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 Gold Today –New York closed at $1,239.30 on the 16th February after closing at $1,232.60 on the 15th February. London opened at $1,240.00 today.

 Overall the dollar was weaker against global currencies early today. Before London’s opening:

-         The $: € was weaker at $1.0645: €1 from $1.0627: €1 on yesterday.

-         The Dollar index was weaker at 100.69 from 100.80 on yesterday. 

-         The Yen was stronger at 112.85:$1 from yesterday’s 113.70 against the dollar. 

-         The Yuan was weaker at 6.8654: $1, from 6.8603: $1, yesterday. 

-         The Pound Sterling was weaker at $1.2407: £1 from yesterday’s $1.2494: £1.

Yuan Gold Fix

Trade Date	Contract	Benchmark Price AM 1 gm	Benchmark Price PM 1 gm
2017    2    17      2017    2    16       2017    2    15	SHAU SHAU SHAU	/ 275.34 273.26	/ 274.79 273.34
$ equivalent 1oz @  $1: 6.8654       $1: 6.8603 $1: 6.8694		/ $1,248.35 $1,237.27	/ $1,245.85 $1,237.64

Please note that the Shanghai Fixes are for 1 gm of gold. From the Middle East eastward metric measurements are used against 0.9999 quality gold. [Please note that the 0.5% difference in price can be accounted for by the higher quality of Shanghai’s gold on which their gold price is based over London’s ‘good delivery’ standard of 0.995.]

 Shanghai was trading at 275.90 Yuan towards the close today. This equates to $1,249.96, but allowing for the different quality of gold being traded [.9999 fineness] it stands at $1,244.96. Shanghai continues to lead the way over New York by $5 and $3 over London.

With Capital Controls over Yuan outflows reducing turnover volumes in its currency we are watching the classic central bank battles against moves in a currency. We have yet to see a central bank win the battle over controlling an exchange rate.

Such controls are defeating the internationalization of the Yuan. We expect them to drop the battle at some point in time and for the Yuan to lurch lower then. The Chinese gold investor, we think, is aware of such pressures and is happy to own gold rather than Yuan.

We are of the opinion that despite the above the government of China will continue to allow the outflow of Yuan to pay for gold imports, while controlling other outflows.

LBMA price setting:  The LBMA gold price was set today at $1,241.40 up from yesterday’s $1,236.75.  The gold price in the euro was set higher at €1,166.29 after yesterday’s €1,163.67.

Ahead of the opening of New York the gold price was trading at $1,243.10 and in the euro at €1,166.57.  At the same time, the silver price was trading at $18.06. 

Silver Today –Silver closed at $18.08 at New York’s close yesterday against $17.97 on the 15th February. 

Price Drivers

With even Blackrock recommending gold in portfolios we expect more U.S. buying to follow in gold. Today it is building a base over $1,240 and looking as though it wants to run.

One of the most difficult features of financial markets today is the demand for short term performance even within monthly time slots.

Gold has always been for the long term outperforming all other investments over that time, but in the world today it’s the fund manager that meets trading demands that is deemed the best manager. Indeed, we have always seen that the best portfolio manager is measured over the medium to long term and is not a trader. Warren Buffett backs that and proves the point.

We have absolutely no doubt that if you measure gold from today over the next five years or longer, gold will outperform all other investments. Look back over the past decade and we prove our point.

Having said that we expect to see gold from today to the end of the year likely outperform all other investments. Even Alan Greenspan has recently stated that gold is the ultimate insurance policy.

This seems more than appropriate in a world that is moving from dollar hegemony to a multi-currency monetary system as ‘popularism’ is spreading across the developed world. With French and German elections pointing towards change and an E.U. that Greenspan says is ‘not working’ gold seems to be a relatively safe place to weather coming storms.

Gold ETFs – Yesterday we no change in the holdings of the SPDR gold ETF or the Gold Trust.  Their respective holdings are now at 843.539 tonnes and 202.03 tonnes. 

 Julian D.W. Phillips 

 GoldForecaster.com | SilverForecaster.com | StockBridge Management Alliance