Comments on: Another Problem With The GLD ETF

By: Euro Evaporation Leading To Credit Default Swaps And IMF Gold

Euro Evaporation Leading To Credit Default Swaps And IMF Gold — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 05:15:28 +0000

[...] Long physical gold, silver and platinum with no interest in the problematic SLV, Streettracks Gold ETF Trust Shares or the platinum [...]

By: Retirement Accounts Could Boost Treasuries

Retirement Accounts Could Boost Treasuries — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 23:58:07 +0000

[...] Long physical gold, silver and platinum with no position the problematic SLV or GLD ETFs. ShareRetirement Accounts Could Boost [...]

By: Third Round Of Gold Upleg Ready To Start

Third Round Of Gold Upleg Ready To Start — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 18:13:14 +0000

[...] best time to buy them is now. And by all means, avoid the GLD ETF despite the caterwauling of the prospectus challenged illiterate apologists as it is merely a paper ticket that struts around like the precious [...]

By: John Wilson

John Wilson — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 21:49:56 +0000

Dear sir,
As a Canadian reader, I can understand the obvious shortcomings of certain US Gold ETF”s
In Canada ,most Gold ETF’s and Gold mutual funds, are regularly audited, the quality of the bullion checked, and is usually stored , with highly limited access, by one of Canada’s chartered banks. For example The Bank of Nova Scotia has been in the gold and silver business for over 100 years.
I agree that the question of trust and security is paramount for gold owners , everywhere.

John Wilson.

By: Make Your Internet Browsing Better

Make Your Internet Browsing Better — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 18:02:21 +0000

[...] Privacy and Constitutional Rights, Global Quantitative Easing, A Problem With GLD and SLV ETFs, Another Problem With The GLD ETF, Silver In Backwardation and several more which are delivered every 3-4 [...]

By: A Problem with GLD and SLV ETFs

A Problem with GLD and SLV ETFs — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 03:19:34 +0000

[...] [NOTE: A follow-up article is available - Another Problem With The GLD ETF] [...]

By: Newspapers Evaporating At Tremendous Speeds | RunToGold.com

Newspapers Evaporating At Tremendous Speeds | RunToGold.com — Wed, 27 May 2009 14:51:25 +0000

[...] at least muffle the criticisms when one launches repeated volleys, like the Single Digit Midgets, Problems with the GLD and SLV ETFs, Financial Professionals Infected With Financial Insanity Virus, etc. at potential mainstream [...]

By: Citizen Economists » G20 Party In London

Citizen Economists » G20 Party In London — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 15:47:49 +0000

[...] To date capital has been moving into the FRN$ resulting in Treasury yields being pushed near 0%. Despite the ’safety’ of government paper; auctions are failing in Britain and Germany. China and Russia are getting increasingly anxious about the FRN$ and its role as the world’s reserve currency will surely be a hot topic at the party in London. Eventually the Treasury bubble will burst as capital continues moving into physical gold and silver; not paper apparitions like the problematic ETFs GLD and SLV. [...]

By: Mark Herpel

Mark Herpel — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 22:18:03 +0000

The Legal Structure of GLD. Who are these guys?
A. There is a Sponsor of the ETF – the World Gold Trust Services, a subsidiary of the World Gold Council in London.
B. There is a Trustee subsidiary that holds title to the bullion and issues shares – The Bank of New York (BK).
C. There is one listed Custodian – HSBC (HBC), and provision for one or dozens of “sub” custodians, Great, if something goes wrong, first you’ve got to find where which custodian allegedly had it. And while the custodian is charged with a duty of due care in hiring the subs, there’s no assurance the subs won’t screw up afterwards and there’s no real recourse if a sub does. Which brings up…
D. There is a marketing agent, for the shares – State Street Global Agents, a separate creation of State Street Bank (STT) in Boston, but they really don’t answer anybody’s questions. GLD is considered a “permanent offering” and the aforementioned marketing team can say nothing about anything during a permanent “quiet period.” This ETF took two years to get through the SEC…And I’m not sure it didn’t get the benefit of grade inflation on the SEC view of crookedness as it went along. “Hey,” the SEC said, “This ETF isn’t absolutely, totally rotten on its face, let it go through. At least it’s not a CDO. Hah, hah.”
Each of these outfits have created separate subsidiary corporations to provide more limitation of liability for the parent. There were marvelous waffle words, and exemptions from legal liability for even these subsidiary players in the original S1 prospectus, filed on November 15, 2004. These have been carried forward and even improved upon.
http://seekingalpha.com/article/121121-ten-reasons-to-avoid-the-gold-etf
Mark

By: Dan Griffiths

Dan Griffiths — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 16:55:10 +0000

Interesting analysis. I would think that the auditors might be able to get their “reasonable assurance” that an “investment in gold” exists by merely obtaining written confirmation of the invesment from the custodians or sub-custodians. This is the way that other “investments” are audited. For example, when auditing investments in equity or debt securities, auditors do not go to Smith Barney or Merril Lynch and inspect stock certificates or bond debentures. They send a letter to the brokerage house requesting confirmation of the securities that their client claims to own. In this case, because we are talkiing about an “investment in gold,” I imagine that the procedure would be about the same. From the auditors’ perspective, the written confirmation from the custodian pushes most of the liability onto the custodian in the event that the “investment in gold” does not exist.