By Scott Carter, CEO, Goldline International October 12, 2011 Europe continues to fight the threat of debt contagion as Greece warns that it will miss its deficit targets for this year.  German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy have pledged to unveil a new plan to combat the region’s debilitating debt crisis and [...]

Delegates attending the London Bullion Market Association’s (LBMA) annual conference in Montreal in late September provided their forecasts for the precious metals markets as they shared their informed outlooks for the gold, silver and platinum markets. As one of the major conferences on the precious metals calendar, it was attended by more than 500 analysts, traders, fund managers, refiners, fabricators and miners, as well as official sector central bankers and wider industry delegates.

Global gold purchases in the second quarter of the year equaled $44.5 billion – the second highest quarterly amount on record, according to the recent Gold Demand Trends report from the World Gold Council. This represents a 5% year-over-year rise.

At his widely anticipated address from Jackson Hole, Wyoming, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said the central bank stands ready to use additional tools to help the U.S. economy in its recovery, but provided little direction as to further Fed action.

With so much attention focused on this month’s dramatic market fireworks, including a gold price at record levels, the steady accumulation of gold by central banks globally (one of the drivers of gold’s appreciation over the last few years) has temporarily moved off the radar screen. However, this trend is continuing: South Korea has just completed purchases that almost triple the country’s gold reserves.

A new report from Oxford Economics looks at historical gold prices along with the current dynamics of the gold market. The report, titled “The impact of Inflation and Deflation on the Case for Gold,” takes an in-depth look at what influences gold prices metal in light of its recent historic price rise, noting a changing perception of gold as an asset in today’s economic environment.

Gold traded at new records on the New York Spot Market as the House fails to pass a debt ceiling bill and GDP numbers signal a stalled recovery. The GDP report, which revealed a tepid 1.3% growth rate in the second quarter, raises the possibility of further monetary easing, thus, prompting investors to buy the yellow metal as a hedge against a weaker dollar. “It was quite a bad release and it raises hopes that there will be more monetary easing in the form of quantitative easing and that’s positive for gold as an investment asset,” said Matthew Turner, precious metals analyst at Mitsubishi.

By Scott Carter, CEO, Goldline International May 28, 2011 As Congress continues to work through competing proposal to raise the debt ceiling, James Moore, research analyst at FastMarkets, tells The Street, he thinks many investors are sitting on the sidelines until a final resolution is reached. However, Moore cautioned that no Congressional plan contains sufficient [...]

Gold prices reached new record highs on the New York Spot Market before falling lower on profit taking. Gold’s new record was attributed to continuing concerns of a U.S. default and credit downgrade. Politicians from both parties remain divided on a plan to raise the debt ceiling with less than a week before the August 2 deadline. “If you have a default of U.S. government debt, there are consequences and it is better to remain in safe haven assets such as gold,” said Peter Fertig, a metals consultant at Quantitative Commodity Research. “If there isn’t a last minute compromise (in the U.S. debt talks) then the situation will get more and more critical. Gold is one of the alternatives to U.S. treasuries and therefore there is further upside potential.”

Gold prices are relatively flat during Tuesday afternoon trading in a mix of profit taking and safe haven asset purchases on a weaker dollar. A final deal to raise the debt ceiling remains out of reach as lawmakers continue to pursue separate proposals before the August 2 deadline. President Obama delivered a plea to Americans via primetime television Monday night, encouraging people to contact lawmakers and urge a compromise. “For the first time in history, our country’s triple-A credit rating would be downgraded, leaving investors around the world to wonder whether the United States is still a good bet,” Mr. Obama said.