Why We Watch the Price of Gold in All Currencies

A common flaw that we see the average investor make is to follow their investments measured in foreign currencies and at the same time forget to calculate their local exchange rate on those investments. This is a HUGE mistake as the fluctuation of an investor’s home currency has a massive impact on their returns.

Some investors know that the price of gold has been performing well in the past few years but let’s look at the charts to see how well gold has done for investors around the world....read more

Investors Flock to Gold and Silver on Recovery Worries

Investors worried about the global economic recovery pushed gold prices to fresh highs on Friday, marking the third time in a week the shiny metal set a new record. Silver also climbed to its highest price in thirty years.

Spot gold climbed above $1,282 an ounce in New York and London as a weakening dollar spurred demand from investors for wealth protection, while silver rose to $21.44 an ounce, its highest level since 1980.

Bullion, which usually moves inversely to the dollar, posted its biggest weekly gain since May as the greenback touched a five-week low against the euro.
Holdings in gold- backed exchange-traded products (ETP) reached a record this month as investors sought protection from financial turmoil and the prospect of slowing economic growth. ..read more

Why You Need to Own Gold

IF YOU WERE TO TRAVEL 100 years into the future, never to return to 2010, what would you pack for the trip: $1 million in cash or $1 million in gold?

If you're like most of Northern Trust's clients, you'd pick the gold, says Bob Browne, chief investment officer for the Chicago-based high-end bank. "I would guess 99% of clients say 'I'll take the gold,'" he says, adding that gold has proved its value over and over again in the past century—in the faces of political upheaval, world wars and the debasement of currencies.

The yellow metal, which last week hit an record high of $1,275 an ounce, has been drawing a lot of attention lately from affluent investors and their advisors. Long considered an asset that only a conspiracy theorist could love, gold has suddenly become a staple in the model portfolios of private bankers and other advisors to the rich. Many experts now recommend about 5% of your assets be put in gold, chiefly as insurance against a massive financial crisis. When other assets are falling, you can count on gold to perform.........read more

Gold Price Steady Above $1,100

GOLD PRICE NEWS - The gold price has closed within the narrow $25 band of $1,090 to $1,115 over the past eight trading days. Gold price volatility, as measured by the CBOE Volatility Index, has fallen 12.5% over the past two weeks as both stock and commodity markets have recovered their early February losses. The prices of gold mining stocks, after rallying over 10% in the first two weeks of the month as measured by the Market Vectors Gold Mining ETF (GDX), have settled into a narrow trading range.

Whether the breakout in the price of gold is to the upside or to the downside could be driven by the perception of investors as to the speed at which crisis-driven monetary policy is unwound. There has been some level of confusion with respect to global monetary policy, specifically the question of if central banks have begun to shift away from the ultra-easy stance that has been in place over the past eighteen months......more detail

Technical Summary: GOLD Reversal Rally Eyes The 1,127.00 Level

Technical Summary: GOLD Reversal Rally Eyes The 1,127.00 Level

GOLD was seen reversing its two-day loses on Friday bouncing off the 1,099.33 level and targeting its Feb 17’10 high at 1,127.00. The commodity will have to decisively break and hold above that level to create scope for the resumption of its corrective recovery triggered off the 1,044.20 level. The 1,141.48 level comes in as the next resistance. CRUDE OIL remains on the offensive following through on its Thursday recovery and testing a high of 80.24 on Friday. The commodity requires a break and hold above the 79.43/80.72 level to open the door for further upside gains towards its 2010 high at 83.93. SILVER now looks to head higher towards the 16.92 level following a reversal of its two-day correction on Friday. A break and hold above the 16.92 level will create further upside risk towards the 17.23 level. Although WHEAT still retains its corrective recovery bias, its failure at the 509 level and its subsequent declines has halted further corrective upside gains and turned threats to the downside towards its YTD low at 466. CORN maintains a similar pattern like Wheat. It has turned lower off the 368 level and now eyes its 2010 low at 347 though currently seen hesitating.....more detail

World Gold Consumption

World Gold consumption fell 11% in year 2009, the high prices pressure on industrial demand but in other hand demand for investment increase. Data below showing global gold demand in year 2007-2009.

Top 10 Gold reserve by country as of Dec 2009

The IMF announce to selling 191.3 tonnes of gold that could be pressure on gold futures. Last year since September IMF has sold 212 tonnes with biggest purchase is India, which bought 200 tonnes of gold (6.7 billion). Data below show Top 10 gold reserve by country as of Dec 2009.

The Weekly Gold Digger

The US Dollar showed some weakness this week after the IMF (International Monetary Fund) had sold 200 tonnes of Gold to the Reserve Bank of India for 6.7 billion. This development along with the thought that other countries may follow suit and purchase additional reserves of Gold to fill their Gold reserve ratios. It was previously thought that the level that these countries wanted to buy the metal would be in the $1020.00 to $1030.00 area. This re-established the floor to approximately $1050.00. These markets are also responding to the play by play of our economic recovery. The relationship between the US Dollar and the Gold Market temporarily waned on Tuesday due to the purchase. We will be gaging the economic recovery on a variety of factors and the affect on the US Dollar. In this case, I still believe that in the long term, we shall see the US Dollar drift lower.......Full article here