London Bullion Market Association

by Robert Wood - Sociologist -
Gold is a value carrier for the rich. Just like fine art, stamps, rare coins and other coveted objects, gold is perceived as a precious and valuable commodity.

90 % of the yellow stuff is dug up from the earth and buried again in vaults of steel and concrete as bars and jewelry, closely guarded by armed men. Nevertheless, no matter what we may think of the useless metal, gold is going to be seen as valuable as long as it is perceived as scarce.

LBMA
Anyway, an old proverb says that: Whoever has the gold, makes the rules. And those who have the gold need an organization to keep track of their billion dollars wheeling and dealing. The London Bullion Market Association is the name of the game.
   LBMA is an international trade association, representing the London market for gold and silver bullion which has a global client base. This includes the majority of the gold-holding central banks, private sector investors, mining companies, producers, refiners and fabricators.  LBMA 
   Read the above summarization once more. There is quite a lot of information in the two sentences, but what they do not say directly is that the organization LMBA is the playground of the superrich. Gold for more than 5 trillion dollars are traded every year.  Bloomberg  In 2016, $24 billion (19.1 million ounces) of gold was cleared daily through London.
   Why the “finance titans” spend their lives trading gold, when they already have more money they can spend in a 100 lifetimes, is beyond the comprehension of the common man ;-). However, I guess it is a power game they play with gold bars on the velvet gaming table.

The Alchemist
Anyway, if you are interested in gold and the glitter of high finance check out LBMA News. Their media center publishes the magazine The Alchemist. It is a downloadable and readable PDF file. Easy reading for killing time on the Underground or in the back of your limousine. The Alchemist No. 84 got a rather touching story about Prince Charles visiting The Old Lady (The Bank of England) and a cute photo of The Prince lifting a 12,5 kilo gold bar. The Alchemist