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The Fed Reserve Whispers Sweet Nothings To Gold And Silver
May was a disastrous month for the market, as the “sell in May and go away” mantra reared its ugly head. For the month, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 both fell more than 6 percent, while the Nasdaq dropped 7.2 percent. In fact, The Dow and Nasdaq suffered their worst monthly decline since May 2010. Precious metals also experienced sharp pullbacks as the U.S. dollar hit its highest level since 2010. The trend for equities carried over into June, but gold and silver have outperformed as more stimulus chatter circulates.
On the first day of June, another disappointing jobs report paved the way for the Dow’s worst decline of the year, falling nearly 300 points. The American economy only added 69,000 new jobs and the unemployment rate ticked higher to 8.2 percent. The report prompted more slowdown fears, but more importantly, precious metals showed their true colors. As the Dow erased all of its gains for the year, gold and silver surged more than 3 percent. The momentum in the two safe-havens continued into this week and all eyes are on the Federal Reserve to juice the markets higher.
Today, gold and silver are climbing higher once again as the WSJ reports that the Fed is considering more action amid recovery doubts. Fed Whisperer Jon Hilsenrath writes, “Fed policy makers could take a small precautionary measure, like extending for a short period its ‘Operation Twist’ program, in which the Fed is selling short-term securities and using the proceeds to buy long-term securities. Or, policy makers could take bolder action such as launching another large round of bond purchases if they become convinced of a significant slowdown.” The Fed’s next policy meeting is on June 19 and 20, while Operation Twist is currently scheduled to end this month. Hints of more easing may also be evident on Thursday when Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke testifies before the Joint Economic Committee of Congress.
