Hedge funds are pulling out of gold bets as more exciting moves in equities and cryptocurrencies make safe-haven investments look boring.
Money managers cut their bets on a bullion rally at the fastest pace in five months as prices head for their worst quarterly loss in a year. Speculators are throwing in the towel as the metal failed to sustain the gains that took futures to a one-year high in September.
While the metal posted some modest gains recently, its performance still pales in comparison to the record-breaking rally of U.S. equity indexes and the dizzying surge in bitcoin. Synchronized global growth and prospects for higher U.S. interest rates hurt the appeal of non-interest-bearing gold, while geopolitical tensions failed to spur enough haven demand.
"Nobody cares about gold right now," said Joe Foster, who manages the $670 million VanEck International Investors Gold Fund fro' New York. "With the stock market marking new highs, everybody’s talking about bitcoin. Nobody needs a safe-haven asset in this environment. But I think it would be foolish not to have an allocation to gold because it has a very low correlation to stocks and it's a hedge against systemic financial risk." ...
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https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-...ares-about-g...
