Hedge funds’ bullish bets on gold jump to four-year high
Hedge funds and other large speculators boosted their net-long position in gold.
The gold price on Monday gained $15 an ounce or just over 1% as the metal continues to build a base around the $1,320 level amid a falling stock market and deepening worries about the political crisis in the US.
The lack of progress in the US to end the partial government shutdown and indications that the fight over President Obama’s healthcare program could become part of the country’s debt ceiling negotiations have benefited gold as a safe haven asset.
But gold’s hard asset qualities have not attracted investors to the extent that most market observers expected.
Gold remains slightly below the levels it traded at on September 30, the day before the shutdown began, but as 17 October, D-Day for lifting the US debt ceiling, approaches the metal should see increasing safe haven buying.
The Wall Street Journal quotes Bill Baruch, a senior market strategist with Chicago-based futures brokerage iiTrader, as saying the gains for gold remain muted because “few in the market believe lawmakers won’t reach an accord on time”:
“You’re seeing some fear supporting gold now, but gold is still in a down market,” Mr. Baruch said.
The gold price is down 20% this year and without a strong catalyst to move higher is set to end its 13-year unbroken bull run.
A default by the US on its $12 trillion in debts could be just such a catalyst.
Among the dozens of money managers, economists, bankers, traders and former government officials Bloomberg interviewed Monday few view a US default as “anything but a financial apocalypse”:
Failure by the world’s largest borrower to pay its debt — unprecedented in modern history — will devastate stock markets from Brazil to Zurich, halt a $5 trillion lending mechanism for investors who rely on Treasuries, blow up borrowing costs for billions of people and companies, ravage the dollar and throw the U.S. and world economies into a recession that probably would become a depression.
Spot gold reached a high of $1,909 on August 23, 2011. Earlier that month many of the same US Congress members that are now deadlocked reached a deal on raising the debt ceiling. But that did not prevent the US from suffering the first ever downgrade of its government bonds.
4 Comments
figjam
http://www.usdebtclock.org/ 12 trillion ???? Try 17 Trillion..and they have to borrow more just to pay the interest. They are bankrupt…a banana republic..its game over.
KDM
Its their own self inflicted greed why they are in the shape they are in. Trouble is its the ordinary people who suffer from our so called smart educated politicians and bankers running the show. If we ran our financial matters the way polticians do we would be living on the street. Its not monopoly money and you start a new game tomorrow, takes generations to recover.
Todd
It’s not for man who is walking even to direct his own step…man was not designed to govern himself apart from God, that being said, I think the two recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were a tremendous drain on resources. The US should get 50% of the profits from the oil & gas resources of those two countries in return for the moneys spent there. Also, all governments should confiscate the resources of the Federal Reserve Banks for the betterment of their countries. They are non-official entities acting like official government organizations and printing money out of thin air, while acting like they are part of the government. They have Quadrillions to quintillions of dollars
Silver T. Rader
It will drop, not rise. The ETF Regulators will allow a massive spoof trade before the market opens one of these days to drop the price of both gold/silver. The ETF regulators will do nothing about it.
Edit: Now that the paper-etf for 400 tonnes of paper gold traded in London pre-market causing stop-trade, the evidence is in. We also witness massively high premiums being paid for actual physical delivery in India and other corners of the world. Mines will lay-off workers, pay lower premiums and never complain?