The graph below shows bullion prices as seen in ebay, versus wholesale prices for large quantities of physical gold, published as the "London Fix". (When mainstream media outlets quote a gold price, they generally use the London Fix).
According to
this page linked to by bron (see comments) the unusually large spread between the two is due to delays in converting wholesale gold to a retail form (e.g. stamped bullion) leading to a shortage of gold available for retail sale.
Does this put paid to the argument put forward on various blogs (e.g.
here) that the paper market is becoming decoupled from the physical market? It would seem that the COMEX futures market is pretty much in line with the London Fix, so perhaps bron is correct in suggesting that the spread is due to retail demand outstripping retail production, not actual availability?
What do you think? Please leave a comment below.
ORIGINAL TEXT: [The gold prices published in the media are for contracts for delivery and are NOT an accurate reflection of the price of real, physical gold. This chart shows the variance between the two over the past two weeks. (Physical prices are based on bullion bar transactions on US ebay). ]
