Last Thursday was an interesting day: the US dollar fell sharply against the euro and other European currencies, causing a spike in the gold price. Silver and other metals prices also benefited. US bonds fell, US stocks fell, US interest rate rose and the gold price increased. There it was: the dollar falling with rising interest rates and a rising gold price. Regular readers of these commentaries know we were waiting for this exact scenario. Under these conditions, I expect the gold price to continue to move upwards; even though it never does so in one, smooth, straight line.
Dollar falls, gold price rises: China urged to revalue currency
What caused the drop in the dollar? US Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez warned of rising protectionist sentiments in Washington while in Beijing on Thursday. Later in the day US Treasury Undersecretary Timothy Adams told a congressional committee that his department’s number one priority is to get China to revalue its currency (upwards) against the dollar. Prior to this, Senators Schumer and Graham had proposed a tariff of 27.5% on all US imports from China and were going to force a Senate vote on the issue Friday. However, after returning from a trip to China, the two decided that they would, after all, not force the Senate to vote on Friday.
Anti-Chinese sentiment in America has been brewing for a while and it seems to be only a matter of time until they either enact protectionist legislation, such as tariffs, or force the Chinese and Japanese to let the dollar fall. I wrote about this before and showed that the most likely outcome would be for the Chinese and Japanese to let the dollar fall.
Dollar falls, gold price rises: growing US trade deficit
The problem, of course, is the ballooning US trade deficit with China. In order to let the renminbi appreciate against the dollar, China will have to sell more of the trade dollars it receives and buy fewer US Treasuries. That also means Japan will have to buy fewer Treasuries because the yen will follow the renminbi, and so will all the other Southeast Asian currencies and probably also the European currencies. But if all these currencies appreciate against the dollar, then all foreign investments in the US will have their returns diminished. If you were not a US resident, would you invest your capital in the US knowing that its Legislature is hell-bent on devaluing the dollar? Probably not, which is why investors reacted with their pocket books this week.
The net result of reduced foreign investments coming into the US will be higher US interest rates, a lower US dollar, a falling US stock market, declining US real estate prices, rising unemployment and rising gasoline prices due to higher oil prices as a result of a weaker US dollar. And, of course, a rising gold price.
by Paul van Eden
First published on Kitco.com (www.kitco.com)
Recommended further reading:
If you would like to know more about what Chinese revaluation means for the price of gold, read: Why you should buy gold now. For an in-depth look at what the falling dollar means for the global economy – and your investments – see: How to survive the dollar collapse.
Paul van Eden works primarily to find investments for his own portfolio and shares his investment ideas with subscribers to his weekly investment publication. For more information please visit his website (www.paulvaneeden.com). If you would like to read more from Paul, you can sign up to get his weekly commentary at https://www.paulvaneeden.com/commentary.php