Posted on 11/06/2007 4:44:12 AM PST by ml/nj
LONDON (Thomson Financial) - Gold hit its highest price since January 1980, following record high oil prices which stoked inflation jitters.
The precious metal rose to as high as 819.93 usd per ounce, its highest price since the 1980 peak of 850 usd, just as London's Brent oil hit a record high of 92.36 usd per barrel.
(Excerpt) Read more at fxstreet.com ...
I wouldn’t sweat it. There are a huge number of types of various commemorative coins.
Just don’t buy them in bulk unless you are sure what they are.
Nice glib answer, but this isn’t a stand-up comedy contest.
It’ll be a nice ride for quite a while.
The dollar slid to record lows against the euro and the Canadian dollar on speculation China's plans to diversify its foreign exchange reserves will involve selling U.S. assets.
The currency slumped after Cheng Siwei, vice chairman of China's National People's Congress, told a conference in Beijing the country should improve the structure of its $1.43 trillion of foreign reserves by favoring stronger currencies. It pared losses after he later added that doesn't mean buying more euros. The dollar also slumped to a 26-year low against the pound and a 23-year low against the Australian dollar.
``Cheng Siwei, a China adviser, apparently said China should diversify into strong currencies,'' said Lee Wai Tuck, a currency strategist at Forecast Singapore Ltd. ``This is one of the comments that triggered the buying of the euro and selling of the dollar.''
The dollar slumped to $1.4666 per euro, the lowest since the 13-nation currency debuted in January 1999, before trading at $1.4615 at 11:31 a.m. in Tokyo from $1.4557 late yesterday. It fell to $1.0975 per Canadian dollar, the lowest since Canada's currency was floated in 1950.
Against the pound, the dollar declined to $2.0947, the lowest since May 1981. The currency slid against the Australian dollar to 93.75 U.S. cents, the lowest since April 1984 from 92.87 U.S. cents. The dollar may fall to $1.4700 per euro today, Lee forecast.
China Investment Corp., which manages the nation's $200 billion sovereign wealth fund, said last month it may get more of the nation's reserves to invest to improve returns.
Fed Rates
The currency also slid against higher-yielding currencies including the Australian dollar and the Norwegian krone as losses from subprime-mortgage defaults added to pressure on the Federal Reserve to lower its target for the overnight lending rate between banks to 4.25 percent next month.
The Reserve Bank of Australia raised its benchmark borrowing cost to 6.75 percent today, while traders added to bets Norway's central bank will increase its 5 percent deposit rate.
``The interest-rate outlook is dragging down the dollar against major currencies such as the euro and the Australian dollar,'' said Seiichiro Muta, director of foreign exchange in Tokyo at UBS AG, the world's second-largest currency trader. ``I cannot see the bottom of the dollar depreciation yet.''
It declined to 5.3403 kroner from 5.3474. It may fall to $1.46 a euro today, Muta said.
Central Banks
Interest-rate futures traded on the Chicago Board of Trade show a 62 percent chance of a quarter-percentage point Fed rate cut on Dec. 11, compared with 6 percent a month ago. Citigroup Inc. may write down an additional $2.7 billion worth of subprime-related assets, CreditSights Inc. said yesterday.
Australian central bank Governor Glenn Stevens, announcing today's quarter-point rate increase, said inflation will exceed his target. Norwegian forward-rate agreements, a kind of interest-rate futures contract, gained yesterday on speculation the central bank will lift borrowing costs at least once more by the end of 2008. The Norges Bank next meets Dec. 12.
New Zealand's dollar rose to 78.35 U.S. cents from 78 U.S. cents on speculation a report tomorrow will show the unemployment rate remained at a record low, boosting the chance of another increase to the country's record 8.25 percent benchmark interest rate.
Subprime Loans
``The dollar is weak against a host of currencies, including the euro, the pound and the Australian dollar,'' said Mitsuru Sahara, senior currency sales manager at Bank of Tokyo- Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd., a unit of Japan's biggest publicly traded lender. ``We can't tell how much money banks will loose on subprime loans. The Fed is likely to cut rates again before the end of the year.''
The U.S. currency may fall to $1.46 against the euro and 114.30 yen today, Sahara said.
Gains in the euro may be limited by speculation European economic growth is peaking out, reducing the need for higher interest rates.
The European Central Bank will keep its key rate at 4 percent tomorrow, according to all 61 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. Data yesterday showed manufacturing orders in Germany fell more than expected in September.
``There is a European industrial complex which is now suffering from the euro being at such super expensive levels,'' said Peter Pontikis, treasury strategist at Suncorp-Metway Ltd. in Melbourne. ``The data all suggest you'll get a real slowdown. I'd be against the possibility of a rate hike.''
Europe's single currency will trade at $1.43 versus the dollar by year-end, according to the median forecast of 42 analysts and brokerages surveyed by Bloomberg News.
To contact the reporter on this story: Stanley White in Tokyo at swhite28@bloomberg.net ; Kosuke Goto in Tokyo at kgoto2@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: November 6, 2007 22:27 EST
We’ll know the reasons why it falls, after it falls. People always like to know “whhhhhyyyyyyyy?????”. Financials for example were bound to fall, smart folk got out, they did not need to know “WHY?”. They get the WHY? later...
Anything of value goes from undervalued, fair value, over valued, then back down. The parabolic growth angle in gold charts is a typical syndrome of people piling on to a winner.
I have no axe to grind with investors in gold, good for them. I never play woulda shoulda coulda with investing, as there is always something looking forward, to guy and prosper from. The market always gives us tomorrow to find some great opportunity or idea.
I have a 2,300 year old Shekels of Tyre rated NGC “about uncirculated” a very marvelous thing to have. Its an interesting hobby.
Hmmm. I wonder how much of the USD weakness can be attributed to foreigners selling off bad US corporate debt? Foreigners sell bonds, the buyer is from the us, pays in US dollars for the US bond. The money goes to the buyer, who dumps it in the market, putting more weakness on the USD.
Here is another example of how we get foreigners to buy our stuff at inflated prices, and we buy back, on the cheap(er).
I’m just playing around and will use it to pay for a couple of vactions maybe. My money stays on Wall Street. You can get alot of currency traders riled up on this subject.
Nonsense! In 1981 we had Paul Volker holding interest rates up to keep investors in the market, even though the Carter admin had done their best to remove all confidence. Reagan's policies brought the interest rates down, which resulted in increased confidence, which brought gold down.
Now we have a country that has relinquished all of it's heavy industry, and is at the mercy of the merciless. The road back, if they can even find the map, is a long uphill grade. Hillary, obama, Rudy, Hutch, Fred? Good Luck!
Wow! Nice!
I have a Marcus Aurelius denarius and a few other minor Roman coins.
A few Morgans and some junk silver. Waitin for the day I can fill my gas tank with one thin pre-64 silver dime.
Like I said before I think the shorts are gonna take it in the shorts.
What is the market, that has reverse correlation with the Euro, CDN, Peso, won, yen, gold, oil, ....?
Can you remember why the international markets crashed in 93/94?
THis next 12 months, going to be as exciting as they get.
I wouldn’t say nonsense. I would just say that the flow of currency is stopping due to the forclosure market and rising bank losses. In 1979 money was going nowhere due to interest rates. Pick your poison, I think it is cash flow and a printing press working overtime.
My advisor told me to hang-on. He explained his reason and I bought it.
You hung on to your international investments in 93/94? Or are you talking about your gold loot? Arrrrrrghhhhh matey... (squinting eye like a pirate)
You do owe a capital gains tax on your silver and gold holdings - if you do not report the gain (loss) you are a tax cheat.
Oh, is that where they went? Well, I have to admit they were dead right about Gold so props for that. However, I remember those threads too, and while they were right on about Gold, they were dead wrong about the Stock Market and Real Estate.
I remember when the Dow was approaching 8000 the gold bugs were cheering (and predicting) as low as 3000, it is 13,500. As for Real Estate, they were predicting a crash 5 even 6 years ago as I recall...of course it is now in the process of correcting but being that far off on timing is disastrous - indeed people who bought back then (including me) are still sitting on a ton of equity even after 10%+ drops.
So, I take the good with the bad...hard to argue against trends so I'm also currently long on metals, long on oil, just waiting for this bubble to pop so I can bet the other way.
Avast ye’ Matey! Aaarrrggghh!
Just watch the printing and the intake.
Currency cannot be taxed.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.