| | |
|
USAGOLD/Peter Grant/08-23-17
Gold remains consolidative within last week’s range. Downticks seen yesterday have been reversed today and the bias remains to the upside after a new high for the year was established last week above $1300.
Today’s gains reflect heightened concerns of a government shutdown. In his speech yesterday in Phoenix, President Trump threatened to go to that extreme in an effort to secure funding for his promised boarder wall.
He also suggested the North American Free Trade Agreement’s days may be numbered. “I think we’ll end up probably terminating NAFTA at some point,” warned Mr. Trump, even as the U.S., Canada and Mexico recently began renegotiating the agreement.
With a debt ceiling debate also looming in the weeks ahead, there is considerable uncertainty about fiscal policy moving forward. While this may certainly have an impact on monetary policy, I doubt that Fed Chair Yellen will broach this subject when she speaks at Jackson Hole on Friday. Given that her topic is “financial stability,” there may be some opportunity to read between the lines.
Steve Hanke, professor of Applied Economics at Johns Hopkins University, highlighted gold as an important hedge in these uncertain times. “One always wants to have some gold and I think particularly now in troubled times. There’s so many potential black swans that could enter the scene so you want to hold gold as an investor right now,” Professor Hanke told Kitco News.
| |
Read the rest of the article at
USA Gold
