Gold to head to US$1600/oz ?

From the UK Telegraph: Last week, the analyst rated the most accurate forecaster of the gold price said the precious metal would keep rising.

Jochen Hitzfeld, an analyst at UniCredit, the Italian bank, has been rated by Bloomberg, the news agency, as the most accurate gold forecaster over the past three quarters. He reckons the gold price is heading for $1,600 an ounce.

His forecast is the latest in a long line of optimistic predictions. Other gold bulls include George Soros, famous for making £1bn by betting against the Bank of England, and John Paulson, the hedge fund manager who made $20bn by calling the credit crisis correctly.

These expectations that the price of gold will continue to rise come despite the metal already enjoying a decade-long bull market, rising from $253 in 1999 to its current level of about $1,260 a whisker below its all-time high of $1,265 reached in June......read in full

Trichet calls for tougher euro rules

By Ralph Atkins and Lionel Barber in London: Eurozone members that break the region's rules on public finances should be excluded temporarily from Europe’s political decision-making, the president of the European Central Bank has proposed.

The controversial suggestion by Jean-Claude Trichet, in an interview with the Financial Times, would be part of a “quantum leap” in the governance of Europe’s 11-year old monetary union, needed to prevent a future Greece-style economic crisis.......read on

Big Autumn Gold Rally

By Adam Hamilton: Gold enjoyed a strong August after emerging out of its late-July seasonal lows. But interestingly last month's bullish action was probably just the beginning of gold's newest rally. A whole host of bullish seasonal, sentimental, and technical factors are converging that ought to catapult gold much higher in the coming months.

In seasonal terms, autumn is the strongest time of the year for the ancient metal of kings. Big surges in gold investment demand emerge out of Asia. The initial one is post-harvest buying once Asian farmers learn how much surplus income their hard work generated in the latest growing season. They invest some of these savings in physical gold. Harvest time for them is like year-end for Westerners, when we figure out how much money we've earned beyond our living expenses.

After that, Indian festival season kicks in. India is the world's largest gold consumer, and its autumn festival season is considered the most fortuitous time for young Indians to get married. Their culture believes the timing of a wedding affects a marriage's longevity, happiness, success, and luck. Families of Indian brides spend fortunes to adorn them with intricate 22-karat jewelry. These dowries provide more than beautiful adornment, gold's intrinsic value helps secure the bride's financial independence in her husband's family.....read on

Investors are Slowly Realizing the Potential In Silver

By David Levenstein: The price of silver has been extremely robust as it flirts with the $20/oz level. The price is now up more than 14% since its previous low of $17.50/oz and one important thing to note is that it has managed to hold above the former key resistance level of $18.50/oz.

As there has not been any major changes regarding the fundamentals on silver that would account for this move, I believe that investors are slowly realizing the potential in silver and that the grey metal is much undervalued and supplies are getting tighter. What was of particular interest last week was the price of silver moved higher despite the fact that the large bullion banks increased their net short position obviously in an attempt to suppress the price once again. And, on more than one occasion, when the price of gold slipped marginally, silver prices continued their upward move.

While industrial demand for silver is increasing, so is monetary demand. More and more investors are turning to silver as a way to protect the purchasing power of their savings. Like gold, silver has been proven to be an effective way of protecting your wealth. However, unlike gold, silver is hardly ever quoted in the main stream media. But, as the prices begin to move upwards, no doubt it will be noticed and more and more investors will take advantage of the current low prices.......read on