Gold News Today

“Here’s to the weekend . . .”

(AFTERNOON UPDATE) – Investors moved to safe havens during the course of the day with gold and Treasuries the chief beneficiaries mostly on concerns about the rapidly spreading China coronavirus.  We had an inkling this morning that something was in the early stages of development. We did not anticipate though what turned out to be gold’s nearly $20 turnaround bottom to top. At one point, it was up almost $15 on the day at $1575, then finished at $1571.50 – up $10.50 at the close.  Silver likewise was up 37¢ on the day at one point and finished at $18.14 – up 36¢. After all is said and done, gold ended the week up .93%.  Silver was level.  As for the fraught week mercifully brought to a conclusion, Zero Hedge’s Tyler Durden said it best:  “Here’s to the weekend. . . .”  For those wishing to spend some time catching up this weekend, we invite you to scroll below where you are sure to find a nugget or two of wisdom.

(USAGOLD – 1/24/2020) – Gold looks to be in the process of regaining its footing this morning as jitters build across financial markets in tandem with the spreading China coronavirus.  It is trading level at $1561.  Silver is a bit livelier than its familiar traveling partner this morning –  up 22¢ at $18.00.  Though the week has produced minor price gains for the metals, the real gains have come in the form of solid philosophical support – some from Davos conference attendees and some elsewhere.

–– David Einhorn once again endorsed owning the metal as an overall safe-haven hedge in his annual letter to Greenlight Capital investors.

–– McKinsey, the highly-regarded international business consultant, said that the de-dollarization movement would increase gold’s role among global financiers and governments – a trend it thinks will be “positive for gold prices.”

–– Bridgewater Associates’ Ray Dalio put gold front and center at the Davos conference saying “you have to have a certain amount of gold in your portfolio” and reiterating that the precious metal will be “a top investment in the years to come.”

–– David Rosenberg, the widely-followed market analyst, said: “Gold is a place you want to be . . .There’s no such thing as a no-brainer, but this is close.”

–– We end ‘positive feedback week’ with a Financial Times’ report this morning citing a speech from Cazenove Capital’s Janet Mui to a group of London financial advisors. She said that gold is the best way for advisors to hedge the risks in their portfolios, added that it has “the feature of portfolio hedging and diversification,” and offered a final piece of advice: “Gold should be in your portfolio.”

All in all an interesting week. . . . .

Chart of the Day

Sources: Bureau of Labor Statistics [BLS], International Benchmark Administration [IBA]

Chart note: At a time when investors have to go out on a limb to find real returns, gold has been a stellar performer. In fact, it has provided a real rate of return in twelve of the nineteen years represented on the chart. The period was one of subdued inflation. Gold’s performance, as a result, took many analysts and professional money managers by surprise and altered the perception that the precious metal is solely an inflation hedge. In 2019, gold posted its highest real rate of return since 2010 – 12.65%.

Bullion Vault/Adrian Ash/1-23-2020

“In cash terms, however – and judging each calendar quarter’s figures against average Chinese Yuan prices – consumers actually raised their spending on gold in 2019, up 4.4% to the largest-ever total in Yuan terms outside of 2013’s all-time high, when gold’s steepest price drop in three decades unleashed record demand.”

USAGOLD note:  Statistical allure is in the eye of the interpreter and we prefer Ash’s interpretation of the China data to some of the other report we have seen on this subject.

Image = Chinese symbol for prosperity

FTAdviser/Imogen Tew/1-23-2020

“Speaking at a Schroders breakfast briefing yesterday (January 22), Janet Mui, global economist at Cazenove Capital, said she thought investing in gold was the best way for advisers and fund managers to hedge the risks in their portfolios. She said: ‘Gold has the feature of portfolio hedging and diversification. Gold should be in your portfolio.’”

USAGOLD note:  More and more, it is becoming a mainstay in the financial business that the wise investor and/or financial advisor embrace gold as a means to capital preservation in a rapidly changing and increasingly dangerous investment climate.  In Cazenove’s case, it is emphasizing gold as a hedge against geopolitical turbulence.

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‘Gold shone with the placid certainty of received tradition’

“I had the happy occasion recently of receiving a telephone call from an old client and friend – a physician safely retired near the sea and alongside one of the South’s oldest golf clubs. It was good to hear from this student of the markets – one of life’s steady and thoughtful practitioners. Back at the turn of the century, Doc foresaw much of what would happen economically in the United States and purchased what he considered enough gold to see him through it.”

[For the rest of Doc’s story we invite you to visit this link.]

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