France pulls last gold held in US • Hacker News Board

Re: France pulls last gold held in US

#31

Post by wqaatwt » Mon, Apr 06, 2026, 9:11 AM UTC

tux3 wrote: post #28

berkes wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> As the price of gold continued to rise as they did this, Seems counterintuitive to me. This would only make gains when they bought the new gold before selling the old, or when there's some arbitrage going on between Gold/USD, Gold/EUR and USD/EUR. If they first sold the old for USD, then bought the new for USD, with a rising gold price, they'd miss the price-gain during the time between the trades, when they held t…

The source is a press conference where they state the total amount and total value of gold stored hasn't changed. In le figaro they report the profit is due to variation in price between the different transactions. Which seems to be a polite way to say they took exceptional risk.

They repatriated 129 tonnes in total, its was absolutely impossible to make $15B from that since that’s what 129 tonnes are worth in total more or less.

Re: France pulls last gold held in US

#32

Post by 0dayman » Mon, Apr 06, 2026, 9:12 AM UTC

cladopa wrote: post #25

This is not gain at all. At least in theory: You own some tons of gold at the start of the process, you have the same tons of gold at the end of the process. The only real gain is that you have gold in the US custody and the US can be tempted to just use it without telling you anything. In other words, you had "paper gold" or "virtual gold" that the US can confiscate anytime, for example after invading Greenland, bla…

which can be the difference between losing that entire amount or gaining it, and in this situation with this America, this is a big win if they manage to get it back in fact, if it hasn't been stolen or sold already

Re: France pulls last gold held in US

#33

Post by wqaatwt » Mon, Apr 06, 2026, 9:13 AM UTC

rstarast wrote: post #18

eru wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't understand this. Did they increase the overall amount of gold they held?

First sell the gold, then buy same amount at a slightly lower price a bit later (on average)

Impossible to make anywhere close to that amount since they only sold 129 tonnes

Re: France pulls last gold held in US

#34

Post by picsao » Mon, Apr 06, 2026, 9:13 AM UTC

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Re: France pulls last gold held in US

#35

Post by renewiltord » Mon, Apr 06, 2026, 9:14 AM UTC

xvedejas wrote: post #21

rstarast wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

First sell the gold, then buy same amount at a slightly lower price a bit later (on average)

> the price of gold continued to rise as they did this This would mean they sold low and bought high, right?

It’s because they’re using European mathematics. You wouldn’t understand if you’re American.

In reality the article is attempting to account for a capital gain pnl accounting for taxes.

Re: France pulls last gold held in US

#36

Post by sph » Mon, Apr 06, 2026, 9:15 AM UTC

stavros wrote: post #27

sph wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That accent somehow migrated two characters too far.

Nah that's how it's spelled in French.

True, but ‘Doré’ means golden, and would make for a better joke.

Re: France pulls last gold held in US

#37

Post by rkomorn » Mon, Apr 06, 2026, 9:16 AM UTC

stavros wrote: post #27

sph wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That accent somehow migrated two characters too far.

Nah that's how it's spelled in French.

The French part in that sentence should be the name of the region (eg Doré(e) ), not "région", and if you wanted to use the French spelling of "région", you'd have to say "région Dore".

Using the French spelling of région but the wrong word order doesn't make sense.

Re: France pulls last gold held in US

#38

Post by renewiltord » Mon, Apr 06, 2026, 9:16 AM UTC

[flagged]

Re: France pulls last gold held in US

#39

Post by DaedalusII » Mon, Apr 06, 2026, 9:16 AM UTC

xvedejas wrote: post #21

rstarast wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

First sell the gold, then buy same amount at a slightly lower price a bit later (on average)

> the price of gold continued to rise as they did this This would mean they sold low and bought high, right?

price of gold dropped from $5500 to $4600 in the last few weeks then came back. all is possible

Re: France pulls last gold held in US

#40

Post by stavros » Mon, Apr 06, 2026, 9:16 AM UTC

rkomorn wrote: post #37

stavros wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nah that's how it's spelled in French.

The French part in that sentence should be the name of the region (eg Doré(e) ), not "région", and if you wanted to use the French spelling of "région", you'd have to say "région Dore". Using the French spelling of région but the wrong word order doesn't make sense.

Ahh I see, thanks.