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What in Heaven's Name Is Going on in the Gold Market? by
Burton S. Blumert
Paul is our regular UPS man and he has been telling his wife that they should own some gold. Finally, with gold in the headlines, they made their decision and bought 5 ounces. He picked up his order yesterday; "Sure, the minute I buy something, you can bet the price goes down," poor Paul mumbled as he wrote his check. I’d like to have an ounce of gold, or even a gram, for how many times I’ve heard that wail from clients throughout the decades. The corollary, that the price immediately spikes higher as soon as we sell something, is the other side of the coin (if you’ll excuse the expression). Few investors have escaped the agony of these experiences. It’s as if there were little gods who monitor such matters and they whack us every time we decide to buy or sell something. The dramatic ups and downs of the price of gold in recent days has tested everybody. Some new gold buyers are disheartened; others are in a state of shock. Even gold professionals have been emotionally wrung out by the schizophrenic price gyrations of the ancient yellow metal. In case you missed it, here’s a summary of the gold market over the past 2 weeks using prices from the London Metals Exchange as our source; On Dec. 2, the price of gold punctured $500 per ounce price for the first time in about 20 years. For the next 10 days the gold price spiked higher almost every trading day and the inter-day price edged close to $540 per ounce. Over the last few days gold has dropped sharply, and tomorrow, Thursday, Dec 15, the price could very well drop below $500. * *This article was written on Wednesday night, December 14. The price touched $500.80 early Thursday morning in London. Let’s consider these numbers in some prospective: From its highs of 2 weeks ago gold plunged about 6½%. I suspect that when we examine the history of gold prices in the years ahead, this recent spasm will register as a mere blip on the chart. The following figures tell us the real story. I’m using the price of gold for each January since the year 2000 to make my point: January, 2000 $310 per oz. January, 2001 275 January, 2002 295 January, 2003 375 January,
2004 425 January, 2005 431 January, 2006 ??? (I predict the price next month will be $500 +) If you purchased gold recently and you’re worried, phone me and I’ll hold your hand. If I’m more worried than you, you can hold mine. I can assure you of this: When all other monies crumble into dust, the value of gold will endure. December 17, 2005 Burt Blumert [send him mail] is publisher of LewRockwell.com, president of the Center for Libertarian Studies, and proprietor of Camino Coin. See Burt's Gold Page. Copyright © 2005 LewRockwell.com |
