Many investors have decided to buy gold this week, because our government will release their quarterly "beige book" report next week. Experts have estimated that this quarterly assessment of our economy will show that our gross domestic product (GDP) grew by as much as 3% during the third quarter, but many of these economists wonder if growth can be sustained in the current quarter and into next year. Our nation's job market has lagged behind that of other nations who have suffered from the global recession, and rising unemployment levels have hindered consumer confidence and spending. The holiday season is usually accompanied by an annual boost for retailers to end the year, but fickle consumers may disappoint merchants, as they have for the last two years. Many investors have decided to buy gold this week because they feel that our government's release of the beige book will prompt gold prices to increase. While the report could include some positive news for American families, the sad reality of our world certainly outweighs any superficial improvements that our government claims to have made.
Although our recession appears on paper to be easing, many individuals argue that our situation is getting worse. Our job(less) market is a major problem, as evidenced by the 531,000 Americans who applied for first-time unemployment benefits last week. According to Thomson Reuters, the majority of Wall Street economists had called for a slight increase, so the 2.1% weekly jump is somewhat disturbing. Some economists, such as Ian Sheperdson with High Frequency Economics, have categorized this increase as "slightly disappointing," which almost certainly means that this gentleman's way of life has not been altered by our government's zany schemes. Our lawmakers provided our country with a plan that was designed to fail. One cannot pay down debt with more debt, and shifting trillions of dollars of fiat currency around only delays the inevitable failure of our entire economy. Our stimulus should have come packaged in an oversized, red box with ACME written on the side, because the value of our economy is now hurtling downward, thanks to this anvil of a plan. Like a tunnel painted on a brick wall, the benefits of the stimulus package have fooled many investors into thinking that our economic situation is improving. Rather, our key indicators have repeatedly shown that our predicament is worsening. Investors who do buy gold this week may see the gold spot price remain idle as long as our government is able to convince the American public that everything is under control, but the recent spikes in the gold price suggest that not all of America's citizens are as gullible as our lawmakers would like to believe.
Steven Martin
Senior Gold Specialist - Buy-Gold.org
