Gold update 30 June

Gold is up to US$928 and looks like it might break through $930 this week. It’s already breaking out of the price range we were talking about just a couple of weeks ago.

As this story says – the end of last week saw the biggest surge in gold price futures in 16 months. This was due to heightened inflation concerns mixed with the Federal Reserve not hiking interest rates to tackle the problem.

And as this story says, inflation fears in the Untied States are running up against low prospects for growth – this puts the Fed in a bind and means the prospects for gold remain strong.

Happy prospecting.

Gold update 23 June

Gold hit a three week high at close of trade on Friday. The precious metal has again broken through the US$900 an ounce mark and currently sits at $904.

This article identifies the trend as coming from increased demand for raw materials and from investors looking for a hedge against inflation.

In the US we’re seeing the renewed concern surrounding the financial markets translate to demand for safety investments says William O'Neill, a partner at Logic Advisors in Upper Saddle River, “The continued turmoil surrounding financials is attracting flight-to-safety demand. I see the metal working higher. Prices have consistently held key technical support at the 200-day moving average and are now starting to work through overhead resistance.''

NZ Mint has been in the news recently.

Have a look at this story about an amount of gold we acquired recently. In October 2006, Wayne Patterson was arrested for multiple benefit fraud. When Police raided his house, they found the gold and cash hidden in secret compartments. Some was also buried in the garden. We’ll be turning the gold into our famous Gold Kiwi coins to sell on the market.

Also check out this article we did for Herald on Sunday. All your gold questions answered!

Gold update 5 June

Gold is currently sitting at US$879 an ounce.

There has been some speculation as to where the gold is going in the near future. This is what John Reade, the head of metals strategy at UBS AG, says ``From a short-term perspective, gold is neutrally positioned at $890" He notes that is in the middle of its recent range of $850 to $930. "The metal is searching for fresh direction with crude and the dollar off their recent highs, but still-present talk of inflation rising again supporting the metal."

This article takes a look at whether the current price movements are part of a commodities bubble or correction.

And this article quotes South Africa's Chamber of Mines who said on Tuesday that the country's gold production fell 15.6 percent to 52,228 kg in the first quarter of 2008compared to the fourth quarter of last year. This kind of reduction in supply should continue to give strong price support.