Gold News & Info

Source: Dr. Bill Musgrave, American Gold Exchange

Austin— Gold slid 0.9% to close at $1,327 as traders went to cash in preparation for the first shutdown the U.S. government in seventeen years, perhaps as early as midnight tonight. Disgruntled House Republicans are threatening to withhold funding of most government functions unless implementation of Obamacare is delayed for a year. A shutdown of three to four weeks is projected to cut GDP growth by more than 50% this quarter, from 2.5% to 1.1%, damaging the recovery's momentum. Equities, precious metals, commodities, and the dollar fell across the board.

Despite today's loss, gold gained 8% from July through September for its first quarterly rise in a year. Silver and palladium slipped 0.6% today but rose 11.5% and 10% for the quarter, respectively, while platinum dropped 0.5% today for a quarterly gain of 5.4%

At the Comex close: December gold slid $12.20 to $1,327; December silver lost 12 cents to $21.71; January platinum dropped $6.80 to $1,412.40; and December palladium slipped $4.65 to $727.15 an ounce.

Hedge funds and other large speculators increased their bullish bets by more than 12% last week, expecting gold prices to rise as the Fed maintains monetary stimulus at current levels. In the longer term, Bank of America is now projecting gold above $2,000 by 2016 because of exploding physical demand in emerging markets.