Business

By EconMatters

Bullion banks are some of the most influential participants in the global gold market. But who are these players and what do they actually do? And most importantly, how can these bullion banks trade thousands of times more gold each year than is actually in existence?

This infographic lifts the lid on bullion banking, looking at the world of fractional-reserve paper gold trading built on the unallocated gold account system. Topics covered include:

Submitted by Brean Capital's Peter Tchir via Forbes.com,

There was a lot of discussion last week about how the $ 3.5 billion Catalyst Hedged Futures Strategy Fund (ticker: HFXAX) was running the entire stock market.

To be frank it is disturbing to me that a fund of this size could be viewed as the key market driver for even a few days, but the chatter was so prevalent that I felt the need to explore it a bit further.

In this holiday-shortened week, attention will be on the US FOMC minutes, housing data and consumer confidence. There will be GDP, PMI and inflation releases across the Euro Area as well as the latest Greek Eurogroup meeting. Look for GDP and public finances data in the UK. In emerging markets, there are monetary policy meetings in Brazil, Colombia, Korea and Kazakhstan.

Watch Fed minutes for more clarity on March FOMC

Gold The "Ultimate Insurance Policy" as "Grave Concerns About Euro" - Greenspan

"The eurozone isn't working ..." warns Greenspan

"I view gold as the primary global currency" said Greenspan

"Significant increases in inflation will ultimately increase the price of gold"

"Investment in gold now is insurance..."

Source: Getty