Will Qaddafi's liquidations of his gold holdings cause a run in the gold markets?
Meanwhile, stay on alert for those ubiquitous Internet offers of ?gold for sale? coming from various African spam ?boiler rooms.? They might just be substantive offers, this time around. The BBC reports that Libya possesses gold reserves that might be worth more than $6 billion. These are not insubstantial gold reserves, as they rank the country in the global ?Top 25? of holders, according IMF data. The gold stash could potentially be used to finance Col. Gaddafi's fast-fading government at a time when it has become subjected to international financial sanctions. The BBC speculates that it might be possible to transport the gold to other African countries and sell it. Our bet: not at current market prices, or anywhere near them. Thus, when your e-mail inbox swells with ?gold below spot? messages, you might have just landed on Gaddafi-sourced bullion.
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