Daily Gold Update

Source: Dr. Bill Musgrave, American Gold Exchange

Austin— Gold edged up for a fourth day, settling above $1,575, as the dollar weakened after the European Central Bank and the Bank of England kept monetary policies unchanged. The ECB announced that it will hold interest rates at .75%, although president Mario Draghi opened the door to further easing by acknowledging that deeper rate cuts were discussed in this week's meeting. The BOE elected to maintain its current program of quantitative easing, rather than increase the size of its asset purchases, while it debates even more radical ways to stimulate growth. The euro and pound surged while the dollar lost ground, which supported the gold price. A weaker dollar makes gold less expensive in foreign currencies because it is denominated in dollars internationally. Silver finished virtually flat while platinum and palladium rose 1% and 2.6%, respectively, on supply concerns out of South Africa.

At the Comex close: April gold added 20 cents to settle at $1,575.10; May silver picked up half a cent to $28.81; April platinum gained $15.30 to $1,595.10; and June palladium rose $19 to $759.05 an ounce.

While gold has been range-bound in the U.S., it has been surging to new record-highs in many other countries because of pervasive monetary easing. It's a phenomenon that Marketwatch today called "the secret bull market in gold." Quantitative easing in Japan, which is about to become even deeper, has driven gold higher by 36% in yen over the past two years to an all-time high in February. In Argentina, gold is up 45% in two years to a new record; and it recently hit new highs in Brazil, Iceland, and India.

Central banks are driving their currencies lower in hopes of stimulating growth, and then offsetting the increased risk by adding gold to their currencies reserves. Last year, according to World Gold Council statistics, central banks increased gold purchases by 17% to more than 534 tons. Last month, they bought the most gold in a single month since 1964. Why? Because, as Marketwatch says, "gold is the only currency no country can just print incessantly in order to boost its economy." There's no sign that central banks are going to stop printing money soon�or stop buying gold to offset the risk. And that's bullish for gold in every currency.