Byron King, Whiskey and Gunpowder
Let’s review the big picture for gold. What’s going on? And what are people saying?

For much of 2009, gold traded in the range of low-mid $900 per ounce. There was a dip over the summer, with a strong upswing starting in September. Gold is now trading well over $1,000 per ounce, in fact just under $1,100.

Turns out that the government of India was buying gold in mid-October.

An upward revision in China’s growth figures allowed it to leapfrog Germany to become the world’s third-largest economy in 2007. Now the Red Dragon is snapping at Japan’s heels in the quest to become No. 2 in the world’s economic pecking order.

Iceland today (Thursday) secured nearly $11 billion in loans from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other nations. The bailout will help the island nation stabilize its currency and recapitalize its banks, but it will also saddle its tiny population with a huge debt burden.

The World Bank said yesterday that it plans to triple its lending to developing nations this year in an effort to prevent a “human crisis” that has been brought about by economic turmoil.

China unveiled yesterday (Sunday) what it described as a “massive” economic stimulus package – a planned capital infusion of $586 billion that it plans to use to reverse its slowing growth, to loosen credit and to offset slowing global growth by stoking domestic demand.

When the president of the United States visited this region almost a year ago, the city of Dubai closed down for the entire day. Locals and expats alike jokingly refer to this event of yore as “Bush Day,” a day when they stayed home from work and watched movies as the leader of the “free world” took a Big Bus tour of the city.

Sometimes when you’re scouring the news, you see a statistic that renders you almost speechless. You can’t quite get your head around what it really means, you just know that it’s a knockout number.

U.S. consumer prices rose less than forecast in the month of April, assuaging some inflation fears, but food prices experienced their biggest jump in 18 years.

You can’t deny 2007 was the year of living dangerously in financial markets. So far this losing streak has continued through the first quarter—with the notable exception of soaring commodity markets!

The long awaited first stab at UK gross domestic product (GDP) over Q1 2008 was released on Friday. Much has been written regarding the continuing crisis in the credit markets and the plight of the US economy, however, recent survey data indicates that whatever the problems in store for the UK over the next twelve months, so far activity appears to be holding up fairly well.