HSBC (arm of NWO) forcing smaller gold distributers to SELL gold holdings

[StemCell]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125902295608261455.html#mod=todays_us_page_one

Fleets of armored trucks piled with gold bars and coins have been streaming out of midtown Manhattan in one unexpected consequence of the gold craze.

Amid gold's rise -- it has gained 32% this year and reached a record on Monday -- investors have been loading up on bullion and coins. One big problem now is where to store it. The solution from HSBC, owner of one of the biggest vaults in the U.S.: somewhere else.

HSBC has told retail clients to remove their small holdings from its fortress beneath its tower on New York City's Fifth Avenue.

[StemCell]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/6646753/HSBC-starts-gold-rush-out-of-its-vaults.html

HSBC starts gold rush as it kicks small clients out of its vaults

Hundreds of small-time gold bugs have been given notice by HSBC that they can no longer use its New York vaults to store their bullion as the bank focuses on institutional clients.

The British bank, which has sizeable vaults underneath its US headquarters overlooking Manhattan's Bryant Park, has told retail customers – many of whom are middle-men and custodian services which store gold with HSBC on behalf of hundreds of their own clients – that all their gold must be out of its facility by July 2010.

The decision has seen fleets of armoured cars laden with gold ferrying the precious metal out of New York.

An HSBC spokesman declined to comment, but it is understood that the increased demand for physical storage of gold by corporate clients is behind the move to end the retail service, which HSBC inherited when it took over Republic Bank a decade ago.

The decision comes as the price of gold continues to touch new highs – reaching $1,174 an ounce on Monday – and in spite of the fact that an increasing number of private investors want to buy and store physical gold rather than buying contracts linked to the precious metal's meteoric rise.

[worcesteradam]

like a die hard film

[NotASlave]

 Hmmmm ...question is obvious.

Why is it suddenly "unsafe" in it current position? 

[RoadRunner]

Hmmmm ...question is obvious.

Why is it suddenly "unsafe" in it current position? 

It needs to be kept in a more secure vault... like the Federal Reserve...

[frenchlifeboat]

Missing Gold
A King's Ransom in Precious Metals Seems to Have Disappeared
The basement of 4 World Trade Center housed vaults used to store gold and silver bullion. Published articles about precious metals recovered from the World Trade Center ruins in the aftermath of the attack mention less than $300 million worth of gold. All such reports appear to refer to a removal operation conducted in late October of 2001. On Nov. 1, Mayor Rudolph Giuliani announced that "more than $230 million" worth of gold and silver bars that had been stored in a bomb-proof vault had been recovered. A New York Times article contained:
more here - http://911research.wtc7.net/wtc/evidence/gold.html

Ocean's 911  great idea for a film..




A Treasure in Silver and Gold


RICH GARLOCK: The vault was huge — two levels, 3,000 square feet each. When they opened the door, I realized why it was so big: there was a lot of gold and silver. The silver bars were like large loaves of bread, only they weighed about 70 pounds. The gold was smaller, but also very heavy, about 28 pounds each. It was around Halloween and I joked that I was going to come dressed as a Brinks guard. The team did a test run with the Brinks truck to make sure that it had the clearance, driving it up and then back out. The next morning the New York Post reported the vault had been emptied. In fact, it took a week to remove. The police said, "Hey, we couldn't have better publicity."
http://www.pbs.org/americarebuilds/engineering/engineering_property_02.html

[Dig]

Gold investors are ousted from Fifth Avenue home
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/banking_and_finance/article6930514.ece
Christine Seib in New York November 25, 2009
 

People who plunged their savings into American Eagle, Maple Leaf and Krugerrand coins must find a new place to stash their cash, after HSBC closed its New York vault to small-time gold investors.

With the world in a gold frenzy, HSBC decided that retail investors taking up valuable space in the vault below the bank’s Fifth Avenue headquarters must make way for more lucrative institutional customers.

Gold hit a record high of $1,173.50 per ounce on Monday as investors looked for a hedge against the dollar, although it slipped back to about $1,168 yesterday.

The weakness of the dollar in recent months has made bullion cheaper for non-dollar-holders and boosted interest in gold as a hedge for investors.

HSBC has told its customers that they must arrange for their gold to be moved to another depository or see it returned to their doorstep by the bank. The bank declined to comment yesterday.

Jon Potts, managing director of FideliTrade, the owner of Delaware Depository Service Co, said that his vaults were filling up with what he called “small bar business” turned away by HSBC.

“People have to find a new home for their gold and one of the things that differentiate our facility is that we focus on banks, brokers and dealers that service individual investors,” Mr Potts said. “So we’re accustomed to shipping and receiving shall packages of maybe $100,000 or $500,000 each.”

Retail customers typically pay 0.5 to 1 per cent of the value of their holdings for storage each year. For depositories, these customers are less cost-efficient because they tend to buy coins and bars of varying sizes that have to be sorted and stored separately.

However, investors such as banks and investment funds buy only “big bars” — 100oz gold bars or 1,000oz ounce silver bars — which come in a standard size that is more easily stored.

Tom Winmill, portfolio manager of Midas Fund, which invests in gold miners and bullion, said that he had not been asked to move the small amount of gold he stores at present with HSBC.

Mr Winmill said that investors had turned to the gold fund over the past year for protection against the prospect of inflation. Midas has returned 91.6 per cent so far this year.

HSBC is the biggest of America’s five depositories — a business that it acquired as part of its purchase of Republic Bank in 1999 — with about 4.2 million ounces in storage. The bank’s retail clients number in the hundreds and include dealers who store bullion on behalf of individuals.

SPDR Gold Trust, the world’s largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, said yesterday that its holdings were 1,121.4 tonnes as of Monday, up 3.9 tonnes from the previous business day and their highest level since June.

[luckee1]

If I didn't know better, I would say they are intentionally publishing these stories in order to goad a "train robbery" if you will.  They never tell of shipments of gold.  WTF

[tracer7]

If I didn't know better, I would say they are intentionally publishing these stories in order to goad a "train robbery" if you will.  They never tell of shipments of gold.  WTF

sounds like a cover up. the private owners are probably not moving their own gold.

[RemixNinja]

This story appears to relate to an earlier post I saw on here where people were talking about trucks of gold leaving New York!

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/banking_and_finance/article6932473.ece

The US Mint suspended sales of its popular American Eagle 1oz bullion coins after demand from retail investors stripped its vaults bare.

Sales of the coins are expected to resume in early December.

Investors have been snapping up American Eagle coins, as well as Krugerrands from South Africa and Canada’s Maple Leaf coins as a hedge against inflation and the falling dollar.

Today 1oz American eagles were selling for $1,232.84 each, up $17.24. The coins have a face value of $50 but are sold by dealers at a premium to the price of gold.

Gold futures hit another record today of $1,188.60 per ounce for February delivery.

The US Mint said that it had depleted its current inventory of 1oz American Eagles after selling 124,000 ounces so far this month, up from 115,000 ounces sold in both September and October.

Eagles in .50oz, .25oz and .1oz sizes are still available.

The mint suspended sales of American Eagle gold and silver coins last year after surging demand wiped out its stores.

Twenty-two carat American Eagles have been sold since 1986.

Retail investors are currently searching for a new home for their coin collections after HSBC, America’s biggest private gold depository, said that it would no longer store items from small investors at its Fifth Avenue vault.

Institutional investors are also stocking up on gold and need the vault space currently taken up by retail buyers at the HSBC headquarters.

[Brocke]

We have all seen those movies with rooms full of gold. Well this is far from reality. In fact there is very little gold around.

Below is a metric tonne of gold. It is only 15 cubic inches. Only slightly larger than a milk crate!


If you collected all the gold ever extracted from the earth and stacked it up in a column with the same base size as the Washington Monument you would get this. ALL THE GOLD IN THE WORLD!!!



How big is a tonne of gold?
Gold is traditionally weighed in Troy Ounces (31.1035 grammes). With the density of gold at 19.32 g/cm3, a troy ounce of gold would have a volume of 1.61 cm3. A metric tonne (equals 1,000kg = 32,150.72 troy ounces) of gold would therefore have a volume of 51,762 cm3 (i.e. 1.61 x 32,150.72), which would be equivalent to a cube of side 37.27cm (Approx. 1' 3'').

Gold is measured in Troy ounces and 1 Troy ounce equals 1.0971428571 ounces.

1 metric tonne = 32,150.746 Troy ounces
1 long ton of 2240 lb (UK) = 32,666.667 Troy ounces
1 short ton of 2000lb (US) = 29,166.667 Troy ounces

A cubic centimetre of gold will weighs 19.3 grams.
A cubic meter of gold will weighs 19.3 tonnes.
A cubic inch of gold will weighs 315.2 grams = 10.13 troy ounces = 11.06 avoirdupois (ordinary) ounces.
A cubic foot of gold will weighs 545.225 kilos = 1188.6 pounds (avoirdupois).

approx. 18" square for the ton

At the end of 2001, it is estimated that all the gold ever mined amounts to about 145,000 tonnes.

--------------------------------

If you took all of the gold in the world and put it in one place how much would there be?

­It is amazing, but the total amount of gold in the world is a surprisingly small q­uantity. Here's how you can calculate the total amount that is available.

If you look at a page like this one, or if you look it up in an encyclopedia, you will find that the annual worldwide production of gold is something like 50 million troy ounces per year. Gold has a specific gravity of 19.3, meaning that it is 19.3 times heavier than water. So gold weighs 19.3 kilograms per liter. A liter is a cube that measures 10 centimeters (about 4 inches) on a side. There are 32.15 troy ounces in a kilogram. Therefore, the world produces a cube of gold that is about 4.3 meters (about 14 feet) on each side every year. In other words, all of the gold produced worldwide in one year could just about fit in the average person's living room!

This cube weighs 1,555,210 kilograms (3,110,420 pounds). A recent spot price for gold was $256.10 U.S. -- using that number, all of the gold produced in a year is worth $12,805,000,000. That's a lot of money, but not an unimaginable amount. For example, that's about how much the Pentagon spent launching the GPS satellite system. NASA's budget in 1998 was $13.6 billion.

Figuring out the total amount of gold that has been produced by man is a little harder. To get at some kind of estimate, let's figure that the world has been producing gold at 50 million ounces a year for 200 years. That number is probably a little high, but when you figure that the Aztecs and the Egyptians produced a fair amount of gold for a long time, it's probably not too far off. Fifty million ounces * 200 years = 10 billion ounces. Ten billion ounces of gold would fit into a cube roughly 25 meters (about 82 feet) on a side. Consider that the Washington Monument measures 55 feet by 55 feet at its base and is 555 feet tall (17 x 17 x 170 m). That means that if you could somehow gather every scrap of gold that man has ever mined into one place, you could only build about one-third of the Washington Monument.

Platinum is even more scarce than gold. Only 3.6 million troy ounces are produced per year. Its specific gravity is 21.45, and it was discovered in the 18th century, not in 3,000 B.C. If you assume that the world has produced 3.6 million ounces per year for 50 years to estimate the total worldwide supply, all of the platinum in the world would fit in a cube that is 6.3 meters (about 20 feet) on a side. In other words, all of the platinum in the entire world would easily fit in the average home!

http://money.howstuffworks.com/question213.htm

[Mike Philbin]

We have all seen those movies with rooms full of gold. Well this is far from reality. In fact there is very little gold around.

So, are you saying this is a shot of some of that Gold-leafed Tungsten we've been hearing about? Is that what was removed from under WTC? Hide the lie?

[Brocke]

So, are you saying this is a shot of some of that Gold-leafed Tungsten we've been hearing about? Is that what was removed from under WTC? Hide the lie?

Those are possibly silver bars in the photo. Also I doubt that they would stack gold so high, in such a haphazard way and on cheap wooden pallets. But hey what do I know, I've never even seen a 1 kilo gold bar in person.

[Dig]

We have all seen those movies with rooms full of gold. Well this is far from reality. In fact there is very little gold around.

Below is a metric tonne of gold. It is only 15 cubic inches. Only slightly larger than a milk crate!


If you collected all the gold ever extracted from the earth and stacked it up in a column with the same base size as the Washington Monument you would get this. ALL THE GOLD IN THE WORLD!!!



How big is a tonne of gold?
Gold is traditionally weighed in Troy Ounces (31.1035 grammes). With the density of gold at 19.32 g/cm3, a troy ounce of gold would have a volume of 1.61 cm3. A metric tonne (equals 1,000kg = 32,150.72 troy ounces) of gold would therefore have a volume of 51,762 cm3 (i.e. 1.61 x 32,150.72), which would be equivalent to a cube of side 37.27cm (Approx. 1' 3'').

Gold is measured in Troy ounces and 1 Troy ounce equals 1.0971428571 ounces.

1 metric tonne = 32,150.746 Troy ounces
1 long ton of 2240 lb (UK) = 32,666.667 Troy ounces
1 short ton of 2000lb (US) = 29,166.667 Troy ounces

A cubic centimetre of gold will weighs 19.3 grams.
A cubic meter of gold will weighs 19.3 tonnes.
A cubic inch of gold will weighs 315.2 grams = 10.13 troy ounces = 11.06 avoirdupois (ordinary) ounces.
A cubic foot of gold will weighs 545.225 kilos = 1188.6 pounds (avoirdupois).

approx. 18" square for the ton

At the end of 2001, it is estimated that all the gold ever mined amounts to about 145,000 tonnes.

--------------------------------

If you took all of the gold in the world and put it in one place how much would there be?

­It is amazing, but the total amount of gold in the world is a surprisingly small q­uantity. Here's how you can calculate the total amount that is available.

If you look at a page like this one, or if you look it up in an encyclopedia, you will find that the annual worldwide production of gold is something like 50 million troy ounces per year. Gold has a specific gravity of 19.3, meaning that it is 19.3 times heavier than water. So gold weighs 19.3 kilograms per liter. A liter is a cube that measures 10 centimeters (about 4 inches) on a side. There are 32.15 troy ounces in a kilogram. Therefore, the world produces a cube of gold that is about 4.3 meters (about 14 feet) on each side every year. In other words, all of the gold produced worldwide in one year could just about fit in the average person's living room!

This cube weighs 1,555,210 kilograms (3,110,420 pounds). A recent spot price for gold was $256.10 U.S. -- using that number, all of the gold produced in a year is worth $12,805,000,000. That's a lot of money, but not an unimaginable amount. For example, that's about how much the Pentagon spent launching the GPS satellite system. NASA's budget in 1998 was $13.6 billion.

Figuring out the total amount of gold that has been produced by man is a little harder. To get at some kind of estimate, let's figure that the world has been producing gold at 50 million ounces a year for 200 years. That number is probably a little high, but when you figure that the Aztecs and the Egyptians produced a fair amount of gold for a long time, it's probably not too far off. Fifty million ounces * 200 years = 10 billion ounces. Ten billion ounces of gold would fit into a cube roughly 25 meters (about 82 feet) on a side. Consider that the Washington Monument measures 55 feet by 55 feet at its base and is 555 feet tall (17 x 17 x 170 m). That means that if you could somehow gather every scrap of gold that man has ever mined into one place, you could only build about one-third of the Washington Monument.

Platinum is even more scarce than gold. Only 3.6 million troy ounces are produced per year. Its specific gravity is 21.45, and it was discovered in the 18th century, not in 3,000 B.C. If you assume that the world has produced 3.6 million ounces per year for 50 years to estimate the total worldwide supply, all of the platinum in the world would fit in a cube that is 6.3 meters (about 20 feet) on a side. In other words, all of the platinum in the entire world would easily fit in the average home!

http://money.howstuffworks.com/question213.htm

HOLY CRAP!

This makes Ron Paul's Gold Standard and Non-Fiat Currency argument 10x more relevant!

Thanks for this.

[Dig]

Guys, if HSBC has been one of the largest vaults for middle layers of gld holding companies and now they are saying..."GET YOUR GOLD OUT OF OUR VAULTS", then what effect does that have on the market?

The customers have 2 choices:

1] Dump the gold at prevailing market rate

2] Locate another method of storing the gold. This would entail an increased price for storing the gold presumably.

So if it costs more to store the gold, there will be an artificial increase on the gold market because gold holders will be more incentivized to dump the gold rather than locate another storage facility (my guess is that there are not too many).

In other words, tis is simply another way that the NWO is manipulating the Gold market to be artificially lower than it should be.

Of course this artificaila point of equilibrium will need to be corrected in the long term which ultimately will result in a much higher price later.

When they start brazenly manipulating the gold market like this, it is nuts.

Gold price increases over the past few years compared to declines in purchasing power of the currency are not consistent although they should be. This is due to gold price manipulation, they will need to be corrected eventually and when that happens gold will most likely rise dramatically.

But what do I know, could be that Rockefeller has located a gold planet somewhere and is Stargating all the mining activities into CFR HQ

[larsonstdoc]

  HSBC is in a lot trouble.  They are one of the major investors in Dubai.
http://seekingalpha.com/article/175706-u-s-banks-relatively-safe-from-dubai-hsbc-is-not

U.S. Banks Relatively Safe from Dubai: HSBC Is Not
December 01, 2009 | 
 

As nervous as I was on Friday morning about the ability of global banks to duck the impact on a payment standstill at Dubai World (see prior post “Eid’s pause won’t help Western Banks as Dubai reels” Nov 27-09), the U.S. stock markets seemed to sluff it off during the holiday-shortened day. Certain U.S. Bank shares came off a bit, but the Canadian contingent actually traded higher on the day.

Courtesy of the NYT, I now can spread the word that U.S. banks have but US$13 billion of exposure in the United Arab Emirates according to the Bank of International Settlements. Of the seven Emirates of the UAE, it can only be assumed that Dubai, and not Abu Dhabi, is the primary borrower of the Gulf nation.

Compared to US$51 billion held by British banks, US$13B doesn’t sound like much. Although the majority of the British banking system is owned by the U.K. government, exposure is still exposure. But let’s look at the big American names:

Bank of America (BAC): US$257.7B
Citibank (C): US$140.8B
Goldman Sachs (GS): US$65B
JP Morgan (JPM): US$162.2B
Wells Fargo (WFC): US$122.2B

Total equity: US$747.9B

Good news, even if the entire US$13B exposure was wiped out, it would erase but 2% of the capital at these firms (assuming they held the vast majority of the Dubai loans). Makes you feel as though you can sleep at night…except for the exposure that the American banks have to Barclays (BCS), Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and Standard Chartered (SCBFF.PK).

HSBC (HBC) itself has US$17B exposed to the UAE (14% of its equity), more than the dollar value of the entire American banking system's exposure to the UAE.

Makes you wonder.

[jofortruth]

I thought it was interesting that a caller to AJ's show yesterday reminded us that Lindsey Williams said that he was told "they were going to bankrupt the Arab world."
http://z4.invisionfree.com/The_Great_Deception/index.php?showtopic=4920

Now look at what's happening in Dubai!
 

[gunDriller]

like a die hard film

Die Hard 3.  CLASSIC !  just re-watched it.

remember the scene at the end where the cable snaps and cuts the guys body in half ?

and the gold bricks - all those gold bricks.  imitation gold bricks, perhaps, but still.