Bratnia

Who wants a laugh?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e44Vtd1seVs
You're probably thinking of "Living on a prayer"

We all have "senior memory moments' as we appreciate in gold gram gross weight

I'm clearly not good with songs and their artists

I'm unsure why people believe China is the principal factor in the gold price increase. I hope all realise that China is not the only country in the world and if gold is the next ''thing'' all countries will do the same.
''The industry body calculated China's purchases of the precious metal last year at 225 metric tons, roughly a quarter of the 1,037 tons bought by all the world's central banks.''
''The current population of China is 1,425,243,485 as of Monday, May 13, 2024, based on Worldometer elaboration of the latest United Nations data 1. China 2023 population is estimated at 1,425,671,352 people at mid year. China population is equivalent to 17.72% of the total world population.''
I can't see anything extraordinary here, 25% of the gold sold last year (all the world's central banks) was bought by a country with 18% of the population of the world.
Even worse:
''Worldwide gold demand amounted to 4,448.3 metric tons in 2023'' From this China bought 225 tons meaning 5% 
So, why do people believe China is the traction factor of gold? 

I see, I seeeee ..... A MONSTER!

Nah! On second thoughts its just a Batman fist forming

Phew!

I see, I seeeee ..... A MONSTER!

Nah! On second thoughts its just a Batman fist forming

Phew!

I see, I seeeee ..... A MONSTER!

When short term interest rates are less than inflation, negative real yields, investors tend to bid up the price of gold. Otherwise the price of gold is more inclined to remain flat

As pensions, wage rises etc. are often associate to April inflation rates I expect that next months inflation figures will suggest 2% inflation rates, which is less than 1 year Gilt yields (positive real yield). Recent gold price increases might start to flatten off, perhaps until up to/after the General Election (perhaps November/December).
That all said, @Chronos prior post above, high/rising demand for gold from the Chinese, given the size of its population/demand !!!

I see, I seeeee ..... A MONSTER!

When short term interest rates are less than inflation, negative real yields, investors tend to bid up the price of gold. Otherwise the price of gold is more inclined to remain flat

As pensions, wage rises etc. are often associate to April inflation rates I expect that next months inflation figures will suggest 2% inflation rates, which is less than 1 year Gilt yields (positive real yield). Recent gold price increases might start to flatten off, perhaps until up to/after the General Election (perhaps November/December).
That all said, @Chronos prior post above, high/rising demand for gold from the Chinese, given the size of its population/demand !!!

Nah! On second thoughts its just a Batman fist forming

Phew!

I see, I seeeee ..... A MONSTER!

Nah! On second thoughts its just a Batman fist forming

Phew!

Gold’s Action Last Week Strongly Points to China:
https://www.lewrockwell.com/2024/05/alasdair-macleod/golds-action-last-week-strongly-points-to-china/

Nah! On second thoughts its just a Batman fist forming

Phew!

I see, I seeeee ..... A MONSTER!

Nah! On second thoughts its just a Batman fist forming

Phew!

I see, I seeeee ..... A MONSTER!

I see, I seeeee ..... A MONSTER!

I see, I seeeee ..... A MONSTER!

I see, I seeeee ..... A MONSTER!

With Gov. Jim Pillen’s recent signature, Nebraska has become the 12th state to end capital gains taxes on sales of gold and silver.
LB 1317 is the fourth major sound money bill to become law this year, as state lawmakers across the nation scramble to protect the public from the ravages of inflation and runaway federal debt.
Under the new Nebraska law, any “gains” or “losses” on precious metal sales reported on federal income tax returns are backed out, thereby removing them from the calculation of a Nebraska taxpayer’s adjusted gross income (AGI).
Supported by the Sound Money Defense League, Money Metals Exchange, and in-state advocates, Nebraska’s sound money measure passed out of the unicameral legislature’s Revenue committee unanimously before being amended into a larger bill.
Sponsor Sen. Ben Hansen said upon news of the formal enactment of his legislation:
Taxpayers often realize ‘gains’ when converting the monetary metals back into Federal Reserve notes even though the ‘gains’ do not reflect an increase in real value but rather reflect the currency’s ongoing devaluation.
Despite the lack of “real” gains, the Internal Revenue Service imposes capital gains taxes on such transactions. Nebraska has now opted out at the state level, declining to carry the IRS’s position into the definition of Nebraska income.
Jp Cortez, executive director of the Sound Money Defense League, explained during his testimony before the Revenue Committee that the ferocious wave of inflation facing Nebraskans is largely caused by harmful actions of the Federal Reserve:
Eleven other states already do not charge an income tax on sales of precious metals, with Arkansas, Arizona, and Utah recently enacting such laws. Meanwhile, Iowa, Georgia, Oklahoma, Missouri, West Virginia, and Kansas have been considering similar legislation in 2024.
“Investments in precious metals coins and bullion in Nebraska are now rightly exempt from both sales tax and income tax,” said Stefan Gleason, CEO of Money Metals and Chairman of the Sound Money Defense League.
Neutralizing Nebraska’s income tax treatment of the monetary metals removes significant disincentives in the Cornhusker State against the ownership and use of the monetary metals.
Meanwhile, LB 1317 revises the state’s formal definition of money by adding language that states: “Money does not include central bank digital currency.”
The new law defines central bank digital currency as “a digital medium of exchange, token, or monetary unit of account issued by the United States Federal Reserve System or any analogous federal agency that is made directly available to the consumer by such federal entities. Central bank digital currency (CBDC) includes a digital medium of exchange, token, or monetary unit of account so issued that is processed or validated directly by such federal entities.”
Sen. Hansen said: “I believe we have to be extra vigilant in our assessment and application of a Central bank digital currency to make sure they do not become a danger to our freedom. That’s why we defined in LB 1317 that CBDC’s are not classified as currency in Nebraska, which should help protect against unwarranted mandates for their use in the future.”
Versions of this “anti-CBDC language” have advanced or signed into law in Tennessee, North Carolina, and Florida, South Dakota, and Indiana . Congressman Alex Mooney has also introduced a federal measure to block the Federal Reserve’s digital currency scheme.
In his testimony, Cortez discussed the potential risks of adopting a CBDC, including creating a greater ability to track all financial transactions, disallowing certain types of purchases, or even completely “turning off” a targeted individual’s access to money.
Nebraska joins Utah, Wisconsin, and Kentucky as states to have enacted pro-sound money legislation into law so far in 2024.
Currently ranked 22nd in the 2024 Sound Money Index, Nebraska’s ranking is expected to rise.
 

Options/Futures/Swaps. Mostly those are cash settled. I write (sell) a Option to deliver 100 ounces of gold on a particular future date - or many multiples of such contracts. Come that date and the contract expects the seller of 100 ounces of gold to be provided to the buyer. With many such Options/Futures contracts however, oil, pigs bellies, whatever many don't actually want to take delivery, rather they'll accept (or pay) the cash value/difference instead. Investors aren't buying to get a ton of pork delivered to them at home, rather they're buying to hopefully make gains, more money. Similarly sellers/writers create those Options in expectation of making money. One side wins, the other loses, same with any other investment such as stocks. When there are few taking actually delivery of Options, cash settlements instead, so more Options/contracts are created than what actual amount of gold/whatever is actually available. What is commonly considered as being paper-gold, exists on paper only (or nowadays in a computer system/virtual). Basically its a way to leverage, scale up gains (or losses) relative to small changes in prices. The market is more efficient when leverage is being used as even a whisper of a small change can yield a decent profit (loss) that otherwise non-leveraged might incur too much in the way of dealing fees/whatever in order to be viable to arbitrage.
You can generate a form of 'dividend' from gold with Options/Futures as the price includes a element of time-value, reflective of interest that might have been earned/paid over the length of time of the contract. So some investment houses may hold gold and buy (or sell) some Options/Futures rather than just holding gold alone. Or even just buy (or sell) Options and hold no gold. The sellers of contracts often buy those back again just before expiry (delivery date) in order to avoid having to find (buy) gold in order to hand over to the Option contract holder.
The 123 paper-gold to gold ratio is indicative that a lot more gold is being offered for delivery than what gold is actually available. If all of those that opted to buy contracts did so with the intent to take delivery of physical gold, not sell those contracts before the contract expiry date, then there's no way all of those contracts could be honoured.