05/22/09 Baltimore, Maryland After all the drama you’ve read about today — bond woes, the dollar’s decline, yesterday’s stock sell-off — you can’t be surprised to see gold on the up and up. The spot price has risen $20 in the last 24 hours, to just over $955 as we write.
The World Gold Council trade group,” says fund manager and friend of Agora Frank Holmes, “reported today that investment demand for gold hit an all-time high in the first quarter of 2009.
“The WGC said investment demand for gold reached nearly 600 metric tons, more than triple its level during the same period of 2008. The vast majority of those additional tons went to gold exchange-traded funds, which grew from 73 metric tons in the first three months of 2008 to 465 metric tons in the latest quarter.
“Overall, gold consumption of 1,015 metric tons in the first quarter of the year was up 38% from the same period in 2008. Total gold supply was up 34%, with much of that increase coming from recycled gold.
“Normally prices rise when demand growth exceeds supply growth, particularly when speculative demand is soaring. But that wasn’t the case in the latest quarter — gold averaged $908.21 in the three-month period, down 2% from a year earlier.”
Ian Mathias
Ian Mathias is the managing editor of Agora Financial’s Income Franchise, where he writes and researches about retirement, dividend and fixed income investing. Much of his work is featured in The Daily Reckoning and Lifetime Income Report – Agora Financial’s flagship income investing advisory.
Previously, Ian managed The 5 Min. Forecast, a fun, fast-paced daily look into the future of global markets and macroeconomics. He’s also worked in public relations, where media outlets like Forbes, AP, Yahoo! and MSN Money have syndicated his writing. If he’s not at work, you’ll probably find Ian on a bicycle, racing up and down the “mountains” of Baltimore County. Ian has a BA from Loyola University in Maryland.
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gold is down in price because of government sponsored manipulation….however the dike is ready to break….the treasury won’t be able to manage bond markets and stock markets and precious metals all at the same time….the pressures will overwhelm market manipulation in due time….the implosion in the t-debt market will ripple across markets and do so very very soon – days to weeks – not months to years….