Friday, December 08, 2006
"Aggressive Sellers" Take Gold To Weekly Loss
From MarketWatch. "Gold futures closed lower Friday, with the February contract ending near its weakest level in three weeks, as the U.S. dollar climbed to one-week highs against the euro and yen, dulling investment demand for the precious metal. The dollar rallied sharply Friday after U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson described Friday's nonfarm payrolls report as 'very, very good news' for the economy."
"The dollar also gained against the yen on press reports that the Bank of Japan will not hike interest rates in December."
"Gold for February delivery fell $6 to close at $631 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It's finished 3%, or $19.60, below last week's close of $650.60.
The contract gained $1.10 on Thursday, but tallied a loss of $15 in the two sessions before that."
"'Book-squaring is one factor (as usual before holiday periods), but the aggressive sellers have the upper hand at the moment,' said Jon Nadler, analyst at bullion dealers Kitco.com. 'We need bargain hunter investors to step up to the plate,' he said."
"A U.S. government report Friday on employment was mixed, with something to bolster nearly every theory about where the economy is heading, from boom to bust. The dollar also saw pressure earlier after a report from U.S. consumer sentiment eroded in December."
"In a research note Friday, Merrill Lynch cut its 2006 gold-price forecast to $603.35 from $625, but left its 2007 forecast unchanged at $675. Merrill Lynch also upped its 2008-2010 gold forecasts. The brokerage attributed the higher year-over-year gold price forecast in 2007 to 'a rebound in fabrication demand for bullion, lower central bank sales and continued growth in investment demand,' according to analyst Michael Jalonen."
"March silver fell by 14 cents to end at $13.895 an ounce, after trading as high as $14.16, and was down 2.1% from a week ago. March palladium climbed $2.95 to close at $333.95, up 0.4% from last week's close. January platinum ended down $17.10 at $1,107.80 an ounce, down 4% from a week ago."
From Reuters. "An exchange-traded fund designed to reflect moves in the U.S. dollar against the euro has grown to about $1 billion in assets in the year since its launch by Rydex Investments."
Steve Sachs, director of trading fo Rydex, attributes the investor interest to the dollar's decline over the last few months."
From Bloomberg. "Goldman Sachs Group Inc.'s $10 billion flagship hedge fund dropped 11.6 percent this year through the end of November, extending earlier losses as its managers misjudged the direction of global stock and currency markets, according to two investors."
"Goldman's Global Alpha Fund lost money partly on wrong-way bets that equities in Japan would rise, stocks in the rest of Asia and the U.S. would fall and the dollar would strengthen, the investors said."
"Global Alpha uses computer-driven quantitative models to help make investment decisions."
"The dollar also gained against the yen on press reports that the Bank of Japan will not hike interest rates in December."
"Gold for February delivery fell $6 to close at $631 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It's finished 3%, or $19.60, below last week's close of $650.60.
The contract gained $1.10 on Thursday, but tallied a loss of $15 in the two sessions before that."
"'Book-squaring is one factor (as usual before holiday periods), but the aggressive sellers have the upper hand at the moment,' said Jon Nadler, analyst at bullion dealers Kitco.com. 'We need bargain hunter investors to step up to the plate,' he said."
"A U.S. government report Friday on employment was mixed, with something to bolster nearly every theory about where the economy is heading, from boom to bust. The dollar also saw pressure earlier after a report from U.S. consumer sentiment eroded in December."
"In a research note Friday, Merrill Lynch cut its 2006 gold-price forecast to $603.35 from $625, but left its 2007 forecast unchanged at $675. Merrill Lynch also upped its 2008-2010 gold forecasts. The brokerage attributed the higher year-over-year gold price forecast in 2007 to 'a rebound in fabrication demand for bullion, lower central bank sales and continued growth in investment demand,' according to analyst Michael Jalonen."
"March silver fell by 14 cents to end at $13.895 an ounce, after trading as high as $14.16, and was down 2.1% from a week ago. March palladium climbed $2.95 to close at $333.95, up 0.4% from last week's close. January platinum ended down $17.10 at $1,107.80 an ounce, down 4% from a week ago."
From Reuters. "An exchange-traded fund designed to reflect moves in the U.S. dollar against the euro has grown to about $1 billion in assets in the year since its launch by Rydex Investments."
Steve Sachs, director of trading fo Rydex, attributes the investor interest to the dollar's decline over the last few months."
From Bloomberg. "Goldman Sachs Group Inc.'s $10 billion flagship hedge fund dropped 11.6 percent this year through the end of November, extending earlier losses as its managers misjudged the direction of global stock and currency markets, according to two investors."
"Goldman's Global Alpha Fund lost money partly on wrong-way bets that equities in Japan would rise, stocks in the rest of Asia and the U.S. would fall and the dollar would strengthen, the investors said."
"Global Alpha uses computer-driven quantitative models to help make investment decisions."
# posted by Ben Jones @ 2:24 PM 
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"Goldman Sachs Group Inc.'s $10 billion flagship hedge fund dropped 11.6 percent this year through the end of November, extending earlier losses as its managers misjudged the direction of global stock and currency markets, according to two investors."
"Goldman's Global Alpha Fund lost money partly on wrong-way bets that equities in Japan would rise, stocks in the rest of Asia and the U.S. would fall and the dollar would strengthen, the investors said."
"Global Alpha uses computer-driven quantitative models to help make investment decisions."
It just goes to show, (as if we needed more proof) that even with the highest paid talent in the world, and some of the most sophisticated modeling in the business, hedge funds are far from a sure bet. Ultimately the only thing that defines a "hedge fund" any more is its relative lack of regulation. Hardly the sort of thing that should attract investors... and yet, these vehicles keep growing.
"Goldman's Global Alpha Fund lost money partly on wrong-way bets that equities in Japan would rise, stocks in the rest of Asia and the U.S. would fall and the dollar would strengthen, the investors said."
"Global Alpha uses computer-driven quantitative models to help make investment decisions."
It just goes to show, (as if we needed more proof) that even with the highest paid talent in the world, and some of the most sophisticated modeling in the business, hedge funds are far from a sure bet. Ultimately the only thing that defines a "hedge fund" any more is its relative lack of regulation. Hardly the sort of thing that should attract investors... and yet, these vehicles keep growing.
sounds like they need a new computer.
If you're like most people when you think of platinum, jewelry is probably the first product that springs to mind. But platinum jewelry accounts for only about one quarter of global platinum consumption. The autocatalyst market is far more important - more than half the platinum consumed globally goes into automobile and truck filters.
GOING PLATINUM
I haven't checked the platinum/palladium ratio, but this sounds more like a case for palladium too.
here is a good link for the dollar.
dollarcollapse
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If you're like most people when you think of platinum, jewelry is probably the first product that springs to mind. But platinum jewelry accounts for only about one quarter of global platinum consumption. The autocatalyst market is far more important - more than half the platinum consumed globally goes into automobile and truck filters.
GOING PLATINUM
I haven't checked the platinum/palladium ratio, but this sounds more like a case for palladium too.
here is a good link for the dollar.
dollarcollapse
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