Realcent.org

I don't completely understand what that article is trying to tell me.

Right now banks are only allowed to declare the value of gold on their balance sheets at something less than 100%. It's either 25% or 50%. So they are descouraged from holding gold reserves. This might change, I guess, which I agree would be bullish for gold.

currently it is a tier 3 asset. (50%)
When they do this it will be a tier 1. (100%)
Look for those articles that talk about tier 1/3, they might explain more but, this is a great thing for gold. It say it is "money" again (in the banking system) if it happens.

This story is nothing but hype. Nothing has happened. The headline reads as if the decision has already been made, but all it is a discussion about a memorandum that banks are commenting on. Maybe it happens, maybe it doesn't. If it does, it is a big deal for gold no doubt and would offer a good incentive for banks to hold gold as reserves as a replacement for cash or certain government bonds, but NOTHING has happened yet. This is very poorly written and the headline is not accurate. It is merely a proposal that has been discussed for quite some time.

FDIC - "Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (proposed rule)"

http://www.fdic.gov/news/news/financial ... 12027.html

Notice - A. Zero Percent Risk-Weighted Items

Here is an article that is definitely biased toward gold, but also provides context and better describes the situation. I think this is very promising, but still a ways from actually happening.

http://www.commodityonline.com/news/bas ... 48319.html

The US still hasn't fully implemented Basel 2.5 yet, so any move to Basel 3 will take quite some time.

By the way, reddirt, thanks for the FDIC link!

Yeah, such a zero risk that it has dropped to about 75% of it's high against the dollar.