Recently, I was interviewed by a journalist from The Business Times on gold investing.Gold plummets on profit-taking
Gold plummets on profit-taking
March 4, 2008 3:38 PM ET
Source: MSN Money
NEW YORK (AP) - Gold fell sharply Tuesday after crude oil retreated and traders cashed in profits following the metal’s flirtation with the historic $1,000 mark. Silver and copper also declined.
Other commodities fell across the board, with corn, wheat, soybean and energy futures all trading lower in a broad futures sell-off.
Gold has gained more than 15 percent this year, driven up by record high oil prices, steep declines in the dollar and worries about a U.S. recession. The most-actively traded April contract hit an intraday high of $992 an ounce on Monday — a record high and just shy of the psychologically important $1,000 barrier.
Gold’s failure to breach the $1,000 mark triggered a sell-off, sending the metal $17.90 lower to settle at $966.30 an ounce Tuesday on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold fluctuated widely, trading as high as $990.30 and as low as $958.30.
Gold Nears $1,000 on Weak Dollar
Gold Nears $1,000 on Weak Dollar
By Stevenson Jacobs
Source: http://ap.google.com/article
NEW YORK (AP) — Gold prices moved within striking distance of $1,000 an ounce Monday, surging to another record after the dollar tumbled to an all-time low and crude oil surpassed its inflation-adjusted high.
Silver extended recent gains to reach another 27-year high, while platinum also rose to a record. Other commodities advanced broadly, with soybean and corn futures both rising to new highs.
The dollar briefly fell to a historic low Monday on news that construction spending plummeted. The euro bought as much as $1.5266 earlier Monday but later gave up some gains and was trading at $1.5180 Monday afternoon.
A series of Federal Reserve interest rate cuts has battered the dollar, which lost nearly 10 percent against the euro in 2007. Lower interest rates tend to weaken the dollar and prompt investors to shift resources into hard assets like gold, which is known for holding its value in times of rising inflation and economic uncertainty.
Gold Rises to Record; Silver at 27-Year High on Dollar’s Slump
Gold Rises to Record; Silver at 27-Year High on Dollar’s Slump
By Claudia Carpenter
Last Updated: February 27, 2008 06:28 EST
Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601012&sid=a72Zt55Nh1lw&refer=commodities
Feb. 27 (Bloomberg) — Gold rose to records in London and New York and silver gained to a 27-year high as the dollar’s all- time low spurred demand for precious metals as a hedge against inflation. Palladium rose to the highest since 2001.
Gold is up 15 percent this year as a U.S. housing slump and turmoil in credit markets led the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates when commodities were rising to records. The dollar declined on speculation Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke will signal more rate cuts in testimony to Congress today.
“With a weaker dollar, imports become more expensive and that can import inflation into a country,” said Ben Davies, chief executive officer of Hinde Capital Ltd. in London who helps manage the Hinde Gold Fund. “The Fed wants to inflate their way out of the problems of a huge deficit and a banking system that’s at the point of imploding.”
Central Bank gold sales seen at 500 t in ‘07/08
Central Bank gold sales seen at 500 t in ‘07/08
Written by Allan Seccombe
Published on Wed, 27 Feb 2008
Source: http://www.miningmx.com/gold_silver/985210.htm
[miningmx.com] — CENTRAL Bank Gold Agreement (CBGA) sales could reach 500 tonnes in the 2007/08 year, while sales for the following year are forecast to be a whole lot lower, but the IMF could be a surprise factor, the Fortis hedging and financial gold report said.
The report, jointly researched by Fortis and VM Group, said hopes have been raised in the market that official gold sales by European central banks could be tapering off after CBGA targets of a maximum 500 tonnes/year were missed in the previous two years.
“So far, however, in the 2007/2008 CBGA year it looks as though gold sales could hit 500 tonnes,” the report said.
For the current 2007/08 year, which started on 27 September 2007, CBGA sales are estimated to have reached 170 tonnes by the end of January.
Gold futures rebound as dollar drops
Gold futures rebound as dollar drops
By Nick Godt, MarketWatch
Last update: 2:44 p.m. EST Feb. 26, 2008
Source: http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/gold-futures-rebound-dollar-drops/story.aspx?guid=%7B333505AC%2D4F02%2D4071%2DA07D%2DB9B2CD73F1C8%7D
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Gold futures reversed earlier losses on Tuesday, as the dollar fell against major counterparts on bleak U.S. economic data, while traders reconsidered the importance of an expected sale of gold reserves by the International Monetary Fund.
Gold for April delivery gained $8.40 to end at $940.50 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Gold futures had fallen Monday after a senior Treasury official said the U.S. supports the proposed sale of part of the gold reserves held by the IMF.
“But there is an understanding that the IMF issue is minor at best,” said Brien Lundin, president at Jefferson Financial. “The sale still needs congressional approval, which remains doubtful, and the amount would be minor anyway.”
Gold dehedging to slow this year - Fortis report
Gold dehedging to slow this year - Fortis report
Reporting by Atul Prakash, editing by Chris Johnson
Tue Feb 26, 2008 6:49pm GMT
Source: http://uk.reuters.com/article/allBreakingNews/idUKL2674261020080226?rpc=401&=undefined&sp=true&pageNumber=2&virtualBrandChannel=0
LONDON, Feb 26 (Reuters) - Mining companies are expected to reduce their gold hedging positions by 6-8 million ounces in 2008, against a decline of 13.5 million last year, a report sponsored by Fortis Bank said on Tuesday.
“Will this pace be maintained in 2008? We doubt it, for the simple mathematical reason that there is much less hedging to be either closed-out or delivered into than there was a year or two years ago,” it said.
Hedging allows producers to lock in prices for future output, but it can backfire if metals prices rise above the hedged price. High gold prices <XAU=> have prompted producers to lower their hedging positions.
The global hedge book showed a decline of 2.3 million ounces to 26.8 million in the fourth quarter of 2007, registering the 23rd consecutive quarterly reduction, said the report, prepared by the VM Group and Haliburton Mineral Services.
