The
Gold Standard Weekly
Market Commentary Gold was up 1.01% for the week, going from $423 to $426.90. Following last weeks 0.86% increase in price. Silver (March
contract) was up 3.3% for the week, surging 3.9% on
Friday alone. The March contract rose 25.4 cents to close at $6.81 an ounce, Platinum was up 1.6% for the week. Commodities,
represented by the Reuters CRB Index (basic components
include hard tangible assets such as Metals, Textiles and Fibers, Livestock
and Products, Fats and Oils, Raw Industrials, Foodstuffs) was up 0.5 percent
at 284.17 points. Oil (NYMEX March crude) settled at $48.53 to close largely unchanged for the week following from last weeks 6.73% surge. Crude futures are well below the October peak above $55 a barrel, but prices are about 40 per cent higher than a year ago due to strong global demand, temporary output snags and fears that geopolitical strife could further threaten supplies. Oil
is up some 400% in the last six years. A surge in the cost of
gasoline and other energy products pushed U.S. consumer prices up
by 3.3
per cent in 2004, the biggest jump in four years. Price pressures
last
year were dominated by a 16.6 per cent surge in fuel bills, the
biggest jump in 14 years, as gasoline prices jumped by 26.1 per
cent, natural
gas was up 16.4 per cent and home heating oil rose by 39.5 per
cent. Those hefty price increases, reflecting turmoil in global
oil markets,
caused a major slowdown in economic activity in the late spring
as consumers, struggling to pay higher energy bills, suddenly
stopped spending on other items. The Reuters CRB index has been trading since 1956. It tracks 17 component commodities ranging from key economic indicators like gold and oil to other important commodities such as cocoa, coffee and orange juice. The CRB can be divided into six categories of components which include energy, grains, industrials, livestock, precious metals, and what are termed soft commodities. One of the CRB index’s greatest strengths is the fact that there is an equal weighting of all of its 17 components. This weighting assures that no price increase in any single commodity, like oil, can significantly skew the entire index. Significant moves in the CRB are only possible when the majority of its component commodities are moving in unison with a particular primary trend. The most important commodities - gold, oil, and silver only account for 3/17th of the entire index. Commodities have been moving higher since its massive double bottom in early 1999 and late 2001. It has marched from a low near 183 in October 2001 to a recent bull market high of 290. This sterling 63% gain over three and a half years means that the CRB is likely in a secular bull market or a major new long-term trend likely to run higher for a decade or so. It is worth noting that if the Reuters CRB Index all time high of 338 in 1980 is adjusted to real dollar terms or adjusted fro the considerable inflation of the last thirty years it gives a price of 754 in November 1980 or 962 in early 1974." The dollar's failure to extend its gains recently, despite a flurry of news and economic numbers in its favour, eroded the market's support for the currency," said Brien Lundin, editor of Gold Newsletter. "In traders' views, if the greenback can't rise, then it's destined to fall," meaning that "if you're going to bet on a fall in the dollar, you also want to bet on a rise in gold," he said. The metal has also found support from the "ongoing, extremely strong level of physical demand from Asia and the Middle East," he said. This physical demand shows "no sign of abating and, contrary to historical experience, appears to be investment-related," Lundin noted. Overall, "the buyers have shown little price resistance, and their appetites for gold seem to increase along with the price," he said. This soaring physical demand from the Middle East, Asia including India and China and other regions is probably the most important factor determining the gold price. More so than even the movements of the dollar. This is summed up very well by UBS as reported in the John Brimelow report in Bill Murphy's excellent Midas Commentary in Le MetroPole Cafe: “UBS notes that physical demand for gold remains very strong, particularly from India and other Asia although European demand is steady. Kilo bar premiums have increased sharply and there is good demand for metal in Switzerland, indicating that the Swiss refineries are working hard. The strength of physical demand is underpinning the gold price…” Gold's outlook remains positive for the longer term, with the "return of a weaker dollar the likely catalyst," said James Moore, an analyst at TheBullionDesk.com. Investors will continue to watch action in oil prices and the "broader geopolitical picture" as well, he said. In Friday dealings, the dollar turned lower, losing ground against the major global currencies. Gold, silver, oil and the commodity complex in general seem to be continuing their consolidation at these levels before attempting to take out their recent highs. However, their may be further short term weakness before their long term trends reassert themselves. It looks the low inflation, high growth of the 1990's may soon be replaced by a period more akin to the low growth, high inflation 1970's or stagflation. This period witnessed gold's bull market when it went from $35 an ounce in 1971 and nine years later briefly hit 890% for a 30 fold or a 3000% increase in 9 years. The US$, Currency, Stock and Bond Markets The euro climbed 0.6% to $1.3042 late in New York, its first advance against the dollar in seven trading days. It climbed as high as $1.3067 at one stage. Despite the US$'s rally during the week it still only ended up 0.47% higher than the euro for the week.The Dow Jones industrial average slid 78.48 points, or 0.75 percent, and closed below the important psychological level of 10,400 at 10,392.99. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index slipped 7.54 points, or 0.64 percent, to finish at 1,167.87. The Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 11.61 points, or 0.57 percent, to close at 2,034.27. For the week, the Dow ended down 1.6 percent, the S&P 500 was off 1.4 percent and the Nasdaq fell 2.6 percent. The Nasdaq closed at its lowest in 11 weeks, while the Dow and the S&P 500 closed at their lowest in 10 weeks. U.S. stocks fell on Friday on a softer-than-expected consumer confidence report with the University of Michigan's consumer confidence index slipping to 95.8 from 97.1 in December and the oil price rising over a $1 a barrel. Stock indexes carved out fresh lows for the year. It was the first time since 1982 -- the year that the 1980s bull market started -- that the Dow and the Nasdaq fell for the first three weeks of a year. "It's more of the same -- economic concerns, worries about higher rates and earnings being in line at best," said David Memmott, head of listed block trading at Morgan Stanley. "Oil is still a concern, it's inching back up to $50, while new money coming to the marketplace is very light." The stock indices ended at their lowest levels of the week and lowest levels of the year so far and the technicals have become quite bearish. A weak January could set the tone for the months ahead, said Robert Drust, managing director of listed trading at regional investment bank Wedbush Morgan. "It seems to me that it sets the tone for how people will position themselves for the coming months," he said. U.S. Treasury debt prices rose slightly, bolstered by a surprising drop in consumer sentiment. The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note rose 7/32 to 100-26/32, yielding 4.17 percent, essentially unchanged on the day. The two-year note inched up 2/32 to 99-23/32 for a yield of 3.16 percent, down from Thursday's 3.20 percent.The sanguineness of the bond market and the bond market vigilantes failure to sell bonds due to the burgeoning inflationary pressures has some seasoned market observers puzzled. But most are in agreement that as Bill Gross of PIMCO has put the 'salad days' are over for the bond market and the we are at the bottom of the interest rate curve. Essential Quotes from the Week "If
January can't mount a gain, any further advance we expected for
2005 is probably dead in the water." "2005
will probably mark the start of a more difficult period for the
UK economy. The biggest hit of all is set to come from
the housing market which has already embarked on a major slowdown.
Whereas the
main driver of the economy in recent years has been robust household
spending growth, this is likely to suffer as the housing market
slowdown gathers pace. Although 2005 may not be the year when
things go completely
wrong, it will probably mark the start of a more difficult period
for the UK economy." "Long-term
saving just doesn't seem to be registering as a priority in the
British psyche, but it's never been more critical. If faced with
a financial
crisis, most people would turn to a 'white knight' to help them,
rather than take responsibility themselves. More than a fifth
(22%) would turn to their family for help, 21% would go cap in hand
to
the bank. Only 19% think they would have adequate personal savings
to copeThere will soon be too many pensioners for the state to
support in any meaningful sense, so people need to take control
of their
financial future as soon as they can." "Once
in a while a trend takes hold that's so powerful, it transforms the
entire global economy: the Industrial Revolution of the 18th century,
the Modern Industrial Nation in the 19th century, and the emergence
of cheap computing and communications in the 20th century. The latest
megatrend? It's the rise of the BRICs. That's shorthand for the four
dynamic developing nations with large populations - Brazil, Russia,
India and China...collectively they could be larger than the G6 [the
world's six leading economies] in just four decades." (Editor's
Note - There are obvious implications for global demand for commodites
and precious metals.) "Since
the late 1990's, I've become increasingly concerned about the exceptional
rise in consumer, corporate, and government debt relative to this
country's ability to service this debt through lagging income and
revenue growth. The various ratios of debt to income in the past
have been reliable indicators in determining where our economy was
at within the business cycle. Today, we as a nation and as investors
are at risk as never before. I am not alone in this pessimistic assessment
of our economy, some of the best known and wealthiest investors on
the planet are saying the same thing in their own way. It's a time
for doing homework and strategic planning. "<" I told
you once before that there were two times for making big money, one
in the upbuilding of a country, the other in its destruction. Slow
money on the upbuilding, fast money in the crack up. Remember my
words. Perhaps they may be of use to you someday." - Rhett Butler
to Scarlet O'Hara, Gone With the Wind>. "It
is generally assumed that increases in credit stimulate aggregate
demand. In the short run that is always true. But in the long
run it need not be true. The expansion of credit is an increase in
debt. When debt levels are low, a credit expansion which increases
debt
does not leave a legacy which later suffocates demand, since
the
resulting still low level of debt is not yet a problem. But when
debt levels are very high, the increases in debt created by credit
expansion soon act as a burden on demand. It follows from the
above that, as the level of debt relative to income rises, it should
take larger expansions of credit to achieve any given percentage
increase
in demand, since the now high, and climbing, debt burden acts
as
a countervailing force to depress demand." "Fifty years ago most people, remembering 1929, were afraid of the stock market. As a result, those who did buy stocks got to buy them cheap: on average, the value of a company's stock was only about 13 times that company's profits. Because stocks were cheap, they yielded high returns in dividends and capital gains. But high returns always get competed away, once people know about them: stocks are no longer cheap. Today, the value of a typical company's stock is more than 20 times its profits. The more you pay for an asset, the lower the rate of return you can expect to earn. That's why even Jeremy Siegel, whose "Stocks for the Long Run" is often cited by those who favor stocks over bonds, has conceded that "returns on stocks over bonds won't be as large as in the past." But a very high return on stocks over bonds is essential in privatization schemes; otherwise private accounts created with borrowed money won't earn enough to compensate for their risks. And if we take into account realistic estimates of the fees that mutual funds will charge - remember, in Britain those fees reduce workers' nest eggs by 20 to 30 percent - privatization turns into a lose-lose proposition. "Sometimes I do find myself puzzled: why don't privatizers understand that
their schemes rest on the peculiar belief that there is a giant free lunch there
for the taking? But then I remember what Upton Sinclair wrote: "It is
difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on his
not understanding
it." "All
Uncle Sam's debt, including private household consumer credit-card,
mortgage etc. debt of about $10 trillion, plus corporate and
financial, with options, derivatives and the like, and state and
local government
debt comes to an unvisualisable, indeed unimaginable, $37 trillion,
which is nearly four times Uncle Sam's GDP [gross domestic
product]." "I
think, over time, unless we have a major change in trade policies,
I don't see how the dollar avoids going down," Buffett, the
world's second-richest manl told CNBC television. "I don't know
when it happens. I don't have any idea whether it will be this month
or this year or next year, but we are force-feeding dollars on to
the rest of the world at the rate of close to a couple billion dollars
a day, and that's going to weigh on the dollar. I'm having a hard
time finding things to buy, if that says anything about the market," he
said Rare
coins are starting to attract investors more at home with stock
brokers than coin dealers. The interest in coins comes as sophisticated
investors
are increasingly looking for assets outside of the U.S. stock
market, which many market observers expect to post only modest gains
during
the coming year. In buying rare coins, individuals not only acquire
a collectible asset, but they are also getting exposure to precious
metals. The prices of gold and silver, from which many popular
U.S. coins are made, are both rising smartly ... Of course, you don't
have to be rich to invest in coins. In fact, the lower end of
the
market is booming, too. Gold is undervalued, under-owned and under-appreciated. It is most assuredly not well understood by most investors. At the beginning of the 1970’s, when gold was about to undertake its historic move from U.S. $35 per oz to over U.S. $800 per oz in the succeeding 10 years, the same observations would have been valid. The only difference this time is that the fundamentals for gold are actually better. John Embry, Sprott Asset Management Some
of the sharpest minds on Wall Street are betting that you'll make
more money in metals than Microsoft the next few years. The new bull
market is in stuff, not stocks, they say. We're talking about land
and oil and gold, the commodities that once made John Jacob Astor,
John D. Rockefeller and the Hunt brothers very rich men. "But
danger could lurk on the horizon. An economy that has been
boosted by an unprecedented amount of fiscal and monetary stimulus
could
come back to reality with a thud." CONTACT
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