Federal Reserve Admits Hiding Gold Swap Arrangements

11p Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Dear Friend of GATA and Gold:

The Federal Reserve System has disclosed to GATA that it has gold swap arrangements with foreign banks that it does not want the public to know about.

The disclosure contradicts denials provided by the Fed to GATA in 2001 and suggests that the Fed is indeed very much involved in the surreptitious international central bank manipulation of the gold price particularly and the currency markets generally.

The Fed's disclosure came this week in a letter to GATA's Washington-area lawyer, William J. Olson of Vienna, Virginia (http://www.lawandfreedom.com/), denying GATA's administrative appeal of a freedom-of-information request to the Fed for information about gold swaps, transactions in which monetary gold is temporarily exchanged between central banks or between central banks and bullion banks. (See the International Monetary Fund's treatise on gold swaps here: http://www.imf.org/external/bopage/pdf/99-10.pdf.)

The letter, dated September 17 and written by Federal Reserve Board member Kevin M. Warsh (see http://www.federalreserve.gov/aboutthefed/bios/board/warsh.htm), formerly a member of the President's Working Group on Financial Markets, detailed the Fed's position that the gold swap records sought by GATA are exempt from disclosure under the U.S. Freedom of Information Act.

Warsh wrote in part: "In connection with your appeal, I have confirmed that the information withheld under Exemption 4 consists of confidential commercial or financial information relating to the operations of the Federal Reserve Banks that was obtained within the meaning of Exemption 4. This includes information relating to swap arrangements with foreign banks on behalf of the Federal Reserve System and is not the type of information that is customarily disclosed to the public. This information was properly withheld from you."

When, in 2001, GATA discovered a reference to gold swaps in the minutes of the January 31-February 1, 1995, meeting of the Federal Reserve's Federal Open Market Committee and pressed the Fed, through two U.S. senators, for an explanation, Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan denied that the Fed was involved in gold swaps in any way. Greenspan also produced a memorandum written by the Fed official who had been quoted about gold swaps in the FOMC minutes, FOMC General Counsel J. Virgil Mattingly, in which Mattingly denied making any such comments. (See http://www.gata.org/node/1181.)

The Fed's September 17 letter to GATA confirming that the Fed has gold swap arrangements can be found here: http://www.gata.org/files/GATAFedResponse-09-17-2009.pdf

While the letter is far from the first official admission of central bank scheming to suppress the price of gold (for documentation of some of these admissions, see http://www.gata.org/node/6242 and http://www.gata.org/node/7096), it comes at a sensitive time in the currency and gold markets. The U.S. dollar is showing unprecedented weakness, the gold price is showing unprecedented strength, Western European central banks appear to be withdrawing from gold sales and leasing, and the International Monetary Fund is being pressed to take the lead in the gold price suppression scheme by selling gold from its own supposed reserves in the guise of providing financial support for poor nations.

GATA will seek to bring a lawsuit in federal court to appeal the Fed's denial of our freedom-of-information request. While this will require many thousands of dollars, the Fed's admission that it aims to conceal documentation of its gold swap arrangements establishes that such a lawsuit would have a distinct target and not be just a fishing expedition.

In pursuit of such a lawsuit and its general objective of liberating the precious metals markets and making them fair and transparent, GATA again asks for your financial support and that of all gold and silver mining companies that are not at the mercy of market-manipulating governments and banks. GATA is recognized by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service as a non-profit educational and civil rights organization and contributions to it are federally tax-exempt in the United States. For information on donating to GATA, please visit here:

http://www.gata.org/node/16

You can also help GATA by bringing this dispatch to the attention of financial news organizations and urging them to investigate the Fed's involvement in gold swaps particularly and the gold (and silver) price suppression schemes generally.

CHRIS POWELL, Secretary/Treasurer
Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee Inc.

http://www.gata.org/node/7819

Republicans Adopt Ron Paul's Message With Something Missing

A friend sent me this article in email. And I had to post it. But first I have to point something out before I duplicate the story with the link provided afterward. I'm developing this sense that a lot of conservatives are flocking to Glenn Beck's side to sit at his feet and learn the Wisdom of the Elders, if I may be allowed to be so dramatic. And I'll admit that Beck has recently scored points with me even in his exposé of the dedicated communists in Obama's Administration. But I have to wonder how much of this heavy investigation into the Obama's Administration by the conservative journalists has to do with their disappointment in the loss of a Republican victory in the 2008 elections.

They certainly weren't this critical with the Bush Administration like Ron Paul had been, but Republicans do tend to hate liberal Democrats more than the State. After witnessing the popularity of Ron Paul, the conservatives and their counterpart journalists are desperately trying to win back disenfranchised voters who went with Paul and similarly minded candidates. Glenn Beck recently made an attempt at being more Ron Paul friendly by writing a modern version of Thomas Paine's famous tract, Common Sense. Only the gullible are going to fall for this disingenuous pandering.

The Fox News Judas goats never cease to amaze me. The article follows:

Trouble is it won't work! One must do more than study the words of another in order to embrace a new philosophy. Beck, Palin, Romney even Ann Coulter are all now sounding like avid Ron Paul supporters, although seldom giving credit where it is due.

Glen Beck has been making headlines for himself recently by denouncing the Republican party and making statements that he would have voted for Hillary Clinton over McCain. He even went so far as to draft five pledges a candidate should make in order to show himself "for the people". However, a close inspection of these pledges reveals that either Beck does not "get it" or he is a spokesman for the current Republican party which is desparate to regain its conservative support.

Upon reflection, one will notice that underneath Beck's pledges is an assumption that the government should be "in control" but has simply erred and gone off course. Notice the repeated use of the word "until". Once the necessary corrections have been made, the government can take its rightful place back in the seat of power and control. This logic is faulty at its core. Politicians are elected to manage the public's trust, not to be "in charge'. Regardless of common perception and celebrity worship, civil servants are to be just that: servants. Most politicians are keenly aware of this during elections but suffer amnesia immediately thereafter.

The most revealing of the 5 pledges is the last. "I believe the United States of America is the greatest country on earth and therefore will not apologize for policies or actions which have served to free more and feed more people around the world than any other nation on the planet." This statement is arrogant and ethnocentric at best. Of course one should believe strongly in his country and maintain a certain amount of patriotic pride. This statement, however, is dangerous. It is the essence of Republican "big government".

Whenever one places an agenda above the people it is meant to serve, no matter how noble the intentions, he then ventures off of the ground of freedom and liberty and into the region of totalitarianism and authoritarianism. If one holds the fundamental belief that the people need the government to "take care of" them, to "protect" them, to "regulate" them and to "enforce" morality, agendas and ideals, then he will always revert back to his particular party of choice. The fact is, that while we must have laws to address fraud, abuse and corruption, the less government we have the more liberty we will possess.

While Beck's pledges address the present concerns of government spending, taxation, environmental regulations and security, which are typical concerns during a Democratic administration, he fails to address the manipulation by corporate interests and corporate influenced legislation. One must remember that the stimulus and bailout programs began under the Bush administration. Most politicians, including Obama himself are sponsored heavily by major corporate interests. This goes far beyond lobbying. The direct connection through board membership and corporate earnings between politicians in both parties and major financial interests is totally obscene. In fact, Gerald Celente defines it as the essence of fascism.

Ron Paul's message is simple, People First! While the Republicans may be attempting to co-opt this message they continue to cling to their agendas of war, federal empowerment and bribery. The co-dependent media anchors and authors have a vested interest in contributing to the party's success. After all, they have built a career around it.

Ron Paul is the litmus test, the standard. His message has been the same for over thirty years. His funds are supplied by his constituents. He maintains a simple lifestyle and he defends the Constitution whether it is popular or not, regardless of personal gain. We need to do what is right for America! We need liberty for all, justice for all, respect for all. What we do not need from our government is patronization, control and co-dependence. Government is meant to be servant, not master!

Republicans Adopt Ron Paul's Message With Something Missing

Former Congressman James Traficant Interviewed by Greta Van Susteren

Jim Traficant was railroaded out of Congress and into prison in 2002 because he was strong minded in his convictions and was too outspoken about what was happening in Washington, D.C.

Gold Is Pale Because It Has So Many Thieves Plotting Against It

“GOLD IS PALE BECAUSE IT HAS SO MANY THIEVES PLOTTING AGAINST IT”

Antal E. Fekete*
Professor of Money and Banking
San Francisco School of Economics

* The title is a quotation from Diogenes Laertius (fl. 2nd century A.D.)
This was the favorite quotation of the late Chicago economist and gold expert Melchior Palyi.

25 years ago I visited Comex at the World Trade Center, watching the feverish activity in the gold pit from behind the glass wall in the gallery. A gentleman standing next, unknown to me, remarked: “One day this make-believe charade will come to a bad end. All that these guys are doing down there is creating ever more claims to the same lump of gold — just as governments have been doing before they met their ignominious fate.”

Later that day I went to see the Director of Research of Comex. During our chat that lasted about an hour he intimated that he was greatly disturbed by the mystery that the gold basis has been steadily declining year in and year out. Perhaps it was the fact that he could not solve the puzzle that bothered him so much that he quit his job a few months later.

I must confess that I could not solve that puzzle myself until the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center came tumbling down many years later. For me it was a symbolic event, conjuring up the unknown gentleman and bringing back his cryptic remark. We are watching a game of musical chairs. When the music stops, paper claims to gold will be dishonored, and the gold futures markets will tumble down just like the Twin Towers.

In my earlier article The Dress Rehearsal for the Last Contango I observed that “a very strange phenomenon has been manifesting itself during the past thirty-five years, since the inception of gold futures trading. The basis as a percentage of the rate of interest, rather than remaining constant, has been vanishing and, by now, it has dropped to zero.” In the rest of that article I drew attention to the apocalyptic consequences of the prospect of permanent backwardation in gold threatening the world, which is completely ignored by the makers of monetary policy, as I had opportunity to convince myself during my recent encounter with Paul Volcker, the Chairman of President Obama’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board. As I see it, the Debt Tower will topple, just as the Twin Towers of the World Trade center have, when hit by permanent gold backwardation. The reason is that the availability of gold is absolutely indispensable for maintaining our system of irredeemable debt. Only then will bondholders, like the participants of the game of musical chairs, be satisfied that there is a goodly number of vacant chairs available, so let’s get on with bond trading, gold futures trading, and let the music roar on.

But once permanent backwardation in gold establishes itself, gold is no longer available at any price. Bondholders will scramble to sell their irredeemable bonds before they lose all their remaining value. There is no other way to pacify bondholders than letting the game of musical chairs go on, that is, continue the charade of gold futures trading putting ever more claims on the same lump of gold.

The response to my article was overwhelming. I have never realized how many people out there are following my writings on the internet so closely. I want to thank every one of you and assure you that I take this responsibility most seriously. Even if I cannot answer every message I get from you individually, I will continue to do my best to explain the results of my research in simple, understandable terms.

Let me spell out for my readers what the vanishing of the gold basis means from the point of view of the puppet-masters of the gold futures markets. It means that they are fighting a losing battle. They are desperately trying to coax gold out of hiding by offering ever higher bribes — not in terms of the price but in terms of the basis. A low basis means that they offer to take your cash gold and let you have gold futures in exchange at a discount price. (The discount is contango minus the basis, so that the two are inversely related: as the basis falls, the discount increases.) This will allow you to invest an amount equal to the price of gold (less five percent, the margin on the gold future) in any way you want and, having paid the reduced contango, you can keep the profits. The point is that you will still benefit from any advance in the gold price, same as you would if you owned cash gold. You can have your cake and eat it. Remember, in a full carrying charge market, such as the gold futures markets were at inception, no such bribe money was offered.

But, lo and behold, people who are willing to take the bribe are few and far in between. So the pot is sweetened. The basis is lowered. Maybe at one point gold will be coaxed out of hiding, once the bribe is high enough.

No such luck. When the basis gets as low as zero, it means that the discount on gold futures has gone so high that it is equal to the opportunity cost of holding gold. Therefore, again, if you give up your cash gold in exchange for gold futures, you can invest an amount equal to the price of gold (less five percent) in any way you wish, but now they let you keep your profit in its entirety. And you can still benefit from any advance in the gold price, same as you would if you had the cash gold in your hands.

This is where we are now. Indications are that the game fish still does not bite. What now? Where do the futures markets in gold go from here? Well, the pot can be further sweetened. The basis can be pushed down into negative territory. Gold could be forced into backwardation. Let’s see what that means. It means that you can sell cash gold and buy it back for future delivery at an outright discount. Somebody wants your gold so badly that he is willing to pay you for the privilege of holding it for a few days, few weeks, few months paying your storage and insurance fees. You get your gold back at a cheaper price. You make a risk-free profit on this deal. If the gold price goes up in the meantime, you benefit fully, just as if you have held on to the cash gold.

Now risk-free profits are a promise of unlimited profits because, if you are nimble enough, then you can make any number of round trips. However, opportunities to earn risk-free profits from arbitrage do not last. Other nimble speculators would jump in and their unlimited action would close the spread that gave rise to the risk-free profit in the first place. Yet I predict that, after a period of initial vacillation between backwardation and contango (due to action by misinformed traders) gold will settle in permanent backwardation.

Wouldn’t that be loverly? Risk-free profits galore. No need to bother with storage charges and insurance premiums. Just sit back and enjoy the ride to riches.

But hey, wait a minute! Is the arbitrage really risk-free? You give up your cash gold, but what if your gold futures contract expires and they refuse to return your gold? Commodity markets can change the rules of the game mid-stream. They just declare ‘cash settlement only’ for outstanding contracts. Unsaid and unstated, not even mentioned in small print, is the fact that the trap door may be slammed shut. The investor who has taken the bribe is neatly separated from his gold when the hairy godfather waves his magic wand. “Gold is pale because it has so many thieves plotting against it.” There are all too many trap doors, sprung wide open, ready to devour gold belonging to the unweary.

That’s it. That’s why more people do not fall for the bribe even when tickled with promises of risk-free profits. The promise is mendacious. There is a risk: the risk that you lose your gold and you may never be able to buy it back at any price. There is no other explanation for the fact that the promise of risk free profits does not eliminate the discount on the futures price of gold. This is the true explanation for the coming permanent backwardation in gold.

Gold futures trading is clearly a con-game, but it is in a symbiotic relation with the regime of irredeemable currency and irredeemable debt, on which our ‘democracy’ is based. So we have a double con-game. We have a smaller con-game of gold future trading inflicted upon gullible people who want to have their cake and eat it and, then, we have the much bigger, all-embracing con-game of irredeemable currency, inflicted upon the rest of us, innocent bystanders. It is inflicted by the United States government that stoops so low as to trample on the Constitution mandating a metallic monetary system for this country precisely in order to outlaw all Ponzi-schemes. The government could never muster the moral courage to propose an Amendment that would make the Constitution conform to its monetary system — as it would open Pandora’s box. Rather, it would live with the onus of being in contempt of the Constitution. The government of the United States had looted gold from its own subjects in 1933. It looted even more gold from people not under its jurisdiction in 1971. It continues to operate in the same tradition.

The larger con-game of the irredeemable dollar could not have gone on so long, but for the smaller con-game of gold futures trading from which it takes its strength. Historically, every regime of irredeemable currency has met its Nemesis in no more than 18 years. The present experiment with irredeemable currency has been going on for twice that long. Of course, gold futures trading is a relatively new invention that was not available to the managers of the assignats, mandats, or the Reichsmarks. Nor was it available to the managers of the most recent experiment with the Zimbabwe dollar. But, as the relentless fall in the gold basis clearly shows, people cannot be conned forever. The clock is ticking. Sand in the hourglass keeps dropping. When it runs out, the present experiment with fiat dollar will also meet its Nemesis, as all the earlier experiments have. That’s the good news.

The bad news is that the government of the United States persists in continuing the double con-game and Ponzi-scheme through thick and thin. It is callous to the economic damage it is causing world-wide, and it disregards the danger of permanent gold backwardation that would inflict utter economic pain on the innocent people of this country, to say nothing of the people of the rest of the world. As explained above, it would make the runaway debt-tower of Babel topple, burying people under the rubble as the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center buried people working inside.

When that happens, the government of the United States will not have the excuse that it has not been warned. I have delivered the message in person to the Chairman of President Obama’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board, Paul Volcker, when we met at the Santa Colomba Conference last July. I also consider it my moral duty to warn all the people who are willing to listen of the danger lying ahead. It is incredibly naïve to believe that gold can be removed from the international monetary system with impunity at the stroke of a pen, as they pretended to do it in 1973. The gold corpse still stirs. When it rises from its prostrate position it will, like Gulliver, dust off the Lilliputians who like ants have been scurrying all over his body. The day of reckoning will have dawned.

Keynesian and Friedmanite economists bear a special responsibility for the disaster. They dug in and monopolized their positions at universities and research institutes. They never allowed a free discussion on the gold standard. They did everything to aggrandize and perpetuate their own power as the sole advisors on government policy. They will not be able to live down this shame in a thousand years.

Masters Gold Fund

In my previous article More Dress Rehearsal of the Last Contango (see References below) I mentioned the unique Masters Gold Fund, soon to come on stream, structured to take advantage of the permanent backwardation in gold when it comes, which would ground all other gold funds. I have acted as advisor from inception and during the incubation period. In that article I listed seven exclusive features spelling out how the Masters Gold Fund would operate in these perilous times. It would take its clues, not from the gold price that is open to manipulation, but from the gold basis which is a pristine indicator telling you about the willingness of gold holders to carry on in playing the game of musical chairs and putting their gold at stake.

In response to subsequent inquiries that I have received, I provide the name and e-mail address of the manager of the Masters Gold Fund, who will be happy to send the prospectus to interested parties upon request:

Sandeep Jaitly (Sandeep.Jaitly@soditic-cbip.co.uk)

If you come to our Seminar in Canberra, Australia, in November, then you will be able to meet Mr. Jaitly in person, and ask him questions directly.

Disclosure

I have not been paid by Masters Gold Fund or its parent company for writing this article, or any other article representing it. My interest in the project is purely intellectual. I want to demonstrate that, under the regime of irredeemable currency, it is possible to have gold locked up in a vault and still make it bear a return in gold — to disprove Aristotle’s dictum: pecunia pecuniam parare non potest (gold does not beget gold).

What we have here is an historical anomaly. Never before could one earn a return on gold in gold unless one surrendered control, thus incurring a risk. The risk in investing in the Masters Gold Fund is that the gold price stabilizes, that is, the world willy-nilly goes back to a gold standard. However, this is a risk that anybody should be glad to take.
August 29, 2009