Central banks globally added a net 199.2 tons of gold in the second quarter of 2021. That was the highest level of quarterly net purchases since Q2 2019 and 73% above the five-year quarterly average, according to data compiled by the World Gold Council.
The CFTC Commitment of Traders (COTs) report is released once a week and shows a breakdown of open interest by trader category. As discussed in the gold/silver pricing analysis, Open Interest can be a major factor in the metal price. The CFTC breaks down open interest by:
This analysis focuses on gold and silver data provided by the Comex/CME Group. The Comex (or CME Group) is a global derivatives market that allows for trading in futures contracts. They allow two parties (a long and a short) to speculate or hedge in specific commodity markets and guarantee the transaction in the process. The majority of gold and silver is traded in paper form on the Comex within the futures market rather than in the physical market. See the article What is the Comex for more detail.
The Federal Reserve held its July meeting this week. Once again, it didn’t do anything. But there was certainly plenty of talk to dissect. In this episode of the Friday Gold Wrap, host Mike Maharrey does just that with some analysis of the messaging coming out of the Fed meeting, along with a look at the newly released GDP numbers and what they might be telling us.
India ranks as the second-largest gold-consuming country in the world, second only behind China, but demand has languished for the last couple of years. The pandemic crushed demand, particularly for gold jewelry, but record-high gold prices in rupee terms and government policy put a drag on the gold market even before COVID-19. There were signs of a turnaround late last year and it continued through the first quarter of 2021. The most recent wave of COVID-19 stalled the gold Indian gold market’s recovery, but it appears to be regaining steam.
Pop some popcorn. It’s time for some political theater. Congress is gearing up for another debt ceiling fight. In this episode of the Friday Gold Wrap podcast, host Mike Maharey gives you a preview of the next big Washington DC blockbuster production, complete with some debt ceiling history and an explanation as to why we shouldn’t need one. Maharrey also covers retail sales, inflation and the latest movement in the gold market.
Consumer price index data came in hotter than expected. Again. The producer price index data also came in well above projections. But Fed Chair Jerome Powell continues to stick to his “inflation is transitory” story. On this episode of the Friday Gold Wrap, host Mike Maharry digs into the inflation data and highlights Powell’s comments on Capitol Hill. He concludes the story is really all they’ve got.
This week, the IMF undercut the Fed’s “transitory” inflation narrative, warning about the possibility of sustained inflation in the US. But the real question remains unanswered – what will the Fed do about it? In this episode of the Friday Gold Wrap podcast, host Mike Maharrey talks about the options on the table. None of them seem particularly good. That raises another question: how long can the politicians and central bankers keep this thing going?
Gold-backed ETFs globally added 40.7 tons of gold in the second quarter of 2021, reversing a trend of significant outflows in Q1.
In 2020, gold-backed ETFs recorded record net inflows of gold. Funds added nearly 231 more tons in 2020 than they did during the previous record year (2009/646 tons). But with declines in the price of gold and investors pivoting to riskier investments as economies improve, gold flowed out of ETFs in the first quarter. That trend reversed in May.
Will the Federal Reserve tighten monetary policy to fight inflation? Or will it keep its loose monetary policy in place to support the fake recovery? The central bank has a profound influence on the economy, for better or for worse. But should the Federal Reserve even exist? In this episode of the Friday Gold Wrap, host Mike Maharrey argues that it shouldn’t – not if you follow the original meaning of the Constitution. He makes his case with an interesting history lesson on the creation of the First Bank of the United States.
