Gold Prices and the Fundamentals
Friday, December 18th, 2009Why is the price of gold continuing to rise? Why, if the fundamentals are low enough to be negative, are the prices of some commodities skyrocketing? Gold has actually reached $1007 an ounce, the highest it has been since March 2008. That means there has been a 12% increase since April 2008.
But what causes this to happen? Certainly not the fundamentals, as you might have guessed. According to data gathered by the World Gold Council, demand for gold jewelry is down 22% and gold use in industrial processes is down 21% from 2008. Only financial speculation flourished in today’s gold market, as it saw a 46% increase earlier in the year.
Many people are attracted to this metal because it is considered to be a good hedge against inflation. However, the Labor Department listed statistics showing that the consumer price index actually fell 2.1% over the course of the year for gold. That is not inflation that is deflation. So what is this gold hedging against?
Our money system is being corrupted due to the Federal government increasing its balance sheet. Gold seems to rise in times of deflation, which continues the corruption of our money system, and also in times of inflation, which is not a good situation either.
The US interest rates are low which is also a large factor when it comes to supporting gold. Consider the London interbank dollar rate (which is the method used by banks to charge other banks for loans) that has fallen to an unprecedented low of 0.314%, meaning it is down from 4.8% in October of last year. Unlike bonds, gold does not earn interest, which means there is an opportunity cost associated with having gold. But with the dollar worth as little as it is now that opportunity cost is rendered insignificant.
So, it seems pretty apparent that financial theory is the main cause of the increase in gold costs, and the basics really don’t have anything to do with it. Gold prices are currently immense, but there’s no way to know what’s going to occur in the future.
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