Gold bulls have a short memory. Last year at this time, gold was similarly priced and they were quite bullish then, too. But their expectations didn’t ‘pan out’ as expected. In fact, gold prices turned and went in the opposite direction, hitting lows in late summer well below $1200.00 per ounce.
The downturn was unexpected. But it was unexpected because most analysts and investors were looking in the wrong place for the wrong clues.
Gold’s price changes over time in response to changes in the value of the U.S. dollar. But some additional explanation is necessary.
Some say that a weaker U.S. dollar ’causes’ a higher gold price. That is like saying that lower interest rates cause higher bond prices. That’s not the way it works.
Gold and the US dollar move inversely. So do bonds and interest rates.
If you own bonds, then you know that if interest rates are rising, the value of your bonds is declining. And, conversely, if interest rates are declining, the value of your bonds is rising. One does not ’cause’ the other. Either result is the actual inverse of the other.
When you were a kid you probably rode on a see-saw or teeter-totter at some time. When you are on the ground, someone on the other end of the see-saw is up in the air. And, vice-versa, when you are up in the air, the other person is on the ground. Again, one does not ’cause’ the other. Either position is the inverse of the other.
Most of those who comment on gold consider the dollar to be one of several factors contributing to a higher gold price. But, in truth, gold’s price reflects only one specific thing: changes in value of the U.S. dollar.
There are six major turning points (1920, 1934, 1971, 1980, 2001, 2011) on the chart below. All of them coincided with – and reflect – inversely correlated turning points in the value of the U.S. dollar.
Gold Prices: 100-Year History (inflation-adjusted) source
Since gold is priced in US dollars and since the US dollar is in a state of perpetual decline, the US dollar price of gold will continue to rise over time. There are ongoing subjective, changing valuations of the US dollar from time-to-time and these changing valuations show up in the constantly fluctuating value of gold in US dollars.
There is also more talk about inflation recently. So here is an axiom to remember: inflation is the debasement of money by the government.
When you hear someone referring to things such as ‘cost-push’ or ‘demand-pull’ inflation, accelerated wage growth pressure, or an ‘over-heated economy’, listen politely. But know that there is only one cause of inflation – government. And government in this case includes central banks, especially the United States Federal Reserve Bank.
Government creates inflation by expanding the supply of money and credit. They do this intentionally and continually under the pretense of managing the economic cycles.
Since inflation, as practiced by government, is ongoing, the risks are cumulative. As that cumulative risk builds, events triggered by the effects of inflation become more volatile; and they are unpredictable.
When the Federal Reserve responded to the financial crisis of 2007-08 by increasing hugely their monetary expansion efforts, many thought that it would lead to runaway inflation and collapse of the U.S. dollar. It didn’t. But it did drive the prices of assets like stocks, bonds, and real estate, much higher.
Originally, of course, the price of gold surged in response to the Fed’s efforts. Since gold’s price is an inverse reflection of the U.S. dollar, it should come as no surprise that the dollar continued its long decline in value; and significantly so.
But the drop in the value of the dollar and gold’s higher prices from that point forward were mostly in anticipation of damaging effects from the Fed’s inflation in the form of significantly higher prices for all goods and services. In essence, a repeat of the seventies, only much worse, was expected. And the looming threat of U.S. dollar repudiation fanned the flames.
But there was no significant increase in the “general level of prices for goods and services”. And U.S. dollar weakness (possibly overdone) eventually reversed and the price of gold began to decline (2011 – see chart above).
Between 2011 and 2016, the U.S. dollar continued to strengthen and gold’s price continued to decline. At that point the two reversed direction again and that brings us to where we are currently.
Some are convinced that recent dollar weakness will continue unabated and that the price of gold will soar soon. Some are still banking on severely damaging effects from the Fed’s past money creation efforts. And still others are short-term traders who are looking at their charts and want to be “on the right side of the trade”.
Most of them will likely be disappointed – again. There are two reasons:
1)The fundamentals and logic involved are inconsistent and flawed.
2)The effects of inflation are volatile and unpredictable.
Applying investment logic to gold leads to erroneous conclusions. Gold does not react or correlate with anything else – not interest rates, not jewelry demand, not world events.
Changes in gold’s price are the direct result of changes in the value of the US dollar. Nothing else matters.
Since paper currencies and credit can be manipulated by government, expectations and reactions become more volatile and increasingly unpredictable.
That should be relatively clear; especially after what we have experienced in the past ten years. But some are still predicting a gold ‘moonshot’. And they want it now.
Something like that may occur. In fact, it is quite possible. But when? It will only happen if it is accompanied by a complete collapse and repudiation of the U.S. dollar.
The chart above is current. Does it look like we are in the midst of something similar to 1970-80 or 2001-11? Or something worse?
Yes, forewarned is forearmed. But most of those who are the most vociferous in their calls for huge increases in the price of gold are those who were doing so all during gold’s price decline from August 2011 through January 2016. What’s changed?
Inflation is an insidious threat to our financial and economic security. It has been foisted upon us to the point that we are in danger of losing much more than the value of our money. The capital markets are facing risks of immensely greater proportion than those of 2007-08. Economic activity is primarily financed by credit and we are hooked on the drug of money and higher prices – for everything. We are told often that inflation is spontaneous and that we must learn to mange its effects. That is not true.
Inflation is intentional and practiced by governments and central banks the world over. And its effects are unpredictable and destructive. In addition, the effects of inflation are cumulative; hence, they tend to be more volatile, ongoing. And buried underneath all of the surface weaknesses is the specter of fractional-reserve banking. It is the legalized version of Ponzi scheme. A special section on the topic is included.
What are we waiting for? The other shoe to drop; the next big move?
Gold’s reign as the “next big thing” ended seven years ago. Too many people don’t want to admit that, but its true. Those who are ‘bullish’ on gold cannot let go.
Their behavior is typical of those who have missed the boat. And they don’t want to admit it, or believe it. And their problem is compounded by the fact that they originally viewed gold as a quality investment.
Now they continue to point out all of the fundamentalreasons gold should go much higher. We are told it is undervalued, unappreciated, unloved. And, of course, the price is manipulated, too.
Those things may provide a bit of consolation, but they don’t mask the pain of losing big bucks. And the interminable wait drags on.
We could say it was simply a matter of (poor) timing. However, most people who have a basic understanding of investment fundamentals would argue otherwise.
And they would be right. In the long-term, time works in our favor – not against us. An investment with good fundamentals – over time – becomes more valuable, not less valuable. And that relentless march upwards helps protect us against our own timing errors.
We don’t have to be perfect market-timers to be successful investors.
And it isn’t that gold’s price can’t go a lot higher, either. It can. And it probably will. And it has done so in the past.
After peaking at $850.00 per ounce in January 1980, the price of gold dropped as low as $250.00 per ounce twenty years later and then soared to $1900.oo per ounce in August 2011. But will you (or can you) wait thirty-one years to be vindicated?
There is a better explanation.
At the heart of disappointment regarding gold’s price action is the specter of unrealistic expectations:
“believing that rational individuals would sooner or later realize the trend and take it into account in forming their (opinions)”
But there is more to it. Much more. And it involves fundamentals. And an understanding of price versus value.
To wit, gold has only one basic fundamental: it is real money.
To further clarify, this means that gold is not an investment.
Do people view gold as an investment? Absolutely. Which is why they are continually surprised and confused at their investment results. They buy gold because they expect the price to go up; and logically so.
The problem is that the premise is wrong. When someone investsin gold, they are expecting the price to go up as a result of certain factors which they believe are “drivers of gold”. In other words, they believe that gold responds to certain factors. These factors may include interest rates, social unrest, political instability, government policies/actions, a weak economy, jewelry demand, and various ratios comparing gold to any number of other things.
But, again, that assumes that gold is an investment which is affected by the various things listed. It is not.
And when gold is characterized as an investment, the incorrect assumption leads to unexpected results regardless of the logic. If the basic premise is incorrect, even the best, most technically perfect logic will not lead to results that are consistent.
The price versus value issue is rooted in gold’s fundamental role as real money.
Gold is real money because it meets the qualifications of money. It is a medium of exchange, a measure of value, and a store of value.
The U.S. dollar is a substitute for real money. It is a medium of exchange and a measure of value. But it is not real money because it is not a store of value.
The U.S. dollar, in its role as ‘official’ money, has lost more than ninety-eight percent of its value over the past century.
The price of gold, on the other hand, has increased more than sixty times from $20.67 per ounce to in excess of $1300.00 per ounce.
Gold’s price increase does not mean that it increased in value by sixty-fold. Its price increase is a direct reflection of the ninety-eight percent decline of the U.S. dollar.
Gold is worth somewhere between $1000.00 per ounce and $2000.00 per ounce. This price range correlates to a decline in the U.S. dollar’s value of somewhere between ninety-eight and ninety-nine percent.
At $1300.00 per ounce, gold’s price reflects a decline of 98.3 percent in the value of the U.S. dollar since the inception of the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank in 1913.
Let’s recap.
Gold is real money. It is a store of value. The U.S. dollar (and all paper currencies) are substitutes for real money/original money; i.e., gold.
Gold’s characterization – incorrectly – as an investment (which it is not) leads to unrealistic expectations and unexpected results.
Gold’s value is in its role as real money. Its changing price (ever higher over time) is a direct reflection of changes in the value (ever lower over time) of the U.S. dollar.
As far as gold is concerned, nothing else matters.
It is pretty much expected today that any investment analysis with justifiable conclusions will be steeped in technical study that includes lots of charts.
This seems especially true of gold.
Which is all well and good, I suppose; except for the obfuscation:
Admittedly, it must sound encouraging, and even exciting, to hear proclamations that a “silver” lining is now apparent in the metals complex. Or that a silver “blast-off (is) about to happen”.
Expectations abound for the long-expected, vertical leap in silver prices that never seems to come. And we are told it is supported by solid fundamentals that include supply deficits, a return to the 16 to 1 gold/silver ratio, increasing monetary demand for silver, etc.
President Trump nominated Jerome H. Powell as the new Chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank. Don’t look for much to change. And Janet Yellen’s announcement that she will resign from the board upon Mr. Powell’s induction as board chair is pretty much a non-event.
Where we are today is the culmination of decades of irresponsible financial/fiscal policies and a complete abdication of fundamental economics.
Inflation is the debasement of money by government. The expansion of the supply of money and its subsequent loss in value results in an increase in the general level of prices for goods and services.
Deflationis characterized by a contraction in the supply of money and a decrease in the general price level of goods and services. (What we are currently experiencing is called ‘disinflation’ which is a lower rate of inflation.)
The purpose of this essay is to clarify and explain accurately what to expect regarding gold prices if deflation occurs.
According to Wikipedia: “Inflation reduces the real value of money over time, but deflation increases it. This allows one to buy more goods and services than before with the same amount of money.”
The United States Government, via the Federal Reserve Bank, has been practicing inflation regularly for over one hundred years. They are good at it. Their efforts have resulted in a ninety-eight percent “reduction in the purchasing power per unit of money.”
The reduction in purchasing power of the U.S. dollar is reflected in the higher price of gold.
In 1913, with gold at $20.65 per ounce, twenty U.S. dollars in paper money was equal to twenty dollars in gold. Today gold is at $1270.00 per ounce, more than sixty times higher than in 1913.
The higher price for gold does not mean that gold has experienced an increase in purchasing power. Rather, its higher price reflects the decline in purchasing power of the U.S dollar.
Deflation is different. It is the exact opposite of inflation. And the results are different as well.
As we said earlier, deflation is characterized by a contraction in the supply of money. Hence, each remaining unit is more valuable; i.e. its purchasing power increases.
Government causes inflation and pursues it for its own selfish reasons. A government does not voluntarily stop inflating its currency. And it certainly isn’t going to reduce the supply of money. So what causes deflation?
Government causes deflation, too. Deflation happens when a monetary system can no longer sustain the price levels which have been elevated artificially and excessively.
Governments love the inflation they create. But with even more fervor, they hate deflation. And not because of any perceived negative effects on its citizens. It is because the government loses control over the system which supports its own ability to function.
Regardless of the Fed’s attempts to avoid it, deflationis a very real possibility. An implosion of the debt pyramid and a destruction of credit would cause a settling of price levels for everything (stocks, real estate, commodities, etc.) worldwide at anywhere from 50-90 percent less than currently. It would translate to a very strong US dollar. And a much lower gold price.
Those who hold US dollars would find that their purchasing power had increased. The US dollar would actually buy more, not less. But the supply of US dollars would be significantly less. This is true deflation, and it is the exact opposite of inflation.
The relationship between gold and the US dollar is similar to that between bonds and interest rates. Gold and the US dollar move inversely. So do bonds and interest rates. If you own bonds, then you know that if interest rates are rising, the value of your bonds is declining. And, conversely, if interest rates are declining, the value of your bonds is rising. One does not ’cause’ the other. Either result is the actual inverse of the other.
Inflation leads to a U.S. dollar which loses value over time; hence, this is reflected in a higher gold price.
Deflation results in an increase in value/purchasing power for the U.S. dollar; hence, this is reflected in a lower gold price.
Those who expect gold to increase in price during deflation are wrong for several reasons.
Gold is not an investment. And it does not respond to the various headline items that journalists and analysts continue to repeat erroneously. It is not correlated with interest rates and it does not respond to housing statistics. It is not influenced by world events, terrorism, or the stock market.
Gold is real money. The U.S. dollar is a substitute for real money, i.e. gold.
If deflation occurs, there is no other possibility except for lower gold prices.
(to read more about gold and its relationship to the U.S. dollar, see here)
After gold peaked in January 1980 at $850.00 per ounce, it dropped in price by two-thirds (66%) over the next five years. The low in February 1985 was $284.00 per ounce.
At that point it began a strong move upwards over a three-year span peaking at just under $500.00 ($499.75) per ounce in December 1987. That translates to an increase of seventy-six percent.
The advance was solid and well-defined. Those who had been waiting for the price of gold to go back up were confirmed fundamentally and technically. Or so they thought.
With the “clear, technical confirmations” of a “new, bull market in gold” came a deluge of predictions regarding $1,000.00 gold and higher. At the time that would have marked a nearly four-fold increase from its previous low of $284.00. (That equates similarly to today’s predictions of $4000.00 gold assuming that $1040.00 was the low in December 2015.)
It was not to be. In January 1988, gold began a long an arduous decline which lasted fifteen years. Trading in gold was confined to a range between $300-400.00 per ounce for the next ten years. Then, seemingly as a result of sheer exhaustion, gold broke down through $300.00 per ounce and traded as low as $252.00 per ounce in September 1999. From its temporary peak at $500.00 per ounce to its ultimate low of $252.00 per ounce, gold’s price had dropped fifty percent.
Even after reaching its ultimate low of $252.00 per ounce, gold continued to trade mostly at under $300.00 per ounce for nearly three more years (April 2002).
Let’s see how this compares to more recent history regarding gold.
From its peak in September 2011 at $1895.00 per ounce, gold declined to $1040.00 per ounce over a period of four and one-half year.
Subsequent to that, gold’s price increased by almost thirty percent to $1363.00 per ounce in a period of seven months. Almost fifteen months later, gold has not traded any higher.
Question No. 1: Are we in the midst of a three-year period similar to that which occurred between 1985-88 (with respect to the price of gold)?
Question No. 2: If so, what might we possibly expect going forward?
It is certainly a realistic possibility that the answer to question no. 1 is yes. This is possible even if gold’s price goes higher first.
It seemed a well-known fact that after dropping in price by two-thirds, gold had seen its ultimate low at $284.00 per ounce. With three successive years of incredibly profitable gains, who would proclaim otherwise? And the technical signals confirmed it.
The situation today is not entirely dissimilar. Whether $1360.00 per ounce is a long-term intermediate/reaction top or not, the prospect for gold to resume a longer-term price decline would not be out of context with its earlier history.
Gold’s initial decline from its peak price in January 1980 lasted for five years and totaled sixty-six percent. Its initial decline from the recent peak in September 2011 lasted for four and one-half years and totaled forty-five percent. Reasonably similar.
Gold’s price increase from its low in February 1985 lasted for three years and totaled seventy-six percent. Its price increase from the recent low in December 2015 has lasted for twenty-two months. At its peak of $1360.00 last summer and again recently this represents an increase of thirty percent. Considerably smaller percentage gains, but not entirely dissimilar when considering the broader picture.
And if gold were to move higher soon it would not negate the possibility of going much lower again and disappointing lots of people.
The additional technical confirmations and increased comfort level that came as gold increased in price from $284.00 to $500.00 between 1985-88 did nothing to stop the subsequent fifteen-year decline to new lows.
If gold were to decline back towards $1000.00 per ounce, how low might it go? What might we expect?
One possibility is that it could trade between $1100.00 and $1300.00 for several years. And then break down below $1000.00. And depending on how quickly it establishes its eventual low point, it might trade for several years under $1000.00. Gold might settle out somewhere just above its previous all-time high in 1980 at $850.00 per ounce. Say $875-$975.00 per ounce.
There are also technical studies that point to a gold price as low as $700.00 per ounce before a resumption of the “eternal” bull market.
Ironically, none of the above is about gold. It is about the U.S. dollar.
Whatever you think or expect regarding gold, you need to make sure your expectations for the dollar are inversely similar. (see here)
During the entire fifteen year period of gold’s price decline between 1988-2002, the U.S. dollar was gaining in value. When the U.S. dollar peaked in January 2002, gold was priced at $282.00 per ounce (gold had posted its low price of $252.00 a year or two before this but was still trading under $300.00).
At that point, gold and the dollar reversed directions simultaneously. Over the next eleven years, the U.S. dollar gave up nearly thirty percent of its peak value. Gold, meanwhile, gained five hundred and seventy percent in price. That increase seems a bit outsized on the surface, but it is not dissimilar to the outsized declines gold suffered during the previous twenty years while the dollar was gaining in value.
Between September 2011 and January 2016 the U.S. dollar gained significantly and gold’s price declined in similar fashion. The low so far for gold was the $1040.00 per ounce in December 2015. The peak for the dollar occurred just a few short weeks later in January 2016.
After January 2016, both reversed directions again. The dollar headed lower and gold reversed and went higher. Similar turning points occurred in the summer of 2016 and December 2016.
Which brings us to the present. If gold moves higher from here it will be because of continuing weakness in the U.S. dollar. Conversely, if the U.S. dollar moves higher, it will be reflected in a lower gold price.
