The precious metals aren’t doing much as market participants already seem to be checked out with attention focused on the holidays. At time of writing, volume on the Comex exchange for gold is at a paltry 65,000 contracts and the yellow metal has traded in an unimpressive $7 range today. There was a brief moment of activity at 5:30 AM PST when data revealed that third quarter GDP in the US grew by 2.00%, slightly beating estimates of 1.90%. Gold … Read More »
For a while now it seems like the American dream has included for some reason a bank to finance the dream. In fact somewhere along the way it became American tradition to open a savings account for a child at a bank in order to teach the child “the value of money”. Somehow I think this tradition was perpetuated for the benefit of the bank, and not the benefit of the child. I began working in the banking industry in … Read More »
As expected, the Federal Reserve raised its benchmark interest rate for the first time in nearly a decade yesterday. The commentary associated with the rate hike was moderately dovish though. Future increases will likely be made slowly and the Fed will consider the overall strength of the economy as well as inflationary concerns. Nevertheless, the interest rate move reflects the central bank’s confidence in the US economy and its belief that it can handle higher borrowing costs. For as highly … Read More »
The precious metals are trading in uninspiring ranges so far today and this should not come as much of a surprise. Market participants are trimming positions ahead of the much anticipated FOMC tomorrow, where it is widely expected that the Fed will raise interest rates for the first time in nearly ten years. Given that gold has been in a steep decline since October and is hovering around six year lows, it appears that the market has already priced in … Read More »
The U.S. Mint said it sold 97,000 ounces of American Eagle gold coins in November, marking a 185 percent monthly jump and a 62 percent gain from the same period in 2014, Reuters reported. Silver coin demand also surged and already has broken the record it set last year. The move is likely to result in washing out some of the weaker-conviction owners who have gold through exchange-traded funds — the most popular is the SPDR Gold Trust — and … Read More »
The euro rallied to its 200 day moving average at $1.103 yesterday, a level it hadn’t approached since early November, but it didn’t have enough steam to break through the technical barrier. It has since backed off this level and has retreated as market participants turn their attention to the expected Fed rate hike in the US next week. The precious metals are trading lethargically with gold stuck in an unimpressive $7 range today. It has spent this week in … Read More »
When it comes to U.S. coinage Augustus Saint Gaudens is one of most recognized names in history. Who Was Augustus Saint-Gaudens? Augustus Saint-Gaudens is a renowned sculptor who was born in Ireland but grew up in America. His work mostly embodies the ideals of the “American Renaissance.” Saint-Gaudens grew up in New York City and traveled to Europe to get more training, knowledge and skill in the artistic field. Augustus came back to the states where he was asked to … Read More »
Plunging commodity prices and the euro backing off from recent highs have weighed on gold so far this week. A Bloomberg index of 22 weighted commodities has fallen to its lowest level in over 16 years. Following last week’s OPEC meeting which effectively decided to keep output high for the consortium and highlighted discord between Iran and Saudi Arabia, crude oil has fallen 15%. It is currently at seven year lows and, as the biggest commodity market by far, has … Read More »
When it comes to U.S. coinage Augustus Saint Gaudens is one of most recognized names in history. Who Was Augustus Saint-Gaudens? Augustus Saint-Gaudens is a renowned sculptor who was born in Ireland but grew up in America. His work mostly embodies the ideals of the “American Renaissance.” Saint-Gaudens grew up in New York City and traveled to Europe to get more training, knowledge and skill in the artistic field. Augustus came back to the states where he was asked to … Read More »
European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said today that the ECB will broaden the range of assets purchased and extend its quantitative easing program until at least the first quarter of 2017. The program will maintain the monthly purchases of 60 billion euros and will expand to include regional and local government debt. Draghi noted that the central bank is “willing and able” to act beyond these measures if needed. While the ECB stuck to the course of quantitative easing, … Read More »
