Gold Shares ETF Inventory Reaches 800 Tonnes

They've been busy over at the SPDR Gold Shares ETF (NYSEArca:GLD), adding about 15 tonnes to the trust over the last week, breaching the 800 tonne level for the first time ever.
The gold price barely seems to notice, but that may change soon enough...

Full Disclosure: Long GLD at time of writing.

Comments

[da_rubberba...:]

What data do you have to show their gold holdings

Jan 21 06:47 AM

[Lawrence J....:]

GLD threatens to undermine gold as a store of value. One reason gold has been a good store of value is that the logisitical obstacles to making sizeable investments in the pysical metal have limited the swings in demand. GLD changes all that.

Hoarding of physical gold by investors through GLD is too easy for our collective good. I expect that it will be made illegal by law and treaty as soon as the next bubble happens and trading in GLD is identified as a major contributor.

Jan 21 08:22 AM

[pockyclips ...:]

Printing fiat currency is even easier than "hoarding" gold! We should eliminate the former first.


On Jan 21 08:22 AM Lawrence Kramer wrote:

> GLD threatens to undermine gold as a store of value. One reason
> gold has been a good store of value is that the logisitical obstacles
> to making sizeable investments in the pysical metal have limited
> the swings in demand. GLD changes all that.
>
> Hoarding of physical gold by investors through GLD is too easy for
> our collective good. I expect that it will be made illegal by law
> and treaty as soon as the next bubble happens and trading in GLD
> is identified as a major contributor.

Jan 21 08:36 AM

[auto44:]

I guess we should make savings accounts illegal also as the ease of hoarding dollars probably makes them vary. gld is just a convenient savings account for folks who would rather save gold than paper. Or like most of us need a way to invest a part of our money in gold.


On Jan 21 08:22 AM Lawrence Kramer wrote:

> GLD threatens to undermine gold as a store of value. One reason gold
> has been a good store of value is that the logisitical obstacles
> to making sizeable investments in the pysical metal have limited
> the swings in demand. GLD changes all that.
>
> Hoarding of physical gold by investors through GLD is too easy for
> our collective good. I expect that it will be made illegal by law
> and treaty as soon as the next bubble happens and trading in GLD
> is identified as a major contributor.

Jan 21 09:06 AM

[sdavid0419:]

I am long GLD also and I only have 1 question: Who verifies that the gold they say is there is actually there? In light of Bernie Minnar it appears that the SEC could have investigated that gold being there 8 times and it doesn't necessarily have to be there.

I have been trying to buy actual gold coins and am finding it darn near impossible. China is trying to buy billions in gold and they aren't having much luck. So again I ask How do we know the gold is there and this isn't just another scam? The government has thrown billions in taxpayer money at the problem but has done zilch to restore any confidence in any of the markets.

Jan 21 09:14 AM

[Lawrence J....:]

Nice try, guys, but fiat money is how a stable and powerful nation monetizes its stability and power. If the world used only specie-backed currency, our currency would only be as credible as Biafra's. On what planet would be good for us?

And my whole point is that gold has BECOME too easy a savings account. I want the dollar savings account to have an advantage; those dollars get recycled here into mortgages. Dollars paid for physical gold get recycled in South Africa.

They've moved the pins on the economic bowling alley. Rolling the ball in the same old way over the same old spots will not produce a very good score.

Jan 21 09:15 AM

[HA65MPH:]

PERSONALY, I FIND GOLD 'THE REAL' STUFF ..IN MY HAND IS BETTER THAN 2.00 IN THE BUSH !

Jan 21 09:46 AM

[Gedankonomist:]

According to silverseek (see tinyurl.com/957tas) there's only about 150,000 tons of gold in human hands (using some estimates). So this represents about 0.6% of the world's gold supply. That is, assuming that this 800 tons of gold actually exists, and is not just paper.

Jan 21 10:03 AM

[Did U Think...:]

Who is to say that they even have any gold? Perhaps the CEO is the next Madoff?

The gold in my floor safe is certainly there. I check it every week to be sure.

Nothing is "as good as gold" except physical posession of the physical metal.

Jan 21 01:48 PM

[auto44:]

You are right, and it is listed as one of the risks in the prospectis. However you can say the same for almost any investment. How do you know the mutual fund has stocks in it etc .


On Jan 21 09:14 AM sdavid0419 wrote:

> I am long GLD also and I only have 1 question: Who verifies that
> the gold they say is there is actually there? In light of Bernie
> Minnar it appears that the SEC could have investigated that gold
> being there 8 times and it doesn't necessarily have to be there.
>
>
> I have been trying to buy actual gold coins and am finding it darn
> near impossible. China is trying to buy billions in gold and they
> aren't having much luck. So again I ask How do we know the gold is
> there and this isn't just another scam? The government has thrown
> billions in taxpayer money at the problem but has done zilch to restore
> any confidence in any of the markets.

Jan 21 04:54 PM

[auto44:]

I would guess that the chances of losing gold stored at home are probably higher than losing gold in the etf, at least that's the way i am betting. There are always risks no matter what we do.Probably the bigest risk is our buying and selling jugements.


On Jan 21 01:48 PM Did U Think The Ponzi Scheme Would Last? wrote:

> Who is to say that they even have any gold? Perhaps the CEO is the
> next Madoff?
>
> The gold in my floor safe is certainly there. I check it every week
> to be sure.
>
> Nothing is "as good as gold" except physical posession of the physical
> metal.

Jan 21 04:59 PM

[auto44:]

It's nice that we have different options and can use what is personally comfortable to purchase and store gold.


On Jan 21 09:46 AM HA65MPH wrote:

> PERSONALY, I FIND GOLD 'THE REAL' STUFF ..IN MY HAND IS BETTER THAN
> 2.00 IN THE BUSH !

Jan 21 05:06 PM

[walker6713:]

A bank may have savings accounts totaling a million dollars. They may only have a couple of hundred thousand available because they have found that that will more than cover their cash requirements. So maybe gld has just enough goal available to meet everyday requirements. Lets hope not.

Jan 21 05:20 PM

[SoYouThinkY...:]

If you are that worried about having GLD taken by the US Government then consider CEF (Central Fund of Canada). This ETF holds 58.5% gold, 37.9% silver and 3.5% cash, with the bullion stored in a vault in Canada. Visit their site: www.centralfund.com/. Expenses are .43% compared to GLD's .40%.

Jan 21 11:32 PM

[Old Trader:]

My largest concern with GLD..(as well as any other "paper" holding of PMs) is NOT malfeasance, ala Madoff, or the AmEx salad oil scandal of the 70's, but government confiscation of the physical. Its a lot easier to do when its all sitting in a warehouse. Somehow, I just don't see the gov. sending troops out to dig up coffee cans out of backyards all over the country.

Jan 22 12:22 AM

[Whippet:]

I'm extremely bullish on gold, and am long GLD and GDX. And I don't lose sleep at night about not having (much) physical gold for one reason- if the time comes where I NEED to have it in my hands, I'm going to need guns, ammo, dried beans and rice, and a tank farm filled with diesel in my back yard MORE than the actual yellow metal itself. Good luck trying to buy my generator with your Krugerrands...

Jan 22 03:04 PM

[auto44:]

The gold is in a vault in London for the (GLD) fund.


On Jan 22 12:22 AM old trader wrote:

any other "paper" holding
> of PMs) is NOT malfeasance, ala Madoff, or the AmEx salad oil scandal
> of the 70's, but government confiscation of the physical. Its a lot
> easier to do when its all sitting in a warehouse. Somehow, I just
> don't see the gov. sending troops out to dig up coffee cans out of
> backyards all over the country.

Jan 22 09:22 PM