..... . VALI disclosures . .....: 04/02/25, Gold Reserves: The glittering yellow metal, has attracted humans since its discovery. It has always been a significant and trustworthy part of any nation's economy and financial stability for centuries

Tuesday, February 4, 2025

04/02/25, Gold Reserves: The glittering yellow metal, has attracted humans since its discovery. It has always been a significant and trustworthy part of any nation's economy and financial stability for centuries

Not only does it serve as a hedge against major inflation, but it also helps revive an economy during crises such as wars and massive natural disasters. Countries with large gold reserves are considered economically strong and stable. Let's take a look at the countries with the largest gold reserves and India's position on the list.

United States

It is to be noted that, the United States holds the largest gold reserves in the world. this reflects its economic strength. Despite US dollar being the dominant currency in the world, America continues to rely on the yellow metal as a backbone for economic stability during uncertain times.

Gold Reserves: 8,133.46 tons
Total Value: USD 6.09 billion
Storage Locations: Fort Knox and other government vaults

Germany

Germany faced a severe economic crisis after World War II. However, the country systematically increased its gold reserves, making it the second-largest holder of the yellow metal in the world today.

Gold Reserves: 3,351.53 tons
Total Value: USD 2.51 billion
Storage Locations: Bundesbank vaults and some foreign reserves

Italy

Italy's major gold reserves have helped maintain its economic stability, with most of its reserves controlled by the European Central Bank.

Gold Reserves: 2,451.84 tons
Total Value: USD 1.82 billion
Storage Location: Bank of Italy

France

France is one of the European economic powerhouses and maintains a major gold reserve. The country always ensures high reserve levels to stabilise the economy during recessions or crises.

Gold Reserves: 2,436.97 tons
Total Value: USD 1.83 billion
Storage Location: Bank of France

Russia

It is worth noting that, Russia has majorly increased its gold holdings after the Ukraine conflict. The country took the step in order to diversify its foreign exchange reserves. Earlier, Russia's reserves consisted of a massive share of American dollars and euros, which were later frozen by Western nations.

Gold Reserves: 2,335.85 tons
Total Value: USD 1.83 billion
Storage Location: Russian Central Bank

China

China, the world's second-largest economy, has been aggressively expanding its gold reserves to strengthen its currency and reduce reliance on the US dollar.

Gold Reserves: 2,264.32 tons
Total Value: USD 1.69 billion
Storage Location: People's Bank of China

Japan

Japan also holds massive gold reserves to maintain economic stability. As per a 2023 BBC report, Japan's debt stands at USD 9.2 trillion-266% of its GDP.

Gold Reserves: 845.97 tons
Total Value: USD 633 million
Storage Location: Bank of Japan

India

India ranks 8th in the world in terms of gold reserves. Here, gold is not just a financial asset but also holds religious significance. Indian households, especially women, own the largest private gold reserves in the world.

Gold Reserves: 840.76 tons
Total Value: USD 630 million
Storage Location: Reserve Bank of India (RBI)

Netherlands

The Netherlands maintains major gold reserve to ensure economic stability. The country is the 18th largest economy in the world and the 5th largest in Europe based on GDP.

Gold Reserves: 612.45 tons
Total Value: USD 458 million
Storage Location: Dutch Central Bank

Turkey

Turkey has massively increased its gold reserves in recent years to shield itself from global economic uncertainties.

Gold Reserves: 584.93 tons
Total Value: USD 438 million
Storage Location: Central Bank of Turkey
source:India.com

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Trade Cycles

The four important features of Trade Cycle are (i) Recovery, (ii) Boom, (iii) Recession, and (iv) Depression!

The trades cycle or business cycle are cyclical fluctuations of an economy. A full trade cycle has got four phases: (i) Recovery, (ii) Boom, (iii) Recession, and (iv) depression. The upward phase of a trade cycle or prosperity is divided into two stages—recovery and boom, and the downward phase of a trade cycle is also divided into two stages—recession and depression.

Phases of Trade Cycle:

The phases of trade cycle are explained with a diagram:

(1) Recovery:

In the early period of recovery, entrepreneurs increase the level of investment which in turn increases employment and income. Employment increases purchasing power and this leads to an increase in demand for consumer goods.

As a result, demand for goods will press upon their supply and it shall, thereby, lead to a rise in prices. The demand for consumer’s goods shall encourage the demand for producer’s goods.

The rise in prices shall depend upon the gestation period of investment. The longer the period of investment, the higher shall be the price rise. The rise of prices shall bring about a change in the distribution of income. Rent, wages, interest do not rise in the same proportion as prices.

Consequently, the margin of profit improves. The wholesale prices rise more than retail prices. The prices of raw materials rise more than the prices of semi-finished goods and the prices of semi-finished goods use more than the prices of finished goods.

(2) Boom:

The rate of investment increases still further. Owing to the spread of a wave of optimism in business, the level of production increases and the boom gathers momentum. More investment is possible only through credit creation. During a period of boom, the economy surpasses the level of full employment and enters a stage of over full employment.

(3) Recession:

The orders for raw materials are reduced on the onset of a recession. The rate of investment in producers’ goods industries and housing construction declines. Liquidity preference rises in society and owing to a contraction of money supply, the prices falls. A wave of pessimism spreads in business and those markets which were sometime before sellers markets become buyer’s markets now.

(4) Depression:

The main feature of a depression is a general fall in economic activity. Production, employment and income decline. The prices fall and the main factor responsible for it is, a fall in the purchasing power.

The distribution of national income changes. As the costs are rigid in nature, the margin of profit declines. Machines are not used to their full capacity in factories, because effective demand is much less. The prices of finished goods fall less than the prices of raw materials.

✳Reality Tips to Traders

1)Trading in the stock market is a marathon. 2)Protecting your capital is key. (Learn to protect first) 3)Making 0 on the day is better than losing 50k 4)Losses happen; they are part of this business. 5)It’s not you vs. the market. It’s you VS you. 6)You are your biggest enemy; learn to be mentally disciplined. 7)Don’t follow the majority; follow the correct path. 8)Traders without a stop loss end up not being traders for long. 9)There is always another trade. 10)The big money is made waiting for the right set-ups. 11)Waiting for the right trade is the most powerful strategy. 12)It is better to cut a loss than to wait to be proven right. 13)Position sizing can make or break you. 14)Worry about the downside before you even think about the upside. 15)Don’t listen to headlines

..BANKING TERMINOLOGY

There are various types of Banks: PSU Banks, Private Banks, Co-operative/Regional Banks, Small Finance Banks and Foreign Banks. When you deposit money in a bank, let's say the bank gives you an interest rate of 4%. But when the bank lends out this money, they lend it out at say, 12%. The difference of 8% in the above scenario is effectively the profit of the bank! The loans that do not pay interest for 90 days are known as Non-performing Assets. Banks have to provide for such bad loans. Structure of a Bank Asset for a Bank: The asset portion of a bank's capital includes cash, government securities, and interest-earning loans (e.g., mortgages, letters of credit, and inter-bank loans). Liabilities for a Bank: The bank's main liabilities are its capital (including cash reserves and, often, subordinated debt) and deposits. The latter may be from domestic or foreign sources (corporations and firms, private individuals, other banks, and even governments). Banks are required to maintain Liquidity with the Reserve Bank of India: SLR (Statutory Liquidity Ratio): It is the money a bank needs to preserve in the form of cash, gold or government Bonds before providing credit customers. This limitation is added by RBI on banks to make funds available to customers on-demand at your earliest convenience. Banks are required to maintain SLR at 18%. CRR (Cash Reserve Ratio): Banks are required to hold a certain proportion of their deposits in the form of cash. Banks don’t hold these as cash with themselves, but deposit such amounts with RBI / currency chests. CRR rate is at 4.5% currently. Repo Rate: The rate at which the RBI lends short-term money to the banks. The RBI through its Monetary Policy committee changes the repo rate to balance growth and Inflation. Reverse Repo rate: The rate at which banks park their short-term excess liquidity with the RBI. Now let us understand various terminologies for Banks Net Interest Income (NII): This is the spread the bank makes on its lending. It is calculated as Interest Income – Interest Expended Net Interest Margin (NIM): This is the spread the bank makes on its lending. It is the earning which is left after deducting the cost paid to depositors from its yields on Loans. This is denoted in % terms. The formula is Yield on Loans – Cost of funds Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR): The capital adequacy ratio (CAR) is a measure of a bank's available capital expressed as a percentage of a bank's risk-weighted credit exposures. Essentially, it is the Capital that is available to lend. Tier I Capital – In simple words this capital is freely available with the bank to lend out. Tier II Capital- This is the capital tied up somewhere and is less freely available to lend. In case of an adverse event, the bank can use this capital to lend. Under Basel III norms, a bank’s tier 1+tier 2 capital must be a minimum of 8% of its risk-weighted holdings. The minimum capital adequacy ratio, also including the capital conservation buffer, is 10.5%. Current Account Saving Account (CASA)- There is no interest paid on the Current Account and a small interest rate is paid on a savings account. The combination of both is called CASA which shows the liabilities of the bank on which it pays relatively less interest. Deposits: Bank deposits are a savings product that customers can use to hold an amount of money at a bank for a specified length of time. In return, the financial institution will pay the customer the relevant amount of interest, based on how much they choose to deposit and for how long. Now let us come to NPA. Gross NPA (GNPA): It is the total loans on which no payment has been paid for 90 days or more. GNPA % is usually shown in each Bank’s quarterly results. The percentage is basically the GNPA amount as a % of the total advances. Slippages: Slippages denote the fresh amount of loans that have turned bad in a year. The slippage ratio of a bank is calculated as Fresh accretion of NPAs during the year /Total standard assets at the beginning of the year multiplied by 100. Provisioning Coverage Ratio (PCR): This is the ratio of provisioning to GNPA and indicates the extent of funds a bank has kept aside to cover loan losses. For Instance, a company has GNPAs of Rs 100 and they have set aside 50 Rs, then the PCR is 50%. Net NPA (NNPA): The total figure left after deducting provisions made for bad loans from GNPA. (GNPA – Provisions+upgrades/writeoffs = NNPA) Special Mention Account (SMA) SMA-0 is a category in which stress with respect to the principal and interest has remained overdue for a period of 0 to 30 days. SMA-1 is a category in which stress with respect to the principal and interest has remained overdue for a period of 30-60 days. SMA-2 is a category in which stress with respect to the principal and interest has remained overdue for a period of 60-90 days

..... . VALI disclosures . .....

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Tuesday, February 4, 2025

04/02/25, Gold Reserves: The glittering yellow metal, has attracted humans since its discovery. It has always been a significant and trustworthy part of any nation's economy and financial stability for centuries

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