historical gold prices excel
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When It Comes to Gold, Stick to the Facts
Gold dipped below $1,600 last week, falling to a six-month low, much to the chagrin of gold investors.
I find the timing of the correction peculiar, given the G20 Finance Ministers Meeting taking place over the weekend. There's been a growing debate over Japan's move to devalue its currency to stimulate growth, with reaction from the G-7 leaders stating that "domestic economic policies must not be used to target currencies," reports Reuters.
While the G-7 tried to legitimize the currency debasement with this statement, in reality, investors seem to be able to see through to the real motivations.
The main reason the mainstream media gave for the correction in the yellow metal is hedge funds' selling of gold late last year. According to quarterly filings, Hedge Fund Manager George Soros sold half of his holdings in the SPDR Gold Trust ETF (GLD) in the fourth quarter of 2012.
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Gold Prices: The Yellow Metal's Still a Great Long-Term Investment
There are a lot of moving parts to the gold story so let's start with the biggest takeaway: Gold prices are facing only a temporary setback.
Longer-term, as the U.S. Federal Reserve and other central banks begin to wind down quantitative easing and, more importantly, begin to ease interest rates back up to more "normal" levels, inflation should begin to kick in and drive gold up to new highs, making the yellow metal a great long-term investment.
First, though, let's tease apart the various factors that currently are driving the price of gold lower.
