Articles from year 2003

Greetings of the Season, and Our Year-End Schedule.
(December 21, 2003) May you and yours have a merry and satisfying seasonal break, whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, or Kwanzaa. Of course, frankincense and myrrh are not our specialties, but we hope you've enjoyed gold's stellar performance over the past 12 months. Our year-end hours follow… >Click for full story

The Non-Event of Gold at $400
(December 7, 2003) On Monday, December 1st, gold in New York closed at $402.70 - the first close over $400 in seven years, and just 3% away from a 12-year high. The dollar made new lows against the euro, and recent lows against the yen, the pound, and pretty much anything else of value you can think of. >Click for full story

Numeraire to Saucissons? by John Hathaway
(November 27, 2003) We give thanks today for John Hathaway’s always enlightening thoughts on gold and money. “There was a time when the prevailing opinion of policy makers and individuals alike was that gold and money were synonymous,” he writes, and today “Gold stands alone in the bargain dustbin of luxury goods.” >Click for full story

Wall Street Journal Gets Gold Wrong, Once Again
(November 7th, 2003) In a November 5th article entitled “Putting Pork Bellies in Your Portfolio,” WSJ staffer Peter A. McKay repeats a few misconceptions about gold investing. No deliberate conspiracy here, just a lazy writer doing his job of filling up the space between the ads. >Click for full story

If You’re Reading This, You’re Probably Already Money Ahead
(October 25, 2003) Gold, that irascible and enduring monetary metal, continues to defy both its doubters and gravity. This past Friday’s $388.90 closing price was an $18 gain over the previous Friday’s fix of $370.50, bringing gold prices to within a whisker of a seven-year high. >Click for full story

Gold in the Popular Press: $8,000 or Bust
(October 13, 2003) Today’s Barron’s features an interview with James Turk of the Freemarket Gold and Money Report in which he makes the case for $8,000 gold during the current cycle. Meanwhile, the financial press wakes up to commodities’ potential in the face of a dollar widely anticipated to grow weaker. A brief weekend survey… >Click for full story

Gold Gets Pounded on a Friday Afternoon
(October 3, 2003) The day started on an even keel, with Friday’s 2nd London fix of $384.25 being the 9th consecutive day of prices over $380.00. Trading in New York was steady until about noon, when the bottom seemed to fall out of gold, pushing it down to close at the $369.40 mark. What could this mean for the gold market? >Click for full story

The Commodities Boom: Converting Dollars to Real Stuff
(September 28, 2003) Another strong week in gold prices reinforces a trend that has been gathering steam over the past couple of years: the return of commodities as a respectable investment. After two decades of a booming US market in equities, bonds, and a host of other financial abstractions, there’s a growing worldwide interest in buying something real with our fading dollar.  >Click for full story

Speculative Interest Drives Gold To 6-Year High
(September 9, 2003) Gold continues its winning streak, rocketing up about 10% in the last three weeks to close at $381.70 today in New York, which is up 50% over the past 30 months. We believe that macro-trends are in place to carry this metal much higher, but what does the short-term look like? Let’s get one trader’s opinion… >Click for full story

Gold Finds a Comfortable Balance Around $350
(August 22, 2003) The gold market has come a long way, in both stature and price, from its darkest days during the 1990s when equities and financial instruments roamed the earth like Goliaths and gold stayed buried underground, sinking in price, ignored, and forgotten by all except the faithful goldbugs. A look at what has changed… >Click for full story

Burning the Constitution & Other Sixties Nostalgia
(July 4, 2003) The words “inflation” and “paper bubble” were first used to describe rising consumer prices and a shaky dollar back in the '60s. The US was fighting a war that was widely protested, seemingly unwinnable, and escalating in cost. Inflation was rampant, and before the decade was over, US paper money, with no gold backing it, was starting to wobble... >Click for full story

Save the Drama for Your Mama
(June 10, 2003) Just to keep everyone on their toes, gold trading in New York today saw its biggest decline in nearly three months. After rallying from early April lows in the $320-325 area, gold last week started to look ‘toppy’ and overbought in the $360-370 area. When the upward push leaves any market, especially during the summer doldrums, then Mean Mr. Gravity will do his stuff… >Click for full story

Snow to Dollar: "Drop Dead!"
(May 23, 2003) Gold closes the week at $368.80, jumping nearly $10 on Monday as the dollar plummeted following assertions by the Secretary of the Treasury Paul Snow that, yes, in fact the dollar IS worth the paper it’s printed on. He also mentioned that the new $20 bill with multicolor ink will be more difficult to counterfeit – but if trends continue, who would bother?  >Click for full story

“Adaptive Behavior of Crotalus Admanteus” - and Gold
(May 6, 2003) On the fringes of Arizona cities such as Phoenix, Scottsdale, and Tucson, a growing number of people live in close contact with the Sonoran Desert wilderness. Here you can enjoy the beauty of the desert and encounter the many wonders of nature, including a poisonous reptile known as the diamondback rattlesnake. >Click for full story

Who Are the People Who Own Gold?
(April 8, 2003) Gold’s universal appeal goes back thousands of years, and people have enjoyed gold jewelry since the time of the Pharoahs. And those who actually owned more gold than they wore were called wealthy. Today, the popular perception of gold is more ambivalent, and the stereotype of a gold owner is not always favorable. So here's our of list the types of people who own gold today... >Click for full story

Iraq, Gold Get Pounded
(March 22, 2003) Gold prices for this year so far peaked a month ago, about the same time that US chances to build any sort of coalition for our adventure in Iraq also peaked. In retrospect, it’s easy to say that the run-up in gold ahead of Gulf War II was a natural reaction, but gold slipping $50 as war became more and more certain is bound to frustrate those who bought gold expecting otherwise. >Click for full story

This Move in Gold is Different – And That’s Not Good
(March 1, 2003) Today, in the third year of a bull market in gold, the commonly accepted wisdom is that this is just one of those unstable times in which that old barbarous relic, gold, pops up, this time aided by rumors of war in Iraq. It is expected that gold will eventually slink back into the swamp where it belongs, a boring, growth-less commodity that brings no benefits whatsoever. We disagree: >Click for full story

$360, $370, $380, Up To $390, Then Tumbling to $370.20. Wow!
(February 7, 2003) Gold finally takes a break in its most recent two-month rally, having run up some $73 since the first week in December, to a peak of $390 a few minutes before Colin Powell spoke to the UN on Wednesday, February 5th. Some call it an Iraq War rally, others a short squeeze, or just a flash in the gold pan, but more likely gold’s rally signal a long-term flight from the US dollar. >Click for full story

Gold Breaks Through $360 for the First Time Since 1997
(January 25, 2003) “You have to choose (as a voter) between trusting to the natural stability of gold and the natural stability of the honesty and intelligence of the members of the Government. And with due respect for these gentlemen, I advise you, as long as the Capitalist system lasts, to vote for gold.” – Bernard Shaw, 1928  >Click for full story

Gold Prices Solid, up $100 in Fewer Than Two Years
January, 17, 2003) Gold closed today at $356.60, within a dollar of its highest price since early 1997. After a 20-year period of dormancy in which gold was ignored by all but its most diehard fans, gold is now almost exactly $100 higher than its April 2001 low of $258.00. This rally started before Saddam Hussein became the focus of US attention, and will continue long after he has passed from the scene.  >Click for full story

Gold Has Another Good Week - $354.50!
(January 10, 2003) Gold finished this week at its highest close since April of 1997, as spot prices fluctuated in the $347-356 area. Although gold's most recent rally from $317 (a price last seen on December 2, 2002) continues, the momentum has slowed somewhat and a correction is starting to seem overdue. But in a market this strong, who has the patience to wait?  >Click for full story

Gold Starts the Year 2003 24% Higher Than 12 Months Ago
(January 2, 2003) Gold prices finished year 2002 at $342.75 in shortened trading on Tuesday, up from prices of $276.50 that prevailed at the end of 2001. Gold has come a long way since then, both in price and in its increasing visibility to investors. Now we’re taking orders for the new 2003 gold Eagles, Maples, Pandas, and we expect to be busier than ever this year. >Click for full story