During the dark ages of last month, THE vampire squid, otherwise known as Goldman Sachs, predicted that gold would end this year at $1,050 per ounce. Today, it is selling for about $1,264 -- but that is up considerably so far this year.
At times, gold has moved in opposite directions from stocks. At other times, gold reacted more to inflation. Some times, it reacts to political uncertainty, and that appears to be the case this time. Turkish and Russian investors are abandoning their currencies to hold gold, driving up the price. Also, there is talk in India about reducing the tariff on imported gold. Since India is the world's largest consumer of gold, that also might be impacting the price of gold.
Goldman Sachs may still be correct about the year-end price of gold, but it does show how difficult it is to make predictions . . . even for "the best and the brightest" . . . snicker, snicker!
