January 28, 2012
U.S. economic growth may not top 2 percent this year and a third round of quantitative easing by the Federal Reserve would have little effect, said Martin Feldstein, a professor of economics at Harvard University.
“We’re going to have a hard time reaching 2 percent this coming year,” he said in an interview on Bloomberg Television’s “InsideTrack” with Sara Eisen in New York. The economy is still in a “danger zone,” Feldstein said, even as the recession risk “is less now than it was.”
The economy grew at a less-than-forecast 2.8 percent pace in the fourth quarter, with consumer spending at 2 percent, the government reported today. Inventory accumulation accounted for 1.9 percentage points of the total growth rate, setting the stage for fewer orders to factories in the first half of the year. More...
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Gold traders are bullish for a fourth consecutive week, betting that the Federal Reserve’s pledge to keep interest rates low until late 2014 will extend the metal’s best start to a year in more than three decades.
Nine of 15 surveyed by Bloomberg expect prices to gain next week. The value of gold held in exchange-traded products jumped $3.9 billion on Jan. 25, the most since October, as the central bank laid the groundwork for a possible third round of asset purchases, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Lower interest rates increase the appeal of bullion because it generally earns investors returns only through price gains. More...
GOLD HAS BROKEN! Expect $2,200.00Technically gold hit its last area of resistance when it hit $1,680.00, we now have a major breakout with a weekly close above the $1,680.00 level this Friday. This is an all out buy signal on all three technical models (long term, mid term and short term) and should not be ignored. Very rarely do you see all three technical models screaming to buy or sell with such strongly matching fundamentals.
This should trigger massive fund buying and a rapid resumption of the bull market in gold. The fundamentals for gold have been very bullish, but technically it has been in a corrective phase since September. More...
Featured Commentary:
GOLD ANALYST Joe Foster has been in the mining and investment businesses for over 25 years. He is the lead investment team member for several of Van Eck's Gold ETFs, including the company's Market Vectors ETF Trust – Gold Miners ETF (GDX) and Junior Gold Miners ETF (GDXJ).
Joe Foster is frequently quoted in the Wall Street Journal and Barron's. He's also a frequent guest on CNBC and Bloomberg TV. Hard Assets Investor Managing Editor Drew Voros spoke recently with Foster on the gold market in general as well as the Gold Mining sector.
Hard Assets Investor: Do you think the Gold Price will see its twelfth straight year of positive gains in 2012? More...
