Here are the following closes for gold and silver today:
Gold: $1188.10 up $2.50 (comex closing time)
Silver $16.65 up 2 cents (comex closing time)
In the access market 5:15 pm
Gold $1188.50
Silver: $16.70
Gold/Silver trading: see kitco charts on the right side of the commentary
Following is a brief outline on gold and silver comex figures for today:
At the gold comex today, we had a poor delivery day, registering 10 notices serviced for 1000 oz. Silver comex filed with 51 notices for 255,000 oz plus an additional 20 contacts for 100,000 oz. Total for the day 71 notices for 355,000 oz
Several months ago the comex had 303 tonnes of total gold. Today, the total inventory rests at 244.87 tonnes for a loss of 58 tonnes over that period.
In silver, the open interest rose by 2990 contracts as Wednesday’s silver price was down by 10 cents. The total silver OI continues to remain extremely high with today’s reading at 176,619 contracts maintaining itself near multi-year highs despite a record low price. This dichotomy has been happening now for quite a while and defies logic. There is no doubt that the silver situation is scaring our bankers to no end.
In silver we had 71 notices served upon for 355,000 oz.
In gold, the total comex gold OI rests tonight at 409,339 for a loss of 2,622 contracts as gold was down $1.30 yesterday. We had 10 notices served upon for 1000 oz. Whenever we approach first day notice, the entire open interest for the gold or silver complex collapses.
Today, we had no changes in inventory at the GLD, thus the inventory rests tonight at 715.86 tonnes. The appetite for gold coming from China is depleting not only gold from the LBMA and GLD but also the comex is bleeding gold.
In silver, /we had a small deposit of 143,000 oz of silver inventory at the SLV/Inventory rests at 317.070 million oz
We have a few important stories to bring to your attention today…
1. Today we had the open interest in silver rise by 2990 contracts despite the fact that silver was down in price by 10 cents yesterday. The OI for gold fell by 2922 contracts down to 409,339 contracts as the price of gold was down by $1.30 yesterday. We continually witness open interest contraction once first day notice approaches on an active precious metals contract. In gold we have 1 day left before first day notice and surprisingly we have over 30,000 contracts remaining as open interest. By tomorrow we should have 12,000 contracts or greater than 1.2 million oz (37.32 tonnes of gold) standing for delivery on first day notice for the June contract month. There is only 11.5 tonnes of gold in the registered or dealer category for sale at the comex.
(report Harvey)
2,Today we had 3 major commentaries on Greece
(zero hedge/Deutsche bank )
3. Austria confirms that it will repatriated 140 tonnes of gold over the next 5 years from the Bank of England. They have also confirmed lack of confidence in the B. of E. We wish them luck in retrieving their gold.
(GATA)
4.Two major stories involving Russia today
i) the USA laid charges against international FIFA executives claiming corruption (mega bribes orchestrated through USA banks). The real reason for the charges: to remove its president and then the removal of the FIFA games from Moscow
ii) NATO just broke a long standing treaty not to put permanent forces into the Baltic. War nerves were just rattled.
(zero hedge/Sputnik news)
5.Oil initially falls on a rise in inventories at API as well as increase in production from Iraq
(zero hedge)
Then oil rises on bigger than expected inventory drawdowns
(oil hedge)
6. Two big uSA misses:
i) USA comfort confidence index falters
ii) initial jobless claims rise more than expected although below 300,000.
7. other important commentaries as well tonight…
Let us now head over to the comex and assess trading over there today.
Here are today’s comex results:
The total gold comex open interest fell by 2922 contracts from 411,961 down to 409,339 as gold was down by $1.30 yesterday (at the comex close). For at least the past 18 months, we have been witnessing a total contraction of open interest in an active precious metals month once we are about to enter first day notice. We are now closing the active delivery month of May as this month is off the board. The next big active delivery contract month is June and here the OI fell by 59,128, contracts down to 30,493 which is still extremely high for this time in the delivery cycle. June is the second biggest delivery month on the comex gold calendar. First day notice is tomorrow, May 29.2015 so we have 1 trading session left. The estimated volume today (which is just comex sales during regular business hours of 8:20 until 1:30 pm est) was poor at 111,823. The confirmed volume yesterday (which includes the volume during regular business hours + access market sales the previous day) was good at 363,521 contracts. Today we had 10 notices filed for 1000 oz.
And now for the wild silver comex results. Silver OI rose by 2990 contracts from 173,629 up to 176,619 as the price of silver was down in price by 10 cents, with respect to Wednesday’s trading. We have now closed the active contract month of May. The estimated volume today was poor at 21,846 contracts (just comex sales during regular business hours. The confirmed volume on yesterday (regular plus access market) came in at 38,943 contracts which is fair in volume. We had 71 notices filed for 255,000 oz today.
May final standings
May 28.2015
Gold
Ounces
Withdrawals from Dealers Inventory in oz
nil
Withdrawals from Customer Inventory in oz
327.23 oz (HSBC,JPM)
Deposits to the Dealer Inventory in oz
nil
Deposits to the Customer Inventory, in oz
31,919.840 oz HSBC,
No of oz served (contracts) today
10 contracts (1000 oz)
No of oz to be served (notices)
off the board
Total monthly oz gold served (contracts) so far this month
26 contracts(2600 oz)
Total accumulative withdrawals of gold from the Dealers inventory this month
164,151.8 oz
Total accumulative withdrawal of gold from the Customer inventory this month
53,483.4 oz
Today, we had 0 dealer transactions
total Dealer withdrawals: nil oz
we had 0 dealer deposit
total dealer deposit: nil oz
we had 2 customer withdrawals
i) Out of JPMorgan: 102.18 oz
ii) Out of HSBC: 225.05 oz (7 kilobars)
total customer withdrawal: 327.23 oz
We had 1 customer deposits:
i) Into HSBC:31,919.840 oz
Total customer deposit: 31,919.840 oz
We had 1 adjustment:
i) Out of HSBC: 1977.007 oz was adjusted out of the dealer and this landed into the customer account of HSBC
Today, 0 notices was issued from JPMorgan dealer account and 0 notices were issued from their client or customer account. The total of all issuance by all participants equates to 10 contracts of which 0 notices were stopped (received) by JPMorgan dealer and 0 notices were stopped (received) by JPMorgan customer account
To calculate the total number of gold ounces standing for the May contract month, we take the total number of notices filed so far for the month (26) x 100 oz or 2600 oz , to which we add the difference between the open interest for the front month of May (10) and the number of notice served upon today (10) x 100 oz equals the number of ounces standing.
Thus the final standings for gold for the May contract month:
No of notices served so far (26) x 100 oz or ounces + {OI for the front month (10) – the number of notices served upon today (10) x 100 oz which equals 2600 oz standing so far in this month of May (.0805 tonnes of gold)
Total dealer inventory: 370.653.985 or 11.528 tonnes
Total gold inventory (dealer and customer) = 7,872,807.770 (244.87) tonnes)
Several months ago the comex had 303 tonnes of total gold. Today the total inventory rests at 244.87 tonnes for a loss of 58 tonnes over that period.
end
And now for silver
May silver final standings
May 28 2015:
Silver
Ounces
Withdrawals from Dealers Inventory
nil
Withdrawals from Customer Inventory
27,783.100 oz (Brinks)
Deposits to the Dealer Inventory
nil
Deposits to the Customer Inventory
nil
No of oz served (contracts)
71 contracts (355,000 oz)
No of oz to be served (notices)
off the board
Total monthly oz silver served (contracts)
2830 contracts (14,200,000 oz)
Total accumulative withdrawal of silver from the Dealers inventory this month
126,359.680 oz
Total accumulative withdrawal of silver from the Customer inventory this month
4,011,807.9 oz
Today, we had 0 deposits into the dealer account:
total dealer deposit: nil oz
we had 0 dealer withdrawal:
total dealer withdrawal: nil oz
We had 0 customer deposits:
total customer deposit: nil oz
We had 1 customer withdrawal:
i) Out of Brinks: 27,783.100 oz
total withdrawals from customer; 27,783.100 oz
we had 1 adjustment
i) Out of CNT:
we had one adjustment whereby 5,036.220 oz was adjusted out of the customer of CNT into the dealer account of CNT
Total dealer inventory: 60.859 million oz
Total of all silver inventory (dealer and customer) 178.715 million oz
The total number of notices filed today is represented by 71 contracts for 355,000 oz. To calculate the number of silver ounces that will stand for delivery in May, we take the total number of notices filed for the month so far at (2830) x 5,000 oz = 14,200,000 oz to which we add the difference between the open interest for the front month of May (71) and the number of notices served upon today (71) x 5000 oz equals the number of ounces standing.
Thus the final standings for silver for the May contract month:
2830 (notices served so far) + { OI for front month of May (71) -number of notices served upon today (71} x 5000 oz = 14,200,000 oz of silver standing for the May contract month.
for those wishing to see the rest of data today see:
http://www.harveyorgan.wordpress.com orhttp://www.harveyorganblog.com
end
The two ETF’s that I follow are the GLD and SLV. You must be very careful in trading these vehicles as these funds do not have any beneficial gold or silver behind them. They probably have only paper claims and when the dust settles, on a collapse, there will be countless class action lawsuits trying to recover your lost investment.
There is now evidence that the GLD and SLV are paper settling on the comex.
***I do not think that the GLD will head to zero as we still have some GLD shareholders who think that gold is the right vehicle to be in even though they do not understand the difference between paper gold and physical gold. I can visualize demand coming to the buyers side:
i) demand from paper gold shareholders
ii) demand from the bankers who then redeem for gold to send this gold onto China
vs no sellers of GLD paper.
And now the Gold inventory at the GLD:
May 28/ no changes in gold inventory at the GLD/Inventory rests at 715.86 tonnes
may 27: no changes in gold inventory at the GLD/Inventory rests at 715.86 tonnes
may 26.2015/we had a slight addition of .600 tonnes of gold to the GLD inventory/inventory rests at 715.86 tonnes
May 22.2015: no changes in gold inventory at the GLD/Inventory rests at 715.26 tonnes
May 21./no changes in gold inventory at the GLD/Inventory rests at 715.26 tonnes
May 20./we had another withdrawal of 2.98 tonnes of gold leaving the GLD. Inventory rests tonight at 715.26 tonnes
May 19/no changes in gold inventory at the GLD/Inventory at 718.24 tonnes
May 18/we lost another 5.67 tonnes of gold inventory at the GLD/Inventory rests at 718.24 tonnes
May 15./no change in gold inventory at the GLD/Inventory rests at 723.91 tonnes
May 14./ a huge withdrawal of 4.41 tonnes of gold/Inventory rests at 723.91 tonnes
May 13.2015: no change in inventory at the GLD/Inventory rests at 728.32 tonnes
May 12/no change in inventory at the GLD/inventory rests at 728.32 tonnes
May 11/ no changes at the GLD/Inventory rests at 728.32 tonnes
May 8/ they should call in the Serious Fraud squad as the owners of the GLD just saw 13.43 tonnes of gold leave its vaults heading for China:
Inventory : 728.32 tonnes
May 28 GLD : 715.86 tonnes.
end
And now for silver (SLV)
May 28/a small deposit of 143,000 oz of silver added to the SLV/Inventory rests at 317.070 million oz
May 27/we had another 1.003 million oz withdrawn from the SLV/Inventory rests tonight at 316.927 million oz
May 26.2015: no change in SLV /Inventory rests at 317.93 million oz
May 22.2015: no changes in SLV/Inventory rests at 317.93 million oz
May 21.no changes at the SLV/Inventory rests at 317.93 million oz
May 20/no changes at the SLV. Inventory rests at 317.93 million oz/
May 19.2015: we lost another 1.195 million oz of inventory at the SLV/Inventory rests at 317.93 million oz/
May 18.2015: we lost another 1.625 million oz of inventory at the SLV/Inventory rests tonight at 719.125 million oz
May 15./no change in silver inventory at the SLV/inventory rests tonight at 320.75 million oz
May 14/ a huge withdrawal of 1.912 million oz from the SLV/Inventory at 320.75 million oz.
May 13.2015: no changes at the SLV/Inventory rests at 322.662 million oz
May 28/2015 small addition in inventory/SLV inventory at 317.070 million oz/
end
And now for our premiums to NAV for the funds I follow:
Note: Sprott silver fund now for the first time into the negative to NAV
Sprott and Central Fund of Canada.
(both of these funds have 100% physical metal behind them and unencumbered and I can vouch for that)
1. Central Fund of Canada: traded at Negative 8.1% percent to NAV in usa funds and Negative 8.3% to NAV for Cdn funds!!!!!!!
Percentage of fund in gold 60.8%
Percentage of fund in silver:38.8%
cash .4%
( May 28/2015)
2. Sprott silver fund (PSLV): Premium to NAV rises to-0.25%!!!!! NAV (May 28/2015)
3. Sprott gold fund (PHYS): premium to NAV rises to -37% to NAV(May 28/2015
Note: Sprott silver trust back into negative territory at -0.25%.
Sprott physical gold trust is back into negative territory at -.37%
Central fund of Canada’s is still in jail.
This morning Sprott formally launches its offer for Central Trust gold and Silver Bullion trust:
SII.CN Sprott formally launches previously announced offers to Central GoldTrust (GTU.UT.CN) and Silver Bullion Trust (SBT.UT.CN) unitholders (C$2.64)
Sprott Asset Management has formally commenced its offers to acquire all of the outstanding units of Central GoldTrust and Silver Bullion Trust, respectively, on a NAV to NAV exchange basis.
Note company announced its intent to make the offer on 23-Apr-15 Based on the NAV per unit of Sprott Physical Gold Trust $9.98 and Central GoldTrust $44.36 on 22-May, a unitholder would receive 4.45 Sprott Physical Gold Trust units for each Central GoldTrust unit tendered in the Offer.
Based on the NAV per unit of Sprott Physical Silver Trust $6.66 and Silver Bullion Trust $10.00 on 22-May, a unitholder would receive 1.50 Sprott Physical Silver Trust units for each Silver Bullion Trust unit tendered in the Offer.
* * * * *
end
Early morning trading from Asia and Europe last night:
Gold and silver trading from Europe overnight/and important physical
stories
(courtesy Mark O’Byrne/Goldcore)
Gold Capped As Soros Warns On “Threshold Of A Third World War”
By Mark O’Byrne May 28, 2015 0 Comments
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– War “inevitable” if U.S. meddles in South China Sea – Global Times
– Senior NATO official warns that “we’ll probably be at war this summer”
– Soros warns of ‘New World Order’ and war with China
– Soros warns could be “on the threshold of a Third World War”
– Many countries in Pacific lay claim to strategically important and mineral rich islands
– Tensions between U.S. and China and Russia escalating
– War would have many facets including cyber-warfare and currency wars
The ‘war’ word is being increasingly heard internationally as the U.S., EU, Russia and China adopt provocative postures over various disputes including Ukraine and in the Pacific.
War with the U.S. is “inevitable” if the U.S. involves itself in the dispute which has arisen over the Spratley Islands in the South China Sea according to China’s state controlled newspaper the Global Times.
“If the United States’ bottom line is that China is to halt activities, then a US-China war is inevitable in the South China Sea” according to an editorial in the popular government paper.
China has since last year been taking over a greater part of the long-disputed Spratleys and has begun land reclamation projects to make the archipelago a part of its sovereign territory. The move angered many of its neighbours like the Philippines and Vietnam who also claim the islands.
Geographically, the archipelago is close to the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and the Philippines. However, China has maintained a presence in the region on and off for centuries which is the basis for its claim.
The islands are believed to be located over large reserves of undersea oil and are also strategically vital as a shipping corridor through which vast amounts of goods are shipped. The islands also provide a platform from which China could project military power into the afore-mentioned countries.
Tensions between the U.S. and China, while low-key in other regards, have been escalating with China responding angrily to U.S. reconnaissance flights in the region.
The Global Times suggests that China is not daunted by a military conflict with the U.S. – “We do not want a military conflict with the United States, but if it were to come, we have to accept it.”
Indeed, The Wall Street Journal has shown that in terms of conventional warfare China is the undisputed heavyweight in the region with a massive airforce and navy – see infographic.
The Chinese are utterly scathing of U.S. “meddling” in the South China Sea, thousands of miles from its own borders and clearly views itself as the new hegemon in the region. This seemingly innocuous dispute has the potential to rapidly spiral out of control.
There are also simmering tensions between China and Japan.
Both have long held claims to the Japanese-administered islands — known as Diaoyu in China and Senkaku in Japan. Tensions have intensified in recent months, and observers fear that a political or military misstep could rapidly escalate.
In late 2013, China announced an air defense zone over the East China Sea, encompassing the disputed islands. The new policy would require airlines to give Chinese authorities their flight plans before entering the airspace designated by China.
Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said the new policy “escalates the situation and could lead to an unexpected occurrence of accidents in the airspace.” The United States called China’s announcement “unnecessarily inflammatory.”
Military posturing is quietly reaching new extremes in Europe, the Mediterranean and the South China Sea and the provocative bluster is reaching new heights.
Separately, it is believed that a senior NATO official has warned that “we’ll probably be at war this summer.”
Former NSA intelligence analyst John Schindler has said that a senior NATO official told him that the world would “probably be at war” sometime this summer. Although the tweet was retweeted over 1,000 times, the comment did not get any media coverage.
Finally, the ‘trumpets of war’ became a triumvirate when one of the most powerful men in the world today – George Soros – warned that we “are on the threshold of a Third World War.”
As China’s economy slows down, this could trigger a global military conflict as might other tensions in the region, Soros warned.
“If the transition runs into roadblocks, then there is a chance, or likelihood in fact, the leadership would foster some external conflict to keep the country united and maintain itself in power,” Soros said in remarks at a Bretton Woods conference at the World Bank.
“If there is a military conflict between China and an alley of the U.S., like Japan, it is not an exaggeration to say we could be on the threshold of a Third World War. It could spread to the Middle East, then Europe and Africa.”
Since Soros made his remarks, tensions between China and the U.S. have further escalated. China has released a new white paper which threatens military action unless the U.S. stops its current actions in the South China Sea.
If China’s efforts to transition to a domestic-demand led economy from an export engine falter, there is a “likelihood” that China’s rulers would foster an external conflict to keep the country together and hold on to power.
To avoid this scenario, Soros called on the U.S. to make a “major concession” and allow China’s currency to join the International Monetary Fund’s basket of currencies. This would make the yuan a potential rival to the dollar as a global reserve currency. In return, China would have to make similar major concessions to reform its economy, such as accepting the rule of law, Soros said.
An agreement along these lines will be difficult to achieve, Soros said, but the alternative is a brutal war.
“Without it, there is a real danger that China will align itself with Russia politically and militarily, and then the threat of third world war becomes real, so it is worth trying.”
The warning comes as Europe engages in some of its biggest ever war games — right on Russia’s front door. It’s a deliberate ploy, intended to warn regarding Ukraine but could be seen by Russia as a provocation.
War, if it comes, will be multi faceted and poses risks to markets. Modern warfare would involve many facets including cyber warfare and currency wars.
Geopolitical risk continues to be seriously underestimated by investors and will likely impact markets in the coming months.
Must Read Guide: 7 Key Bullion Storage Must Haves
MARKET UPDATE
Today’s AM LBMA Gold Price was USD 1,189.45, EUR 1,087.08 and GBP 775.94 per ounce.
Yesterday’s AM LBMA Gold Price was USD 1,187.85, EUR 1,088.07 and GBP 770.64 per ounce.
Gold fell $0.20 or 0.2 percent yesterday to $1,187.50 an ounce. Silver slipped $0.05 or 0.3 percent to $16.69 an ounce.
Gold in Singapore for immediate delivery was steady at $1,188.55 an ounce while gold in Zurich also flatlined in lack lustre directionless trading as gold continues to be capped below $1,200 per ounce.
Gold bullion seems to be taking trading direction from the U.S. dollar with no major economic data on the horizon. The dollar has continued its strength since Fed Chair Janet Yellen once again suggested last week that the U.S. Fed is set to raise interest rates later this year.
Although safe haven demand has waned for the yellow metal, the Greek debt crisis is still not solved and may bolster bullion demand once again. June 5th is Greece’s next payment due to the IMF.
European markets are mostly lower this morning although the FTSE is marginally higher, as talks on Greece continue to bear little fruit.
Yesterday, the new government met its international creditors in Brussels to discuss a possible reform deal to unlock its last tranche of bailout money. It desperately needs this money to make repayments to the IMF and ECB over the coming months.
While the Greek government hinted a deal was on the way, saying it was in the process of drafting an agreement, others were less optimistic. Hawkish German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said he was “surprised” by Greece’s positive outlook, while European Commission Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis said the two sides still had “some way to go”.
Greece is one of the main topics on the agenda at the G7 meeting of finance ministers and central bank chiefs this week and there could come interesting developments from this.
In late morning European trading gold is up 0.07 percent at $1,188.35 an ounce. Silver is off 0.07 percent at $16.67 an ounce, while platinum is up 0.17 percent at $1,121.78 an ounce.
Breaking News and Research Here
end
Dave Kranzler sees what I see: a huge amount of gold open interest standing with one day to go before first day notice:
(courtesy Dave Kranzler/IRD)
Gold Manipulation 101
May 28, 2015Financial Markets, Gold, Market Manipulation, Precious Metals, U.S. Economyanti-gold terrorism, bullion banks, Comex, LBMA, Shanghai Gold Exchange
There are no markets anymore, only interventions. – Chris Powell, GATA
The Comex bullion banks have a problem going into first notice day tomorrow (delivery notices start going out this evening). Preliminarily, as of yesterday’s Comex close, there were still 33,000+ open June contracts. This represents the potential of 3.3 million ounces of gold standing for delivery vs. 372k ounces of gold reported to be available for delivery.
Too be sure, I do not expect anywhere close to 33,000 contracts to be standing for delivery as of the close today’s post-Comex globex session (5 p.m. EST). In fact, I would bet that the open interest reported tomorrow will be under 10,000. But I will point out that I can not recall this many gold contracts still open the day before 1st notice. click to enlarge:
To make sure that the hedge funds either sell or roll forward to August, the banks have a keenly scripted screenplay: Right after the Asian markets close and perfectly timed with the opening of the fraudulent paper London LBMA market, the San Francisco Fed head, John Williams, gives a speech on “banking supervision” in SIngapore. Apparently he made some comments which led the market to believe the Fed would raise rates this year.
The yellow circle above show the smack given to gold right as the stock market opened. This is a common occurrence. No news events, just a manipulated hit designed to trigger stop-loss position selling by big hedge fund algorithm programs.
Even the boy who cried “wolf” is blushing with embarrassment at the Fed’s threatening to raise rates. Let’s face it, the Fed has been telling us they’re going to raise rates since Bernanke’s infamous “taper” speech in May 2013.
The Fed is not going to raise rates. The market may raise rates for the Fed, but the Fed will not raise rates. They use the threat of raising rates to manipulate market sentiment. And they issues these threats at interestingly “coincidental” times – like when the open interest in the front month Comex gold contract is 10x greater than the declared amount of gold available for delivery.
end
(courtesy South Morning China Post/GATA)
Chinese mining group buys $710 million in gold and copper assets
Submitted by cpowell on Wed, 2015-05-27 16:49. Section: Daily Dispatches
Chinese Firm Zijin Mining Group Buys US$710 Million in Gold and Copper Assets
By Jing Yang
South China Morning Post, Hong Kong
Wednesday, May 27, 2015
http://www.scmp.com/business/commodities/article/1810014/chinese-firm-zi…
Zijin Mining Group will buy US$710 million worth of gold and copper mining assets from two Canadian companies in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Papua New Guinea with funds raised through a private placement in the Shanghai stock market.
Zijin told the Shanghai and Hong Kong stock exchanges on Tuesday it would buy a 49.5 per cent stake in the Kamoa copper project in the Democratic Republic of Congo from Ivanhoe Mines for US$412 million.
Zijin already owns 9.9 per cent of Ivanhoe, which recorded a net loss of US$52.9 million last year following a net loss of US$80.6 million in 2013.
Fujian-based Zijin will also pay Barrick Gold Corp US$298 million for a 49.5 per cent interest in the Porgera gold mine in Papua New Guinea.
The two companies have also entered into a strategic agreement to collaborate on future projects.
“We are excited to leverage our competitive strengths together, to start with at Porgera, while exploring additional joint opportunities for the future,” Zijin chairman Chen Jinghe said in a statement.
“Substantial synergies and value may be realised by bringing to Barrick the expertise and relationships that Zijin offers, including low-cost capital from Chinese institutions, leading Chinese engineering and construction skills, and Chinese machinery,” Toronto-based Barrick said.
To fund the acquisitions, Zijin would issue up to 2.4 billion new shares in a private placement on the Shanghai stock market, raising up to 10 billion yuan (HK$12.5 billion), the company said.
The proceeds will also finance the construction of Zijin’s two existing copper mines, as well as replenish working capital.
The deals come on the heels of Beijing’s unveiling of a 100 billion yuan gold fund in support of Chinese firms’ overseas investments in the precious metal in countries along the “Silk Road”.
China is the world’s largest gold producer, accounting for 14 per cent of global production, according to the World Gold Council.
About 21 per cent of output comes from Africa, with Central Asia and eastern Europe contributing 5 per cent.
The three regions are encompassed in Beijing’s Silk Road Economic Belt and Maritime Silk Road strategy.
China also overtook India in 2013 as the world’s top consumer of the metal. The World Gold Council predicts that demand from China’s private sector will increase 20 per cent to at least 1,350 tonnes per year from the current level of 1,132 tonnes by 2017.
Bucking the industry trend as a result of stagnant gold prices, Zijin clocked up 2.3 billion yuan in net profit last year, and netted 415 million yuan in the first quarter of this year.
end
(PRNNewswire)
Direxion Asset Management closing 3X leveraged gold ETF
Submitted by cpowell on Thu, 2015-05-28 01:34. Section: Daily Dispatches
Company Announcement
via PRNewswire
Tuesday, May 26, 2015
NEW YORK — The Direxion Shares ETF Trust II has decided to liquidate and close the Direxion Daily Gold Bull 3X Shares (BAR) exchange-traded fund based on the recommendation of Direxion Asset Management LLC, the fund’s sponsor.
Due to the fund’s inability to attract sufficient investment assets, Direxion believes the fund cannot continue to conduct its business and operations in an economically efficient manner. As a result, Direxion concluded that liquidating and closing the fund would be in the best interests of the fund and its shareholders.
Shares of the Fund will stop trading on the NYSE Arca Inc. and will no longer be open to purchase by investors after the close of regular trading on June 19, 2015. Shareholders may sell their holdings in the fund prior to June 19 and those transactions may be subject to customary brokerage charges. Between June 22 and June 26 shareholders may be able to sell their shares only to certain broker-dealers and there is no assurance that there will be a market for the fund during that time.
On June 26 the Fund will liquidate its assets and distribute cash pro rata to shareholders who have not previously redeemed or exchanged their shares. These payments are taxable and will include any accrued capital gains and dividends. The fund’s net asset value will reflect the costs of closing the fund as calculated on the liquidation date. The fund will close when the distributions are complete. …
… For the remainder of the announcement:
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/direxion-asset-management-closin…
end
As indicated to you on Friday, it is now official: Austria will repatriated 140 tonnes of its gold from the Bank of England. This will take approximately 5 years as they confirm that they have lost faith in the B. of E. We wish them luck in trying to get that gold back:
(courtesy GATA/)
It’s Official: Austria Repatriates Gold, Confirms Loss Of Faith In Bank Of England
One week ago, the world was not exactly shocked to learn that after Germany and the Netherlands, one more country had unofficially joined the ranks of nations who have seen this all before and know how it ends, when reports emerged that Austria would repatriate 140 tons of gold from the Bank of England (appropriately immortalized in “this is what happens when you hand your gold over to The Bank of England for “safekeeping“.) As of today, it is official.
Earlier today the Austrian Central Bank confirmed the Kronen-Zeitung report, and said that by the year 2020, it would hold 50%, or 140 tons, of its gold domestically, up from 17% currently. This means that Austria will withdraw some 140 tons of gold from the BOE which holds 80% of Austria’s gold currently (and will soon hold only 30%) and send 92.4 tons back home to Vienna with another 47.6 tons being sent to Switzerland.
Which is also the biggest news: Austria is explicitly demonstrating a lack of confidence in the “pro-western” system of which the Bank of England is a critical cog, and instead opting for “neutral” Switzerland, which will hold nearly 50 tons of the gold formerly located at the Bank of England.
Why?
As AFP notes, the central bank said it took the decision after recommendations made by the Austrian Court of Audit in February, which warned of a “heightened concentration risk” linked to storing the majority of its reserves in Britain. At the time, the bank had argued the policy was warranted because London was a major international centre for the gold trade.”
Well, London still is a major international center, but in the past three months the bank surprisingly changed its mind after reviewing the court’s advice to diversify storage locations.
Vienna confirmed it would begin to gradually repatriate 92.4 tonnes this summer. A further 47.6 tonnes will be transferred from Britain to Switzerland.
From the Austrian Central Bank:
In May 2015, the gold reserves held by the OeNB amounted to 280 tons, having remained unchanged since 2007. Austria’s gold reserves are fully owned by the OeNB, which maintains and manages them with utmost care. In line with the OeNB’s current gold storage policy, 17 % of its gold holdings are at present kept in Austria, 80 % in the United Kingdom and 3 % in Switzerland.
Recently, the Governing Board of the OeNB adopted the 2020 gold storage policy following a regular in-house gold strategy and storage policy review, while also considering the recommendations made by the Austrian Court of Audit. The cornerstones of this policy are as follows:
By the year 2020, 50% of Austria’s gold reserves are to be held in Austria (OeNB and Münze Österreich AG), 30% in London and 20% in Switzerland.
Starting from mid-2015, the new storage policy will be gradually implemented in keeping with security and logistical requirements.
A comprehensive review and, if need be, adaptation of the storage policy is scheduled for 2019.
The OeNB will regularly report on the progress in its upcoming annual reports.
* * *
Good luck Austria with that repatriation and be sure to triple check that gold. After all you don’t want to be like the Bundesbank which in 1968 got the short end of the stick following some questionable collusion between the BOE and the Fed as we reported in “Bank Of England To The Fed: “No Indication Should, Of Course, Be Given To The Bundesbank…””
end
Austrian central banker acknowledges general trend toward gold repatriation
Submitted by cpowell on Thu, 2015-05-28 14:49. Section: Daily Dispatches
Austria Plan to Repatriate Gold Not Linked to Brexit Talk: Nowotny
By Michael Shields
Reuters
Thursday, May 28, 2015
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/05/28/us-austria-gold-nowotny-idUSKB…
VIENNA, Austria — A decision by the Austrian central bank to repatriate some gold from London by 2020 is “absolutely not” related to the possibility that Britain will leave the European Union, Governor Ewald Nowotny told a news conference on Thursday.
He said it instead reflected a trend among central banks, including Germany’s Bundesbank, to hold more reserves at home.
end
They are coming after HFT trading:
(courtesy Wall Street Journal/GATA)
Forex’s ‘last look’ practice gets curbed
Submitted by cpowell on Thu, 2015-05-28 15:44. Section: Daily Dispatches
By Chiara Albanese
The Wall Street Journal
Wednesday, May 27, 2015
Two of the world’s biggest currency-trading platforms plan to restrict a controversial industry practice in which banks can pull out of trades at the last moment if the market moves against them.
Thomson Reuters Corp. and BATS Global Markets Inc. will limit the practice, known as “last look,” on their platforms in coming weeks in a move aimed at increasing transparency in the foreign-exchange market.
The change comes amid a broader shake-up of the trading industry prompted by concerns about traders’ efforts to manipulate a range of financial markets. Markets for precious metals, interest rates, stocks, and currencies have all come under scrutiny from regulators in recent years because of allegations of inappropriate behavior. …
… For the remainder of the report:
http://www.wsj.com/articles/forexs-last-look-practice-gets-curbed-143276…
And now overnight trading in stocks and currency in Europe and Asia
1 Chinese yuan vs USA dollar/yuan strengthens to 6.2010/Shanghai bourse red and Hang Sang: red
2 Nikkei closed up by 78.88 points or .39%
3. Europe stocks mostly in the red/USA dollar index down to 97.21/Euro rises to 1.0826/
3b Japan 10 year bond yield: slight falls to .40% !!!!(Japan buying 100% of bond issuance)/Japanese yen vs usa cross now at 124.08/
3c Nikkei still just above 20,000
3d USA/Yen rate now well above the 124 barrier this morning
3e WTI 57.64 and Brent: 62.34
3f Gold down/Yen down
3gJapan is to buy the equivalent of 108 billion uSA dollars worth of bond per month or $1.3 trillion. Japan’s GDP equals 5 trillion usa.
Japan to buy 100% of all new Japanese debt and by 2018 they will have 25% of all Japanese debt. Fifty percent of Japanese budget financed with debt. Last night Japan refused to increase it’s QE
3h Oil down for WTI and down for Brent this morning
3i European bond buying continues to push yields lower on all fronts in the EMU. German 10 yr bund falls to 53 basis points. German bunds in negative yields from 4 years out.
Except Greece which sees its 2 year rate fall to 23.52%/Greek stocks down 0.68%/ still expect continual bank runs on Greek banks./Greek default inevitable/
3j Greek 10 year bond yield falls to: 11.12%
3k Gold at 1188.10 dollars/silver $16.68
3l USA vs Russian rouble; (Russian rouble falls 1 rouble/dollar in value) 52.30 , the rouble is still the best acting currency this year!!
3m oil into the 57 dollar handle for WTI and 62 handle for Brent/Saudi Arabia increases production to drive out competition.
3n Higher foreign deposits out of China sees huge risk of outflows and a currency depreciation. This can spell financial disaster for the rest of the world/China may be forced to do QE!!
30 SNB (Swiss National Bank) still intervening again in the markets driving down the SF. It is not working: USA/SF this morning .9463 as the Swiss Franc is still rising against most currencies. Euro vs SF is 1.0341 well below the floor set by the Swiss Finance Minister.
3p Britain’s serious fraud squad investigating the Bank of England/
3r the 4 year German bund remains in negative territory with the 10 year moving further away from negativity at +.53/
3s Three weeks ago, the ECB increased the ELA to Greece by another large 2.0 billion euros.Two weeks ago, they raised it another 1.1 billion and then last Wednesday they raised it another tiny 200 million euros thus at this point the new maximum was 80.2 billion euros. The ELA is used to replace depositors fleeing the Greek banking system. The bank runs are increasing exponentially. The ECB is contemplating cutting off the ELA which would be a death sentence to Greece and they are as well considering a 50% haircut to all Greek sovereign collateral which will totally wipe out the entire Gr. banking and financial sector.
3t Greece paid the 700 million plus payment to the IMF last Wednesday but with IMF reserve funds. It must be paid back in on June 9.
3 u. If the ECB cuts off Greece’s ELA they would have very little money left to function. So far, they have decided not to cut the ELA
4. USA 10 year treasury bond at 2.13% early this morning. Thirty year rate well below 3% at 2.88% / yield curve flatten/foreshadowing recession.
5. Details Ransquawk, Bloomberg, Deutsche bank/Jim Reid.
Overnight trading early Thursday morning from Asia and Europe:
(courtesy zero hedge/Jim Reid Deutsche bank)
Courtesy of central planning, virtually every single capital market has become an illiquid penny stock, with wild swings from one extreme to the other, the latest example of this being the Shanghai Composite, which after soaring 10% in the past ten days, crashed 6.5% overnight tumbling 321 points to 4620 after it briefly rose just shy of 5000. This was the biggest drop since January 19 when the Composite dropped 7.7% only to blast higher ever since. Putting the “plunge” in perspective, now the SHCOMP is back to levels not seen in… one week.
What caused this long overdue plunge? According to the WSJ, three factors were in play: China’s sovereign-wealth fund said earlier this week it had sold stakes in two state-owned banks; more brokerages are tightening margin trading; and the central bank soaked up cash from commercial banks, a sign that the government is trying to contain excess liquidity in the financial market.
In other words, more sellers than buyers, but at least the soundbites were great: “The China market is basically trading like a yo-yo,” said Steve Wang, research director at Reorient Financial. “It is retail driven, people just follow the trend.”
So, fundamentals are at play you say? More soundbites:
Thursday’s drop in Shanghai could shift the market from a “crazy bull into a slow bull,” said Li Shaojun, analyst at Minsheng Securities Co. Ltd. Most major sectors were down more than 4%, noted Gerry Alfonso, director of trading at brokerage Shenwan Hongyuan Securities.
The reality is that while one can blame retail investors for day to day swings, it is all centrally-planned:
China’s securities watchdog hasn’t announced a new clampdown on margin trading, but several securities firms have said they are changing requirements for the practice. Changjiang Securities tightened its margin financing rules Wednesday, after GF Securities and Haitong Securities said earlier in the week that they will raise the amount of collateral investors must put up to get loans. In late April, Shenwan Hongyuan Securities and Donghai Securities made similar moves.
“With the total margin financing volume approaching two trillion yuan ($322 billion), institutional investors [are becoming] more cautious over any potential market bust,” said Li Lei, an analyst at Minzu Securities. “The growth rate of margin finance will slow down as brokers tighten rules, but the sheer volume will continue to climb to around three trillion yuan.”
Disclosures that Central Huijin Investment Ltd. was selling mainland shares of two of China’s largest policy banks— Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd. and China Construction Bank Corp. —came out earlier in the week, but analysts said that Chinese websites and blogs were talking about the sales.
ICBC finished down 5% and China Construction Bank was down 5.9% in Shanghai. In Hong Kong, shares of both fell more than 3%.
And since as we explained before the Chinese Politburo is now all in on blowing the biggest equity bubble of all time, consider this a “pause that refreshes” and send the SHCOMP onward to even more ridiculous levels because where central planners are concerned only a grand systemic reset can stop their micromanagement ways.
Elsewhere the Nikkei 225 (