Beige Book Turning...Brown

• Print
• E-Mail

On a related note, China's economy started to show signs of slowing - if we can call them that - as it posted a 10.6% growth rate in Q1, down from 11.2% in the previous quarter. Despite such a small contraction, the country is poised to possibly overtake Germany and become the third largest economy globally during 2008. Such growth rates are not necessarily what officials want, given the threats of inflation and speculative overheating. The central bank raised reserve requirements for large banks for the 16th time in two years as a result of the data.

Look for more firmness in the interim, as the weak housing starts data and blazing oil prices help gold aim back to $950/$965. However, be on alert for fast turns in either oil or the dollar as profit triggers remain very much armed, right next to the 'buy' buttons of many a fund.

On a final note, if you are interested in silver (and who isn't these days?) and want to get the real picture of what is going on in that market, do yourself a favor and make a small investment into the CPM Group's 2008 Silver Yearbook, set to be released on the 29th of the month. Rather than trying to decide which particular silver pundit may be in possession of the correct set of facts regarding current market conditions, you now have the opportunity to go straight to the source that actually gathers and dissects data for a living and learn the hard numbers and actual trends in the metal. Kitco Inc. is proud to be a sponsor for this edition of the publication. You will find the book available here: http://store.cpmgroup.com/

Happy Trading.