Last Friday, the U.S. Labor Department reported that the consumer price index (CPI) rose 0.2% in January and climbed by 2.6% over the past 12 months. But after stripping out volatile food and energy prices, prices actually fell by 0.1% in January, marking the first time since 1982 that “core CPI” has declined. While the absence of any signs that runaway inflation is materializing initially soothed markets, the report also signaled that another potentially tricky economic drag, deflation, is a very real concern. [click to continue…]
More much of the second half of 2009, one of the overarching themes has been continued weakness in the U.S. dollar, as a perfect storm of economic and political factors combined to push the greenback continually lower against major rivals. But once the calendar turned to December, the tables turned as well, and the U.S. [...]
Gold is often referred to as a “safe haven” investment, reflecting its tendency to rise in times of economic uncertainty. While there is no shortage of “gold bugs” that buy and hold the metal for extended periods of time, there are countless investors who trade gold quite actively. Just as signs of weakness in the [...]
The label “gold bug” may suggest a kooky old man who spends a lot of time in his basement reading conspiracy theory newsletters. The truth, however, is that there are many legitimate reasons to trade in gold and its derivatives. Gold has been proven time and time again to be an excellent “safe haven” investment, [...]
The Gold Rush of 2009 likely hasn’t come as a complete surprise to too many investors. After all, gold has been proven time and time again to be a “safe haven” investment that rises during uncertain economic times (such as the last two years), and questions about the dollar’s future as the world’s reserve currency [...]
Direxion, the ETF sponsor responsible for many of the most heavily-traded ETFs on the market, is reportedly making some changes to its line of mutual funds that may ultimately impact the leveraged ETF industry.
With uncertainty and risk aversion dominating investor psychology in the first quarter of the year, gold ETFs have benefited, increasing dramatically in the first three months of 2009. According to the World Gold Council, investments in gold ETFs increased to $13.58 billion in the first quarter, representing more than six times the amount held in [...]
