In the new Accord gold will be promoted to tier 1 status and carry a zero risk weighting; gold currently carries a risk weighting of 50%.

Does this mean banks can carry gold at cost and don't have to mark to market? Or does it mean they can mark up if gold rises but don't have to mark down if it falls? Does this mean banks can no longer lease their gold, or can they go on leasing it and just call it tier 1? In short, is this just an accounting trick to plug a hole in the balance sheet, or a genuine move to more stable reserves?

Seems to me if you're going to move from 50% to 100% weighting, you can hold less, not more gold, or just mark up what you've got with no real change to your holdings. I wouldn't jump on this as bullish for gold. If banks are indeed going to hold more, and are capable of maipulating the price as some believe, then which way is the price likely to move, at least in the short term?

Lots of questions, but I know one thing for sure. You can't trust these bitches any further than you can toss a gold bar, which isn't very far at all.

ebear