There’s a great mystery in the world of gold, one made even more mysterious because getting solid information about the yellow metal is harder than uncovering nuclear secrets.
The gold vaults of London are opaque. I’ve never met anybody who truly knows what’s going on with the physical flows there.
Are the vaults full or are they emptying?
Is the gold in any given vault owned free and clear? Or is it encumbered so many times over that an ownership dispute might resemble a rugby scrum?
Is the gold flowing into or out of these vaults on a net basis?
All I’ve ever been able to find are analyses of reported data that is impossible to fully believe or trust.
So, when talking about the particulars of physical gold bullion flows, we don’t really “know” much for certain.
A Unique Moment In The Gold Futures Market
However over in the paper markets (or rather, ““markets””, because they’re completely rigged in the favor of the big banks), we have weekly insight into the flows of paper-based bets on gold.
Known as ‘the futures market’, this is where contracts are traded on the future price of gold.
You might decide to purchase a gold future with a ‘December delivery’ which means you will be ‘long’ the price of gold. If the price moves higher as the contract delivery date approaches, you’ll make money.