Everybody
Loves Gold…Again by Daniela Cambone
of Kitco News | Friday February 05, 2016 15:40
It seems investors and the
mainstream media are saying 'my precious' to the metals
again. This week, gold and silver hit multi-month highs
while the dollar (the thorn in gold's side) has continued
to lose value against other major currencies, including
the euro, which had an impressive rally. It is a reverse
scenario investors have been living with for the past few
years. Since the start of the year, the dollar index (DXY)
has been struggling to breach the key 100 level.
In turn, everyone is talking gold again,
including making the top five searched keywords on Twitter
this week.
Three-and-half-month highs were bestowed
upon both gold and silver this week. Gold priced in U.S.
dollars is up more than 9% since the start of the year.
The metal has not only shined in U.S. dollar terms but based
on Kitco's Gold-Currency Charts, gold priced in both "hard"
and "other" currencies have all posted gains in
the last 30 days.
Mining stocks were among the biggest gainers
of the week, with the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs index (HUI) up
15.8% for the week through Thursday's close.
However, Friday's weaker jobs number, which
analysts expected to be bullish for gold, didn't help the
metal.. The January employment report showed the key non-farms
payrolls up 151,000, following a strong rise of 292,000
in December. A reading of up 185,000 was expected.
April Comex gold settled Friday $1,157.7
an ounce, relatively unchanged on the day. March Comex silver
settled at $14.778 an ounce, down 7.2 cents on the day.
But not everyone is betting on the metals.
Some are more interested in other commodities. Legendary
value investor Warren Buffett made headlines as his company,
Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.B), announced that it increased
its exposure to oil-refining company Phillips 66 (NYSE:
PSX). Phillips 66 has a market cap of $42.36 billion. Buffett
has been very vocal about his disdain for gold.
Finally… Super Bowl Sunday* is coming and
so is the battle for the ring! Super Bowl 50 will be as
much about the bling as it is about the game, says our reporter
Neils Christensen in his weekend piece. He examines how
the competition around the design of the championship ring
can be just as fierce as the event itself.
In case you missed it...Tech stocks got
crushed today, including LinkedIn and Tableau, while CME
Group, the world's biggest futures-market operator, beats
profits and sales expectations.