Tom Cloud: Wholesale Gold Inventories Evaporating!

• Tom Cloud: Wholesale Gold Inventories Evaporating! 
  by John Rubino, http://dollarcollapse.com/ 
  In this week’s interview with gold dealer Tom Cloud of National Numismatic Associates, we cover one very timely topic – the sudden decline in gold inventories – and one perennial question – how can an individual put physical precious metals in an IRA.
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  DollarCollapse: Good to talk to you again Tom. Let’s start with your observation that the major gold wholesalers don’t seem to have their usual level of inventory. Why the sudden tightness?
  Tom Cloud: Of the seven or eight major wholesalers that send me price sheets, almost every one is having supply issues. Some [coins and bars] I can get right away, but most take between a few days and two weeks.
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  The wholesalers don’t necessarily know why this is, but some speculate that the 58 tons that China’s central bank purchased in September was responsible, and that [the Chinese] purchased at least that much more in October. When a big seller elects to sell something they don’t even put it in the market any more, they just call up China’s central bank, and we see the report four weeks later, if we see it at all.
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  And it’s not just China. Central banks in general are buying. Until 2011 central banks were selling gold but in the last two years hardly any are selling and many are buying. I’ve been doing this for 35 years and last month made my first sale to a central bank.
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  Another factor is the new Basel III agreement in which gold counts for what it’s worth rather than 50% of what it’s worth, which makes it a more attractive asset for banks.  And the final factor is that more Americans are moving into metals, which is producing more small orders to go with the big orders from central banks. It’s different for each wholesaler, but the overall effect is to tighten inventories.
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  DC: That’s great news for gold bugs. Now, for those who have money in an IRA and want to convert some of it to bullion, how can they do that?
  TC: We’re starting to see people actually move physical gold out of these ETFs. GLD, for instance, has been trading at a big discount. Why would GLD be selling at a discount if there wasn’t anything wrong with the fund? Of course there’s plenty wrong with it, as Andrew McGuire has testified.
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  read more!

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