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I just came across this article (I wish I saw it the
day it came out) but a few days late is better than
never. While the conspiracy theorists are still having fun making a lot out
of nothing regarding the repatriation of “some” of German’s
gold, I prefer to let the facts speak for themselves as I wrote about the
other day. In this piece, we hear from Carsten
Fritsch of Commerzbank and again reference is made to Carl-Ludwig Thiele’s comments that
I referred to in my earlier piece and which, not surprisingly, the gold
conspiracy theorists out there failed (conveniently) to even make mention of.
I will focus on the key points. You can read the full article HERE. [Emphasis Mine]
Dispelling conspiracy theories
During the height of the Cold War in the 1950s and
1960s, West Germany feared an invasion by the Soviet Union. In order to
ensure that its gold would not fall into enemy hands, the West German
government divided its reserves among the Allied powers. Some 374 tons of
gold were deposited in Paris, 450 tons went to London, and 1,500 tons were
sent to New York City.
There has been an ongoing discussion about how
Germany's gold reserves should be stored, and whether or not they even exist
at all. Fritsch said that the German Central Bank, “with its lack of
transparency,” is partially responsible for the spread of these
conspiracy theories. If the Central Bank had regularly done its own inventory
of its gold reserves, then it would have been able to take the wind out of
the sails of the conspiracy theorist, according to Fritsch.
“In this way, the partial repatriation of
Germany's gold reserves will help cool down the debate,” he said.
Gold reserves safe and sound
Carl-Ludwig Thiele, who sits on the German Central
Bank's board of directors, said that he was able to personally access
Germany's gold reserves deposited abroad. He tried to assure the German
public that the gold reserves are safe and accounted for.
“Everywhere we were welcomed with open
arms,” Thiele told a press conference in Frankfurt. “We were
shown the inventory lists and inspected individual gold bars, which were then
crosschecked with those lists.”
Now that the Cold War is over, Germany no longer has
to store its gold reserves abroad to ensure their safety in the event of a
Soviet invasion. Nonetheless, depositing reserves abroad still serves two
important purposes, according to Thiele.B
… he said that it remains important to keep some of
Germany's gold reserves in countries that have strong foreign currencies
like the pound and the dollar. That's why deposits will remain in
London and New York City, although the Central Bank does plan
to move 300 tons of gold from the US back to Germany.
And while on the subject of gold…I remain
cognizant of the fact that the conspiracy groups out there were all pointing
to central bank easing as the precursor to a rocket-shot for the price of
gold. 3 or some will argue 5 rounds of QE for the United States, printing by
the European Central Bank, currency devaluation in an escalating currency war
and massive easing announced by Japan Sunday night and here we are with gold
still sitting roughly $200.00 off its all-time highs and silver remains
significantly off its all-time highs. But wait … it’s not time
yet. As per the latest news making the rounds of the usual club, the
moon-shot in the price of metals is right around the corner.
Buy and hold gold and silver as investments
folks…I’m all for it and in fact I encourage and advocate that
every portfolio should have some. But if the last 5 years of hearing the same
nonsense from folks who stand to profit of rising gold and silver sales (most
of the usual suspects have something to sell you) hasn’t shown you that
they got it all wrong then don’t know what will.
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