Unlike Waterloo the Rothschilds Should Sell Bonds and Buy Gold
After the Battle of Waterloo in 1815 when Britain, Austria and Germany beat Napoleon, the House of Rothschild made the equivalent of more than a billion dollars today by selling their gold and buying up bonds, precisely the reverse of the strategy they are probably employing now.
What happened in 1815 was that the Rothschilds had accumulated vast amounts of gold because they thought that with Napoleon back there would be a long war. The defeat of Napoleon therefore looked a financial disaster for them as the price of gold would plummet without soldiers to pay. Read more
Abu Dhabi retail gold sales down 25%
Today: UAE. Retail gold sales dropped by about 25% in March in Abu Dhabi compared with the same period last year, an industry executive said this week.
Tushar Patni, managing director of Ajanta Jewellery added that if the price of the precious metal stays over AED100 (US$27.4) per gram then it could force closure of some retail outlets.
“Currently the price of gold is at AED110 and I expect that it will stay at this level which spells bad news for many of the smaller retailers here who will be forced out of the market,” Patni, who manages the largest retailer of 22 carat gold in the capital of the United Arab Emirates, told Reuters. Read more
Gold rises to three-week high, first weekly gain since March
Investment inflows into gold-backed, exchange-traded funds jumped to an all-time high in the first quarter, boosted by a combination of risk aversion and economic uncertainties, the World Gold Council said.
Gold rose to a three-week high this week, its first weekly gain since March, after a report that China has increased its reserves of the precious metal by 76% since 2003.
China has the world’s fifth-biggest holding by country, said Hu Xiaolian, head of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange. Read more
Oil-rich Abu Dhabi takes lead from high-flying Dubai
Abu Dhabi, which controls more than 90 percent of the vast oil wealth of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), appears to have set its sights on following the example of booming Dubai.
Officials from the largest emirate in the UAE federation used the podium of a two-day economic forum this week to emphasise the emirate’s drive to diversify and restructure the revenue base of its economy.
“Abu Dhabi stands today at the threshold of a crucial period of economic transition,” Sheikh Hamed bin Zayed al-Nahayan, a son of the founder of the Gulf state, told delegates at the Abu Dhabi Economic Forum.
“Our political leadership is determined to benefit from the current achievements through building on them to reach a dynamic and diversified economy,” he said. Read more
