Daily Dispatches

11:17a ET Sunday, February 3, 2019

Dear Friend of GATA and Gold:

GATA consultant Robert Lambourne's report yesterday about the gold trading signified by the December financial statement of the Bank for International Settlements speculated that the bank's use of gold swaps might mean to recover gold for central banks that are inconveniently short in their official reserves:

By Zulfugar Agayev
Bloomberg News
Sunday, February 3, 2019

For Azerbaijan's sovereign wealth fund, nothing beats the safety of gold in a world gripped by trade disputes and geopolitical risk.

By Robert Lambourne
Saturday, February 2, 2019

Disclosures in the recent monthly statements of account published by the Bank for International Settlements show that the bank is still actively trading in gold swaps, which the bank uses to gain access to gold held by commercial banks.

By Mayela Armas
Reuters
Friday, February 1, 2019

CARACAS, Venezuela -- Abu Dhabi investment firm Noor Capital said today it bought 3 tonnes of gold on Jan. 21 from Venezuela's central bank, at a time when President Nicolas Maduro is seeking to keep his crisis-stricken government solvent.

Maduro's Bid to Fly Gold Out of Venezuela Is Blocked

By Patricia Laya
Bloomberg News
Friday, February 1, 2019

The embattled Nicolas Maduro regime has halted plans to ship 20 tons of Venezuelan gold overseas as a growing international push to ring-fence the country's dwindling hard assets unnerved those handling the transaction, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter.

By Alastair Macdonald
Reuters
Thursday, January 31, 2019

The European Union's antitrust authority has charged eight unnamed banks with operating a cartel in trading euro zone government bonds between 2007 and 2012, years when the financial crisis dragged down banks and countries.

By Patricia Laya
Bloomberg News
Thursday, January 31, 2019

With 20 tons of gold stacked up for loading and shipping out of Venezuelan vaults, the mystery surrounding them -- and the saber-rattling they're sparking -- is intensifying.

7:50p ET Thursday, January 31, 2019

Dear Friend of GATA and Gold:

GoldMoney research director Alasdair Macleod argues tonight that trade wars will weaken the U.S. dollar by reducing the flow abroad of dollars that have been recycled into U.S. Treasury instruments.

By Corina Pons and Mayela Armas
Reuters
Thursday, January 31, 2019

CARACAS, Venezuela -- Venezuela will sell 15 tonnes of gold from central bank vaults to the United Arab Emirates in coming days in return for euros in cash, a senior official with knowledge of the plan said, in an effort by the troubled OPEC member to stay solvent.

Central Banks Are on the Biggest Gold-Buying Spree in a Half Century

By Rupert Rowling and Susanne Barton
Bloomberg News
Thursday, January 31, 2019

Central banks bought more bullion last year than anytime since 1971, when the U.S. ended the gold standard.