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Thursday August 12, 2010
The U.S. dollar fell to its lowest level since April,weighed down by a news report that Federal Reserve officials will consider a slight policy shift next week amid concerns over the strength of the U.S. economic recovery. The dollar remained lower Tuesday after a report showed U.S. consumer spending and incomes came in weaker than forecast in June. U.S. pending sales of homes fell 2.6% in June, and factory orders declined," reports Marketwatch.
China will allow more domestic banks to export and import gold as part of steps to encourage more liquid trade which could underpin the country's growing private demand for the precious metal. The policy will help China's gold market to grow rapidly. China's demand for gold has been growing strongly, and that demand will need to be satisfied. China is the world's largest producer of gold and second largest consumer of the metal after India," reports. Reuters
Investors were buying gold as a safety net as worries surfaced about a weak U.S. unemployment report Friday. Wednesday's Automatic Data Processing report said that the private sector added 42,000 jobs in July, which analysts say is good but not good enough. The report is keeping investors jittery headed into the Labor Department's nonfarm payroll report on Friday,"
reports TheStreet
Gold prices are set to mark an eleventh year of gains in 2011 as investors seek refuge from an uncertain global economic outlook, with analysts revising up expectations sharply in a Reuters survey. A poll of 55 analysts and traders showed expectations for gold prices in 2011 have risen by nearly 7 percent to a median $1,228 an ounce," reports Reuters
Lingering uncertainties surrounding the global economic recovery and waning risk appetite underpinned gold prices, triggering buying at every dip. Gold prices rallied to an all-time nominal high above $1,260 in mid-June," reports RTTNews.
Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said the outlook for the U.S. economy is 'unusually uncertain,' and that the Fed is willing to do more if growth proves to be weaker than forecast. In congressional testimony, Ben Bernanke signaled that no moves were imminent to bolster the recovery despite a 'somewhat weaker outlook' for the economy," reports Marketwatch.
Seven of Europe’s 91 largest banks would struggle to survive an unexpected decline in economic growth or a sharp deterioration in the value of European government bonds, and will need to raise more capital, regulators said Friday in releasing results of closely watched bank stress tests. Whether the tests succeed in reviving confidence depends on whether investors and analysts believe they were severe enough to expose vulnerable banks," reports NYTimes.
Financial Reform: A crisis of ethic proportions: "Unchecked market forces have overwhelmed traditional standards of professional conduct, developed over centuries. The result has been a shift from moral absolutism to moral relativism. The old notion of trusting and being trusted -- which once was not only the accepted standard of business conduct, but the key to success -- came to be seen as a quaint relic of an era long gone. Somehow, our society must be spurred into action to return to that standard. Until it is, I fear that a repeat of our recent meltdown is probable, for there's no end to the ways that motivated individuals can get around even the most stringent regulations. True reform of our financial markets will not be found until our nation's financial professionals turn their focus away from the salesmanship and embrace the stewardship that their profession demands. Such a change cannot happen soon enough," reports John Bogle, founder of The Vanguard Group.
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