December 2017 - Week 3 Edition
2017: The Dollar Fell, Gold Rose and My Friend Won a Bet
A year ago, in their December 26, 2016 issue – their last issue for 2016 – the Barron’s Commodities column carried the headline, “The End of a Gold Era.” They quoted leading Wall Street banks like Bank of America, which said that Fed rate hikes will be “a key headwind to gold.” The London Bullion Market Association, however, was more bullish than usual in their 2017 predictions.
December 2017 - Week 2 Edition
Liberal Pundit Paul Krugman is Wrong Again
At 12:42 am on Wednesday morning, November 9, 2016, the Liberal Nobel-Prize winning economist Paul Krugman filed an article for the New York Times titled “The Economic Fallout,”
December 2017 - Week 1 Edition
Michael Flynn, North Korea and Gold Prices
Gold flirted with $1,300 last week – each London morning price fix from Monday through Wednesday ranged from $1,293 to $1,295 – only to fall below $1,280 again by week’s end. There was a lot of news pushing gold prices around – a tax bill working its way through the Senate, a guilty plea by former Trump advisor Michael Flynn and ongoing concerns about North Korea’s nuclear missile capabilities – but all three of these issues are far from resolved, so we should see gold continue to trade as a “crisis hedge.”
November 2017 - Week 4 Edition
The Big Surprise of 2017 – A Sinking Dollar and Rising Euro
You would think that with “Brexit” and a weak euro – and tensions in the Middle East and Asia – that the dollar would be the “safe haven” currency of 2017, but the big surprise of the year is that the U.S. Dollar Index began the year at 103 and is currently under 93 – down 10% in the first 11 months of the year.
November 2017 - Week 3 Edition
Central Bank (and Chinese) Gold Demand Soared in the Third Quarter
In addition to rising demand from hedge fund managers, central banks increased their gold demand 25% last quarter, according to the World Gold Council’s “Gold Demand Trends Q3 217 Report,” released last week. Global banks bought 111 metric tons of gold last quarter vs. 88.8 tons in the same quarter in 2016.
November 2017 - Week 2 Edition
Gold on Track for Best Year Since 2011
Gold is up 11% this year but it has been flat in the last month and the last year since Donald Trump was elected. In fact, the closing price for gold on the day Trump won the 2016 election was $1,282. Exactly a year later, gold closed at nearly the same price ($1,284) on November 8, 2017. On election night, gold soared briefly but then fell over the next month to a low of $1,125 on December 20, 2016. Gold’s high in Trump’s first year was $1,346 on September 8, 2017. Gold is still on track for its best year since 2011.
November 2017 - Week 1 Edition
Some Surprising “Reversals” in Gold Demand Overseas
Sometimes, gold demand statistics are hard to verify. People buy or sell gold on the underground market or are reticent to reveal their purchases. Last week we learned about several reversals in gold demand.
October 2017- Week 5 Edition
Will the “Lucky $1,300” Gold Barrier Be Broken After Halloween?
There’s a lot of drama brewing in the major central banks of the world. First of all, the Bank of Japan meets on Halloween Day (Tuesday), then Federal Reserve meets on both Halloween and All Saint’s Day (Wednesday), then the Bank of England on Thursday, November 2.
October 2017- Week 4 Edition
Will the “Lucky $1,300” Gold Barrier Be Broken After Halloween?
There’s a lot of drama brewing in the major central banks of the world. First of all, the Bank of Japan meets on Halloween Day (Tuesday), then Federal Reserve meets on both Halloween and All Saint’s Day (Wednesday), then the Bank of England on Thursday, November 2.
October 2017- Week 4 Edition
Trump’s Possible Release of Kennedy Assassination Files Sparks Demand for Silver Kennedy Half Dollars
This year is the centennial of the birth of President John F. Kennedy in 1917. There was a surge in demand for 1964 Silver Kennedy Half Dollars around the date of his birth (last May 29), and there will likely be another surge in demand when the last remaining Kennedy assassination files are released, perhaps this week.
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