On the one hand, the Swiss decided not to force banks to hold large gold reserves, so gold demand won’t be rising in the little country of Switzerland with its 8 million citizens, fewer than the number of residents in New Jersey.
On the other hand, the prime minister of the enormous country of India today lifted restrictions on the import of gold into his country, which has 1.2 billion citizens and is the second biggest user of gold in the world. So demand for gold will be rising in that country.
So what will likely happen to the price of gold? With Indian goldsmiths suddenly free to again import large quantities of gold to satisfy their fellow countrymen’s penchant for gold jewelry, what should investors do?
Very few gold contracts are being forfilled on COMEX when the actual commodity is demanded. When a contract is not forfilled, the recipient gets dollars.
Some of the trading is shifting to Shanghai where the rules are stricter. The seller must actually have the stuff physically. If not, the seller goes to jail.
There is way too much paper in the market; leasing of gold, naked short selling and lack of central bank audits.
If there’s a war, the central banks will want their money (gold) back.