STOCKS FLAT, BUT GOLD SURGES: Here's What You Need To Know

TBI ^ | 4-5-2011 | Gregory White

[blam]

STOCKS FLAT, BUT GOLD SURGES: Here's What You Need To Know

Gregory White
Apr. 5, 2011, 4:00 PM

Image: gomattolson on flickr

Stocks ended the day roughly flat, but gold surged on the belief the economy was slowing and the Fed would take action.

First, the scoreboard:

Dow down 0.05%
NASDAQ up 0.07%
S&P 500 down 0.02%

Now, the headlines:

* Overnight in Asia, Chinese markets were closed, and the Nikkei was down over 1% on concerns over the fate the Fukushima facilities. Water polluted with radioactivity continues to flow into the ocean there.

* The Middle East was mostly quiet today, with some rumors Qaddafi's sons were trying to broker a peace deal. Rebel forces were meant to begin their export of oil today.

* Portugal was yet again downgraded today, and its CDS spiked on the news its banks would no longer buy its sovereign debt. The eurozone continues to brace for an ECB rate hike on Thursday.

* U.S. markets were driven by Bernanke's comments from last night, which suggested he was confident this current spike in inflation wasn't going to last. Shares opened lower.

* A weak ISM number at 10:00 AM, which signaled a slowdown in the services sector, sent gold on a rally that would see it close above $1450.

* FOMC minutes revealed little we didn't already know about discussions with the Fed, but did suggest there were serious concerns over inflation in the near-term within the group.

* The Congress and President continued to fight over the budget, with a government shutdown looming. Rep. Paul Ryan released his cut heavy budget proposal.

* The other big story today was the re-balancing of the Nasdaq...

[snip]

[blam]

[blam]

[Travis McGee]

[InterceptPoint]

* FOMC minutes revealed little we didn’t already know about discussions with the Fed, but did suggest there were serious concerns over inflation in the near-term within the group.
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In the mid-60’s a silver dime was worth $0.10. Today that same silver dime is worth about $2.75. I wonder if the FOMC is seriously concerned about that.

I’ll answer that question. They are not seriously concerned about since it is caused by inflation (of the money supply). Their job is not to control inflation. Their job is to hide the effects of inflation from the public and that is what the FOMC is concerned about.

[library user]

In the mid-60’s a silver dime was worth $0.10. Today that same silver dime is worth about $2.75.

I used eight of those silver dimes today to get a soda from a pop machine. So you're saying I could have instead gotten 7 gallons of gas? :O)

[Lurker]

I used eight of those silver dimes today to get a soda from a pop machine.

If you've got any more of them laying around I'll give you a can of pop for every 5 silver dimes you give me. What a bargain!

[taxtruth]

I don’t think people realize how serious this is becoming.
Gold up 500%+ and silver up almost 1000% in 10 years.

[headstamp 2]

and the band played on.....

[trapped_in_LA]

We live in Bizzaro World where bad news is good for the markets and good news is bad for the markets. Who would have thought that the American people would sit and let mad men like Ben B. print them into the poor house?