Gold Rises to 27-Year High in London on Dollar; Silver Gains Gold rose to a 27-year high in London on speculation that a decline in the dollar will prompt investors to buy the precious metal as an alternative investment. Silver also increased. Assets in the StreetTracks Gold Fund, the biggest exchange traded fund backed by gold, reached a record 585.53 metric tons, after gaining 12 percent last month, figures from the World Gold Council show. Gold is up 17 percent this year, while the dollar has declined 7 percent against the euro to a record low. ``If you look at the chart, gold and the euro look very similar,'' said Wolfgang Wrzesniok-Rossbach, head of sales and marketing at Heraeus Holding GmbH, a precious metals refiner in Hanau, Germany.
Leeb's Advice to Investors: Put Money in Gold Stephen Leeb is worried about inflation, but not the way you or I or Ben Bernanke worries about inflation. He views escalating prices as the inevitable consequence of an oncoming clash of civilizations."I'm not very bullish on the world," Mr. Leeb says, "but I hope I'm wrong."Mr. Leeb heads up the Leeb Group, which manages money for high net worth clients and which publishes a newsletter called the Complete Investor. Since Mr. Leeb was early — too early, according to his publisher — in popping the tech bubble in 1999 in a book called "Defying the Market: Profiting in the Turbulent Post-Technology Market," and also in loading up on energy stocks a few years ago, his views are of interest. That, certainly, is the opinion of the 60,000 people who subscribe to his newsletter, and presumably the reason he has successfully published several books.
Gold And Silver Fundamentals Have Changed Both gold and silver have had attractive and improving supply and demand fundamentals for many years running. Demand for gold jewelry has exceeded mine supply with Central Bankers making up the shortfall with what is by far their most precious reserve asset. The stated reason was to achieve higher income, while the real reason was to suppress the price. If you believe their stated reason then you also probably believe that the reason the Fed stopped reporting the M3 money supply numbers in 2006 was to save money as they explained. Silver, likewise, has lopsided supply and demand with the shortfall on the supply side. The total depletion of a 60 year US stockpile is bringing the situation to a head. These favorable supply demand statistics alone have been enough to ignite a precious metal bull market which is now in its seventh year.
Foreclosure Filings Nearly Double Foreclosure filings across the U.S. nearly doubled last month compared with September 2006, as financially strapped homeowners already behind on mortgage payments defaulted on their loans or came closer to losing their homes to foreclosure, a real estate information company said Thursday. A total of 223,538 foreclosure filings were reported in September, up from 112,210 in the same month a year ago, according to Irvine-based RealtyTrac Inc. The number of filings in September was down 8 percent from August's 243,947, the firm said. Despite the sequential decline, the September figure represents the second-highest total for filings in a single month since the company began tracking monthly filings two years ago. Few buyers for foreclosures in O.C. I visited a foreclosure auction at the Santa Ana courthouse steps on Oct. 3, as part of my ongoing effort to learn more about why foreclosures are rising and how they may impact local neighborhoods. Out of 34 properties auctioned that day, all but one went back to the bank because no one bid. I don’t know why there was only one bidder that day. However, buying at an auction entails risks, including other claims on the property aside from the lender’s as well as potential property damage from an unhappy homeowner. I selected 10 of the properties in different cities and looked on the web site ForeclosureRadar to see how many foreclosure filings exist around each one. This provides a rough idea of what areas are seeing foreclosures ramp up.
Demonstrations Held Outside Countrywide Branches The community activist group ACORN, or Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, demonstrated outside several Countrywide branches on Tuesday, claiming the beleaguered lender was doing little to help homeowners avoid foreclosure. At a branch in San Bruno, CA, protestors armed with signs marked, “Save Homes, Stop Foreclosures” chanted “Predatory Lender” as they picketed outside. At one point, the demonstrators knocked on the door to confront employees, but the doors had been locked, and there was no response from staff within. One former Countrywide customer who was part of the group claimed that the interest rate on the subprime loan she was given three years ago had spiked from 6.5 to 12 percent today, leaving her with few options aside from foreclosure.
Retailers post worse-than-expected monthly sales U.S. retailers reported poorer-than-expected September same-store sales Thursday, hurt by warm weather and declining housing-market conditions and consumer confidence, and a handful -- from Target Corp. to J.C. Penney Co. -- cut their profit forecasts. Retailers across discount, department-store, apparel and teen sectors all missed analysts' forecasts, according to Thomson Financial. What ranked as the eighth warmest September in 113 years had hurt demand for cold weather merchandise, according to Weather Trends International. Higher gasoline prices and housing and credit-market worries also tightened shoppers' budgets, analysts said.
Gold advance continues on back of weak dollar Gold advanced further on Wednesday, as the dollar continued to weaken. Gold for November delivery was up $7.0, or 0.9%, at $750.10 an ounce. "Bullion is higher on the back of renewed dollar weakening and a pickup in oil prices," analysts at Action Economics said in a note. "Both make gold more attractive as a hedge against inflation, and a weaker dollar also makes the precious metal cheaper for foreign investors." The dollar index, which measures the dollar against a basket of major currencies, was down 0.4%. The U.S. currency fell on Tuesday, after minutes from the Federal Reserve's September 18 meeting failed to dispel expectations of more rate cuts later this year.
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