March Gold News 2015

Greek Prime Minister, Alexis Tsipras, has vowed not to bow down to European demands for further austerity. Tsipras, confirmed to the Greek parliament on Monday he will seek an honest compromise to Greece’s debt and warned he will not implement further austerity on the Greek people.  

The Greek finances are deteriorating fast and they may not have enough money to pay the 450 million euros due on the 9^th of April. There are also treasury bills totalling 2.4 billion euros maturing on the 14^th and 17^th of April. 500 million euros is owed to investors outside the country and ...

It looks highly likely that Australia and Denmark are going to defy the U.S and join the Beijing –backed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank commonly known as the AIIB.

The AIIB is a new Chinese backed Bank which many believe is set to replace the U.S. controlled International Monetary Fund (IMF).  

So far this month the UK, Russia, Netherlands, France, Germany and Italy announced they would join the AIIB as founding members of the organisation. Unsurprisingly, the U.S. has been quick to criticise the organisation.

Many gold analysts believe the BRIC’s bank (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) which ...

The gold price rose to a three and a half week high yesterday after Saudi airstrikes shocked investors’ confidence around the globe. The silver price rose by nearly 3% to a 5 week high before declining slightly before the end of trading.

Stock markets across the world fell and the oil price surged after Saudi Arabia and its Middle East allies began military action against neighbouring Yemen. The airstrikes are aimed at Iranian backed rebels who are believed to be destabilising the country. Although the offensive is being led by a Middle East coalition the Americans have been quick to ...

The gold price has climbed above the psychological $1,200 barrier following Saudi Arabia’s decision to bomb targets in neighbouring Yemen. The gold price jumped to $1,201.60 per ounce and has posted gains for the seven consecutive days.

The situation in Yemen is complicated with the Saudi government launching air strikes against Iranian backed rebels who have made rapid gains in recent months. The oil price rose as much as 5.6% as traders began to worry oil supplies could be disrupted.

Mohammed al-Bukhaiti a senior rebel leader has warned if the Saudi’s continue to intervene they run the risk of causing ...

In September 2014 The Shanghai Gold Exchange was officially launched with the purpose of internationalising both the Chinese gold market and renminbi. China is opening up its markets and starting to spread its influence around the world at the expense of US dollar hegemony.

The renminbi is widely expected to be added to the IMF’s Special Drawing Rights basket later this year. With China heading up the Asian Infrastructure Bank, the rival to the U.S. World Bank, the world monetary order is heading east.

The SDR was invented following the collapse of the London Gold Pool in 1969 and is ...

The gold price posted its biggest weekly gain since January after the Fed announced they are in no rush to raise interest rates. Assets in gold backed exchange traded funds rose to $885 billion, also the highest level since January.

The U.S dollar posted its worst weekly performance since 2011 after Janet Yellen revised the Feds interest rate outlook. A weakening dollar and low interest rates make gold more attractive. The gold price rallied 2.8% to $1,184.60 per ounce.

Ultimately, if the fed raises interest rates gold will suffer, however, many in the gold community question whether the U.S. can ...

The move away from the dollar is accelerating following the decision by Germany, France and Italy to join the China led Asian Infrastructure Bank. The United States view the new Bank as a rival to the Washington based World Bank. The announcement comes only days after the UK decided to defy the U.S. and join the Chinese led institution.  China confirmed Luxembourg and Switzerland are also likely to join.

The Chinese led bank is putting into question the World Bank and International Monetary Fund which was born following the Bretton Woods conference in 1944.  

With Russia and China developing ...

The Bank of International Settlements has warned if inflation, bond yields and interest rates remain low political stability could be pushed to breaking point.

The bank which is often referred to as the “bank of central banks” said if rates continue to fall it will push countries’ economies into uncharted territory. The BIS warned politicians could face a backlash from ordinary people who have seen the value of their pensions and savings eroded.

The bank confirmed 20 central banks have lowered rates in the last three months and if this trend continues countries run the risk of pushing technical, legal ...

The U.S. Fed has changed its view on interest rates, which have been at record lows since the start of the 2008 financial crash.

Fed Chair, Janet Yellen, removed the word patience from her regular statement. The amendment has been interpreted by the markets that the central bank will refrain from increasing rates in the near term.

Instead the Fed confirmed they will wait until further improvement in the employment figures. U.S. share indices rose sharply on the announcement with the Dow Jones closing up 0.9% and the S&P up 1%.

We are living in strange economic times when an ...

The U.S has criticised the UK’s decision to join China’s Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). By joining Britain will become a founding member in an organisation which many believe could eventually rival the U.S based World Bank. Once operational the bank will finance infrastructure projects in the Asia region.

George Osborne said membership will give Britain the opportunity to influence the structure of the organisation and gain access to the fastest growing economies in the world.

China’s influence in the world is growing fast at a time when U.S American dominance appears to waning.

Below is a brief recap of ...

China is set to launch its own cross border payment system in the third quarter of this year. The China International Payment System (CIPS) will be the Chinese version of the west based SWIFT system.

The CIPS will process cross boarder yuan transactions and further internationalise the currency. The new system will cut transaction costs and quicken processing time. It will also allow the Yuan to compete more evenly against the world’s reserve currency the U.S dollar.

The announcement comes only weeks after the Russia confirmed they will launch their alternative to the SWIFT system. By having an alternative Russia ...

The global currency wars continue as the Bank of Korea unexpectedly cut interest rates overnight to a new record low of 1.75%.

The move looks like a deliberate attempt to weaken the currency and to ensure the export led economy remains competitive. Korea has been losing market share to its main export competitor, Japan, whose currency has been purposefully debased by one of the biggest quantitative easing programs ever implemented.

So far in 2015 the following central banks have lowered key interest rates in an attempt to bolster their economies. It looks like the race to the bottom is in ...

The gold price fell over 2% on Friday after strong U.S. employment data raised expectations the Fed may raise interest rates sooner than expected. The dollar strengthened on the news and the gold price at one point fell to $1,163.45 per ounce, its lowest level since the 1^st of December 2014.

The U.S economy added 295,000 nonfarm jobs in February fuelling expectations that the Fed may raise interest rates sooner rather than later. The U.S dollar rose to an eleven year high against a basket of major currencies.

The bullion holding in the world’s largest gold ETF, the SPDR Gold ...

The Serious Fraud Office is investigating the Bank of England over how they conducted their money market auctions following the 2008 economic crisis. The liquidity auctions enabled banks to tap additional funds during the height of the credit crunch.

The interest rate paid on the cash was dependant on how long the banks needed to borrow the money and how much collateral could be put up.

It is still unclear if the Serious Fraud Office is investigating BoE officials or employees of the UK’s largest banks. The SFO started their investigation after being handed the results of an inquiry undertaken ...

China is set to launch a yuan denominated gold fix later this year according to sources close to the matter. China is the world’s second largest consumer of gold and the launch of the fix will enable China to have a greater say over the pricing of the yellow metal.  China is also the world biggest miner of gold.

The yuan denominated fix is set to compete directly with the century old London Fix to become the world’s premier centre for price discovery.

The century old London fix has come under increased scrutiny following allegations of price manipulation. Last year ...