Doubling of gold price predicted

May 31st, 2010. Published under News. No Comments.

GOLD might have been hitting all-time highs in terms of dollars and rands, but it is still at only half the peak set in 1980 after adjusting for inflation, the SA Gold Coin Exchange said yesterday. “Then, prices rose to 850 an ounce, equal to 2266 today,” said its executive chairperson, Alan Demby. This phenomenon alone justified a doubling of the gold price from current levels in the next couple of years, he said. He cited a recent Bloomberg analysis which suggested that speculators were buying gold faster than the world’s biggest producers could mine the metal. “Against this background, analysts had been predicting a rally that might extend the longest run of annual gains since at least 1920,” Demby said. Analysts’ predictions for gold included that the yellow metal could go up 5000 to 10000 an ounce in the next five to 10 years. According to Demby, investors should hold a minimum of 15percent of their assets in gold, with two-thirds of that 15% comprising Krugerrands.

A Reuters poll released yesterday confirmed the trend, citing concerns over eurozone sovereign debt and wider instability in the financial markets as the spark behind the demand for a refuge from risk. — Reuters- Sapa

Hotel Boasts ATM With a Golden Touch

May 25th, 2010. Published under News, Videos. No Comments.

Almost exactly 1 year ago a golden vending machine was launched in Germany. Now you can buy your bullion from a vending machine in Abu Dhabi

Gold is money

May 13th, 2010. Published under News. No Comments.

The Western financial world is officially in full panic mode. A nearly $1 trillion bailout of Greece confirms that fact. Our very own Federal Reserve is providing billions to the effort, but this is much more than a bailout for Greece. It is a bailout for banks holding Greek debt and the debt of other European nations teetering on default.

This bailout is not a fix or a cure for too much debt. People on both sides of the pond are simply spending more than they earn. The “fix” is a long painful road of consuming less and saving more, but that is not what this bailout represents. What the leaders of the Western World chose was the short painless path of money printing. You have to ask yourself where did they come up with nearly a trillion dollars in such a short amount of time?

If real assets were used for this bailout, it would not be done. Think about this for a minute. Let’s say for the American part of this rescue we had to put up half of New York State for collateral. Does the thought of that much prime land frittered away make you squeamish?  How about putting up 500 million barrels of oil out of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve? Too valuable you say? Then maybe a couple thousand tons of gold out of Fort Knox would be okay to use, after all, it’s just sitting there (I hope).  Doesn’t this sound absurd?  It sure does because these are real assets and printed money is not. This is why the U.S. Fed is using dollars created out of thin air to help bail out its banking buddies in Europe. It is the easy way out, at least at the beginning.

In the end, this kind of reckless desperation will cause every dollar you spend and save to be worth less. If the Fed prints too many dollars, then they’ll be just plain worthless. What do you suppose will happen when California, Illinois, Florida or any one of more than a couple of dozen U.S. states all gets into the same trouble as Greece? Do you think the Fed will let them fail or print more money and bail them out too? I’m going with a giant money printing bonanza right here in America. I covered some of this in a February post called “America Has Its Own PIGS.”

Gold buyers see what’s coming, and prices are being bid up.  Gold set a new all time high this week. Why? Money, or the buying power of money, is systematically being destroyed by current and coming bailouts. The new money is gold and Congressman Ron Paul agrees. He said earlier this week, “Gold, all of a sudden, started acting differently.  It started acting as a currency rather than just reacting to the value of the dollar or other commodities . . . Gold has been money for 6 thousand years and it’s going to remain that way, and it will rule the roost . . . It’s telling us that the dollar is actually very weak . . . when you measure it against gold.” Silver is also rising in price. When gold rockets high enough in price, then silver will also be considered money.

This so called bailout will just extend the game. The question is for how long? To be frank, I do not know how this will finally shake out. The two things you can count on for sure:  there will be some very big inflation–and gold is money. (more…)

Gold Rises to Record Closing Price on Mounting Demand for Haven

May 13th, 2010. Published under News. No Comments.

 By Pham-Duy Nguyen

May 11 (Bloomberg) — Gold rose, closing at the highest price ever in New York, as demand for a haven mounted amid escalating European-debt concerns. Silver climbed, capping the biggest-three session rally since March 2009.

Gold futures settled at $1,220.30 an ounce and traded within 0.2 percent of the intraday record set in December. The euro fell as much as 0.9 percent against the dollar on concern the $1 trillion pledged to rescue Europe’s indebted nations won’t be enough to contain sovereign-debt risks. Chinese equities entered a bear market, and stocks in Europe retreated.

“When you’ve got this much uncertainty in the world, there are no other good alternatives than gold,” said Matt Zeman, a metal trader at LaSalle Futures Group in Chicago. “Europe is just piling more debt on top of more debt. It’s just a matter of time before you see runs on banks.” (more…)

A theoretical opinion of what could be ahead for gold should economic turmoil and quantitative easing persist.

May 12th, 2010. Published under News. No Comments.

A theoretical opinion of what could be ahead for gold should economic turmoil and quantitative easing persist.

Author: Lawrence Williams
Posted:  Monday , 10 May 2010 

WASHINGTON, DC - 

I suppose it depends who you listen to whether you believe that gold is going to move on and on to new heights – and maybe test $1500 or higher this year, or whether the recent sharp rise back above $1200, like the even sharper fall in stock markets, is just a blip and it will return to lower levels. The latest European moves to stabilise the Euro and prop up the PIIG economies may temporarily impact the gold priceand bring it back a little.  Indeed there are some who believe the combined forces of the U.S and Eurozone will be mobilised against gold to bring it crashing down as they feel that an ever-stronger gold price brings home the global weakness in the major western currencies and the central bankers will be trying to disguise quite how weak these currencies really are. (more…)

After rallying toward record gold slips back below $1,200

May 7th, 2010. Published under News. 1 Comment.

After rallying toward record gold slips back below $1,200

The price of the yellow metal edged down in early trade on Friday after rising toward an all time high yesterday on escalating debt concerns and falling US stocks

Author: Lewa Pardomuan (Reuters)
Posted:  Friday , 07 May 2010 

SINGAPORE (REUTERS)  - 

Gold edged down on Friday after rising toward an all-time high the previous day on Europe’s escalating debt woes and tumbling U.S. stocks, but strong safe haven demand is likely to help the metal test new highs.

Gold has gained as much as 10 percent this year as investors spooked by potential contagion from the eurozone debt crisis rushed to buy to the precious metal, whose safe haven appeal tends to increase in times of economic and geopolitical crises.

Spot gold was at $1,199.50 an ounce at 0301 GMT, down $7.75 cents from New York’s notional close on Thursday, when it jumped 3 percent to its highest since December 2009 at $1,210.35 an ounce — marking its biggest one-day gain in more than a year. (more…)

Gold’s future bright as ‘anti-currency’ (FinancialPost.com)

May 4th, 2010. Published under News. 1 Comment.

Gold climbed to a fresh five-month high Monday as the European debt crisis continued to pressure the euro and drive investors to the U.S. dollar.

Nymex gold for June delivery closed up US$2.60 to US$1,183.30 per ounce as analysts forecast the metal would break psychological resistance at US$1,200 and test its record high of US$1,227 set in December 2009.

“Gold is not just viewed as an inflation hedge in the current market,” said George Davis, chief technical analyst at RBC Capital Markets. “Given the euro region sovereign risk emanating from Greece, gold is also being used as a hedge against a potential financial crisis.”

He told clients that any lingering uncertainty over the Greek bailout or a “contagion effect” in Europe would be positive for the metal.

While a 110-billion euro bailout package for Greece was approved over the weekend, investors remain skeptical about the prospects for the Eurozone. That lead to further gains for precious metals in May’s first trading session. (more…)

Gold sparkles in ‘perfect storm’

November 30th, 2009. Published under News. No Comments.

London – Gold prices have rocketed to record heights close to $1 200 an ounce as a “perfect storm” of market conditions propels demand for the precious metal, analysts said.

Gold, whose two main drivers are jewellery and investment buyers, hit a record $1 195.13 an ounce on the London Bullion Market on Thursday.

The glamorous metal has won major support in recent weeks and months from a weak dollar, inflationary fears and increasing moves by central banks to diversify assets away from the greenback and into the commodity.

“It’s all things coming together at the same time – it’s a perfect storm,” Westhouse Securities mining sector analyst Mark Heyhoe told AFP, adding that gold could strike $1 300 by the New Year. (more…)

Gold still moving up

November 26th, 2009. Published under News. No Comments.

Tokyo – Gold hit a record high above $1 192 on Thursday as the dollar stumbled further and sentiment remained solid on expectations of more central bank buying of bullion.

The dollar extended losses on Thursday, falling to its lowest in 14 years against the yen and hitting a fresh 15-month low against a basket of six major currencies.

Gold prices have risen about 15 percent since the beginning of November, with demand fuelled by expectations of further reserve diversification, prospects for a sickly US currency and fears about inflation in 2010.

The market is highly sensitive to speculation of more bullion buying by central banks looking to diversify foreign exchange reserves, particularly in Asia, after a newspaper report that India is open to buying more gold from the International Monetary Fund following its purchase of 200 tonnes earlier this month.

The IMF had no comment on the report.

Late on Wednesday, the IMF said it had sold 10 tonnes of gold to the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, a part of 403.3 tonnes of sales approved by the fund’s executive board in September. The fund has already sold 202 tons of gold to the Reserve Bank of India and the Bank of Mauritius.

“Everybody is bullish on gold, and everybody is looking at the signal central banks are sending,” said Dick Poon, manager of precious metals at Heraeus in Hong Kong.

“It’s not just India or China, but most of the central banks, as well as funds, have changed their portfolios to include gold. So, everybody is looking at how much money they will invest in gold,” he said.

He said there was a lot of physical demand despite high prices, with Asian buyers seen in the market.

Spot gold hit a fresh record high of $1 194.70, up from New York’s notional close of $1 190.30.

US December gold futures also rose to a fresh high of $1 194.80 per ounce. Futures settled up $21.20, or 1.8%, at $1 187.00 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Vietnam’s central bank has granted quotas for the import of 10 tonnes of gold since lifting an import ban earlier this month, and 6.8 tonnes had already come in, state broadcaster VTV said on Wednesday.

Russia’s central bank bought 15.6 tonnes in October and has said it aims to increase gold’s share in its reserves this year.

“These moves further add to market speculation that central banks will continue to buy gold,” said Wakako Harada, a senior trader at Mitsubishi Corp in Tokyo.

US markets will be closed on Thursday for the Thanksgiving holiday.

“Reserve diversification moves by non-G7 central banks underscore investor detachment from dollar assets and is clearly reflected in gold’s rally,” said Shuji Sugata, a manager at Mitsubishi Corp Futures’ research team.

Traders said volume was not large, with many players kept to the sidelines due to the Thanksgiving holiday.

Yuichi Ikemizu, Tokyo branch manager for Standard Bank, said he did not expect strong follow-through buying, as players were likely to become cautious with the US on holiday.

“But sentiment is underpinned by speculation about central bank buying of gold, with many believing India will buy more from the IMF. And the dollar’s weakness is also supportive,” he said.

With many market players expecting gold’s bull run to continue, investment in gold increased.

The world’s largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, SPDR Gold Trust, said its holdings stood at 1nbsp;127.860 tonnes as of November 25, up 5.489 tonnes, or 0.5 %, from the previous day and just shy of a record 1 134.03 tonnes hit on June 1.

- Reuters

Gold hits record above $1120

November 12th, 2009. Published under News. No Comments.

Tokyo – Gold rose above $1 120 per ounce to hit a record high on Thursday for the second straight day as investors focused on the precious metal’s appeal as a hedge against a weakening dollar.

Improvements in the economic outlook also lent support to the precious metal. Gold is often seen as a hedge against energy price-led inflation.

Spot gold was at $1 119.65 an ounce as of 02:32 GMT after rising to a record $1 121.60, compared with New York’s notional close of $1 117.45.

Bullion has now renewed record highs for six out of the past eight sessions.

US gold futures for December delivery traded at $1 120.30 an ounce, up 0.5%. The contract earlier rose to a fresh record of $1 122.20. (more…)