Morning Gold & Silver Market Report – 4/9/2013

Craig C. Calvin

4/9/2013 9:04:00 AM

GOLD UP IN EARLY TRADING; FED’S QE EFFORTS “LARGE AND DULL HAMMER?”

The price for Gold rose in early morning trading, pushed up as the dollar weakened compared to the euro. Because commodities become less expensive to investors holding other currencies when the dollar is weak, those commodities tend to experience gains, and this includes Precious Metals. Gold’s rise this morning eliminated the minor loss the yellow metal experienced yesterday. Tomorrow’s release of the minutes from the Federal Reserve’s meeting on March 20 will be of particular interest to Gold buyers. It was in this meeting that the Fed decided to continue it quantitative easing (QE) efforts of purchasing $85 billion in assets each month.

A prominent Wall Street money manager has joined the list of those criticizing the Fed’s QE program. Rick Rieder, the managing director of investment firm BlackRock, is calling on the Fed to rein in its bond-buying efforts, describing them as “a large and dull hammer” that is in danger of increasing inflation. This opinion marks a change for Rieder and BlackRock; in the past, the firm had been a proponent of government debt. According to Rieder, “Fed policy has had a distorting effect on capital allocation decisions of all kinds at virtually every level of the economy."

At 9:45 a.m. (EDT), the APMEX Precious Metals spot prices were:

• Gold, $1,578.60, Up $4.60.
• Silver, $27.48, Up $0.23.
• Platinum, $1,539.60, Up $1.60.
• Palladium, $728.70, Down $2.70.

APMEX’s Account Managers now have extended hours Mondays through Thursdays and are here to serve you until 8 p.m. (EDT)! Or call us Fridays until 6 p.m. (EDT)! If you have any questions about investing in Precious Metals or simply would prefer to place your order by telephone, we are here to help.