Displaying items by tag: metals

(New York)

Everyone jumped off the three-month gold rally last week after regional Fed President Jim Bullard spoke of tightening in response to the recent CPI releases. This erased over a month of gains in a week as the price sank from $1900 to nearly below $1780. However, the Hulbert Gold Newsletter Sentiment Index which tracks the average recommended gold exposure among a subset of short-term gold timers is at -9.7%. This contrarian take is that gold rallies when this index sinks. The typical threshold for this index is -14.8%, but the dramatic move could be enough to start to buy. This index is one of the key items to watch as the price of gold falls so that you don’t miss the rebound.

FINSUM: Additionally Powell made it very clear that inflation is transitory and Bullard is in the minority on the FOMC. The Fed won’t pull back the reins until inflation is above its long-term goal and persistent.

(New York)

With the huge CPI number hitting the tape yesterday, gold had a predictable reaction: it rose. Since bottoming out a few months ago in the $1,600 range, it has since risen to over $1,900 as inflation fears have picked up. However, inflation is not the only thing driving the metal, as the Fed is playing a big role too. If the Fed stays dovish, and therefore the path of rates looks to stay low, then gold is in a great position—higher inflation with little rate risk from the Fed.

FINSUM: Gold is in a good spot. The Fed will only start hiking if inflation really jumps, which would push gold higher anyway. If inflation is more mild, then at least their won’t be rate pressure.

(New York)

Wells Fargo’s head of real asset strategy John LaForge says gold could hit…see the full story on our partner Magnifi’s site

(New York)

Commodities have been doing great this year. The big rise in demand coupled with weak supplies because of COVID have led to a surge in prices. However, one bright spot—metals—might have some trouble looming on the horizon. There is increasing speculation that the US may scrap pennies. If that happens, it could put a dent in the copper and zinc markets. This dent would not only come from a lack of new demand, but the fact that pennies would be taken out of circulation and recycled. This would amplify the effect by boosting supply to the system and lowering demand for newly-mined metal.

FINSUM: This might have a strong psychological effect even though the total quantity of zinc from pennies accounts for less than 4% of total annual output.

(Houston)

Commodities are doing very well this year. Every big bank, including Goldman Sachs, thinks we may be starting a new commodities super cycle. The big question is exactly which commodities and who will be the big winners. Everything from food, to metals, to oil has been rising and this creates some clear winners, particularly producers of those commodities. That means a big windfall for countries like Saudi Arabia, Australia, and Chile, who are big net exporters of various raw materials. It is net importers that get hurt the worst, with an absolute behemoth—China—likely to suffer the most, as it is one of the largest buyers of commodities in the world. In fact, it almost single-handed drove the big commodities boom in the 2000s.

FINSUM: So the key here is picking the right emerging markets. Additionally, investors may want to double-think investing in oil, as production hikes could undermine prices quickly.