zero hedge Mon 2010-04-05 15:14 EDT

Former Goldman Commodities Research Analyst Confirms LMBA OTC Gold Market Is "Paper Gold" Ponzi

When we put up a link to last week's CFTC hearing webcast little did we know that it would end up being the veritable (physical) gold mine (no pun intended) of information about what really transpires in the commodities market. First, we obtained direct evidence from Andrew Maguire (who may or may not have been the target of an attempt at "bodily harm" as reported yesterday) of extensive manipulation in the silver market. Today, Adrian Douglas, director of GATA, adds to the mountain of evidence that the commodities market, and the CFTC, stand behind what is potentially the biggest market manipulation scheme in the history of capital markets (we are assuming for the time being that all allegations of the Fed manipulating the broader equity and credit markets are completely baseless). Using the testimony of a clueless Jeffrey Christian, formerly a staffer at the Commodities Research Group in the Goldman Sachs Investment Research Department and now head and founder of the CPM Group, Douglas confirms that the "LBMA trades over 100 times the amount of gold it actually has to back the trades."

Goldman Commodities Research Analyst Confirms LMBA OTC Gold Market; paper gold; Ponzi; Zero Hedge.

Jesse's Café Américain Thu 2010-04-01 11:50 EDT

Brown's Bottom Is an Enormous Issue In the UK: Was This a Bailout of the Multinational Bullion Banks Involving the NY Fed?

Jesse

The bottom referred to, of course, is the bottom of the gold price, and the sale of approximately 400 tonnes of the UK's gold at the bottom of the market...There is also a credible speculation that the sale was designed to benefit a few of the London based bullion banks which were heavily short the precious metals, and were looking for a push down in price and a boost in supply to cover their positions and avoid a default. The unlikely names mentioned were AIG, which was trading heavily in precious metals, and the House of Rothschild. The terms of the bailout was that once their positions were covered, they were to leave the LBMA, the largest physical bullion market in the world...long before AIG crafted its enormous positions in CDS with the likes of Goldman Sachs, requiring a bailout by young Tim and the NY Fed, it was engaging in massive short positions in the metals markets, especially silver, and may have required a bailout by England to preserve the integrity of the LBMA....the gold sale provided a front-running opportunity for that most rapaciously well-connected of Wall Street Banks, Goldman Sachs.

Bailout; Brown s bottom; Enormous Issue; Jesse's Café Américain; Multinational Bullion Banks Involving; NY Fed; UK.

Thu 2010-01-07 19:24 EST

Precious Metals Derivatives: Louder Music, Fewer Chairs

...The weight of gold and silver represented by derivatives on the precious metals has grown so large relative to all reasonable measures of physical supply that more and more questions and doubts are being raised about not only the integrity of the price discovery mechanisms for these metals, primarily among LBMA members and on the COMEX, but also the reliability of many paper claims to the physical delivery of them.

chair; Louder Music; Precious Metals Derivatives.

Jesse's Café Américain Fri 2009-09-04 19:12 EDT

Hong Kong Bringing Its Gold Home From London

Jesse

"In the house of the wise are stores of precious treasure and oil, but a foolish man devours all he has." Proverbs 21:20 The People's Republic of China has been urging its citizens to convert some part of their savings into gold and silver, having recently liberalized the procedures by which individuals can obtain it. Hong Kong has built a new world class bullion vault, and is repatriating its gold reserves from the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA), where some speculate it had been committed for sale many times over. Hong Kong wishes to become its own regional Asia market maker for bullion metals. The rest of the world will rein in the Wall Street financial establishment, because the bankers have demonstrated an inability to manage their financial affairs...

Gold Home; Hong Kong Bringing; Jesse's Café Américain; LONDON.