Last week, it was announced on February 27 that a European Central Bank had sold 30 Tonnes (964,500 troy oz) of Gold. Bang! Gold fell $US 7.80 in New York trading to once again fall below the $US 350 level. This week, it was announced on March 7 that two of Osama Bin Laden's sons had been captured or killed. Gold fell $US 6.00 to close the week just above the $US 350 level at $US 350.90. For the week, Gold actually gained $US 0.60.
Over the past week, while the $US has plummeted, yet the $US Gold price has been frozen at or about the $US 350 level. This is manipulation of a high order, coupled with scare tactics that a kindergarten student should have been able to see through.
Here are the relative performances of $US Gold, the $US Index, and the Dow since Gold broke above $US 300 to stay on March 27, 2002:
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On February 14, the $US index closed at 100.25. On February 21, the $US index closed at 100.25. On February 28, the $US index closed at 99.81. The $US index was on hold. NOT THIS WEEK, as the $US index plummeted 1.71 points to 98.10. For the first time since Gold began its big run up at the end of November 2002, the percentage fall of the $US since Gold broke definitively through $US 300 almost a year ago is bigger than the percentage $US Gold price rise over the same period.
On the daily bar chart, you can clearly see the "anomaly" of the sudden $US 6.00 fall on March 7. Actually, from intraday high to intraday low on the day, the spot future fall was more than $US 10.00. Gold remains at or about the $US 350 level, but the sudden fall on March 7 has pushed it back below its longer-term (20 day) moving average. On the weekly bar chart, Gold's trading range this week is almost a mirror image of its range last week, while the shorter-term (20 week) MA continues to provide support. On the point and figure chart, the already tight trading range right at the halfway point in Gold's upchannel is getting even tighter.
Here's another perspective - a comparison between Gold's 2002 low and its present price and the $US index 2002 high and its present "price". All data is on CLOSING levels:
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You will find charts of the $US index and Gold here for comparison.
"If there was ever going to be a time when all efforts were bent to keeping the Gold price under control, it was always going to be on the brink of the war with Iraq breaking out. We are now very close to that brink, and as the charts on this page show, Gold is back firmly under control. So are US government bond rates and so is the Dollar. For now."
(The Gold Bull Market This Week - February 28)
The Gold price remains under control. The $US exchange rate does NOT, it has fallen out of bed this week. Gold was partially reflecting that fall until its $US fall on March 7 - in the face of a FALLING $US. US government bond rates have actually started falling again. ON March 7, both three and six month paper hit yields of 1.10%. In this context, it should be pointed out that Gold one month lease rates fell below 0.10% this week. This is the lowest they have EVER been - almost as low as Japanese interest rates.
Gold is cycling around the $US 350 level, so far, immune to the falls of the $US. This is still FAR above the bottom of its upchannel, which remains just below the $US 320 level - about where $US Gold was before the beginning of its big upmove at the end of November.