Gold prices slid below $1,800 over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend and started trading yesterday in $1,780 territory before moving back toward $1,800 Monday. Today, gold is showing more signs of life as it starts December on a positive note, floating upward beyond $1,800 and heading to $1,810 during lunch break on the Eastern Seaboard.
Various economic factors are at play here. Pending home sales are a little below some expectations and consumer confidence is still shaky this holiday shopping season as pandemic woes leave plenty of people either out of work or earning less than they were this time last year. Meanwhile, the stock market has been performing well lately, a sign of long-term hopes that the economy will recover once COVID-19 vaccines, coming off successful trials, are expected to soon be approved. And, as is so often the case, when stocks are bullish, gold becomes sluggish.
Of course, we have yet to see how the market responds once COVID-19 vaccines are first administered on a wide-scale basis. However, those in a bullion buying mood are turning to the relatively reliable standbys of pre-1933 U.S. gold coins, pre-1965 90% silver coinage, and American Eagle bullion coins.
