bv8

Notes From the Rabbit Hole

Euro $1.40, Gold 51% Higher

By Adrian Ash

February 4, 2010

Gold and the Euro joined at the hip? Not outside the daily noise they're not...

"GOLD RETREATS as Dollar gains," says a headline from Dow Jones Newswire.

Which makes sense. Because when that isn't happening, "Gold adds to gains as Dollar falls versus Euro," says Reuters.

Thus the intuitive Dollar-gold pairing swings now one way or other in the financial pages...gaining here, falling there...but always joined together as the journalist's deadline is heard hurrying near.

The "whys" and the "wherefores" of a quick market comment demand it as well. Ask a professional analyst for a 10 or 15-word soundbite, and they'll most often tell you, if not vice versa, that "The Dollar is stronger, keeping precious metals under pressure."

Beyond the daily noise, however – and with the single currency unwinding its last eight months' action vs. the Dollar at the end of last week – Gold has in fact moved up against both.

You wouldn't know it from scanning the newswires. But since the Euro last crossed through $1.40 – the level it just slipped through once more – gold has risen 22% for US investors. And of course, it's risen by precisely that same percentage for German, French and Italian buyers too.

Because with the EUR/USD cross unchanged since May 2009, the rise in the gold price shows equally on both sides of the pairing.

Indeed, at that $1.40 level – now the Euro's average value since Sept. 2006 – gold has risen time and again...adding 51% for investors both in the States and in Europe from the first crossing of $1.40 in Sept. '07.

Yes, a daily rise in the Euro typically means the Gold Price in Dollar has risen as well. On a daily basis, their average one-month correlation now reads +0.51 since the single currency's launch. That's stronger than gold's correlation with any other asset bar silver.

But it would stand at +1.0 if they moved entirely in lock-step. And as the waxing and waning mapped in the chart above shows, the Dollar's demise hit the currency buffers back in summer '08.

Priced in gold, on the other hand, the greenback has continued to fall. And so too has the Euro.

Adrian Ash runs the research desk at BullionVault, the world's No.1 private investor gold service online. Formerly head of editorial at Fleet Street Publications – London's top publisher of financial advice for private investors – he was City correspondent for The Daily Reckoning from 2003 to 2008, and is now a regular contributor to 321gold, FinancialSense, GoldSeek, Prudent Bear, SafeHaven and Whiskey & Gunpowder among many other leading investment websites. Adrian's views on the Gold Market have been sought by leading news organizations including the Financial Times, the Economist, Bloomberg and Der Stern in Germany.

Paul Tustain is the editor of www.Galmarley.com and director of BullionVault.

Please Note: All articles published here are to inform your thinking, not lead it. Only you can decide the best place for your money, and any decision you make will put your money at risk. Information or data included here may have already been overtaken by events – and must be verified elsewhere – should you choose to act on it. Please review our Terms & Conditions for accessing Gold News.

Views presented in guest articles are those of the authors and do not represent those of Biiwii.com.

Biiwii.com does not recommend that any trading or investment positions be taken based on views expressed on this site. If you speculate or invest it is suggested that you consult a financial advisor qualified in your area of interest. For more detailed information and full terms of service, see "About & Terms" here.