Gold staying the course ahead of Yellen/Draghi speeches

GOLD

Gold saw some slight profit taking in early trading today but remains steady. Gold has traded in a narrow $1,286 to $1,288 range for the better part of the day. Though momentarily testing the $1,285 support level, Gold quickly rebounded. This is a very good sign for Gold, especially considering yesterday’s disappointing home sales report showing existing home sales dropped 1.3% last month, in the face of an expected .9% increase. Add to that a marginally better than forecast jobs report, and the increasing political and economic tensions in Washington regarding increasing the debt ceiling, shutting down the government, and using U.S. funds to pay for a border wall. Geopolitical tensions are also still at the forefront as traders and analysts look to tomorrow’s (Friday, 8/25) speeches from Fed Chair Janet Yellen and ECB President Mario Draghi from the Jackson Hole world central bankers’ conference. The investment community is anticipating some indication of the direction of upcoming monetary policy from them. From Draghi investors are looking for indications of when the ECB quantitive easing program may end; from Yellen, we are looking for details on interest rate increases and inflation assumptions. We want to see Gold hold its course today as we await tomorrow’s developments. At 11am PDT today, Gold is down $3, trading at $1,287 on very heavy volume.

SILVER

Silver is also seeing very heavy trading today. Silver opened higher this morning then traded below $17 for most of the day as we saw major profit taking. Silver has traded in a $0.30 range today between $16.83 and $17.13. At 11am PDT today, Silver is down $0.09, trading at $17.02 on very heavy volume.