Euro Dollars - The Great Dollar Overhang and Missing M3 Component - Gold and Silver

These figures are from the Preliminary BIS Reports of November 2011 which reflect reporting bank positions as of the Jun 2011 quarter. Obviously therefore they do not yet reflect the recent Fed expansion of the swap lines for dollars.  The first chart represents the total dollars held by banks as 'foreign currency.'

As you will recall, a 'euro dollar' is any US dollar being held overseas, in