Gold price firms in holiday-thinned trade, spotlight on Fed and Trump policies
The yellow metal has gained 27% so far this year.
A “very slow-moving train wreck” in Greece and Europe is taking down gold and the markets.
Worries that Greece may default on its debt led to the Australian stock market, measured by the S&P/ASX 200, to close down 1.64%. The Hang Seng Index was off 2.76%.
Mid-day, both the Dow Jones and S&P 500 are off 1.7%.
So far there is no safe haven for investors in gold. The precious metal is down $10 to $1,787. In the last six month gold has been on a tear rising nearly $400/oz.
“Europe’s problems relate to sovereign debt. We have heard about the potential for a Greek default. That appears increasingly likely. The banks are at peril here because they were encouraged be regulators to load up on these sovereign debt issues because they did not have to post any capital against them. They were considered risk free,” said Gretchen Morgenson on New York Times Weekend Business podcast.
Morgenson says European leadership is to fractious and unable take decisive action on the unfolding financial crisis, like was the case in 2008 during the crisis in the U.S., and the Federal Reserve and Congress acted quickly.
“We are watching this very slow moving train wreck happen, and you don’t know all the consequences but you know there will be significant downturns.”
