Gold Price Rises with Vigor

The price of gold as of right now up $11 to $1007, thanks to not only a weaker dollar but stronger demand especially from China who is trying to slowing lessen its addiction to the US dollar. Silver is up $0.17 to $16.83, as another store of value besides gold. Platinum has seen the largest gain of almost $35 today per ounce to $1321. The weakening dollar comes with a five day streak in the stock market, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average reached its highest point in 2009 yesterday. Below is a Kitco chart of historical prices of gold:

1975 To Present

On the street, however, poverty is at its eleven year high and unemployment is the highest in over 27 years [1]. It is certainly bad news for those without investments, as their earning power has decreased. The USD was worth 107 Japanese Yen just a year ago, it is now just worth 90. Today’s drop in value of the USD versus the Yen was over 1.5%! For currency traders, some interesting currencies to look into include the Singapore Dollar (SGD) which has gained 20% on the dollar in just five years, or the Japanese Yen or Euro which has gained the same percentage in the same time period. One must also consider which government programs have been enacted in recent months or years that will effect the value of these currencies, such as the the US, Chinese, and EU stimulus packages which have drastic differences in allocation.

For example, so far the US stimulus package spending breakdown and status can be found here, and details on the China’s 586 billion dollar (USD)  stimulus package are still fuzzy but presented to some degree below:

Chinese Stimulus Breakdown

[1] Civilian Unemployment Rate, Federal Reserve Website