Currency Wars Back As Russia Buys Gold – One Million Ounces in March Alone
– Russia buys one million ounces and increases gold reserves by another 2.6% in March
– Russia sees gold as important monetary and strategic asset in stealth currency wars
– Large purchase by Russia who normally buy some 300,000 ounces
– Russian gold reserves, at nearly 40 million ounces, are now fifth largest in the world
– Russia likely coordinating gold reserve accumulation with Ex Soviet States
– Concerns re euro and of crisis in erstwhile reserve currency, the dollar
– Gold remains central to international monetary system
– Central banks continue to accumulate large volumes

Since 2005, Russia’s gold reserves have increased three-fold. As a comparison, in the second quarter of 2009, Russia only had 550 tonnes of gold in its official reserves meaning that their reserves have doubled in recent years.

The worst may be over for the silver price, Bank of America Merrill Lynch Global Research said, though the metal is unlikely to break higher from recent ranges.

Industrial demand has been poor and subdued economic activity in the wake of the financial crisis has had a collateral impact on the metal, it said in a report.

Silver is down nearly 70 percent on the all-time high it hit in 2011 at $49.81 per ounce.

But China’s market potential coupled with expansion plans that include heavy use of solar energy may provide upward impetus
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China’s solar installations in the first quarter were almost equal to France’s entire supply of power from the sun.

China connected 5.04 gigawatts of solar capacity to grids in the three months ended March 31, the National Energy Administration said in a statement on Monday. The Asian nation now has a total 33 gigawatts of solar-power supply.

China is seeking to approve and install as much as 17.8 gigawatts of solar power this year, or nearly 2 1/2 times the capacity added by the U.S. in 2014.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-04-20/china-adds-solar-the-size-of-france-s-capacity-in-first-quarter