By Aug. 23, 2020 5:30 am ET

The 2020 gold rush in markets is starting to unnerve even some longtime fans of precious metals.

Gold futures are near records and up about 28% for the year, while silver has more than doubled since hitting a multiyear low in March. The moves aren’t entirely surprising, given the scale of the coronavirus-driven economic shock and the countervailing global stimulus led by governments and central banks. Many investors fear economic stagnation, an outbreak of inflation or some combination of the two—a recipe for rising demand for metals viewed as a store of value in trying times.

But with the rush into gold has come an increase in volatility that many traders don’t welcome. Both metals have dropped about 6% or more from peaks hit this month and are recording bigger daily swings than normal, suggesting that gold and silver have joined U.S. tech stocks among the most crowded trades in markets—creating the risk that months of outperformance could vanish in a day or two of frenzied selling should market or economic conditions turn.

Assets under management for five gold-backed ETFs

“Almost everybody is talking about gold.…That is a warning signal in a way,” said Luca Paolini, chief strategist at Pictet Asset Management, which is holding more gold than its market benchmark but may sell some if volatility continues. “At least until the election in the U.S., this volatility will persist.”

Read more via: https://www.wsj.com/articles/etf-boom-fuels-golds-sharp-rise-11598175001

By and Updated July 24, 2020 2:20 pm ET

Gold prices rose to a new closing record for the first time since 2011, extending a summer surge fueled by nervous investors adding bullion to their portfolios as the coronavirus muddies the global economic outlook.

Most actively traded gold futures, for delivery next month, rallied 0.4% to $1,897.50 a troy ounce, climbing for the sixth consecutive session and eclipsing their August 2011 peak of $1,891.90. Gold came close to topping the high on Thursday and has risen steadily since the end of 2018, spurred by trade tensions and the pandemic pushing investors toward safer assets.

The coronavirus has ignited a global gold rush, with physical traders around the world trying to get their hands on more metal and individuals around the world ordering bars and coins. Even as stocks rally, many investors remain nervous about the pandemic and a host of geopolitical concerns ranging from the relationship between the U.S. and China to November’s U.S. presidential election.

“It’s a special time for precious metals where every factor seems to be moving in their favor,” said Tai Wong, head of base and precious-metals derivatives trading at Bank of Montreal. “The market is uniformly bullish.” He has been a metals trader for about 15 years and only remembers this much excitement in the sector following the financial crisis.

read more via: https://www.wsj.com/articles/gold-climbs-to-all-time-high-topping-2011-record-11595612234?mod=hp_lead_pos4

By Sarah Kliff June 10, 2020

If not for coronavirus, you’d expect your local dentist office to be doing just fine.

Dentist offices tend to be stable businesses that stick around for decades, unlike restaurants that open and close frequently. Dentists earn a healthy salary — a median of $159,000 — and offer services with no clear substitute. If you need your teeth cleaned or a cavity filled, the dentist is the only option.

This makes them, in the eyes of some economists, the perfect barometer for gauging the country’s recovery from the shock of the pandemic.

“If you look at your typical dentist office, nothing went wrong with their business model,” said Betsey Stevenson, an economics professor at the University of Michigan. “It’s just coronavirus that happened.”

READ MORE VIA: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/10/upshot/dentists-coronavirus-economic-indicator.html

In this part, we use S&P Global Market Intelligence data and insight to look at how the metal price environment for the precious metals and uranium has evolved during the COVID-19 pandemic. While the gold price dropped mid-March along with those for most other commodities and markets, it has since come back strongly on the back of higher financial investment demand. Meanwhile, silver, despite record retail investment, has sunk to its lowest price in 11 years due to lower industrial demand. Looking at the platinum group metals, or PGM, lockdowns in South Africa and plummeting global auto sales have severely shocked prices. This disruption has kept an uneasy balance, however, and has not yet fundamentally changed the price trajectories of upward for palladium and rhodium, and downward for platinum.

Read more via: https://www.spglobal.com/marketintelligence/en/news-insights/research/covid-19-impacts-to-metals-prices-volatility-is-here-to-stay-part-2

Updated: April 8, 2020

In order to protect staff and preserve personal protective equipment and patient care supplies, as well as expand available hospital capacity during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that dental facilities postpone elective procedures, surgeries, and non-urgent dental visits, and prioritize urgent and emergency visits and procedures now and for the coming several weeks. This aligns with recommendations from the American Dental Associationexternal icon (ADA) and the American Dental Hygienists’ Associationexternal icon (ADHA) to postpone non-emergency and elective dental procedures, as well the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)’s guidancepdf iconexternal icon that all non-essential dental exams and procedures be postponed until further notice.

For emergency clinical care of patients with known or suspected COVID-19, dental providers should follow the Interim Infection Prevention and Control Guidance for Dental Settings During the COVID-19 Response as well as the Interim Infection Prevention and Control Recommendations for Patients with Confirmed Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) or Persons Under Investigation for COVID-19 in Healthcare Settings. If a dental facility is not able to follow this interim guidance, dental personnel and medical providers should work together to determine an appropriate facility for treatment. The urgency and need for a procedure are decisions based on clinical judgement and should be made on a case-by-case basis.

This is an emerging, rapidly evolving situation and CDC will continue to update this guidance as more information becomes available.

CDC urges providers to be familiar with the information on CDC’s COVID-19 website. Specific information is available for Healthcare Professionals, including a Healthcare Professional Preparedness Checklist, instructions on Evaluating and Reporting Persons Under Investigation (PUI), Healthcare Personnel with Potential Exposure Guidance, and What Healthcare Personnel Should Know. Dental healthcare personnel can also consider signing up for communications from CDC’s Health Alert Network, which is CDC’s primary method of sharing information about urgent public health incidents with healthcare providers.

Read more via: https://www.cdc.gov/oralhealth/infectioncontrol/statement-COVID.html

The COVID-19 outbreak and its impact on our daily lives is rapidly evolving. Here are some resources and guidance to help dentists navigate this unprecedented time for their practices, staff and patients.

Last updated: April 9, 2020Digital Event | Friday, April 10 at 11 a.m. CT: Calculate the Cash Burn Rate Of Your Dental Practice and Extend the Number of Days You Have Money Left in the COVID-19 Crisis. Register for Friday’s live webinar.

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ADA News | NEW SBA: Dentists can apply for both economic injury disaster and paycheck protection program loans (04/06/2020)

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ADA News | ADA urges dentists to heed April 30 interim postponement recommendation (04/01/2020)

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by Anna Golubova

Friday March 13, 2020

Markets fear just how much the COVID-19 outbreak could hurt the U.S. and Europe — the next two regions that will be hit the hardest by the virus. And as the Federal Reserve looks increasingly ready to cut rates down to zero all in one go next week, it might be a great opportunity to buy gold, according to analysts.

Gold was not able to escape the massive market sell-off this week, which accelerated on Thursday as U.S. stocks posted their worst day since 1987. Gold fell victim to margin-calls, as investors were forced to sell their gold positions to cover for losses elsewhere.

“We suspect that margin calls and losses in other markets are driving investors to search for cash, and gold happens to be the liquid position they are choosing to cash out on,” said RBC Capital Markets commodity strategist Christopher Louney.

Read more via: https://www.kitco.com/news/2020-03-13/What-s-next-for-gold-price-COVID-19-targets-U-S-Europe-Fed-looks-to-cut-rates-to-zero.html

By Ranjeetha Pakiam and Elena MaznevaBloomberg  Dec. 31, 2019 3:46 PM

Gold climbed to a three-month high to clinch its best annual performance since 2010, as a weaker dollar helped cap a year marked by global economic jitters and trade frictions.

Bullion gained 19% this year as central banks globally embraced looser monetary policy to boost growth. Brexit, unrest in regions from Chile to Hong Kong and buying sprees from key central banks and exchange-traded funds have also helped support prices.

Spot gold climbed as much as 0.7% to $1,525.38 an ounce on Tuesday, the highest since Sept. 25. It traded at $1,520.13 at 1:40 p.m. in New York. Gold futures for February delivery rose 0.3% to settle at $1,523.10 on the Comex.

The metal managed to hold on to gains even after President Trump said he will sign the first phase of a trade deal with China on Jan. 15, easing uncertainty that has fueled haven demand for bullion.

“It is not really a surprise” especially after headlines yesterday that China’s Vice-Premier Liu He is coming to Washington to sign the so-called phase-one trade deal, said Tai Wong, the head of metals derivatives trading at BMO Capital Markets.

Some analysts doubt that gold’s strength will stick next year. JPMorgan Asset Management cautioned that bullion may not offer sound portfolio protection.

“There are very few certain environments in which gold does well, and it’s not necessarily the case that 2020 won’t be any of those,” Hannah Anderson, a global market strategist at JPMorgan, said in an interview with Bloomberg TV. “In the next downturn, I do believe that bonds still could be defensive assets.”

read more via: https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2019-12-31/gold-best-year-since-2010

By Brian J. O’Connor

• Oct. 11, 2019

Like eager prospectors in a B western, many investors believe there’s gold in them hills — and that’s where they’re heading.

Gold has often been a haven for investors, and there are plenty of reasons to seek safety now. They include the trade war with China, weakness in Europe, central bankers looking at subzero interest rates, turmoil in the Middle East, the looming Brexit and uncertainty heading into the 2020 United States elections, and fears of a possible recession.

By mid-September, investors had poured nearly $8 billion this year into exchange-traded funds that hold gold.

This growing gold rush has pushed the price of the precious metal up nearly 27 percent since October 2017, to more than $1,500 an ounce. The last time gold was as expensive was April 2013, after it had declined from its August 2011 recession high of $1,917.90. Last month, analysts at Citigroup predicted that gold could hit $2,000 an ounce.

Read more via: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/11/business/etf-investors-gold-drawbacks.html