Bundesbank Joins Fed in Demanding Secrecy For Gold Swaps

Today's first story is from yesterday's edition of The Wall Street Journal... and is posted as a GATA release because it's subscriber protected. The first paragraph reads... "The Federal Reserve, forced by Congress to release details on more than a trillion dollars' worth of loans made during the financial crisis, disclosed the breadth of its lending to U.S. businesses desperate to raise cash and the surprising degree to which it supported struggling foreign banks in the worst days of 2008 and 2009." Chris Powell's headline reads "Fed loaned hundreds of billions to foreign banks and companies"... and the link is here.

Here's another story from yesterday's Wall Street Journal on the same subject. This one was sent to me by Washington state reader S.A. The headline of the article reads "A Glimpse at the Socialist Senator Who Fought the Fed". It's a story about Senator Bernie Sanders... but also deservedly mentions Congressmen Grayson and Paul. The link to the story is here.

Washington state reader S.A. has one more piece on this Federal Reserve story. It's posted over at Bloomberg... and is headlined "Fed Names Recipients of $3.3 Trillion in Crisis Aid"... and the link is here.

The next item is a posting from zerohedge.com that was sent to me by reader 'David in California'. The flight from domestic equity funds in the U.S.A. is unrelenting. The headline reads "30 Weeks of Consecutive Equity Fund Outflows". I suggest you find the time to run through this... as the graph alone is worth the trip. The link is here.

David has another zerohedge.com posting for us today. It's U.S. real estate related... and it's as ugly as my worst nightmares could imagine. The headline reads "Q3 Foreclosure Sales Volume Plunges As Discount On Foreclosed Homes Hits 5 Year High". It's depressing, but not surprising... and I suggest you spend a few minutes reading through it... and the link is here.

Last week I ran a video clip of British politician Nigel Farage ripping the European parliament a new one. He's at it again, as he makes it abundantly clear that the money issue is what it always has been, a core question of democracy. There are two interviews posted in this GATA release... and if you have the time, they are worth listening to. The headline reads "Nigel Farage: The money struggle is the struggle against totalitarianism". Chris Powell's preamble is worth your time as well. The link to all is here.

My last four items today are all precious metals related. The first one is another GATA release bearing the headline "Flash: Bundesbank joins Fed in demanding secrecy for gold swaps". The Bundesbank brushed off 13 specific questions posed by the German journalist Lars Schall, whom GATA had encouraged to pose the questions. The first of the questions was: "Does the Bundesbank have gold swap arrangements with the United States/Federal Reserve?". The answer to that question... along with the other 12 questions... is linked here.

In a Bloomberg story filed from Beijing earlier this morning is this headline that reads "China Gold Imports Soar Almost Five fold on Inflation". Hidden in the story, is this paragraph... "Gold imports this year by India have already exceeded 2009 levels as consumers boost jewelry purchases, the World Gold Council said Nov. 17. Imports totaled 624 metric tons by the end of the third quarter, compared with 559 tons in all of 2009, according to the London-based industry group today." I thank reader U.D. for sending this along very late last night. In my opinion, it's a must read... and the link is here.

Here's an Interview With CFTC Commissioner Bart Chilton. It was sent to me by reader Chris Jansel early yesterday morning. Silver analyst Ted Butler also mentioned it in his letter to subscribers yesterday... and I'm just going to steal his intro and post the link... "An important force for the advancement of action on position limits seems to be forming in the person of CFTC Commissioner Bart Chilton. This is extremely encouraging. On Sunday, fellow subscriber, Dr. Dave Janda, conducted a very informative and constructive interview with Commissioner Chilton on his radio program. Ihighly recommend you have a listen"... and the link is here.

Lastly today, is a little something from James Turk. Reflecting on the great recent performances of gold and silver, Free Gold Money Report editor James Turk writes that the precious metals increasingly are in strong hands and aren't likely to be sold for national currencies at any price... but rather more likely to be spent in themselves. That is, writes Turk, the founder of GoldMoney and consultant to GATA, the metals will have become the premier currencies. Turk's commentary is headlined "The Precious Metals Power Higher". The link to this must read commentary is here.