– Rising and record U.S. debt load may cause financial stress, weaken dollar and see gold go higher
– Massive government and consumer debt eroding benefits of wage growth (see chart)
Rising U.S. interest rates, usually bad news for gold, are instead feeding signs of financial stress among debt-laden consumers and helping drive demand for the metal as a haven.
That’s the argument of Sprott Inc., a precious-metals-focused fund manager that oversees $8.8 billion in assets. The following four charts lay out the case for why gold could be poised to rise even as the Federal Reserve tightens monetary policy.
Gold futures have managed to hold on to gains this year, staying above $1,300 an ounce even as the Fed raised borrowing costs in December for a fifth time since 2015 and is expected to do so again next week.
The increases followed years of rates near zero that began in 2008. Low rates coupled with the Fed’s bond-buying spree contributed to the precious metal’s advance to a record in 2011. Higher rates typically hurt the appeal of gold because it doesn’t pay interest.
Paper Losses
The U.S. posted a $215 billion budget deficit in February, the biggest in six years, as revenue declined, Treasury Department data show. That’s boosting the government debt load, fueling forecasts for higher yields and raising the specter of paper losses for international investors who own $6.3 trillion of U.S. debt.
Slowing demand for Treasuries from overseas buyers is contributing to dollar weakness against the currency’s major peers, helping support gold prices, according to Trey Reik, a senior portfolio manager at Sprott’s U.S. unit.
Debt-Laden Shoppers
The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury, which has been in decline for more than three decades, has risen over 40 basis points this year as the Fed raised rates and U.S. debt ballooned to more than $20 trillion.
That has ramifications for American households already struggling to pay down their credit cards and auto loans, dimming the outlook for consumer spending that helped fuel U.S. growth.
Those concerns have been widely overlooked by investors but will spur demand for haven assets like gold, Reik said.
“With as much debt as there is in the system, if you have a backup in rates, you’re going to see a default wave pretty quickly,” Reik said in an interview at Bloomberg’s headquarters in New York. “You’re going to have personal bankruptcies flare up. Gold really does well when financial stress starts to take hold in the system.”
In December, Fed officials signaled they may boost interest rates three times this year amid improving U.S. economic growth and a tightening labor market that could spur wage growth and push inflation toward the central bank’s target of 2 percent.
Even with a synchronized global expansion, though, consumer debt is likely to erode the benefits of rising wages, undercutting the argument from gold bears that an improving world economy will damp haven demand for gold, Reik said.
Related Content
Fed Increases Rates 0.25% – Rising Interest Rates Positive For Gold
What Peak Gold, Interest Rates And Current Geopolitical Tensions Mean For Gold in 2018
Prepare For Interest Rate Rises And Global Debt Bubble Collapse
Data shows rising interest rates is positive for gold as seen in 1970s and again from 2003 to 2007. Source: New York Federal Reserve for Fed Funds Rate, LBMA.org.uk for Gold (PM fix)
Stocks Struggle After Tech Selloff; Dollar Rises (Bloomberg.com)
Gold prices inch down on stronger dollar, Fed in focus (Reuters.com)
Tech stocks weigh on Asian markets after Wall Street selloff (MarketWatch.com)
Global stocks sink in worst slide since November; eyes on Fed meeting (Reuters.com)
U.S. bans transactions with Venezuela’s digital currency (Reuters.com)
10 years after the fall of Bear Stearns, D.C. is poised to cause another financial crisis (LATimes.com)
A decade later, three lessons from the financial crisis (Reuters.com)
Central banks manipulating & suppressing gold prices (RT.com)
Iran’s break with the dollar is easier said than done (Al-Monitor.com)
Why the U.S. Treasury likes a weak dollar – Englander (Bloomberg.com)
Gold Prices (LBMA AM)
20 Mar: USD 1,312.75, GBP 935.60 & EUR 1,066.22 per ounce
19 Mar: USD 1,311.70, GBP 934.59 & EUR 1,066.41 per ounce
16 Mar: USD 1,320.05, GBP 945.42 & EUR 1,071.09 per ounce
15 Mar: USD 1,323.35, GBP 949.24 & EUR 1,070.72 per ounce
14 Mar: USD 1,324.95, GBP 949.59 & EUR 1,071.35 per ounce
13 Mar: USD 1,318.70, GBP 948.94 & EUR 1,069.60 per ounce
12 Mar: USD 1,317.25, GBP 950.66 & EUR 1,069.87 per ounce
Silver Prices (LBMA)
20 Mar: USD 16.25, GBP 11.60 & EUR 13.22 per ounce
19 Mar: USD 16.29, GBP 11.59 & EUR 13.24 per ounce
16 Mar: USD 16.48, GBP 11.79 & EUR 13.36 per ounce
15 Mar: USD 16.52, GBP 11.86 & EUR 13.37 per ounce
14 Mar: USD 16.61, GBP 11.88 & EUR 13.42 per ounce
13 Mar: USD 16.51, GBP 11.88 & EUR 13.38 per ounce
12 Mar: USD 16.46, GBP 11.88 & EUR 13.39 per ounce
