With over four weeks to the next FOMC meeting and no significant news to report, the markets just continue to be in a pause mode.
As I said in the past, I’m not a guy who relies on the charts, but I must give credit where credit is due to my technical pals who said $1,073 would be the first level of support in the gold market on the downside. Kudos to them! At $1,073 in December futures, we saw good bids, so the market bounced off that number and then settled back into its boring trading range.
For those who follow open interest figures, gold opening interest figures for the last 2 days are down 12,000 contracts indicating more longs getting out of the market. Continued Gold ETF redemption figures can’t be ignored as investors give up on any appreciation in the price of the yellow metal.
Coin premiums continue to be small even with most mints still on allocation. Dealers are lowering premiums just to keep clients happy and at the same time trying to keep their piece of the pie. Refiners reporting business as usual with no new orders on the horizon that would excite the management team. Producer’s contract negotiations for next year’s month by month production is in full swing, with no sign of easing premiums on their products due to the falling price of the metal.
Four weeks is a very long time in any market and anything can happen, so we always evaluate our position every day. But as your Gold reporter, I scour the markets every day for any bit of information that I believe would excite your clients, good or bad. It seems I’m just wearing out the soles of my shoes these days. So to reward myself every Friday I wear Sketchers to work. Black for those who are curious.
Have a wonderful weekend.
Walter Pehowich is the executive vice president of precious metals investment services for Dillon Gage with over 38 years of experience in precious metals investment services. His career began in 1977 at Bache (which evolved to Prudential-Bache Securities and then Jefferies Investment Bank). While at Jefferies, he served as senior vice president with oversight of investment grade precious metal products. Pehowich holds a National Futures Association (NFA) Series 3 license, authorizing him to advise and sell alternative investments in commodities and futures markets.