Gold’s 16.1% surge in Q1 2016 is the best start to a year since 1974. Overall, this is the best quarter since Q3 1986 and is the best performing major commodity of the year.
Gold rallied this year as it cemented its status as a store of value amid financial market turbulence and concern about the global economy, which led to speculation that the Federal Reserve would pause on tightening monetary policy in the U.S. Having seen BlackRock’s gold ETF halted due to inability to meet physical demand, it appears pet rocks and barbarous relics are ‘worth’ something after all.
As Bloomberg reports,
Gold rallied this year as it cemented its status as a store of value amid financial market turbulence and concern about the global economy, which led to speculation that the Federal Reserve would pause on tightening monetary policy in the U.S.
A gauge of the U.S. currency headed for the biggest quarterly loss since 2010 after Fed Chair Janet Yellen said Tuesday the central bank will act “cautiously” as it looks to withdraw stimulus. Investor holdings in exchange-traded products have expanded by about 300 metric tons this quarter, the most since March 2009.
“The dovish remarks by Yellen earlier this week which reinforced the Fed’s stance to proceed gradually and cautiously with rate hikes this year have weighed on the U.S. dollar index, which is a positive for gold,” Vyanne Lai, an economist at National Australia Bank Ltd., said by e-mail. “Investment demand for gold appears to be holding up.”
The precious metal was the best performing asset in Q1…
Having gone through a “golden cross”…
Gold now has to breakout from its longer-term channel…
Finally for the skeptics that cannot comprehend why anyone would buy gold (instead of AAPL or AMZN or TWTR), consider this (from Kyle Bass):
“buying gold is just buying a put against the idiocy of the political cycle. It’s that simple.”
