Mid-Day Gold & Silver Market Report, 8/15/2012

Brandi Brundidge

8/15/2012 12:10:00 PM

BILLIONAIRE BUYS BIG; GOLD PRICE UP ON ECONOMIC DATA  

John Paulson has more than 44 percent of his equities now in Gold. At this time last year, Paulson had 25 percent of his equities in the yellow metal. That’s an increase of 19 percent of his $21 billion hedge fund that is now in Gold. The last time he was this invested in Gold was March 2009, when he had about 46 percent in the metal. Gold prices went lower in the second quarter.

Today’s movement in the Gold market has shown the affect another round of monetary easing could have on pricing. Just because there have been signs of an economic slowdown in the United States, some economist think it is not a foregone conclusion that the Fed will act. “While further monetary easing remains a viable option for the Fed, the timing may be delayed for more dire conditions,” said Michael Woolfolk, a senior currency strategist at Bank of New York Mellon in New York. In the second week of September, there will be a meeting of the Federal Reserve that could help outline the direction the Fed will be taking.

In the past few months, there has been talk of Greece making an exit from the European Union. EU leaders promised to do everything in their power to keep it together. The intention may be good, but the reality could be that Greece will leave sooner than later. “It’s a question of when, not if. Next month, there is the ratification of the ESM (European Stability Mechanism) in Germany, and you may well see a situation where Greece leaves the euro, the ESM is ratified, and Spain and Italy then go in and ask for the money. There is a feeling that time is running out,” said Paul Day, chief strategist at Market Securities.

At 1:07 p.m. (EDT), the APMEX Precious Metals spot prices were:

• Gold, $1,604.00, Up $3.10.
• Silver, $27.86, Down $0.01.
• Platinum, $1,397.10, Down $3.00.
• Palladium, $579.40, Down $0.60.

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