London

Physical gold located in Hong Kong and London is used to settle COMEX gold futures contracts through “Exchange For Physical” trading in the over-the-counter market.

This post is a sequel to Understanding GOFO And The Gold Wholesale Market and COMEX Gold Futures Can Be Settled Directly With Eligible Inventory - in which Exchange For Physical (EFP) trading is explained and how it can increase or decrease open interest at the COMEX. If you’re new to this subject it’s advised to first read my previous posts.

Submitted by Ronan Manly, BullionStar.com

 
Introduction

When discussing bullion banking mechanics, it’s important to understand what a bullion bank actually is, and what activities bullion banks engage in. This appreciation also helps highlight the major concerns which modern bullion banking poses.

Submitted by Ronan Manly, BullionStar.com

Introduction

Exchange traded investment vehicles backed by physical gold refer to a group of trusts, funds, or other legal entities which hold gold bars with a custodian in a vault and which issue securities, units or other fractional ownership claims against that gold. These securities are pitched and marketed as an alternative to direct ownership of gold bullion and these products have seen significant expansion and evolution over the last 10-12 years.

In an overnight session dominated by the latest political developments out of the US where Hillary Clinton officially claimed the democratic nomination, the financial newsflow focused on China's trade data, where exports fell 4.1% from a year earlier, in line with expectations, but imports dropped 0.4% from a year earlier, the smallest decline since they turned negative in November 2014, likely reflecting higher commodities prices but really driven by "imports" from Hong Kong which rose to $2.48b, the highest since at least 1999; and a 243% y/y surge in dollar term, also a historical high.

After yesterday's two key events, the ECB and OPEC meetings, ended up being major duds, the market is looking at the week's final and perhaps most important event of the week: the May payrolls report to generate some upward volatility and help stocks finally break out of the range they have been caught in for over a year. However, even today's jobs number will likely be skewed as reported previously as a result of the Verizon strike which is said to trim some 35,000 jobs from the headline print, casting anything the BLS reports today in doubt.