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Daily Dispatches

Ambrose Evans-Pritchard: Putin plots Europe's deindustrialization

Section: Daily Dispatches

By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard
The Telegraph, London
Thursday, November 24, 2022

Vladimir Putin lost his energy war this year. He may still win it next year by exhausting Europe’s will to resist through another gas and power crunch.

The secondary target of his bombing blitz on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure is the EU itself. The damage deprives Europe of crucial electricity imports from Ukrainian plants. Power will have to flow in the opposite direction to prevent a humanitarian disaster in Ukrainian cities.

Gold miners odered to sell 20% of refined bullion to Ghana

Section: Daily Dispatches

By Ekow Dontoh
Bloomberg News
Friday, November 25, 2022

Ghana ordered large gold-mining companies to sell 20% of the metal they refine to the nation's central bank, as the government embarks on a plan to barter bullion for fuel.

The directive will be effective Jan. 1, Minister for Lands and Natural Resources Samuel Jinapor said in a notice posted on Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia's Facebook page. The government also ordered small-scale miners to sell their gold to the state-owned Precious Minerals Marketing Co.

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Ghana plans to buy oil with gold instead of U.S. dollars

Section: Daily Dispatches

By Cooper Inveen, Christian Akorlie, and Sofia Christensen
Reuters
Thursday, November 24, 2022

ACCRA, Ghana -- Ghana's government is working on a new policy to buy oil products with gold rather than U.S. dollar reserves, Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia said on Facebook today.

The move is meant to tackle dwindling foreign currency reserves coupled with demand for dollars by oil importers, which is weakening the local cedi and increasing living costs.

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William Pesek: China's gold stockpiling is a warning sign on dollar

Section: Daily Dispatches

By William Pesek
Asia Times, Hong Kong
Thursday, November 24, 2022

TOKYO -- One of the worst-kept secrets in global central banking is the extent to which Chinese officials are swapping dollars for gold.

Governor Yi Gang's team at the People's Bank of China isn't admitting as much. The PBOC doesn't have to, though, given the clear policy trajectory Chinese leader Xi Jinping has pursued in recent years: internationalizing of the yuan as the top rival to the dollar.

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Craig Hemke at Sprott Money: Comex fun and games

Section: Daily Dispatches

By Craig Hemke
Sprott Money, Toronto
Tuesday, November 22, 2022

From time to time, we like to update you on the scale and scope of two arcane Comex systems that The Banks like to regularly abuse for profit. Let's do so again today.

Let's start with the "exchange for physical" (EFP) process that The Banks have abused for years as they arbitrage the difference between the spot and futures prices. 

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Rare gold coins reveal new Roman emperor

Section: Daily Dispatches

By Aylin Woodwar
The Wall Street Journal
Wednesday, November 23, 2022

A new analysis of rare Roman coins said to have been unearthed more than three centuries ago but long dismissed as forgeries provides compelling evidence that the gold pieces are authentic -- and that the crown-wearing man whose likeness appears on one of them was a real historical figure who ruled as a Roman emperor almost 2,000 years ago.

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How Celtic gold heist in Germany unfolded in just 9 minutes

Section: Daily Dispatches

By Frank Jordans
Associated Press
Wednesday, November 23, 2022

BERLIN -- Thieves who broke into a southern German museum and stole hundreds of ancient gold coins got in and out in nine minutes without raising the alarm, officials said today, in a further sign that the heist was the work of organized criminals.

Police have launched an international hunt for the thieves and their loot, consisting of 483 Celtic coins and a lump of unworked gold that were discovered during an archeological dig near the present-day town of Manching in 1999.

China thought to be stockpiling gold to cut dependence on U.S. dollar

Section: Daily Dispatches

By Munemasa Horio
Nikkei Asia, Tokyo
Tuesday, November 22, 2022

TOKYO -- Central banks are snapping up gold this year, but it is uncertain which ones are behind most of that shopping spree, fueling speculation that China is a big player.

Seeing how Russia has been hit by monetary sanctions by the West, China and some other countries must be hurrying to reduce dependence on the dollar, analysts reckon.

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Another day, another cryptocurrency fraud

Section: Daily Dispatches

Two Estonians Arrested in $575 Million Crypto Fraud and Money-Laundering Scheme

By Kanishka Singh
Reuters
Monday, November 21, 2022

WASHINGTON -- Two Estonian citizens were arrested in Tallinn, Estonia, on an 18-count indictment for their alleged involvement in a $575 million cryptocurrency fraud and money laundering conspiracy, the U.S. Justice Department said today.

Pam and Russ Martens: FTX's casualties include federally insured banks

Section: Daily Dispatches

By Pam and Russ Martens
Wall Street on Parade
Monday, November 21, 2022

On August 1 this year, we penned this headline at Wall Street On Parade: "Brace Yourself for Federally-Insured Bank Failures Caused by Crypto."

Our research for that article was so stomach-churning and frightening that we emailed the article to key staff for the senators who sit on the Senate Banking Committee. 

One of the banks we researched for that article was Silvergate Bank. ...

... For the remainder of the report:

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