Serious gold investors know that May has historically been a weak month for the price of the yellow metal. For the 10-year and 30-year periods, the month delivered negative returns.
Gold got a boost Friday on weaker-than-expected inflation and retail sales figures, casting doubt on the Federal Reserve’s ability to continue normalizing interest rates this year.
You could say gold miners struck gold in 2016. The group, as measured by the NYSE Arca Gold Miners Index, finished the year up an amazing 55%, handily beating all other asset classes shown below.
You could say gold miners struck gold in 2016. The group, as measured by the NYSE Arca Gold Miners Index, finished the year up an amazing 55%, handily beating all other asset classes.
Just as April showers bring May flowers, plentiful monsoon rains in India tend to drive up demand for gold jewelry among rural, income-flush farmers, who make up a third of the country’s consumption of the yellow metal.
Nineteen years ago, South Korea came precipitously close to bankruptcy. The Asian financial crisis had spread like a virus. Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and other Southeast Asian countries were all affected, inciting fears of a global economic meltdown if the crisis couldn’t be contained.
The consumer price index (CPI), a measure of inflation, came in hotter than expected Friday, registering 2.3% year-over-year in August on expectations of 2.0%. With the five-year Treasury yielding 1.19%, government bond investors are now receiving a negative real rate of return (because 2.3 minus 1.19 comes out to negative 1.11%).
