/kloc-before the 0/9th century, because gold was extremely scarce, it was basically a symbol of wealth and power monopolized by emperors. Or owned by the gods, become sacrificial utensils and materials for decoration and protection of the image of the gods; Although the world's first gold coin appeared in the 6th century BC, it is difficult for ordinary people to own gold. The gold mine is also owned by the royal family. At that time, gold was mined by slaves and prisoners under extremely harsh conditions. It is on this basis that gold cultivated the civilizations of ancient Egypt and Rome. /kloc-In the 6th century, the colonists left a bloody page in the history of human civilization in order to plunder gold, slaughter local people and destroy cultural heritage. Robbery and reward have become the main ways of gold circulation, and the market exchange model of free trade is difficult to develop. Even if it exists, it limits the scale of free trading of gold because of its exclusiveness.
The second gold standard period (1early 9th century to11930s)
Since the beginning of the19th century, abundant gold resources have been discovered in Russia, the United States, Australia, South Africa and Canada, which has led to the rapid development of gold productivity. Only in the second half of the19th century, human beings produced more gold than the total output in the past 5,000 years. Due to the increase of gold production, human beings have the realistic material conditions to increase gold demand. On the premise of the development of gold productive forces, mankind has entered the gold standard period. The establishment of monetary gold standard means that gold is exclusive to emperors and moves towards a broad society; Enter the ordinary economic life from the narrow court category; It evolved from a symbol of privilege and luxury to a symbol of wealth. The gold standard means that gold is a currency and a hard currency internationally. Free import and export, when there is a deficit in international trade, it can be paid in gold; In China, gold can be used as currency. The gold standard system has three characteristics: free casting, free exchange and free output. The gold standard system began in Britain in 18 16, and by the end of 19, the major countries in the world basically implemented the "gold standard system".
19 14 during the first world war, 59 countries in the world implemented the gold standard. Although the "gold standard" was intermittent, it generally lasted until the 1920s. Due to the different specific conditions of different countries, some countries have implemented the "gold standard" of 100 years, and some countries have only a few decades of "gold standard" history.
With the formation of the gold standard, gold has assumed the universal equivalent of commodity exchange and become the medium in the process of commodity exchange, and the social mobility of gold has increased. The development of gold market has objective social conditions and economic needs. During the "gold standard" period, although the central banks of various countries could buy and sell gold at the gold price stipulated by the national currency parity without restriction, they actually handled gold through the market, so the gold market developed to a certain extent. It must be pointed out that this is an official market under strict control, and the gold market cannot develop freely. Therefore, until the First World War, only the London gold market was an international market.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the outbreak of World War I seriously impacted the "gold standard". In 1930s, the worldwide economic crisis broke out, which led to the complete collapse of the "gold standard". Many countries have strengthened trade controls and banned the free trade and import and export of gold. The open gold market lost its foundation and the London gold market closed. One-time access 15 was not reopened until 1954. During this period, some countries implemented "gold bar standard" or "gold exchange standard", which greatly reduced the functions of money of gold and made it withdraw from the domestic circulation payment field. However, among the international reserve assets, gold is still the last means of payment. As the world currency, gold is still strictly managed by the state. During the period from 19 14 to 1938, most of the western gold mines were absorbed by the central banks of various countries, and the gold market activities were limited. Since then, although the management of gold has been loosened, the official price has been artificially determined for a long time, and there are strict trade barriers between countries. Therefore, the liquidity of gold is very poor, the market mechanism is seriously suppressed, and the development of the gold market is seriously hindered.
The Third Bretton Woods Period (1940s to early 1970s)
1944, Britain and the United States reached an understanding after a heated debate. In May of that year, the United States invited representatives of 44 governments involved in the preparation of the United Nations to hold a meeting in Bretton Woods, signed the Bretton Woods Agreement, and established the second international monetary system for mankind after the collapse of the "gold standard". In this system, the dollar is linked to gold, and the United States undertakes the obligation to exchange gold at the official price. The currencies of all countries are linked to the US dollar, which is at the center and plays the role of the world currency. In fact, it is a new gold exchange standard system. In the Bretton Woods monetary system, the role of gold in circulation and international reserves has decreased, and the dollar has become the protagonist in this system. However, because gold is the last barrier to stabilize this monetary system, the price and flow direction of gold are still strictly controlled, and residents are prohibited from buying and selling gold freely in various countries, so it is difficult for the market mechanism to play an effective role. It took ten years for London gold market to recover.
The operation of the Bretton Woods monetary system is closely related to the credibility and status of the US dollar. However, in the 1960s, the United States was mired in the Vietnam War, with a huge fiscal deficit, deteriorating international income and a great impact on the credibility of the US dollar. A large amount of capital fled, and countries sold dollars and snapped up gold, which greatly reduced the US gold reserves and led to the skyrocketing price of gold in London.
In order to curb the rise of gold prices, maintain the exchange rate of the US dollar and reduce the loss of gold reserves, the United States and Britain, Switzerland, France, West Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium and other eight countries established a "gold pool" on June 196 10, and the central banks of the eight countries each took out US$ 270 million in gold, which was represented by the Bank of England. In the late 1960s, the United States further expanded its war of aggression against Vietnam, the balance of payments further deteriorated, and the dollar crisis broke out again. In the first half of March 1968, the outflow of US gold reserves exceeded $654,380.4 billion. In March 14 alone, the trading volume of the London gold market reached a record figure of 350-400 tons. The United States is no longer able to maintain the official price of gold. After consulting with members of the Ministry of Gold and Finance, it announced that it would no longer supply gold to the market at the official price of $35 per ounce. The market price of gold fluctuates freely, but the government or the central bank still settles at the official price. Since then, gold has begun the stage of dual price system. But the dual-price system also lasted for three years, because the balance of payments in the United States was still deteriorating and the dollar was unstable; Second, western countries are dissatisfied with the self-interest principle of the United States, refuse to depreciate despite the dollar crisis, and forcibly maintain a fixed exchange rate. So some European countries have adopted the strategy of inviting you into the urn. Because the United States refused to raise the price of gold and the depreciation of the dollar, they exchanged dollars for American gold reserves. When it was reported in August 197 1 that France and other western European countries wanted to exchange dollars for gold in large quantities, the United States had to announce on August 15 that it would stop fulfilling its obligation to foreign governments or central banks to exchange dollars for gold in the United States. The depreciation of the US dollar in March 1973 once again triggered a wave of selling US dollars and snapping up gold in Europe. The foreign exchange markets in western Europe and Japan had to be closed for 17 days. After consultation, an agreement was finally reached, and western countries abandoned fixed exchange rates and implemented floating exchange rates. At this point, the Bretton Woods monetary system completely collapsed and the reform process of non-monetization of gold began. But from the legal point of view, the non-monetization of gold in the international monetary system was not formally defined until 1978. The International Monetary Fund approved the revised agreement of the International Monetary Fund by a majority of 1978. The agreement deleted all the previous clauses about gold, and announced that gold would no longer be used as the standard of currency valuation, the official price of gold would be cancelled, and gold could be bought and sold freely in the market; Cancel the requirement that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) must pay in gold; Sell the 1/6 gold of the International Monetary Fund, and the profits will be used to establish preferential loan funds to help low-income countries; Set up special drawing rights instead of gold for some payments between member countries and IMF, and so on.
During this period, the price of gold has been strictly controlled by the state, and the state has intervened in the gold market from time to time. The gold market is only a regulatory tool for the state to control gold, and it is difficult to play the role of market resource allocation. The function of the market has not been fully exerted.
1944, Britain and the United States reached an understanding after a heated debate. In May of that year, the United States invited representatives of 44 governments involved in the preparation of the United Nations to hold a meeting in Bretton Woods, signed the Bretton Woods Agreement, and established the second international monetary system for mankind after the collapse of the "gold standard". In this system, the dollar is linked to gold, and the United States undertakes the obligation to exchange gold at the official price. The currencies of all countries are linked to the US dollar, which is at the center and plays the role of the world currency. In fact, it is a new gold exchange standard system. In the Bretton Woods monetary system, the role of gold in circulation and international reserves has decreased, and the dollar has become the protagonist in this system. However, because gold is the last barrier to stabilize this monetary system, the price and flow direction of gold are still strictly controlled, and residents are prohibited from buying and selling gold freely in various countries, so it is difficult for the market mechanism to play an effective role. It took ten years for London gold market to recover.
The operation of the Bretton Woods monetary system is closely related to the credibility and status of the US dollar. However, in the 1960s, the United States was mired in the Vietnam War, with a huge fiscal deficit, deteriorating international income and a great impact on the credibility of the US dollar. A large amount of capital fled, and countries sold dollars and snapped up gold, which greatly reduced the US gold reserves and led to the skyrocketing price of gold in London.
In order to curb the rise of gold prices, maintain the exchange rate of the US dollar and reduce the loss of gold reserves, the United States and Britain, Switzerland, France, West Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium and other eight countries established a "gold pool" on June 196 10, and the central banks of the eight countries each took out US$ 270 million in gold, which was represented by the Bank of England. In the late 1960s, the United States further expanded its war of aggression against Vietnam, the balance of payments further deteriorated, and the dollar crisis broke out again. In the first half of March 1968, the outflow of US gold reserves exceeded $654,380.4 billion. In March 14 alone, the trading volume of the London gold market reached a record figure of 350-400 tons. The United States is no longer able to maintain the official price of gold. After consulting with members of the Ministry of Gold and Finance, it announced that it would no longer supply gold to the market at the official price of $35 per ounce. The market price of gold fluctuates freely, but the government or the central bank still settles at the official price. Since then, gold has begun the stage of dual price system. But the dual-price system also lasted for three years, because the balance of payments in the United States was still deteriorating and the dollar was unstable; Second, western countries are dissatisfied with the self-interest principle of the United States, refuse to depreciate despite the dollar crisis, and forcibly maintain a fixed exchange rate. So some European countries have adopted the strategy of inviting you into the urn. Because the United States refused to raise the price of gold and the depreciation of the dollar, they exchanged dollars for American gold reserves. When it was reported in August 197 1 that France and other western European countries wanted to exchange dollars for gold in large quantities, the United States had to announce on August 15 that it would stop fulfilling its obligation to foreign governments or central banks to exchange dollars for gold in the United States. The depreciation of the US dollar in March 1973 once again triggered a wave of selling US dollars and snapping up gold in Europe. The foreign exchange markets in western Europe and Japan had to be closed for 17 days. After consultation, an agreement was finally reached, and western countries abandoned fixed exchange rates and implemented floating exchange rates. At this point, the Bretton Woods monetary system completely collapsed and the reform process of non-monetization of gold began. But from the legal point of view, the non-monetization of gold in the international monetary system was not formally defined until 1978. The International Monetary Fund approved the revised agreement of the International Monetary Fund by a majority of 1978. The agreement deleted all the previous clauses about gold, and announced that gold would no longer be used as the standard of currency valuation, the official price of gold would be cancelled, and gold could be bought and sold freely in the market; Cancel the requirement that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) must pay in gold; Sell the 1/6 gold of the International Monetary Fund, and the profits will be used to establish preferential loan funds to help low-income countries; Set up special drawing rights instead of gold for some payments between member countries and IMF, and so on.
During this period, the price of gold has been strictly controlled by the state, and the state has intervened in the gold market from time to time. The gold market is only a regulatory tool for the state to control gold, and it is difficult to play the role of market resource allocation. The function of the market has not been fully exerted.
4. Non-monetization period of gold (1970s to present)
Due to the non-monetization of international gold, gold has become a commodity that can be freely owned and traded. Gold has moved from the national treasury to the homes of ordinary people, and its liquidity has been greatly enhanced, and the scale of gold trading has increased, providing a realistic economic environment for the development and growth of the gold market. The non-monetization of gold in the past 20 years is also a period in which the world gold market can develop. It can be said that the non-monetization of gold has gradually relaxed the control of gold in various countries, which is the policy condition for the development of the gold market today. But it should also be pointed out that there is a lag between the non-monetization of the gold system and the actual non-monetization process. The legal procedure of non-monetization of gold in the international monetary system has been completed, but gold has not completely withdrawn from the financial field in actual economic life. Today, as a recognized financial asset, gold is still active in the investment field and acts as a reserve asset of a country or an individual.
Today's gold is divided into commodity gold and financial gold. The liberalization of national gold control not only enables the development of commodity gold market, but also promotes the rapid development of financial gold market. Moreover, because of the continuous innovation of trading tools, the scale of the gold market has been expanded by dozens and hundreds of times. At present, the trading volume of physical gold is less than 3% of the total trading volume, and more than 90% of the market share is financial derivatives of gold. Central banks around the world still maintain gold reserves as high as 34,000 tons. In the statement of European 15 central banks on September 26th, 1999, it was once again confirmed that gold is still recognized as a financial asset. Therefore, we cannot simply attribute the development of the gold market to the non-monetization of gold, nor can we regard the gold market as a pure commodity market. The objective evaluation is that under the condition of non-monetization of gold in the international monetary system, gold began to develop from the stage dominated by monetary attributes to the stage of returning to commodity attributes, and the state liberalized gold control, making the market mechanism play an increasingly important role in gold circulation and gold resource allocation. But at present, gold is still a special commodity with financial attributes. Therefore, both commodity gold market and financial gold market have been developed. The performance and activity of commodity gold trading and financial gold trading are different in different regions and markets.
Part II: Basic elements of the gold market.
The gold market is the place where gold producers and suppliers trade with demanders. After hundreds of years of development, the world's major gold markets have formed a relatively perfect trading model and trading system. Its constituent elements, from the perspective of function and function, can be divided into:
1. Institutions and places providing services for gold trading
Every successful gold market, institutions and places that provide services for gold trading are actually different. Specifically, it can be divided into tangible market with fixed place and intangible market without fixed trading place. Represented by London gold exchange market and Zurich gold market, it can be called European; Commodity exchanges have gold trading business, represented by IMM in the New York Mercantile Exchange and the United States, which can be called American; Some gold markets are traded on specialized gold exchanges, such as China Gold and Silver Exchange Association and Singapore Gold Exchange, which can be called Asia.
European gold trading: There is no fixed place for gold trading in this kind of gold market. For example, the London gold market, the whole market is composed of major gold merchants and subordinate companies, and gold merchants and customers conduct transactions by telephone and telex; The Zurich gold market is bought and sold by the three major banks for customers and is responsible for settlement. The buying and selling prices in London and Zurich markets are relatively confidential, and it is difficult to estimate the trading volume.
American gold trading: This gold trading market is actually based on a typical futures market, and its trading is similar to other commodities traded in this market. As a non-profit organization, the futures exchange itself does not participate in trading, but only provides venues and equipment. At the same time, formulate relevant laws and regulations to ensure fair and just transactions and strictly monitor transactions.
Asian gold trading: this kind of gold trading generally has a special gold trading place, and gold futures and spot trading are carried out at the same time. Trading is based on membership system, and only companies and banks that meet certain requirements can become members, and the quota control of members is extremely strict. Although the number of members entering the trading hall is small, their reputation is extremely high. Take the China Gold and Silver Exchange as an example: members' transactions in the exchange are conducted in the form of open bidding and oral clappers. Because the gold traders in the venue strictly abide by their credit, there are few violations.
2. Participants in the gold market
Participants in the international gold market can be divided into international gold merchants, banks, hedge funds and other financial institutions, various legal entities, private investors and brokerage companies that play a huge role in gold futures trading.
International gold traders: The five gold traders in London gold market are the most typical. They are gold traders themselves. Because they have extensive contacts with major gold mines and gold dealers in the world, and their subsidiaries have contacts with many shops and gold customers, the five major gold dealers constantly quote the buying price and selling price of gold according to their own conditions. Of course, gold traders are responsible for the risk of gold price fluctuations.
Bank: It can be divided into two categories. One is that they only buy, sell and settle accounts for customers and do not participate in gold trading. As representatives, the three major banks in Zurich act as brokers between producers and investors and play an intermediary role in the market. There are also some self-employed people. For example, in the Singapore Gold Exchange (UOB), many self-operated members are banks.
Hedge funds: In recent years, international hedge funds, especially American hedge funds, have been active in every corner of the international financial market. In the gold market, almost every plunge is related to fund companies borrowing short-term gold to sell in the spot gold market and establishing a large number of short positions in the the New York Mercantile Exchange Gold Futures Exchange. Some large hedge funds often take advantage of the countless ties with the political, industrial and commercial circles and financial circles of various countries, first seize the changes in economic fundamentals, and use the huge funds under management to trade short, thus accelerating the changes in the price of the gold market and making profits from it.
Various legal entities and individual investors: this includes companies specializing in gold sales, such as major gold mines, gold producers, gold products dealers (such as various industrial enterprises), jewelry companies and private gold collectors, as well as investment companies and individual investors specializing in gold trading. According to the degree of preference for market risks, it can be divided into risk aversion and adventurers: the former hopes to preserve and hedge gold and minimize the risk of market price fluctuations, such as gold producers and gold consumers; The latter wants to gain benefits from price fluctuations, so they are willing to bear market risks, such as hedge funds and other investment companies.
Brokerage firm: it is a brokerage institution that specializes in gold trading for non-exchange members and collects commissions. Some exchanges refer to brokerage firms as commission rooms. There are many brokerage companies in new york, Chicago, Hongkong and other gold markets. They don't own gold themselves, but only send representatives to buy and sell gold for customers in the trading hall and collect commissions from customers.
3, the relevant supervision and management institutions
With the continuous development of the gold market, in order to ensure the justice and fairness of the market, protect the interests of buyers and sellers, and put an end to illegal transactions such as price manipulation in the market. The gold market supervision system has been established everywhere. For example, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFFC) in the United States, the Financial Services Authority in the United Kingdom, the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission in Hong Kong and the Monetary Authority in Singapore.
4. Relevant industry self-regulatory organizations
World Gold Council: It is a non-profit organization composed of gold producers all over the world, headquartered in London, with offices in major gold markets. Its main function is to increase the sales of gold in the world as much as possible by guiding the structural changes of the gold market (such as eliminating taxes, reducing barriers, improving the distribution channels of the world gold market, etc.). ). Form a stable support for world gold production and establish a positive image in front of all actual and potential gold buyers.
London Gold Market Association (LBMA): Founded in 1987, its main responsibility is to improve the operation efficiency and expand the influence of London gold market, attract investment for London and promote the business activities of all participants (including gold producers, refiners and buyers). At the same time, we will cooperate with the British Monetary Authority, the General Administration of Customs and other relevant British administrative departments to maintain the stable and orderly development of the London gold market.
Section III: International Gold Market
The gold market is the trading center for buyers and sellers to buy and sell gold. It provides spot and forward trading, and allows traders to trade in physical or option futures for speculation or hedging. It is an important part of the complete financial market system of all countries.
With the development of the monetary system, gold has gradually lost its function as a trading medium and a measure of value, but it still maintains certain monetary characteristics in international trade, international debt settlement and international reserves.
1. According to the role and scale of the gold market, it can be divided into: dominant market and regional market.
The dominant gold market refers to the international centralized gold trading market, and its price level and trading volume have great influence on other markets. The most important are the gold markets in London, Zurich, new york, Chicago and Hongkong.
Regional market refers to a market with limited transaction scale, which is concentrated in a certain region and has little influence on other markets. It mainly meets the needs of industrial enterprises, jewelry stores, investors and ordinary buyers in local or neighboring countries for gold trading, and its radiation and influence are relatively limited. Such as Tokyo, Paris and Frankfurt.
2. According to the different transaction types and methods, it can be divided into spot trading market and futures trading market.
Gold spot trading is basically spot trading, and it is delivered immediately after trading or within two days. The transaction targets are mainly gold bars, ingots and coins, and jewelry is also among them.
The main purpose of gold futures trading is hedging, which is a supplement to spot trading. After the transaction is completed, it is not delivered immediately. Instead, the two parties sign the contract first, pay the deposit and then deliver it on the scheduled date. Its main advantage is that it can master a large number of futures with a small amount of funds and transfer the contract price in advance, which has leverage. Futures contracts can be realized on any business day and are liquid; You can also purchase and settle accounts at any time, which is more flexible; You can also choose different entrustment forms in the application, and you can set up goods between different markets, which is flexible and so on.
Some gold markets in the world only have spot trading and some only have futures trading, but most of them have both futures and spot.
3. According to whether there is a fixed place, it can be divided into intangible gold market and tangible gold market.
The intangible gold trading market mainly means that there is no special trading place for gold trading, such as the London gold market, which is mainly formed through the contact network between gold merchants; Zurich gold market, where banks mainly buy and sell gold; And the local London stealth market in Hong Kong.
The tangible gold market mainly refers to the market where gold is traded in a fixed place. Among them, it can be divided into a gold market with a special independent gold trading place and a gold market located in a commodity exchange. The former such as China Gold and Silver Exchange and Singapore Gold Exchange. The latter are: New York Gold Market in the New York Mercantile Exchange, Chicago Gold Market in Chicago Mercantile Exchange (IMM) and Winnipeg Gold Market in Winnipeg Mercantile Exchange.
4. According to the degree of transaction control, it can be divided into free market, restricted market and domestic market.
Free trading market refers to a gold market where gold can be freely imported and exported, and both residents and non-residents can buy and sell freely, such as Zurich gold market. Restricted trading market refers to the market where the import and export of gold are controlled and only non-residents are allowed to buy and sell gold freely. This mainly refers to the gold markets of countries that have implemented foreign exchange control, such as 1979+00, the London gold market before the UK abolished all foreign exchange control in June.
The domestic trading market refers to a market where the import and export of gold is prohibited, and only residents are allowed to buy and sell gold, and non-residents are not allowed to buy and sell gold, such as the Paris gold market.
In recent years, the miniaturization of gold trading in the gold market has developed rapidly, and various forms of real gold are diverse and light, which greatly facilitates small funds to invest in gold. The trading methods in the gold market are also diversified, such as the trading of gold vouchers and vouchers, which actually represents the trend of gold trading vouchers.
Generally speaking, the establishment and development of the gold market need to meet certain conditions, such as:
1) Countries or regions need developed economic conditions and a sound credit system;
2) Countries or regions must implement a free foreign exchange system, allowing gold to be traded and entered freely;
3) At the same time, it is necessary to have a sound legal foundation and a stable political and economic environment;
4) Good software and hardware environment, developed traffic and perfect infrastructure.