Gold Prices Hit Lowest Level Of The Year

-- Gold prices hit the lowest level of the year Wednesday as uncertainty about Europe's political and economic future dominated world financial markets.

Gold for June delivery dropped $10.30 to finish at $1,594.20 an ounce, which was the lowest price since Dec. 30 when it ended at $1,566.80 an ounce.

Gold prices have fallen three consecutive days as Europe's debt crisis took center stage again. Borrowing rates increased in Italy and Spain. That added to pressure on the market created when supporters of tough spending measures designed to curb debt were removed from office in weekend elections.

Investors are worried that the unsettled situation will affect the Europe's recovery and perhaps hurt the global economy. Some sold gold to have cash accessible in case other buying opportunities occurred. Others cashed in after buying contracts on a bet that the price would fall, said George Gero, a vice president at RBC Global Futures.

In addition, the dollar has been stronger against other currencies. Gold and other commodities are priced in dollars so a stronger dollar makes them more expensive for traders using other currencies, such as the Japanese yen.

Until there is some clarification about the situation in Europe, many analysts expect commodities to remain under pressure.

May silver fell 21.7 cents to finish at $29.197 per ounce, May copper dropped 1.6 cents to $3.6695 per pound, July platinum declined $9.10 to $1,499.20 an ounce and June palladium decreased $9.20 to $613.65.

In other trading, grains and beans fell largely because of Europe's issues. Some investors were adjusting their portfolios ahead of the U.S. Agriculture Department's latest estimate of world supplies and demand, which is due Thursday, Telvent DTN analyst John Sanow said.

In July contracts, wheat fell 15 cents to finish at $6 per bushel, corn dropped 15.75 cents to $6.0725 per bushel and soybeans declined 8 cents to $14.3025 per bushel.

Benchmark oil fell 20 cents to end at $96.81 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Heating oil rose 0.9 cent to $2.9991 per gallon, gasoline futures increased 2.97 cents to $3.0241 per gallon and natural gas ended up 7.2 cents at $2.465 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Comments

[Dorthy Packer]

02:55 PM on 03/08/2013

I have heard that right now is a really bad time to try and sell gold. I used to sell gold in toronto, but not anymore. Where can I find more information on this? Thank you for your help!

[ENTER PASSWORD]

07:10 PM on 07/27/2012

Gold prices are back on the rise! As governments around the world continue to print more money, currencies will continue to fall including the american dollar. That said, gold should start to rise again and might hit $2,000 by year end. Unless you need the money hold onto your scrap gold and gold bullion...dont sell gold just yet. stay up on the market at cashforgoldorangecounty.com

[castlemike]

05:23 AM on 05/11/2012

http://jessescrossroadscafe.blogspot.com/2012/05/accumulationdistribution-trends-in-gold.html

That seems to imply short selling into demand, rather than long liquidation as the cause of the price declines. From this evening's commentary by Harvey:

"The total gold comex open interest baffled everyone as instead of falling badly surprisingly it rose by 3906 contracts.

The raid orchestrated by the bankers somehow did not cause any gold leaves to fall from the gold tree.

The May delivery month surprisingly saw its OI rise from 64 contracts to 173.

How on earth will the regulators explain this as we witnessed no liquidation of metal of any kind in a huge price downfall and yet more stood for delivery?

...The total OI for silver was even more baffling to our bankers. With silver falling on its sword to finish in the low 29's one would have thought that many silver longs would throw in the towel.

Nope!! The total OI actually rose by 1410 contractions from 112,139 to 113,549. Both Ted Butler and I agree that some strong entity is after physical silver.

There is no other explanation for this. The front delivery month of May also shocked our bankers. The OI actually rose by 3 contracts (from 406 to 409 contracts) despite the huge downfall in the silver price.

Nobody liquidated. I wish the regulators can explain this phenomena to us."

[RemarkingMark]

12:07 PM on 05/10/2012

When are we gonna wake up and realize that GOLD is just a metal. A pretty one I admit but nonetheless just a piece of metal. The only use for it in reality is as an electricity conductor. You can't eat it, or drink it. It won't keep you alive on its own. Clean water, dirt, and seeds are way more advantages to us as human beings. Those three things will keep you alive. Gold? Not so much.

[ericr530]

12:42 PM on 05/10/2012

Answer this, has any country in human history that issued paper money that experienced economic chaos had it's gold reserves devalued greatly? Gold is long term storage of wealth. You would understand that if you knew anything about the market. It comes into play when a fiat currency falls flat and becomes worthless. Yes of course, food, water,ariable land,guns and ammo are important also. If an economic collapse becomes a reality in the US or world for that matter, once some order is restored, bartering will become impractical eventually and a new currency will be needed. Gold and silver can easily fill that void as ready made currencies. Let's all hope that never comes to pass but the currency system governments operate under now is not sustainable, the math is not there long term, any economist not biased will agree.

[RemarkingMark]

01:40 PM on 05/10/2012

say wwhat you will but someday people will realize that gold silver and the like are just pieces of metal with no value whatsoever.

[onionboy]

01:30 PM on 05/22/2012

No! It's magic, like mithril.

[CamelPaw357]

11:11 AM on 05/10/2012

I would not recommend buying gold. Just too many fees and it's very risky. If you want to keep your dollars safe and maybe even make some money, buy Swiss Francs. You can't go wrong buying Swiss Francs.

[wtg246]

10:43 AM on 05/10/2012

U.S. dollar is stronger than other currencies. Why? Because the conservatives austerity program - much like republicans plans - do not work. Our manufacturing sector has grown for over 30 months. Why? Because dems and Obama passed legislation for 100% write offs for improvements MADE IN THIS COUNTRY. This is a tax cut that works. It created demand for machinery and equipment, which in turn created more jobs, and brought overseas jobs back. Also better trade agreements negotiated for US workers instead of for corporations to make more overseas profits is what works. This is why unemployment is going down. And yet republicans and their followers are blind to this. You better start watching business reports and programs instead of listening to politicians.

[CamelPaw357]

11:16 AM on 05/10/2012

Good grief. Every thing you said is pure rubbish. It's the Democrats that have caused so much misery, pain, and suffering in this country - causing heavy industry to go abroad at a level never seen. In three years the administration has borrowed nearly 6 trillion dollars, and this borrowing is continuing at crazy levels never seen. He (Comrade) has borrowed more money than George Washington through George Bush2 have (combined) and it has put us in a situation where we'll be much like Greece very soon. We will never be able to repay our debts, never. We all see another Great Depression coming and most economic experts say it will be very soon, especially if Obama is reelected.

[RemarkingMark]

12:03 PM on 05/10/2012

WOW! That kool-aid must taste great. You obviously watch too much Faux News. 3 of the actually 5 trillion dollars Obama has spent were to keep what Bush started, going. The other 2 trillion has been used to try and get us out of this mess and back to the nation we once were. the 3 trillion I am speaking of is wrapped up in the two wars that George2 started. Get your facts straight.

[offcenterlevi]

12:04 PM on 05/10/2012

Actually what wtg says is true and what you say is mostly rubbish. Austerity measures in Europe are not working. They've done what austerity measures always do during recession, they've made things worse. Economies are contracting, tax revenues are down, and debt is increasing. America's economy is somewhat better precisely because of stimulus spending. That spending also saved our auto industry. During the Great Depression, there was concern in 1937 over the level of debt we were accumulating. Spending was slashed, the economy went into a tailspin and things got much worse. Only with the massive government spending associated with World War II did the US fully recover from the Great Depression. Our debt to GDP ratio was as bad or worse then as it is now. What really threatens to bankrupt us is the unsustainable rise in medical costs. The Affordable Health Care Act is a step in the right direction, but real political courage is needed to deal with this. That seems to be in short supply.

[cnrventures]

12:54 PM on 05/10/2012

Where are those jobs and if so many were created why are more people on Unemployment now than prior to 30 months ago?

[KenGirard]

05:07 PM on 05/10/2012

Ummm.... 30 full months ago would be Oct 2009 (12.9million unemployed) vs April 2012 (12.5million).
Last time I checked, 12.9million is bigger than 12.5 million, and May 2012 has been nothing but UE dropping, while Nov 2009 was nothing but UE going up.

Why you would have to go all the way back to Feb 2009 to find the last time we "only had" 12.5 million unemployed people.

[EdZeb]

10:30 AM on 05/10/2012

Doesn't make sense that turmoil causes people to sell gold. One would think it would cause people to buy. This is why I'm a conservative investor. I don't think half of the explanations put forward for what happens financially are worth a fart in a hurricane.

[KenGirard]

05:10 PM on 05/10/2012

When all your stocks tank, and you get laid off from the SVP position, and the cash flow becomes poor, you sell the gold to keep making the mortgage payments on all three homes, both cars, the boat, and the kid's college tution, since lil' Tiffany failed to get any scholarships.

[kentdyer1]

09:52 AM on 05/10/2012

Remember the lyrics "what goes up must come down". The gold bubble will burst and food commodities will explode. Not a happy prediction but it is one...We must work on slow progressive growth we have seen too much swing and economic stress from booms and busts.

[ericr530]

10:03 AM on 05/10/2012

I woudn't hold my breath on that one. $750/oz. gold as seen about 5 years ago, those days are gone. Food commodites are rising because the cost of oil to harvest, process, and transport them, the two markets have a direct relationship. The gold bubble as witnessed in the early 1970's will not happen again since the economy of the US is fundamentally different today than it was in the 70's.

[brucebrummy]

09:44 AM on 05/10/2012

The value of the dollar is up against most other currencies. . .so what! Really tough being the only one-eyed-man in the land of the blind. Gold is priced in dollars as we all know. Take your pick. . .put your wealth in dollars or in gold. I pick gold and silver.

[tnash26170]

10:48 AM on 05/10/2012

Love the confidence in this country. You must be a conservative. Guess this is why so many loyal Americans sent jobs overseas.

[jaguare70]

09:39 AM on 05/10/2012

Is Fox News gold sponsors still hawking gold to the gullible? If you want a hedge against inflation oil is the better investment.

[wtg246]

10:47 AM on 05/10/2012

And the oil companies are in court fighting the Frank Dodd banking legislation that addresses speculative buying that is playing havoc with our gas prices and has nothing to do with supply and demand. Former oil exec said this started in 2001 and that oil should be at $60/barrel instead of $100. But who fights for oil subsidies? Who fights against an energy bill? Who wants to destroy the Chevy Volt? Who passed legislation in 2005 that exempts halliburton from clean water acts when fracting? YOu got it - republicans.

[1oldhippie]

09:14 AM on 05/10/2012

Until gold can fuel a car, be eating or smoked, it really is a worthless commodity!

[ericr530]

09:24 AM on 05/10/2012

Gold can be traded for oil to run a car,truck or to make diesel fuel to power a tractor trailor or ship to move food and a combine tractor to harvest it. The Chinese and Russians are buying every ounce they can get their hands on. Gold is a long term storage of wealth, what fiat paper buys now, gold will buy when the Ponzi scheme dollar comes to an end.

[Brent Christiansen]

09:44 AM on 05/10/2012

At this moment the dollar is strenghting not because the US has a strong economy and little dept.. but because this week Europe is in the news....

"The world needs Economic Growth! and Voters elected Socialists!....

[RemarkingMark]

12:10 PM on 05/10/2012

Well by all means you go and try to eat your gold then. Trust me. In the future land and clean water will be the true commodities. They can keep you alive. Gold or any other metal won't.

[lockworks]

07:10 AM on 05/10/2012

Gold investors are now hoarding lead. I can't even afford to buy ammo for practice. How will I hit the zombies when they come for me??

[Brent Christiansen]

09:46 AM on 05/10/2012

I would not worry about zombies You better save your ammo for when the socialist Grasshoppers who will be comeing to your home demanding that you feed them!

[EdZeb]

10:32 AM on 05/10/2012

I am! Hundreds of rounds. Enough to melt the barrel on my rifle.

[Alex Christie]

07:02 AM on 05/10/2012

The value of gold dates back to when we were primitive humanoids who were impressed by shiny objects. Same with diamonds and rubies and emeralds.

Isn't it time we acknowledge that we've evolved beyond that? Or have we?

[ericr530]

08:15 AM on 05/10/2012

Unfortunately the Ponzi scheme paper currency operates on won't let us.

[jbmcjbm]

08:59 AM on 05/10/2012

If Gold is so valuable why do they take dollars in trade? Incase you don't know, it's because a fool and his money soon parts!

[Dennis Higgins]

06:44 AM on 05/10/2012

Glen Beck still pimping gold or did he take the profits...long ago I bet.

[keep up]

08:36 AM on 05/10/2012

I hear that Glen is locked in his underground bunker wracked with dispair and binge eating his shelf-stable rations.

[Harlee Cohn Mahmet]

04:34 AM on 05/10/2012

Not to worry. Gold will go back up again. Wait to sell the jewelry.