February 2012, Week 3 Edition

Gold rose 4 of 5 days last week, with a down day on Thursday, when the dollar rose strongly to the euro, after Moody's Investors Service lowered its credit ratings (or outlook) on nine European nations. Former euro-strongholds like Austria and France now have negative outlooks. Also, the euro-zone's GDP fell at a 1.3% annual rate last quarter. Italy contracted at a painful 2.9% annual rate, while Belgium, Greece, the Netherlands and Portugal entered a recession, with their second straight quarter of negative GDP growth.