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To: shakes who wrote (20873)	8/22/2011 10:39:00 PM
From: calgarylady	Respond to of 23085

I didn't catch that.. thanks for posting.. Looks like gold ready to go back over $1900 again.. :) You know I don't like Chavez but some of the things he has come up with are amusing.. but if he brings down the Gold Cartel.. I guess we will have to give him some admiration.. :) This is a pretty interesting read.. worth the time.. :) scribd.com and from Zerohedge a quick synopsis: Things That Make You Go Hmmm.... Such As A Venezuelan Dictator Bringing Down The Global Gold Cartel A few days ago we penned "As Chavez Pulls Venezuela's Gold From JP Morgan, Is The Great Scramble For Physical Starting?" in which, logically, we wondered if the unwind of the great gold cartel, whose purported price manipulation has always resided in the domain of paper, or confidence-based, precious metals, may have started from the most unexpected source: Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez who just announced that he will not only nationalize the country's gold industry but reclaim his physical gold (however much of it may exist) from custodians such as JP Morgan and Bank of Nova Scotia. The practical implications of this move are substantial- since then gold has seen record high after record high. Whether one attributes these moves to Chavez, or to yet another global "risk-flaring" episode is unclear. Luckily, Grant Williams, author of the always entertaining "Things That Make you Go Hmmmm", provides some very fascinating observations on this very interesting topic... From the full note (presented below): To sum up: It is common practice for most Central Banks to hold part of their gold reserves overseas in ‘gold trading centres’ (read London and New York) One of those Central Banks - that of Venezuela - wants its gold back That means that a group of banks (mainly in the UK and the USA) who are supposed to have that gold in their vaults need to GIVE it back... ...which in turn could potentially trigger a race to repatriate national gold holdings Neither Fort Knox nor the Federal Reserve (the world’s two biggest gold depositories) have been independently audited in recent times The status of the gold held in the Bundesbank (home to the world’s third-largest hoard) is somewhat unclear The practice of leasing gold by Central Banks has been going on so long that it even predates the time when Alan Greenspan advocated sound money The gold ‘physical market’ is approximately 100 times the size of the amount of actual underlying metal by which it is purportedly backed The top four bullion banks, or ‘commercials’ on the COMEX continue to run what we shall politely call ‘significant’ short positions (chart above) In the three trading sessions since Chavez made his announcement on August 17th, gold has added almost $100, coming within a whisker of $1,900 before settling back at another record weekly close. Market weakness? Maybe. Fear of further problems in Europe? Quite possibly. Continuing disgust with the world’s fiat currencies? Highly likely. The beginning of a race amongst the world’s Central Banks to grab physical gold? Now THAT would be something to see... zerohedge.com

To: shakes who wrote (20873)	8/24/2011 3:26:29 AM
From: PaperPerson	1 Recommendation Respond to of 23085

Shakes - thank you for getting me thinking about significance of Venezuela. Chavez' announcement that Venezuela would repatriate tons of gold from foreign bank vaults is going to end up being a pivotal point in monetary history. Right now the news is being overshadowed by other global events like the pending Japan debt downgrade by Moody's. But chavez' deathbed decision is a powerful trend that could cause a real spike in gold this fall. What if another nation follows suit????? Is the gold all there? If not we coukd be setting up for the mother if all short squeezes this fall. $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ The latest: President Chavez signs decree nationalizing Venezuelan gold mining sector A newly signed presidential decree not only nationalizes Venezuelan gold mining, but also establishes a royalty system. mineweb.com Author: Dorothy Kosich Posted: Wednesday , 24 Aug 2011 RENO, NV - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez Tuesday signed a decree to nationalize the exploitation of gold and relative activities. The decree also mandates the creation of joint ventures with state-owned majority control for the exploration and exploitation of gold "in order to reverse the serious effects of capitalist mining model, characterized by the degradation of the environment and disrespect for the planning, [and] the attacks on the dignity and health of miners and residents of surrounding communities." It also establishes the boundaries of the joint ventures and their legal status, contracts for special services, and a royalty system of between 13% and 3%. The decree now moves on to Venezuela's Supreme Court for their review and subsequent publication in the county's official gazette. State news agency, Agencia Venezolana de Noticias (ANV) said that during a Council of Ministers held in the Miraflores Presidential Palace, Chavez recalled that gold "was expatriated when the bourgeoisie ruled the county." "This is a measure with high national interest," he said. "I cannot understand how some groups are against it. They (bourgeoisie) handed over the gold, the body of the country." Over the years, Chavez specialized in various forms of expropriation, seizing control of operations belonging to steelmakers, glass manufacturers, telecommunications, food packaging plants, agricultural businesses, oil refineries and other foreign owned businesses. In a couple of years, his administration assumed control of gold mining projects belonging to Spokane's Gold Reserve and Toronto's Crystallex, both of whom are now seeking compensation. Placer Dome walked away from the very promising Las Cristinas gold project 11 years ago. The project was acquired by Crystallex. Hecla left Venezuela after nine years of operation, selling its La Camorra unit to Rusoro Mining. One of the beneficiaries of Chavez's mining policies was Rusoro Mining, which operates the Choco 10 mine and the Isidora mine, a joint venture with the Venezuelan government. On August 18th, however, Rusoro CEO Andre Agapov said, "We believe that the government's announcement is targeted toward the many illegal mining operations in Bolivar State that operate without government permits and continue to cause significant environmental damage through indiscriminate deforestation and the use of mercury." "Gold produced by these illegal operations is often smuggled out of the country or sold illegally, and the government is now taking action," Agapov claimed. REPATRIATING GOLD RESERVES Meanwhile, the President of the Banco Central de Venezuela, Nelson Merentes announced Tuesday that 16,908 bars of gold bullion that remain in offshore banks will be repatriated to Venezuela. Each of the ingots weighs 12.5 kilos (441 troy ounces) and is equivalent to US$731,403 each in value, he said. The central bank president said he expects Venezuela's total gold reserves will increase after the nationalization of gold mining and related activities. The gold reserves to be repatriated are valued at US$11 billion. Merentes also attended Tuesday's Council of Ministers meeting in the presidential palace. During the meeting, Chavez said, that although no country in the world would escape the effects of the world economic crisis, the revolution arrived in time in Venezuela. The country will not fall into default thanks to the work done by the State to strengthen the domestic economy, he added. "...Nobody knows how deep will go the capitalist crisis," Chavez stressed. $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ (Extract from GoldSeek article of Aug. 21 re Venezuela demand. news.goldseek.com 1313906580.php The earthshaking news for gold this past week was that Venezuela announced they would like to repatriate their gold from Europe and the US. Venezuela holds $11 billion is physical gold and is wanting to have it held in countries with more solid economics such as Brazil, Russia or China. A few things strike me here. They must know or have a feeling the gold is not there. Whether it’s there or not I don’t know but I have a feeling it’s encumbered in some way shape or form and has likely been leased out at the minimum or has physically been removed at the far end. I think that Venezuela will be pressured hard politically to give this repatriation idea up or they may simply be settled in cash, not gold. This is a dangerous game Hugo Chavez is playing and one which could literally blow the doors off of the gold price. If it were to surface that central bank gold is not actually there, there would be a run on gold the likes of which I can’t even imagine. Hugo is the first domino to fall and demand his gold back and this could spark a major shift from central banks in wanting to actually hold their own gold rather than have it stored in apparent good faith by others. We’ll see how this plays out but I have a feeling that one way or another the world is going to wake up to the realization that GATA’s premise has been true all along. The gold simply isn’t there! Metals review Gold rose 6.07% for the week in solid trading while world markets crumbled on fear. I was talking with subscribers the other day about how small a market gold is really and how underinvested people are in it. While it may look like it’s going a bit parabolic here, this can last a very long time. Gold will be the mother of all bull markets and we’ve got much further to go on the upside, This bubble will put the tech bubble to shame as this one is based on fear, not greed and we will truly see panics into gold by the end of this.