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According to the Chinese investigation, the balance of this 1.3 million to 1.5 million 400 oz tungsten cache was also gold plated and then allegedly "sold" into the international market. Apparently, the global market is literally "stuffed full of 400 oz salted bars". Perhaps as much as 600-billion dollars worth.
An obscure news item originally published in the N.Y. Post [written by Jennifer Anderson] in late Jan. 04 perhaps makes sense now.
DA investigating NYMEX executiveManhattan, New York, --Feb. 2, 2004. A top executive at the New York Mercantile Exchange is being investigated by the Manhattan district attorney. Sources close to the exchange said that Stuart Smith, senior vice president of operations at the exchange, was served with a search warrant by the district attorney's office last week. Details of the investigation have not been disclosed, but a NYMEX spokeswoman said it was unrelated to any of the exchange's markets. She declined to comment further other than to say that charges had not been brought. A spokeswoman for the Manhattan district attorney's office also declined comment."
The offices of the Senior Vice President of Operations -- NYMEX -- is exactly where you would go to find the records [serial number and smelter of origin] for EVERY GOLD BAR ever PHYSICALLY settled on the exchange. They are required to keep these records. These precise records would show the lineage of all the physical gold settled on the exchange and hence "prove" that the amount of gold in question could not have possibly come from the U.S. mining operations -- because the amounts in question coming from U.S. smelters would undoubtedly be vastly bigger than domestic mine production.
No one knows whatever happened to Stuart Smith. After his offices were raided he took "administrative leave" from the NYMEX and he has never been heard from since. Amazingly, there never was any follow up on in the media on the original story as well as ZERO developments ever stemming from D.A. Morgenthau’s office who executed the search warrant.
Are we to believe that NYMEX offices were raided, the Sr. V.P. of operations then takes leave -- all for nothing?
read more @ writings on the wall
2. gold sparkles in 'perfect storm' for metals -- not a word about the tungsten bars
Gold prices have rocketed to record heights close to $1,200 an ounce as a "perfect storm" of market conditions propels demand for the precious metal, analysts said. Gold, whose two main drivers are jewellery and investment buyers, hit a record $1,195.13 an ounce on the London Bullion Market on Thursday. The glamorous metal has won major support in recent weeks and months from a weak dollar, inflationary fears and increasing moves by central banks to diversify assets away from the greenback and into the commodity.
read more @ kuwait times
3. Dubai crisis gives China chance to buy oil, gold: report -- of course they would buy the "real" gold not the fake gold
No Chinese banks have yet reported exposure to debt from Dubai World, a flagship firm that last week said it was seeking to delay debt payments by six months. Some Chinese real estate and construction firms have limited exposure to projects in the emirate, state television reported this weekend.
China's $2.27 trillion in foreign exchange reserves are mostly parked in U.S. treasuries, despite calls from some in China to invest the reserves in oil and other natural resources that the fast-growing Chinese economy will need in future.
While the impact of the Dubai crisis on the global economy and on China was not known yet, it would last a while at the very least, Ji Xiaonan, who chairs the supervisory board for big state-owned companies under the State Council's state assets commission, told the Economic Information Daily.
Another paper, the China Youth Daily, quoted Ji as saying that a team of experts from Beijing and Shanghai had set up a task force last year to look at the issue of gold reserves."That could give China a buying opportunity to put some forex reserves into gold or oil reserves," Ji was quoted as saying by the paper, which is widely read by Chinese officials.
Attacking Dubai has become fashionable in Western circles. British reporters and columnists, in particular, are sinking their teeth into the Emirate like dogs chomping on a juicy bone. The latest news that Dubai World seeks to restructure its debt involving a six-month payment delay has triggered a host of salivating media hounds baying for blood. A few days ago, hysterical headlines were predicting another global economic crash with banks worldwide falling like ninepins. Following the doom-laden onslaught, currencies have dipped and markets fallen.
Countries, companies and individuals restructure their debts all the time. There has been no suggestion that Dubai World is about to go under or that it will leave its creditors high and dry. The fact is Dubai is getting back on its feet. It’s true that it was more vulnerable to the global economic downturn than the rest of the Middle East but the crisis itself was not of its own doing.
Even the finest financial brains were unable to foresee the US subprime crisis that spurred the global meltdown. Yet, according to an article in the Sunday Times a few days ago titled “Dubai needs to stop the contagion fast”, “Dubai is a monument to the excesses that gave us this global financial crisis”. There’s just one problem with that. The crisis resulted from greedy US mortgage lenders, unscrupulous financial houses and dodgy credit ratings agencies.
valiant attempt. it doesn't work though. read more @ arab news
5. OH Dear she spoke too soon...media reports mix up Dubai World, government: official
ABU DHABI, Nov. 30 (Xinhua) -- Recent media reports had "mixed up" Dubai World and the Dubai government, Abdul Rahman al-Saleh, director general of the Dubai Finance Department, said Monday.
Dubai World "is a company set up with commercial basis and its transactions with creditors and investors were based on that respect," al-Saleh was quoted as saying by the official news agency WAM.
He said the group used to get financing based on its commercial status and feasibility of its projects.
"The gross mistake of the media is that they deem the company as part of the government. It is baseless," al-Saleh said, stressing that the Dubai government has supported the group since its inception.
read more @ chinaview
6. UAE stock markets plunge
The United Arab Emirates stock markets of Dubai and Abu Dhabi plunged on Tuesday by 6.25 percent and 5.91 percent respectively at the opening, continuing a freefall trend triggered by Dubai's debt woes. The DFM index in Dubai dropped 121.33 points to 1,819.33, while the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange index fell 157.68 points to 2,510.55.
Since the two markets reopened on Monday following a four-day holiday for the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha, Dubai's market has shed about 13 percent of its value while Abu Dhabi has lost around 14 percent.
Dubai's ruler said on Tuesday that his government and Dubai World are separate entities, in his first public statement since the state-owned conglomerate revealed its plan to freeze debt repayments. "Mixing up between the Dubai World group and the government of Dubai was wrong," Sheikh Mohammad bin Rashed al-Maktoum told reporters during a visit to offices of Dubai Television.
European stocks opened higher Tuesday, following upbeat sessions in the U.S. and Asia, as fears over Dubai World abate after the company said it is in talks with banks to restructure $26 billion of debt.
Nonetheless, trade is expected to be bumpy as investors wait to learn more about how badly European banks might be affected. The dollar was mixed, bond and oil prices were little changed and gold steadied in early European trade.
On Wall Street Monday, financial-sector stocks, including J.P. Morgan, Bank of America and American Express, paced a late-session rally after a statement from Dubai World eased concerns about the magnitude of its debt problems. Still, some Black Friday jitters weighed on Macy's and other retailers, keeping the stock market gains muted.
read more @ al manar tv
7. sacked by text, the Indian workers who built Dubai told not to return to work
There was no need to panic, insisted the minister. The Indian government was closely monitoring the fall-out from the crisis in Dubai but was not expecting a flood of migrant workers returning home. The current problems would likely soon blow over.
But Sajid and many of his colleagues from the north Indian city of Meerut would take issue with the comments of Vayalar Ravi, the minister of overseas Indian affairs. Having returned from Dubai to India for the Muslim holiday of Eid, dozens of them have received text messages abruptly telling them their jobs no longer exist and that they should not return to the Gulf.
...
As news from Dubai continued to send stocks and spirits tumbling – yesterday it was revealed that Dubai World, the heavily indebted property arm that last week asked for extra time to pay back more than $60bn, was not guaranteed by the emirate's government – the shock waves were also resonating through the communities responsible for providing Dubai and other cities in the Gulf with much of its low-cost labour.
There are millions of poor, impoverished labourers from South Asia in the Gulf region. Indeed, the long-enjoyed boom that saw cities such as Dubai carve out a new niche for excess and opportunity was built on the backs of such migrant workers, who are often treated as little more than bonded labour. Drawn from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh and often paying hundreds of dollars to a middle man to secure a job, these workers – on arrival in the Gulf – find conditions are often atrocious and that they have virtually no rights. Many have complained of being prevented from leaving.
read more @ independent
8. new gold rush may see $1300/ounce - Scotiabank
RENO, NV -
Scotiabank economist Patricia Mohr forecast Monday that gold may test the US$1,300 during a time she referred to as a new gold rush.
Mohr noted Scotiabank's Metal & Mineral Index showed "broad-based strength in base metals, a surge in gold & silver prices and slight gains in sulphur and uranium prices more than offset somewhat softer steel-alloy prices (molybdenum and cobalt)."
Although LME copper prices have edge down from their near-term peak of US$3.15 on November 23, Mohr suggested, "copper remains exceptionally lucrative at $US3.06 per pound in late November , yielding a profit margin of 58% over average world break-even costs (including depreciation)."
She noted copper prices have been barely impacted by the announcement of lower Chinese imports for three reasons: "1) Beijing and Chinese investors/fabricators are expected to be ‘willing' holders of these [copper stocks] in 2010; underlying demand for copper in China is expected to advance by 23% in 2009 and at least 8% in 2010, assuming greater availability of scrap next year. Copper scrap is still in short supply; 2) global hedge funds and investors still believe there is good value in commodities as an asset class-particularly vis-à-vis low yielding U.S. Treasury Securities; and 3) investment funds expect huge re-stocking of basic materials, once the G7 economies fully recover after massive liquidation late last year."
read more @ mineweb
9. Yunnan Copper mulls buy in Kazakhstan
BEIJING, Dec. 1 (Xinhua) -- Yunnan Copper Co., China's third-largest copper producer, is thinking of acquiring a copper mine in Kazakhstan next year, China Daily reported Tuesday.
The company is also considering investing in Southeast and South Asian countries including Laos and Indonesia, the newspaper said, quoting the company's general manager Yang Chao.
Besides investment in the overseas market, the copper producer is also scouting for more copper reserves in the Inner Mongolia and Tibet autonomous regions. The company's copper reserves would touch 9 million tonnes by 2012, according to Yang.
He predicted that copper prices might even surpass 70,000 yuan (10,294 U.S. dollars) per tonne in 2010, although prices are likely to remain volatile over the next year, and copper demand will increase next year
Copper is widely used in home appliances, wires and cables; it can also be used in water pipes, largely increasing the need for copper in the future, Yang said.
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