled to 12,300 in 2011, the study said. The number of US households with multiple TVs has more than doubled since 1990. Previous research has found that 215 children died from a falling TV injury from 2000 to 2011." Continue reading →

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Britain considers banning Internet pornography over ‘corroding’ influence on children

"Every household in Britain connected to the internet will be obliged to declare whether they want to maintain access to online pornography, David Cameron will announce on Monday. In the most dramatic step by the government to crack down on the 'corroding' influence of pornography on childhood, the prime minister will say that all internet users will be contacted by their service providers and given an 'unavoidable choice' on whether to use filters. The changes will be introduced by the end of next year. All police forces will work with a single secure database of illegal images of children to help 'close the net on paedophiles'." Continue reading →

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