Gold Running in Place
Jun 30th, 2009 | By Doug Casey | Category: Gold MarketGold had a very inconclusive day on Monday, rising from the far East to a peak of $942 in early New York trading, then plunging back to $934 at mid-morning, before moving in fits and starts through the rest of the day, to finish at $937.30/oz., down $1.70. Overnight, gold is trending higher.
Platinum peaked at $1195 in Hong Kong, but traded rangebound between $1180 and $1190 for the bulk of the day, ending at $1183/oz., down $14. Overnight, platinum is pushing higher.
Silver hit its high for the day, $14.10, early on, then declined straight through with only a few temporary blips up, and closed at its intraday low of $13.84/oz., down 23 cents. Overnight, silver is sharply higher. (Click here for charts)
It was another listless day for gold, although platinum and silver took more substantial downside hits. A better showing might have been predicted, if one had known that the dollar would be essentially flat while crude shot up, but the usual suspects seem to have had a rather less than usual impact on metals prices lately.
Kitco’s Jon Nadler wrote that gold’s “primary focus remains on U.S. dollar movements, but volatility could also come this week from the cyclical process of quarter-end book-squaring processes.” If so, that sure hasn’t shown up as yet, with both Friday’s and yesterday’s market activity yielding little price change.
“Rangebound” may be the operative word as we approach the dog days of July. James Moore, of TheBullionDesk.com, wrote that trading is expected to remain “choppy” this week, “although overall [gold] appears comfortable in the recent $930 to $950 range.”
Adding to the lack of movement in gold, the SPDR Gold Trust (NYSE:GLD), largest ETF backed by bullion, has barely budged in recent days.
“Exchange-traded fund flows remain subdued, jewelry demand is weak, coin and investment bar buying is subdued,” wrote John Reade, of UBS in London. “At the moment, gold ETF inflows are associated with fear, not greed, and there has been less fear around recently.”
Any sharp move in gold may have to wait until the inflationary pressure being backed up in the system by government actions finally begins to escape.
Advertisement
2008 S&A Research Audit Results…
S&A's best-performing advisory returned 1,458% last year.
Are you getting these picks?
Doug Casey is a contrarian investor, sought-after public speaker and author of several books. His work "Crisis Investing" held the position of # 1 bestseller on the New York Times list for 26 consecutive weeks. Doug's unusual views on the economy - and just about everything else - have gained a huge following in the investment community, and it certainly helps that his stock recommendations of undervalued junior exploration companies have made his subscribers millions. Now in its 27th year, Doug's monthly newsletter, the International Speculator, is one of the most established and esteemed publications on gold, silver and other natural resource investments. Together with the Casey Energy Speculator, it covers a broad range of carefully selected stocks with the very real potential of double- and triple-digit returns within 12 to 24 months.