Investor Resources
A Quick Look at Gold Trends
- October 20, 2009
With the price of bullion at all-time highs, there’s a raging debate on gold as an investment – is it overbought or can it go still higher? What’s the inflation risk to the dollar? Should we be more worried about deflation?
Every Friday we try to address the factors affecting gold in our award-winning Investor Alert, which recaps the week just ended and also looks forward to provide insights on what might lie ahead. Along with gold, the Investor Alert covers energy and natural resources, global emerging markets, domestic equities and the bond market.
We encourage everyone with an interest in our key sectors to join the 23,000-plus individual investors who now subscribe to the Investor Alert and the 10,000 investment professionals who receive its sister publication, the Advisor Alert. Signup is free and easy – just follow the appropriate link.
To give you an idea of the Investor/Advisor Alert’s value, here are a few of the gold-related items from the latest issue:
- International Monetary Fund data shows that currency holdings among reporting central banks reduced the U.S. dollar’s weight to 62.8 percent as of June 30, the lowest on record. The shift in reserves to euros and yen confirm that world leaders are acting on threats to diversify out of the dollar based on lagging performance on U.S. assets and a weakening dollar.
- According to UBS, investment growth is not coming from the world’s largest bullion-backed exchange-traded fund, but rather from private purchases of bullion and Indian buying during the festival season. COMEX net long positions stood at a record high of 23.5 million ounces.
- Macquarie Bank said exchange-traded funds backed by physical supplies of industrial metals may potentially drive prices higher than index funds that buy futures contracts because there are currently talks of regulatory measures being imposed in the futures markets.
- An analysis by the Bank Credit Analyst shows gold and silver markets to be fairly overbought, but BCA expects that any correction should prove short-lived in the absence of a reversal in the dollar and/or deterioration in liquidity conditions. The Bureau of Labor Statistics says the consumer price index for jewelry in the U.S. rose to its highest level since January 1996.
All opinions expressed and data provided are subject to change without notice. Some of these opinions may not be appropriate to every investor. The COMEX is a commodity exchange in New York City formed by the merger of four past exchanges. The exchange trades futures in sugar, coffee, petroleum, metals and financial instruments. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is one of the most widely recognized price measures for tracking the price of a market basket of goods and services purchased by individuals. The weights of components are based on consumer spending patterns. #09-728
Net Asset Value
as of 09/02/2010
- Global Resources Fund
PSPFX $8.72 +0.08 - Gold and Precious Metals Fund
USERX $17.25 +0.18 - World Precious Minerals Fund
UNWPX $19.21 +0.13 - China Region Fund
USCOX $8.50 No Change - Eastern European Fund
EUROX $9.05 +0.03 - Global Emerging Markets Fund
GEMFX $8.15 +0.01 - Global MegaTrends Fund
MEGAX $7.67 +0.03 - All American Equity Fund
GBTFX $19.86 +0.15 - Holmes Growth Fund
ACBGX $15.79 +0.19 - Tax Free Fund
USUTX $12.61 No Change - Near-Term Tax Free Fund
NEARX $2.27 No Change - U.S. Government Securities Savings Fund
UGSXX $1.00 No Change - U.S. Treasury Securities Cash Fund
USTXX $1.00 No Change


