Cross Currency Table – (Bloomberg)

Gold prices pushed higher in Asia at the open Monday as the dollar fell near a 2 week low, which supported bullion’s safe haven appeal. 

Bullion futures saw their greatest advance in 4 weeks on March 23 with many investors believing that gold demand will continue as an alternative to the weak dollar. Market participants will watch the pending US Home Sales for February today.

This morning German business sentiment surprised markets as it rose for the 5th month in a row in March, showing that Europe's largest economy continues to outpace other euro zone members struggling with the sovereign debt crisis.

The Munich-based IFO think tank said on Monday its business climate index, based on a monthly survey of some 7,000 companies, rose to 109.8 in March from a revised 109.7 in February.  Although German manufacturing contracted this year, the closely-watched IFO index blew away expectations for a steady reading and climbed to its highest level since July 2011.

1 Kilo Tungsten Filled Gold Bar Found in UK
What appears to be a tungsten filled gold bar has been found – this time in the UK. It is believed that a scrap dealer bought the Metalor 1 kilo gold bar of 99.98% purity from a member of the public.


Tungsten Filled Gold Bar

Metalor are a leading international gold refiner and bar manufacturer, headquartered in Zurich. The bar appears to have been tampered with and may have had holes drilled into it or melted out and then had tungsten rods inserted or tungsten poured into the holes.

Tungsten is a metal with a similar density to gold but which bullion dealers and experts in physical bullion can easily identify.

It follows an incident of a tungsten filled gold bar (500 gram) originating from an unnamed bank being found by Heraeus in Germany two years ago and there have been rumours of tungsten filled gold bars in Asia, China and in Vietnam.

There was also an unverified report in 2009 that the Chinese received a fake shipment of gold that, in fact, was tungsten. The bars have led to much speculation regarding the possibility that some of the gold bars making up central bank gold reserves may not be investment grade gold bullion.

Presidential candidate, Ron Paul has raised the question as to whether the gold bars in Fort Knox are authentic and even asked whether some of the US gold reserves have been secretly sold off and asked questions regarding the authenticity of the US gold reserves gold bars.

In the UK, there have been doubts about the quality of Britain's paltry remaining gold stock as some of the gold bars are reportedly cracked, have fissures and are ‘beginning to crumble’. The Bank of England have denied suggestions that the gold may have been ‘adulterated’, and insisted that most of the hoard is in ‘mint condition’.

Some have simplistically suggested that this latest discovery is bearish for the gold market as uncertainty will put off prospective investors and buyers. We believe this is incorrect and that the discovery is in fact bullish for the market.

If there are many fake or forged gold bars in the bullion market then there is even less supply of physical bullion then had hither to been assumed.

Also, it is important to remember that tungsten filled gold bars still have value as tungsten is a rare and expensive metal. Many of MF Global’s clients who lost their entire gold investment (every cent) would wish that they had owned gold bars – even if some or all of them had been adulterated with tungsten.

Uncertainty regarding the provenance of gold bars will lead to gold buyers becoming more diligent in their purchases. It will add to the existing trend of moving away from ETFs and other large institutional vehicles where audit and authenticity of gold bars is an issue – not to mention significant counter party risk.

Australian 1 oz Nugget from Perth Mint

It will likely lead to further demand for bullion coins and gold sovereigns as 1 ounce formats (and 0.2354 ounce coins) are uneconomical and nearly impossible to forge and forgeries are very easily detected. It will also lead to further demand for storage of small coins and bars in allocated accounts in specialist depositories.

The incident shows the importance of dealing with reputable and trusted experts in physical bullion coins and bars and with dealing with counter parties who take these issues seriously.

For breaking news and commentary on financial markets and gold, follow us on Twitter.

OTHER NEWS
(Bloomberg) -- Economist Gartman Says He’s Buying More Gold Priced in Yen
Economist Dennis Gartman said he’s buying more gold priced in yen after selling some of his position last week. He commented today in his daily Gartman Letter.

 (Bloomberg) -- Gold Traders Trim Bets on Price Rise, CFTC Data Shows
Hedge-fund managers and other large speculators decreased their net-long position in New York gold futures in the week ended March 20, according to U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission data.

Speculative long positions, or bets prices will rise, outnumbered short positions by 131,463 contracts on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, the Washington-based commission said in its Commitments of Traders report. Net-long positions fell by 19,443 contracts, or 13 percent, from a week earlier.

Gold futures rose this week, gaining 0.4 percent to $1,662.40 a troy ounce at today's close.

Miners, producers, jewelers and other commercial users were net-short 166,138 contracts, down 25,550 contracts, or 13 percent, from the previous week.

Each Friday the CFTC publishes aggregate numbers for long and short positions for speculators such as hedge funds and institutional investors, as well as commercial companies that buy or sell futures to protect against price moves. Analysts and investors follow changes in speculators' positions because such transactions can reflect an expectation of a change in prices.

(Bloomberg) -- Silver Traders Trim Bets on Price Rise, CFTC Data Shows
 Hedge-fund managers and other large speculators decreased their net-long position in New York silver futures in the week ended March 20, according to U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission data.

Speculative long positions, or bets prices will rise, outnumbered short positions by 21,169 contracts on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, the Washington-based commission said in its Commitments of Traders report. Net-long positions fell by 647 contracts, or 3 percent, from a week earlier.

Silver futures fell this week, dropping 1.0 percent to $32.27 a troy ounce at today's close.

Miners, producers, jewelers and other commercial users were net-short 32,126 contracts, down 3,505 contracts, or 10 percent, from the previous week.

Each Friday the CFTC publishes aggregate numbers for long and short positions for speculators such as hedge funds and institutional investors, as well as commercial companies that buy or sell futures to protect against price moves. Analysts and investors follow changes in speculators' positions because such transactions can reflect an expectation of a change in prices.

(PTI) -- 300-year-old gold coins found in Sandur
Over 200 ancient gold coins, believed to be 300-years old, were today unearthed during a drainage work near a house at nearby Sandur.

A total of 213 antique gold coins, depicting the images of Lord Shiva, his consort Parvati and the Moon, were found by the house owner while taking up drainage work on his land, police said.

The gold coins also bear a brief description in Devanagiri script.

The coins were seized after the house owner informed the police, they said.

Archaeological officials from Hampi are expected to reach Sandur to conduct numismatic studies, police said.

(Bloomberg) -- Jewelers in India to Protest in Delhi Over Higher Gold Taxes
 Jewelers in India, the world’s biggest gold buyer, will hold a rally in New Delhi today to protest against higher taxes as a shutdown extends into a tenth day, an industry group said.

About 80,000 people are expected to gather to demand a withdrawal of a 1 percent excise duty on non-branded jewelry, said Bachhraj Bamalwa, chairman of the All India Gems & Jewellery Trade Federation in a phone interview. About 75 percent of the nation’s jewelers will keep stores closed today and some are seeking an indefinite strike, he said. It’s the longest shutdown by the industry, he said.

“We are losing a lot of money every day,” Bamalwa said. “There’s pracitcally no demand from India for gold,” he said.

(Bloomberg) -- TD Securities Cuts 2012 Gold Forecast to $1,765 An Ounce
Gold prices will average $1,765 an ounce this year, down from an earlier forecast of $1,925, Bart Melek, the head of commodity strategy at TD Securities in Toronto, said in a report today. The bank also cut its forecasts for silver, platinum, palladium, copper, nickel, zinc, lead and aluminum.

NEWS
(Reuters) -- Gold hits one-week high; dollar, oil eyed‎
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/03/26/markets-precious-idUKL3E8EQ0T420120326

(Bloomberg) -- Spot Gold, Futures Advance After Weekly Gain; Silver Climbs‎
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-03-25/spot-gold-futures-advance-after-weekly-gain-silver-climbs.html

(Market Watch) -- Gold up nearly $20 to finish higher for the week
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/gold-futures-trade-higher-as-dollar-declines-2012-03-23

(The Financial Times) -- Spain ‘causing concern,’ Monti warns
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/70fbb99c-768e-11e1-a6f3-00144feab49a.html

COMMENTARY
(The Financial Times) -- Spain Welcome back to the crisis
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/3e736dd2-74d9-11e1-ab8b-00144feab49a.html#axzz1qCyvbmdy

(Zero Hedge) -- "Fiscally Credible" UK And Its Upcoming 100 Year Gilts
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/things-make-you-go-hmmm-such-fiscally-credible-uk-and-its-upcoming-100-year-gilts

(Zero Hedge) -- Tungsten-Filled 1 Kilo Gold Bar Found In The UK
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/tungsten-filled-1-kilo-gold-bar-found-uk

(The NY Times) -- The Age of the Shadow Bank Run
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/25/business/the-bank-run-updated.html?_r=2&adxnnl=1&src=busln&adxnnlx=1332620947-xVA4DQwVm/DsMlV2dKe0Eg#

(Max Keiser) -- “Everyone should own a little Silver.” Is this even possible given
today’s tight supplies?
http://maxkeiser.com/2012/03/25/everyone-should-own-a-little-silver-is-this-even-possible-given-todays-tight-supplies/

(The Big Picture) -- Big Banks Continue to Suck at the Government Teat With Never-Ending
Stealth Bailouts
http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2012/03/open-ended-bailouts-are-continuing/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

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-- Posted Monday, 26 March 2012 | Digg This Article