There are significant challenges to gold prices increasing in 2013. In fact, I believe that gold prices should move down in 2013 because of five strong headwinds, elaborated in this article. Words: 464
So writes Macro Investor in edited excerpts from his post* on Seeking Alpha entitled Short Gold In 2013.
This article is presented compliments ofwww.munKNEE.com(Your Key to Making Money!) and may have been edited ([ ]), abridged (…) and/or reformatted (some sub-titles and bold/italics emphases) for the sake of clarity and brevity to ensure a fast and easy read. Please note that this paragraph must be included in any article re-posting to avoid copyright infringement.
Edited excerpts from the article go on to say, in part:
1. Poor Demand
Nearly 50% of world gold demand comes from India and China. Demand in India is down because of concerted efforts from the government to push down gold imports. The government of India has restricted banks from issuing loans to buy gold, and has been steadily increasing the custom import duty on gold. [Read: India Is Behind the Weak Price of Gold – Here’s Why]
At the same time, demand in China is down as the economy remains weak, putting pressure on discretionary income. Inflation expectations are low and equities seem ready for a rebound in 2013, drawing investments away from gold.
2. Increased Supply
Just when demand is falling for gold, supply of gold is expected to go up in 2013. As reported by Kitco:
Gold-mine supply is expected to rise in 2013 as analysts see new projects coming online to add to 2012’s production totals.
Rohit Savant, a senior commodities analyst with the consultancy CPM Group, said he sees gold-mine supply rising 4.3% from 80.5 million ounces to 83.9 million ounces in 2013.
3. Low inflation
Inflation expectations worldwide remain low. Inflation expectations for the U.S. remains around 1.5% for 2013 as consumers keep deleveraging.
According to ECB President Mario Draghi, EU inflation rates are expected to fall below 2% in 2013 as well. China inflation is at a tame 2%, while Japan is outright in negative inflation territory.
4. Stable U.S. Dollar
Even as monetary expansion continues in the U.S., the dollar is not under significant pressure. This is because Japan is pursuing an expansionary policy, and the yields are negative in the EU zone, making neither the euro nor the yen a safety haven for fleeting U.S. dollar holders. China is likely to hold the yuan weak against the dollar, as it tries to get out of economic slowdown through better exports….
5. Investment Alternatives
A large part of gold’s rise in the past decade has been due to weaker performance by equities in the same time period. As the two major world economies, U.S. and China, come out of slow economic growth and two others, the EU and Japan, stabilize and pursue expansionary policies, global equities have done well in 2012. This trend is forecast to continue in 2013. As momentum investors get tired of poor performance from gold in 2012, they will likely switch to higher momentum equities in 2013.
Together, these five trends likely indicate a drop in gold prices in 2013. A few short choices are the SPDR Gold Trust ETF (GLD), the Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (GDX), and the Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF (GDXJ).
Editor’s Note: The author’s views and conclusions are unaltered and no personal comments have been included to maintain the integrity of the original article. Furthermore, the views, conclusions and any recommendations offered in this article are not to be construed as an endorsement of such by the editor.
The threats of global recession, insurmountable debt, terrible government policy, central bank support, and many other very persuasive arguments present gold as a very appealing investment or safe haven but all of this is an illusion. Gold was a sensible investment in the early part of the bull market (1999-07), but has now become a false sense of security for many investors who will soon learn the hard way. Not only are the fundamentals already priced in, the technicals severely weakened, and the extremes in gold optimism easily apparent, but the bad news for gold could soon get much worse. The next weeks or few months will hopefully give us a lot more clarity. Words: 1170
[While] the price of gold has gone up for 12 straight years, and is on pace to make it 13 when this year comes to a close, it seems that despite all of the gold bugs calling for the metal to surge to unbelievable highs, major financial institutions are calling for the gold bubble to finally burst in the coming months. [Let’s examine what they and others have to say.] Words: 450
Gold’s loss of momentum in the past months has predictably brought out calls to short gold. [This article offers] a brief guide to whether you should consider or ignore these [suggestions]. Words: 1184; Charts: 1
I view the current market weakness in gold, coupled with the pullback in trader positions, as a shorting opportunity which is strong in terms of reward vs. risk. I have come to that conclusion by questioning the assumptions that many make about it, isolating its fundamental drivers and providing a trading recommendation as to where I believe the price is headed in the future. Let me share my analyses with you. (Words: 1440; Charts: 4; Tables: 1)
As we begin 2013, there has been an important shift in regards to precious metals…the decoupling that has taken place between the equity market and the precious metals complex…[which] began nearly 17 months ago (decouplings of three or six months are not significant). Since the Euro crisis in summer 2011, the equity market has rallied nearly 30% and reached a five-year high, but gold stocks are down by more than 30%…[and, as such,] precious metals cannot begin an impulsive sustained bull move if the equity market continues to move higher. The equity market has to struggle with resistance and begin a mild cyclical bear move. While over the near-term precious metals can confirm a higher low, the 2013 success of the sector depends on the struggles of conventional stocks. [This article explains why that is the case and uses several charts to illustrate the point.] Words: 899
President Obama will be sworn into office for a second term on January 21 and that’s good news if you own gold stocks. Why? Because gold stocks, [as represented by the XAU] have increased, on average, by 20% during inaugural years since 1985 (28% in 2005; 36% in 2003). While there’s no real rhyme or reason as to why gold stocks thrive in inauguration years – statistical anomaly or otherwise – it is yet another reason to buy gold stocks right now. Words: 312; Charts: 1
It is impossible not to read some source…touting the “fact” that the price of gold and silver will be…[“$x”, “$y”, etc.] in the “coming months” or in the “next year or two,” etc. The market, however, does not echo those…sentiments because that is exactly what they are, sentiments. When it comes to sentiments or opinions, regardless of how close to source or how well reasoned, the market does not care. The charts are all-knowing, and they present everything known about the price, sans any opinion(s). Just deal with the facts and plan accordingly. Trust the markets – they never lie – [and this is what they are saying about the price of gold and silver in 2013]. Words: 1889; Charts: 6
Seeing the S&P 500 outperform gold and seeing gold stocks get decimated…has been enough to create suicidal sentiment…in the precious metals (PM) sector…but, as the many calls for an end of the PM bull market…[are expressed,] the risk in the PM sector gets lower and lower. The bigger picture hasn’t changed and isn’t going to for some time [so] keep the faith and hold onto your PM sector items tight. Don’t let the short and intermediate-term noise distract you from what STILL promises to be a secular bull market for the history books. The Dow to Gold ratio will hit 2 and might even go below 1 this cycle. [Let me explain.] Words: 873
Sentiment in the precious metals sector is in the toilet yet the fundamentals for the sector are off the walls positive. That is not secret, but it is what creates huge market moves in the direction of the fundamentals. In fact, market management will never move price against the underlying fundamentals for too long a period of time.
There is a high probability that the correction in the gold price that started in early October at $1797 has been completed. Once $1800 is taken out on the upside the gold chart will look tremendous. A beautiful “cup and handle” base would then provide strong support for a vigorous upward climb in the precious metal. At this stage there is no reason to abandon the rough target of $4500 for this coming upward wave. [Below is my analysis and some charts on the situation.] Words: 434; Charts: 2
The fact that nobody really knows with absolute certainty where gold will really go from today onward makes people try to make their own guesses about what can happen with the yellow metal. One of the methods to do that is to look back into past situations and try to estimate if what is happening now is somehow similar to those past events. The situation in the gold market today is different than the one in 1980 in a few important areas. Even if past patterns don’t give you any certainty, though, sometimes they can limit the uncertainty. Let us analyze that in more detail. Words: 1260; Charts: 2
While the debate rages on about whether or not gold/silver are in some kind of investment bubble, the facts completely obliterate any possible argument supporting the “bubble” thesis. [Here they are.] Words: 585
The current availability ratio of physical silver to gold for investment purposes is approximately 3:1. So, why is it that investors are allocating their dollars to silver at a much higher ratio? What is it that these “smart” investors understand? Let’s have a look at the numbers and see if it’s time for investors to do as a wise man once said and “follow the money.” Words: 1052; Tables: 1
[Here is a summary of my]…thoughts on the 2011 gold price peak relative to the last time a long term bull market ended (back in 1980): Long-term bull markets almost always end with a bang, not a whimper, and last year’s price peak was clearly the latter. A 25% rise over a period of about two months last year [does not an] end-of-cycle, blow-off top [make]. No, I think there’s still some room to run for gold if for no other reason than that we haven’t even come close to the “mania” stage that characterizes the end of long-term market moves…[Let me explain further.] Words: 359; Charts: 1
Gold just can’t seem to get any traction any more. The Feds announce QEternity, and gold moves down. Fiscal cliff talks fall apart, and gold still stagnates. Why is this the case? I think weak Indian demand is the culprit. [This article explains why that is the case and why that could be exacerbated in 2013.] Words: 1100
The current availability ratio of physical silver to gold for investment purposes is approximately 3:1. So, why is it that investors are allocating their dollars to silver at a much higher ratio? What is it that these “smart” investors understand? Let’s have a look at the numbers and see if it’s time for investors to do as a wise man once said and “follow the money.” Words: 1052; Tables: 1
The facts can’t be denied: China is on the hunt for gold deposits and mines. These gold-focused deals will add more ounces to the country’s pool of gold assets [which will only exacerbate the ex-China downward trend in the supply of gold outside China]. Given that what’s produced in China stays in China (where there is escalating domestic consumption), a widening of the fundamental market shortage in gold seems almost certain. Words: 1138