Obsolete Certainty

The week ahead is extremely light on new data, with virtually nothing from the US hitting markets until the jobless claims report on Thursday morning. Coupled with the labor data are two reports on the nation’s debt, the budget gap and the trade deficit ? both are which are expected to be rising. That’s not to say it will be a quiet week in the markets. India’s central bank purchased 200 tonnes of gold from the IMF last week, sending prices of the precious metal past $1,100 per ounce for the first time ever. The quantity of the purchase itself isn’t shocking but it could signal that Asian countries are diversifying away from the greenback. Speculation on that alone will keep commodity and currency markets busy all week. Crude oil continues to trade around $80 per barrel…(read more)