This Month in Gold – May 2013

Gold Boasts Biggest Weekly Gain Since 2011
Reuters – From a two-year low of $1,321 on April 16th, gold climbed to $1,471.05 on April 25th, making for the largest weekly price gain since October 2011. Continued strong fundamentals have contributed to gold’s recovery, including huge physical demand in Asia that has depleted supplies and raised premiums. Central bank purchasing has also supported gold’s price, with Turkey’s April gold imports reaching the highest level since July of last year.
Read Full Article>>

Eastern Hemisphere Physical Gold Rush Strains Supplies, Raises Premiums
Bloomberg & Reuters – Retail consumers worldwide scrambled to buy gold at its lowest price in two years, even as holdings in gold ETFs dropped dramatically. China and India, the world’s largest gold consumers, had the greatest growth in demand, with retailers struggling to cope with dwindling and delayed supplies. The new demand is responsible for gold premiums soaring across Asia. In Turkey and the Middle East, which represented almost 10% of global gold demand last year, premiums are their highest in years. While large portfolio investors are selling gold on fears of a price collapse, physical buyers see an opportunity to invest before the price rises again.
Read Full Article On Middle East>> On Asia>>

Mint Gold Sales Skyrocket Worldwide
Bloomberg – After the biggest gold price drop in thirty years, mints around the world have experienced an explosion in gold sales. The US Mint’s April gold coin sales are their highest since December 2009, forcing it to suspend sales of its 1/10-ounce gold coin, which had seen a doubling of demand from last year. In Australia, the Perth Mint remained open through the last weekend of the month in order to meet demand, due to the highest sales since 2008.  
Read Full Article On US Mint>> On Perth Mint>> (link unavailable for “On Royal Mint”. Took out final sentence of “In the United Kingdom, the Royal Mint’s April gold sales more than tripled from last year, and it is increasing production to meet demand.”)

Bond Dealers See No Quick End to QE
Bloomberg – The primary bond dealers that trade with the Federal Reserve do not expect the Fed’s monthly $85 billion quantitative easing program to end by the last quarter of 2013, according to a Bloomberg News survey. Many of the dealers don’t expect the bond purchasing to end until mid-2014 or later, and predict the record low interest rate target won’t be raised to 0.25% until June 2015. While some dealers say QE is necessary to hold inflation in check, critics maintain that the program doesn’t create jobs and raises the risk of asset bubbles. The Fed has already injected $2.5 trillion into the economy in an attempt to achieve full employment and price stability, but the economy remains stagnant.
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