Gold prices hit 27-year high (login required - free) Gold prices rose to a 27-year high after the dollar hit record lows, boosting the appeal of the metal as an alternative investment. The price of gold is up 20% this year, heading for its seventh straight annual gain. The dollar fell Thursday to record lows against the euro and against a weighted basket of six major currencies, including the Japanese yen and British pound. Five of the last six bear markets for the U.S. currency sent gold higher in dollar terms. "It's hard to keep gold down when the dollar is getting crushed," said Carlos Perez-Santalla, gold trader and president of Hudson River Futures in New York. Gold futures for December delivery rose $6.40, or 0.8%, to $768.70 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, marking the highest closing price for the most actively traded futures contract since Jan. 22, 1980, the day after gold reached a record $873 an ounce.
Gold Rises to 27-Year High on Dollar Outlook; Silver Also Gains Gold rose to a 27-year high in London for a second consecutive day on speculation the U.S. Federal Reserve will cut interest rates this month, spurring demand for the metal as an alternative investment to the dollar. Gold yesterday rose the most in six weeks after the dollar fell to a record against the euro. Traders increased bets the Fed will cut borrowing costs on Oct. 31 after a government report showed housing starts fell to a 14-year low. ``The Fed would rather have economic growth by cutting rates at the expense of the dollar, and a weak dollar is usually good for gold,'' said Mario Innecco, a futures broker specializing in precious metals at MF Global Ltd. in London.
For every $100,000 your house has appreciated your son or daughter is now another $100,000 in debt Mr Henry Paulson the Treasury Secretary and ex CEO of Goldman Sachs said the following today, and I quote. "Let me be clear, despite strong economic fundamentals, the housing decline is still unfolding and I view it as the most significant current risk to our economy," Paulson said in a speech delivered at Georgetown University's law school. "The longer housing prices remain stagnant or fall, the greater the penalty to our future economic growth." In his most somber assessment of the crisis to date, Paulson said that the housing correction is "not ending as quickly" as it had appeared it would and that "it now looks like it will continue to adversely impact our economy, our capital markets and many homeowners for some time yet."
Crude backs off after hitting $90 for first time Crude oil futures retreated Friday after hitting $90 a barrel for the first time overnight as continued weakness in the dollar and worries over supply security helped drive prices higher. The November light-crude contract peaked at $90.02 a barrel before slipping back to trade down $1.07 at $88.40. The dollar held close to the all-time low it set against the euro on Thursday. The European currency changed hands at $1.4286, having broken through the $1.43 barrier in the previous session. Along with continued fears over supply disruption in Iraq, the news of a bomb attack against former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, which reportedly left at least 130 people dead, added to upward pressure on crude prices late in the previous session, said Edward Meir at MF Global.
Chinese growth 'to overtake US' For the first time in modern history, China will next year contribute more to global economic growth than the United States. The landmark moment was predicted yesterday by the International Monetary Fund and is the latest illustration of the fast-growing Asian country's importance to the world economy. While China's economy is still far smaller than America's, it has overtaken the UK as the world's fourth biggest economy. With the IMF projecting 10pc growth this year, the country will pump more new money into the global system next year than the US, which is expected to grow by just 1.9pc. If the forecasts spelled out in the IMF's World Economic Outlook prove correct (and the institution did not foresee the recent credit crunch), China's continued resilience will come at just the right time for the global economy, as the developed world enters a period of slower growth.
Wishful Thinking on the Housing Mess Just when a majority of strategists thought it was safe to go back in the water the proposed bailout of the SIVs once again threw the spotlight on the fragility of the credit markets. SIVs are the investment vehicles, known as "conduits" and 'structured investment vehicles" that are designed to operate separately from the banks and off their balance sheets, It’s one thing to learn that that someone is taking action on a dangerous problem that was known for some time. But to suddenly hear that a problem hardly anyone was aware of as recently as two months ago was about to blow up is more likely to raise the question as to what else is out there that we still don’t know about.
It’s Time for the Banks to Face the Hangman Officials in the Treasury Department — working with their colleagues at Citigroup, J.P. Morgan and Bank of America — have concocted a scheme to rescue the banks from their massive losses in mortgage-backed securities. The group is planning to set up a $100 billion emergency fund that will purchase non-performing assets for short-term debt. In truth, the fund is a bailout that provides the financial giants with an excuse for not reporting their enormous losses from bad bets. “The high stakes plan to RESCUE BANKS FROM LOSSES on mortgage securities amounts to a big bet that a consortium of financial giants — AT THE PRODDING OF THE US GOVERNMENT — can PERSUADE INVESTORS TO POUR MORE MONEY INTO THE TROUBLED CREDIT MARKET.”
Is the U.S. Government Sneaking Gold Out of Fort Knox? Is the U.S. government sneaking gold out of Fort Knox? This may be exactly the case, as evidenced by a very curious change in U. S. Treasury reporting on gold supplies. Up until April 27th of this year, the U. S. Treasury reported on a weekly basis its international reserve position on this form: On this form, the gold supply (valued at the old fixed price of $42.22 per ounce) is reported as $11,041 million. The following week, the Treasury changed the form and, as first spotted by Bill Rummel and reported in the Free Market Gold and Money Report, the new form has a change to its reporting of the gold supply. No longer is the gold supply listed as simply 'gold stock', it is now reported as "gold stock including gold deposits and, if appropriate, gold swapped” (our emphasis).
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Archived Page Link
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
RSS
![[Most Recent Quotes from www.kitco.com]](http://www.kitconet.com/images/quotes_7a.gif)