|
David Jollie
from Mitsui Precious Metals has a research note out looking at
QE3 and its likely effect on the prices of gold and silver. He analyses the
first two rounds of quantitative easing and notes that silver outperformed
gold both times but given “the economic picture is rather different
from the periods of QE1 and QE2, … a
considerable amount of uncertainty persists”.
Based on his historical
analysis, David concludes that QE3 is likely to boost precious metals prices
but does not feel that it will be as positive as the previous rounds because
• each round of QE has
shown diminishing returns, and
• expectations
of QE3 are already priced into the market.
Because David finds “little
to no evidence that QE3 will generate any additional inflation”
he sees “relatively little reason to buy gold today to hedge against
this inflation: it may be more attractive to buy into silver or equities in
the short term for most consumers and later to switch into gold [at the end
of QE3] to cover for longer term inflation” when “experience
says it should start to outperform silver once again”.
Noting that “some
in the market believe that the monetary authorities are running out of
ammunition”, David suggests that gold could benefit “if faith
in governments being able to solve this situation dissipates”
with resulting concerns that governments may resort to capital controls and
other policies which could lead to either hyperinflation or deflation
depending on the approach taken.
David’s final observation
is that “the impact of QE on asset prices commences before the onset of
QE itself”, which is why non-QE statements by the Federal
Reserve are “greeted by a sell-off by the optimists who have pre-positioned
themselves.”
|