Peter's Blog

This Month in Gold – November 2012

China’s Currency Rises in US Backyard Financial Times – Two scholars from the Peterson Institute of International Economics write: “Would-be US leaders would do well to note that for probably the first time since the Second World War the dollar bloc in East Asia has been displaced. In its wake a currency bloc based on China’s renminbi is emerging.” Seven out […]

This Month in Gold – October 2012

Bridgewater’s Dalio Likes Gold, Breaks From Buffett  Forbes – Ray Dalio, manager of one of the world’s most profitable hedge funds – the $120 billion Bridgewater Associates – likes gold, sees it as a useful inflation hedge, and thinks it belongs in any well-diversified portfolio. For Dalio, gold is “the alternative money.” Concerning Warren Buffett’s […]

This Month in Gold – July 2012

Gold Investment Demand in China to Advance 10% Bloomberg – China’s largest bullion bank expects domestic investment demand to increase by 10% this year. Zheng Zhiguang, general manager of the precious metals department at the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd. (ICBC), said currency debasement and the European debt crisis are driving safe-haven demand […]

This Month in Gold – June 2012

Emerging Market Central Banks Add More Gold to Reserves MarketWatch – The latest data from April shows emerging market central banks continued to add to their gold reserves. Among the top buyers, Mexico added 94,000 ounces, bringing its total gold reserves to 4.04 million ounces; Kazakhstan added 65,000 ounces, bringing its total to 3.16 million […]

This Month in Gold – May 2012

Bernanke: Fed Stands Ready to Do More The Wall Street Journal – Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke reaffirmed the ‘Bernanke put’ this month, otherwise known as music to the ears of precious metals investors. Appearing after the Fed’s latest rate-setting meeting, Bernanke said that another round of bond purchases remains “very much on the table […]

This Month in Gold – April 2012

Central Banks Vigorously Buying the Dip Financial Times – At least one central bank, and likely more, took advantage of this month’s correction in gold to further diversify their reserve holdings away from the US dollar. According to several estimates from traders familiar with the purchases, the Bank for International Settlements – which buys gold […]

This Month in Gold – March 2012

Emerging Market Central Banks Driving Gold Higher CNBC – Mark Bristow, CEO of Randgold Resources, a miner with operations in western Africa, says that emerging market central banks are underpinning today’s elevated and rising gold price. In a financially volatile world, Bristow maintains, emerging market central banks are using gold to mitigate their foreign exchange […]

This Month in Gold – February 2012

Gold Again Above $1,700 on Fed’s Extended Zero-Rate Pledge Reuters – Gold rallied hard on January 25, climbing 2.5% intraday to above $1,700 an ounce, on news that the Fed is extending its promise to maintain near-zero interest rates until late 2014. The Fed’s previous low-rate pledge was set to expire in mid-2013. The rally […]

This Month in Gold – January 2012

Will European Sovereigns Have to Sell Their Gold? MarketWatch – To make ends meet, European sovereigns may soon have to dig deep into their pocketbooks and jettison some of their gold reserves. At 2,452 tons, Italy enjoys the world’s fourth-largest gold reserves. Current value: $123 billion. Rome’s budget deficit for 2011: $80 billion. France, meanwhile, […]

This Month in Gold – December 2011

Central Bank Gold Purchases Surge in Q3 Wall Street Journal – Central banks have purchased 7X as much gold in the 3rd quarter of this year than the same period last year, the latest World Gold Council quarterly report reveals. The combined purchases amount to a whopping 148.8 metric tons of gold. By comparison, in […]