I earlier posted the following under a mark leibovit reference: Interesting as I emailed CEF about the recent reports of ETFs, funds not holding actual gold. They assured me they held actual metals. I am following up with them via phone. FYI....same family of funds runs CEF, GTU and SBT. Premiums in this order to NAV as of last nights close is as follows: prem = 8.9% prem = 7.6% discount = (4.7%) since posting that earlier I read another article on those holdings and thought it might be of interest for those who like me want to hold some metals but not necessarily in my hands. My disclaimer....I own shares in all of them (I'm starting to sound like Peter and his EVG holdings . . not....lol!) "The following was reported on LeMetropole Café today: CEF - CENTRAL FUND OF CANADA - IMPORTANT This is very important information, as given the new bombshell disclosed today regarding the Scotia Mocotta bullion bank's lack of actual gold and silver inventory, I want to make sure you understand where your gold and silver securities WILL be safe and where they WON'T. As you know, I have been a major proponent of the closed-end funds Central Fund of Canada (CEF - 60% gold/40% silver), Central Gold Trust (GTU - 100% gold), and Silver Bullion Trust (SBT.T - 100% silver) since roughly 2003. Unlike ETF's that claim to have underlying gold and silver assets (such as GLD, IAU, and countless others), CEF, GTU, and SBT.T actually own the underlying gold and silver in their vaults. And as closed-end funds, CEF, GTU, and SBT.T only change (increase) the amount of bullion in their holdings when they execute periodic equity offerings, at which point they immediately purchase the gold and silver for storage in their vaults. GLD, on the other hand, claims to be continually buying and selling gold, however their prospectus neither calls for regular audits of their holdings nor prohibits them from leasing or otherwise encumbering such assets. Frankly, I view GLD as potentially one of the most dangerous securities to own on earth, at the least ill-intended and the most an outright fraud. Anyhow, in the bombshell interview linked to below, there are vague references to CEF, as well as its CEO, Stefan Spicer. The wording of the Zero Hedge article quotes Spicer as saying he knows of someone that had trouble receiving 15,000 ounces of silver from Hong Kong, and thus some might assume he was referring to CEF's silver. To start, the info written is wrong in that it refers to Spicer as a "friend of CEF", and secondly it was not referring to CEF's silver at all (which by the way, totals more than 67 million ounces). http://www.kingworldnews.com http://article/latest-gold-fraud-bombshell-canadas-only-bullion-bank-gold-vault-practically-empty For the record, CEF sources NONE of its silver and gold from Hong Kong, and stores NONE of its metal in the bank in question, Scotia Mocotta of Toronto, which is part of the Bank of Nova Scotia, Canada's only official bullion bank. CEF has done all of its equity offerings with CIBC, and stores all of its metal in the CIBC warehouses in Toronto, Vancouver, and Regina. All are in Level 10 vaults (the most secure in the world), and the bullion assets of CEF, GTU, and SBT are all audited bi-annually by Company officers, with third party inspection by Ernst & Young. There are no securities that I feel more safe about (other than actually holding physical gold and silver personally) than CEF, GTU, and SBT. In fact, the Chairman of GTU is none other than John Embry, in my view the most famous (and honorable) Precious Metals investor in Canada, as well as a leader in the fight against gold and silver manipulation. Andy P.S. By the way, few realize that SBT.T exists given that it just went public, only trades in Canada (CEF and GTU trade on the AMEX as well), and still has a market cap of just $30 million (compared to $3.1 billion for CEF and $500 million for GTU). But it does exist, and in fact now trades at a DISCOUNT to NAV of roughly 8% (compared to 8% and 6% PREMIUMS) for CEF and GTU. I believe SBT is one of the most undervalued assets on the planet, and once its assets reach $75 million (which could nearly happen when all the original warrants are exercised), I expect it, too, to be listed on the AMEX. Given its low level of liquidity (roughly 25,000 shares of average trading volume compared to 1.1 million for CEF and 55,000 for GTU), this investment right now is only suitable for retail investors. But it won't be long, in my opinion, when both it and GTU become major global investment vehicles, much as CEF has already accomplished. Well, just this morning I got a bit more on the HSBC/gold story. Seems that the retail gold operation was handled by a woman administrator, who died. The "story" goes that she handled all the paperwork, etc., and had for a very long time. Well, (as the story goes), when others went in to take over the operation, they couldn't figure what was what. Word to me is that HSBC has taken considerable losses ... which can only mean that they had to pay some people off in cash because their gold wasn't there. Who knows if this is the real story or a coverup. I can say that this info came to me via a veteran bullion dealer whom I have met personally. Where you have your gold makes a difference. There are good places like the Sprott Bullion Trust (PHYS) and questionable ones like GLD."