Category Archives: market

Will Gold Keep Reacting to US-China Trade War Jitters? – Market Realist

06 Friday Apr 2018

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Will Gold Keep Reacting to US-China Trade War Jitters?

By Meera Shawn

9 hours ago

Trade war jitters?

Among the four precious metals that we’ll be discussing in this series, only gold saw gains on Wednesday, April 4. Gold prices for April futures were up 0.23% and closed at $1,335.8 an ounce. Silver was down 0.84% to close at $16.2. Platinum was down 1.4% and was the biggest loser among the four precious metals. It ended the day at $912.1 an ounce. Palladium was also lower by 1.1% and closed at $918.9 per ounce.

The rise in gold was most likely due to the ongoing unrest in the markets due to the US and China trade war. China said that it would impose additional tariffs on $50 billion worth of US imports. The tariffs would include products ranging from cars, chemicals, tobacco, and whiskey. This made markets jittery, which led the US dollar to fall and pushed gold higher. The sentiment didn’t provide a substantial impact on the other three precious metals.

Gold price versus Volatility Index 2018-03-26

 Correlated moves

The above chart compares the performance of gold to the volatility index (or VIX). It is a barometer for overall uncertainty in the market. The higher chances that we could see weak markets led to a rise in this index.

We have seen that gold has a strong relationship with market unrest (VIXY) (VXZ). The higher the tensions in the market, the higher the demand for gold. As gold is famous as a safety asset, investors often jump to this reserve-for-safety. Though the short-term relationship between gold (IAU) and VIX can diverge in a more extended run, we can expect the two to track each other.

Some of the mining companies that also increased on Wednesday with gold include Cia De Minas Buenaventura (BVN), Eldorado Gold (EGO), Alacer Gold (ASR), and Coeur Mining (CDE). They were up 2.4%, 2.5%, 1.5%, and 2.3%, respectively.

via Is Gold Still Taking Cues from Downturn in Equities? – Market Realist

Precious Metals First Quarter 2018 Review And The Outlook For Q2 2018 – ETFS Physical Precious Metal Basket Trust ETF (NYSEARCA:GLTR) | Seeking Alpha

03 Tuesday Apr 2018

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Weighing in on the precious metal market

Summary

Gold is the only precious metal that moves higher in Q1.

Silver underperforms and posts a loss for the first quarter.

Continued weakness in platinum.

Palladium rises to a new record high, reverses, and posts the biggest loss in the sector.

Bullish and bearish factors facing precious metals in Q2.

The precious metals sector of the commodities market posted an overall loss in the first quarter of 2018.

The composite of the four precious metals that trade on the COMEX and NYMEX divisions of the CME dropped by 8.10% in 2014. The sector fell by 19.46% in 2015, but in 2016, precious metals gained 11.71 %. Precious metals moved 20.19% higher in 2017 posting its second consecutive annual gain. In Q1 2018, the sector moved 4.08% lower in a corrective move led by losses in palladium and silver. The sector declined despite a continuation of weakness in the US dollar which declined by 2.19% over the three-month period.

 

Read More via Precious Metals First Quarter 2018 Review And The Outlook For Q2 2018 – ETFS Physical Precious Metal Basket Trust ETF (NYSEARCA:GLTR) | Seeking Alpha

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Steel and Aluminum? Let’s Talk About Gold – WSJ

27 Tuesday Mar 2018

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By

Alex X. Mooney

I believe in free trade, but I still understand why President Trump is imposing tariffs on steel, aluminum and a range of Chinese products. America’s industrial workers have suffered for a long time, and Mr. Trump is fighting to create middle-class jobs.

Achieving that will take more than righting the last administration’s wrongs on taxes and regulation, a task already well under way. Blue-collar prosperity was eroded along with American manufacturing. From 2000-10, U.S. manufacturing employment shrank by a third after holding steady for 30 years.

Steel and Aluminum? Let’s Talk About Gold
PHOTO: ISTOCK/GETTY IMAGES

President Trump has rightly blamed bad trade deals, particularly those with Mexico and China, for contributing to this meltdown. But the Federal Reserve deserves a share of the blame, too, since its inflationary policies priced out U.S. manufacturers from global trade. Since 2000, their prices have risen nearly 50%, compared with about 25% for German competitors—mirroring the domestic inflation rates in each country. As a result, manufacturers fled the U.S., much the way American families have fled high-tax states.

The solution is to take control of the money supply away from the Fed and give it back to the American people—in other words, to return to the gold standard. Gold gets a bad rap in some history books because of its misuse during the 20th century. This ignores its peacetime record of high growth and nil inflation between 1834 and 1913.

Clouding the historical picture are two fake gold standards. The Depression-era gold standard was constructed to make prices fall toward the levels that prevailed before World War I, with the disastrous result of deflation. Then, under the Bretton Woods version after World War II, only foreign central banks could convert dollars into gold. This deformity caused inflation, which skyrocketed after the Fed gained total control of the money supply in the early 1970s.

Since then the U.S. has seesawed between too much and too little money in the economy. The Fed has the impossible task of guessing the market’s demand in real time. Its performance worsened in the 2000s because the Fed began to grade itself by how its money creation boosted the financial markets. Today many people are so disillusioned with the dollar’s prospects that they have embraced cryptocurrencies like bitcoin.

My constituents in West Virginia get little of the upside from the Fed’s money creation and most of the downside. They don’t benefit from speculative investment returns, but they do lose their jobs and homes when the local plant decides to close because it’s too expensive to compete from the U.S.

The current Federal Reserve system benefits elites. The gold standard is equitable and puts “we the people” in control of the money supply. That’s why it was part of America’s founding and has been a key to the country’s long economic success.

On Thursday I introduced a bill that would return the dollar to the gold standard—the first such attempt since Jack Kemp’s Gold Standard Act of 1984. Under this legislation the Fed would still exist, but it would administer the money supply rather than dictate it. Instead the market would be in charge, the supply and demand for money would match up, and prices would be shaped by economics rather than the instincts of bureaucrats.

Like President Trump, I believe that success is again possible for Americans who go to work every day and build things. Mr. Trump’s vision of how the American economy could and should work resonated with voters in 2016. Returning to the gold standard is a way for the president to deliver on his promise of American working-class prosperity.

Mr. Mooney, a Republican, represents West Virginia’s Second Congressional District.

Read more via Steel and Aluminum? Let’s Talk About Gold – WSJ

Using Your Personal Credit Card for Business Is a Terrible Idea | Dentistry Today

20 Tuesday Mar 2018

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credit cardsMany of us have a preferred credit card in our wallet—the one we reach for first to swipe at checkout or shop online. We use it to pay for just about everything to accumulate points, earn rewards, and build our credit scores.

This is fine for personal purchases. But I hope you’re not also using your favorite card to cover your dental practice expenses, not only for the sake of your credit score, but for simplifying taxes and accounting as well.

For big-ticket expenses like equipment, technology, staff salaries, or expansion, you likely tap into a business line of credit or working capital loan to cover the costs. The lines may get a little blurry when it comes to covering smaller or daily expenses like driving to or between offices, buying employee meals at a tradeshow, or paying lab bills. It may be convenient simply to pay with that favorite credit card, but it’s not the best approach.

You would be surprised by how many professionals do this—dentists and other small business owners alike. But this practice can cause issues and annoyances for both your business finances and personal finances. 

It Can Negatively Impact Your Personal Credit Profile 

To some, using a personal card more often may feel like a favorable way to build credit, but this is not always the case.

It doesn’t matter if you have a perfect credit history. Charging a business expense to your personal credit card will only draw you closer to your borrowing limit, leaving you with little room for personal expenses or emergencies.

Continually using a personal card for business charges will also have you maintaining a higher credit balance and further reducing your available credit ratio, a primary factor in determining your credit score.

You Won’t Be Building Business Credit

Like an individual, your practice has its own credit profile and score. Oftentimes, this business credit score is just as important as a personal one when seeking financing for your practice.

Putting any business expenses on your personal card will hinder your ability to build business credit for your practice (because you’re not doing it by using a personal card), making it more difficult to attain a loan for your practice in the future.

To build business credit for your practice, consider a business credit card. 

It’s An Accounting Nightmare. 

Using a personal credit card to cover both personal and business expenses can set your accounting team up for a potential, yet avoidable, headache.

When tax season comes around, you’ll need to deduct your business expenses. By charging both business and personal payments to your personal credit card, it’s going to be more difficult and time-consuming to go through and separate what may and may not be deductible.

And vice versa. When using a business credit card, don’t make personal charges. By keeping these two accounts separate, it will simplify the lives of both you and whoever is in charge of your practice’s bookkeeping, allowing for a clear perspective of your spending on the business side.

You May Be Missing Out on Perks that Benefit Your Business 

Your personal credit card probably rewards you for consumer purchases, incentivizing things like paying at the grocery store or eating out at a restaurant. But many business cards offer rewards and perks that align with your business spending. Think about your everyday operational purchases and the targeted rewards you may be missing. 

The road to financial discipline is paved by both practice and persistence. So next time if it may seem more convenient to cover a business cost with your personal card, pause. Being proactive and keeping these two cards separate can set you and your practice up for continued financial success.

Mr. Gruebele is senior vice president at Bankers Healthcare Group, the leading provider of financial solutions for healthcare professionals. Contact him directly at kgruebele@bhg-inc.com or visit the BHG website at bankershealthcaregroup.com.

Related Articles

The Costs of Starting a Private Dental Practice

Proactively Promote Preventive Care for Patients

Evolve or Become Extinct: Smart Equipment Investments Can Improve Your Practice

Read more via Using Your Personal Credit Card for Business Is a Terrible Idea | Dentistry Today

MINOR METALS-Vanadium prices hit 4-year high on supply crunch

28 Wednesday Jun 2017

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By Eileen Soreng and Sethuraman N R

 

May 16 Vanadium prices have climbed to four-year highs due to tighter supplies created by a shift in production processes and stringent environmental policies in top producer China.

Vanadium is used to strengthen steel and in a new generation of batteries, which advocates say has advantages over lithium batteries in terms of grid storage.

There is a current shift towards more vanadium being produced from ore rather than as a steel by-product while China tackles environmental regulations, traders and analysts said.

Read more via MINOR METALS-Vanadium prices hit 4-year high on supply crunch | Reuters

Gold Outlook Investors Watching $1,300 For Gold Next Week

15 Thursday Jun 2017

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Gold’s renewed momentum, following a disappointing May jobs report, is expected to continue into next week with some analysts saying that $1,300 could be a viable target.

Gold saw a major boost Friday after the release of a weaker-than-expected nonfarm payrolls report, which showed that 138,000 jobs were created in May, well below expectations for gains of 181,000 jobs.

August gold futures last traded at $1,279.60 an ounce, up 0.64% from last Friday, its fourth consecutive week of positive gains.

The rally in gold helped push up the entire precious metals complex higher with palladium posting its highest price in almost two years; September palladium last traded at $835.45 an ounce, up more than 6% from last week. July Comex silver futures last traded at $17.505, up 1% from last week. Meanwhile, July Platinum was the only weaker metal, last trading at 953.60 an ounce, down almost 1% from the previous week.

Read more via Investors Watching $1,300 For Gold Next Week | Kitco News

British Pound Slips After UK Election Shock, Dollar Gains

09 Friday Jun 2017

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british-pound-coin

Photo courtesy Quartz.com

NEW YORK — The British pound plunged to a seven-week low on Friday after a shock election result cast doubt on Britain’s talks to leave the European Union, but global equity markets rallied with key indices on Wall Street hitting new record highs.

British Prime Minister Theresa May said she would form a government backed by a small Northern Irish party after her Conservative Party lost its parliamentary majority in a vote on Thursday just days before the EU departure talks begin…

Read more via British Pound Slips After UK Election Shock, Dollar Gains – The New York Times

Eldorado to acquire Integra Gold to expand operations in Canada | Reuters

16 Tuesday May 2017

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gold mining

photo courtesy of wikipedia

Gold producer Eldorado Gold Corp has agreed to buy the remaining shares of Integra Gold Corp , to expand its mining opportunities in the Eastern Abitibi region of Canada.

Integra shareholders have the option of receiving cash or shares in Eldorado or a mix of both. The maximum number of shares issuable by Eldorado under the arrangement will be about 77 million and the total deal value is about C$590 million, inclusive of Integra shares held by Eldorado.

“From previous experience of building and operating gold mines in Canada, I am excited about Eldorado’s entry into the Eastern Abitibi region of Canada,” Eldorado Chief Executive George Burns said in a statement.

Upon completion of deal, existing Eldorado and Integra shareholders would hold about 90 percent and 10 percent of the combined company, respectively.

The Integra acquisition comes after Eldorado in January indefinitely shelved expansion plans for its flagship Kisladag mine in Turkey and put off a development decision on a project in Brazil, citing lower gold prices.

After 11 years of operations in China, Eldorado Gold left the country last year after selling stakes in two mines and a development project to Yintai Resources Co Ltd for $600 million.

Read more via Eldorado to acquire Integra Gold to expand operations in Canada | Reuters

India gold demand seen muted in H2

09 Tuesday May 2017

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india goldBy Rajendra Jadhav | MUMBAI

Gold demand in India could be muted in the second half of 2017, as the rollout of a new national sales tax from July is expected to dent appetite in the world’s second-biggest consumer, the World Gold Council (WGC) said on Thursday.

But sales are likely to be robust during the first six months of the year, the WGC said.

Gold consumption in the first quarter of 2017 rose 15 percent to 123.5 tonnes on pent-up demand from jewelers as retail consumers ramped up purchases for weddings, the WGC said in a report published on Thursday.

Read more via India gold demand seen muted in H2 on new national sales tax: WGC | Reuters

Gold spikes on Market

30 Thursday Mar 2017

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“Gold usually moves higher when there is fear, uncertainty, or volatility in markets.

So far this year, gold has gained 8.5%, after bottoming out in late December.

After a big comeback during the first half of 2016, gold prices fell dramatically from $1387 per ounce in July 2016 to $1127 per ounce in December.

Two of the more popular gold exchange-traded funds are also seeing a bid on Tuesday.

The GLD SPDR Gold Trust ETF is up 0.7% and the GDX Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF, which tracks the performance of the Gold Miners Index is higher by 2.15%.” …ticker

via Gold is spiking on market fears (GLD, GDX) | 03/21/17 | Markets Insider