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From RIA Novosti:
Russian oil exec accuses Saudis of manipulating oil price down
MOSCOW – The surplus of oil on the world market is a temporary phenomenon, the vice president of Russian oil giant Rosneft, Mikhail Leontyev, said Sunday.
"The current price dynamic, which has been developing for the last few months, may not reflect the objective trend," Leontyev told the Russkaya Sluzhba Novostei radio.
"Prices can be manipulative. First of all, Saudi Arabia has begun making big discounts on oil. This is political manipulation, and Saudi Arabia is being manipulated, which could end badly.
"The second factor is the stolen ISIL [Islamic State] oil, which reaches the market through Turkey and Israel with a triple discount. It is not much, but it is stolen, so it is cheap," the Rosneft vice president said.
That the market, primarily in the United States, is filled with American oil is due to the so-called shale revolution and it is a long-term factor, Leontyev stated.
On Friday, after the publication of the OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) October report that noted an increase in oil production in the countries belonging to the OPEC countries, international oil prices began to decline.
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From The Financial Times:
JPMorgan sets aside $1 billion for forex-rigging penalty
JPMorganChase set aside $1 billion in legal reserves, depressing third-quarter results, as the largest U.S. bank by assets prepares to pay big penalties over allegations it manipulated the foreign exchange market.
The bank has paid billions of dollars in penalties over regulatory violations and lawsuits in the past two years – ranging from the "London whale" trading fiasco to mis-selling mortgage-backed securities.
Bulking up its reserves by $1 billion was more than analysts expected and took the bank's profits for the three months to the end of September below expectations, at $5.6 billion.
It is a sign, according to people familiar with the matter, that JPMorgan is close to settling enforcement action, which is being led by authorities in the UK and U.S., and affects several of the world's biggest currency trading banks.
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From EIN News:
Asian market hubs move into gold
Asians buy most of the world's gold, but nearly all of it trades in London. Now, with Western investors souring on the metal, the region is making a bid for some of the action.
Three big financial hubs in Asia are separately launching trading in a gold contract, each backed with physical gold.
If they draw enough investors, the contracts could influence the price of gold, which is set by a daily fix in London.
China is now the world's largest producer and consumer of gold, and the biggest importer, as domestic demand has outstripped supply. India also is a major buyer and importer. Two-thirds of global gold purchases come from Asia, the World Gold Council says.
Still, many observers say Asia is likely to find it a hard task to unseat London as the world's center for gold trading. A major reason: China bans the export of gold bullion, arguing its huge domestic production is needed to meet local demand.
That means gold can flow into China when prices there are above those set in London, but cannot move the other way. Beijing's strict controls also limit movement of capital.
"The greater prominence of prices out of Asia can only enhance the mix, but I doubt within the next couple of years that it will fundamentally change the way spot prices are derived," says Ross Norman, chief executive officer at Sharps Pixley, a London-based bullion broker.
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From GoldMoney.com:
Market Report: Gold benefits from market uncertainty
By Alasdair Macleod
The outlook for gold is now more positive than it has been for some time. After a prolonged period of low volatility as funds invested in ever-greater risk, markets have snapped and volatility has jumped. In short, we are swinging very suddenly from complacency to reality.
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From Tocqueville.com:
Tocqueville's Hathaway: China has it right about gold and the dollar
Tocqueville Gold Fund manager John Hathaway's third-quarter letter to investors details how the fundamentals for a much stronger gold price remain in place, and he cites many of the developments to which GATA (Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee) has called attention in recent weeks.
Hathaway's letter concludes: "We take comfort that our positive view of the future dollar gold price is shared by those who understand the difference between synthetic and physical metal and who regard the real substance as a matter of strategic imperative, not as a plaything for macro traders. We believe that China's negative assessment of the future prospects for the U.S. dollar is correct and that our investment strategy of investing in the shares of value-creating gold miners offers sensible and dynamic exposure to the inevitable repricing of gold in U.S. dollars."
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From Mining.com:
This pink diamond sold for a historic record of $18 million
A fancy 8.41 carat, pear-shaped, flawless pink diamond sold for a record $17.8 million in Hong Kong, over $3 million more than what Sotheby's was expecting to fetch, setting a world auction record on a per-carat basis for this kind of gems.
The auction house did not reveal the buyer's identity, but said than 200 people attended the bidding at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center in Wan Chai.
Internally flawless clarity is extremely rare in pink diamonds, and the auction house said this, in combination with its "fancy vivid" color grading, made the stone "amongst the rarest and most desirable of colored diamonds ever seen at auction."
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From Bloomberg.com:
China's Zhou says some countries already use yuan in reserves
WASHINGTON – Some countries are already using the Chinese yuan in their foreign-currency reserves without announcing it, China central bank governor Zhou Xiaochuan said.
While China's yuan has begun to be used as a reserve currency for several years, some countries "may not be willing to say so," Zhou told Bloomberg on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund meetings in Washington.
China has stepped up efforts to promote the yuan's use overseas since the global financial crisis as expansion in the world's second-largest economy provides more clout while Europe has yet to fully recover. The European Central Bank will discuss next week whether to begin laying the groundwork to add the Chinese yuan to its foreign-currency reserves, Bloomberg reported yesterday.
"It's good that more countries are willing to adopt the renminbi as a reserve currency as our economy grows and our financial reforms continue," said Zhou, responding to ECB's consideration of adding yuan to its reserves. Renminbi is the official name of the yuan.
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From Reuters:
Banks accept derivatives rule change to end 'too big to fail' scenario
LONDON – The $700 trillion financial derivatives industry has agreed to a fundamental rule change from January to help regulators to wind down failed banks without destabilizing markets.
The International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) and 18 major banks that dominate the market will now allow financial watchdogs to apply temporary stays to prevent a rush to close derivatives contracts if a bank runs into trouble, the ISDA said.
A delay would give regulators time to ensure that critical parts of a bank, such as customer accounts, continue smoothly while the rest is wound down or sold off in an orderly way.
Under the new contract terms, default clauses in derivatives contracts such as interest rate or credit default swaps would be suspended for a maximum of 48 hours.
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