The Shanghai Gold Exchange, where investors actually take delivery of bullion rather than just play liar's poker with multiple paper claims for the same ounce, delivered 51.5 tonnes of gold bullion in the latest week.

The trend of deliveries has been rising the last 12 weeks.

To put this in perspective, if there are 32,150.75 troy ounces of gold in a metric tonne, then the Comex has a total of just under 28 tonnes of registered (deliverable) gold in all of its warehouses. 

What is that, about three days supply in Shanghai?  Not to mention the other gold bullion markets around the world.

Sounds more symbolic, than practical.  Well, there can be power in symbols-- until people start to fail to believe.

There are another 239 tonnes in storage in all the Comex vaults, in the proper bullion eligible format, but not listed as deliverable at these prices.  Sometimes owners feel comfortable keeping the bullion there for storage, eliminating the need to have the bullion assayed if they ever wish to sell it.

So what does this all mean?    It means that the unsustainable will not be sustained.  In other words, free trade and globalization:  ain't it a bitch?

Someday the price of gold will likely be whatever China and its like minded bullion markets say it is, the paper pushers in New York and London notwithstanding.

It would already be so, except for the tired efforts of Wall Street's central banking friends and their access to leasing other people's bullion in an effort to influence markets and their prices.

China is apparently not yet tired of buying gold on the cheap.

But make no mistake, Shanghai talks, and Wall Street walks.

This chart from the data wrangler Nick Laird at Sharelynx.com.