Check your drawers for those old cufflinks and see if you still have Grandma’s old jewelry packed away in the basement because you may actually own more gold than China.
China holds just 1.6 percent of its currency reserves in gold, compared to 70 percent by the U.S. and a 66 percent allocation by Germany, according to Credit Suisse. The Bank of Japan holds just 2.5 percent in bullion, notes the firm.
“There are no safe big-cap currencies,” wrote Andrew Garthwaite, Credit Suisse’s head of global equity strategy in a note to clients. “The real gold price is still 34 percent off its all time high and the behavior of gold is not yet typical of a bubble.”
Garthwaite, who sits on the firm’s global strategy team, recommends buying gold stocks like Newmont Mining, noting that if China and Japan were to put just 10 percent of their reserves in gold, the “increase in demand for gold would be 3 ½ times annual mine production.”
Gold and the Gold SPDR Gold Trust rose today as stock indices bounced between gains and losses. Gold climbed 3 percent last week, bringing its 2010 gain to 11 percent as regular investors diversify away from Euro-denominated assets and look for shelter from volatile U.S. equity investments.
China’s miniscule allocation to gold right now is “crazy,” said Tim Seymour, founder of EmergingMoney.com and a ‘Fast Money’ trader. “There’s no reason for them to not increase those holdings.”
- Trading the Globe: China’s Rock and a Hard Place
- Behind The Sell-Off: China
- Halftime: Corporate America About To Take Down Numbers?
Speculation that China will buy more gold has been rampant this year, especially since India has been increasing its holdings. Chinese government officials have sought to dampen those rumors each time though. Investors are likely to find out that China has bought more gold well after the fact. With its more than $2 trillion in foreign currency reserves, China knows that any whisper it is buying gold could cause the price to surge and their costs to increase.
Despite a 26 percent jump in 12 months, many Wall Street strategists continue to recommend increasing gold investments, but none of them must count China’s State Administration of Foreign Exchange as clients.
“Given the ongoing European sovereign debt issues, is there any reason to believe gold is overvalued relative to those currencies?” wrote John Roque, WJB Capital Group managing director. “Since gold is a currency and not a commodity, gold’s bullish action merely reflects what paper currencies are not worth.”
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TRADER DISCLOSURE: ON JUNE 1, 2010, THE FOLLOWING STOCKS AND COMMODITIES MENTIONED OR INTENDED TO BE MENTIONED ON CNBC’S FAST MONEY WERE OWNED BY THE FAST MONEY TRADERS; SEYMOUR OWNS (AAPL), (BAC), (INTC), (MSFT); SCARAMUCCI OWNS (BAC), (C), (GS), (MSFT); SCARAMUCCI OWNS THE U.S. DOLLAR; FINERMAN'S FIRM OWNS (PM); FINERMAN OWNS (AAPL); FINERMAN’S FIRM OWNS (BAC) AND CALLS; FINERMAN’S FIRM (BAC) AND CALLS; FINERMAN OWNS (GOOG); FINERMAN OWNS (GS) CALLS; FINERMAN’S FIRM OWNS (HPQ); FINERMAN OWNS (HPQ); FINERMAN OWNS (IBM); FINERMAN’S FIRM OWNS (IBM; FINERMAN OWNS (JPM); FINERMAN’S FIRM OWNS (JPM) CALLS; FINERMAN OWNS (KFT); FINERMAN OWNS (RIG) OPTIONS; FINERMAN’S FIRM OWNS (RIG) OPTIONS; FINERMAN IS SHORT (IJR); FINERMAN IS SHORT (MDY); FINERMAN IS SHORT (IWM); FINERMAN OWNS S&P 500 PUT; TERRANOVA OWNS (SWN), (GLD), (IPSU), (RSX), (PFE), (TER), (APA), (AXP), (BMO), (BBY), (DIS), (XCO), (AAPL), (CVS), (IPI), (TEVA), (FXB); KELLY OWNS (FXE) CALLS; KELLY OWNS (IBM) CALLS; KELLY OWNS (STD) CALLS; GRASSO OWNS (ABK), (BP), (BAP), (BGP), (C), (DYN), (JPM), (LPX), (NDAQ)
FOR ANTHONY SCARAMUCCI
SKYBRIDGE CAPITAL OWNS (BAC)
SKYBRIDGE CAPITAL OWNS (C)
SKYBRIDGE CAPITAL OWNS (GS)
SKYBRIDGE CAPITAL OWNS (MSFT)
SKYBRIDGE CAPITAL LONG THE U.S. DOLLAR
SCARAMUCCI OWNS (HPQ), SKYBRIDGE OWNS (HPQ)
FOR JOE TERRANOVA
TERRANOVA WORKS FOR (VRTS)
TERRANOVA IS CHIEF MARKET STRATEGIST OF VIRTUS INVESTMENT PARTNERS, LTD.
VIRTUS INVESTMENT PARTNERS OWNS MORE THAN 1% OF (AMKR)
VIRTUS INVESTMENT PARTNERS OWNS MORE THAN 1% OF (IGE)
VIRTUS INVESTMENT PARTNERS OWNS MORE THAN 1% OF (DBV)
VIRTUS INVESTMENT PARTNERS OWNS MORE THAN 1% OF (XLB)
VIRTUS INVESTMENT PARTNERS OWNS MORE THAN 1% OF (XLV)
VIRTUS INVESTMENT PARTNERS OWNS MORE THAN 1% OF (XLP)
VIRTUS INVESTMENT PARTNERS OWNS MORE THAN 1% OF (XLY)
VIRTUS INVESTMENT PARTNERS OWNS MORE THAN 1% OF (XLI)
VIRTUS INVESTMENT PARTNERS OWNS MORE THAN 1% OF (XLU)
VIRTUS INVESTMENT PARTNERS OWNS MORE THAN 1% OF (DRYS)
VIRTUS INVESTMENT PARTNERS OWNS MORE THAN 1% OF (ALK)
VIRTUS INVESTMENT PARTNERS OWNS MORE THAN 1% OF (XLK)
FOR BRIAN KELLY
KANUNDRUM CAPITAL IS LONG THE U.S. DOLLAR
KANUNDRUM CAPITAL OWNS (GLD)
KANUNDRUM CAPITAL OWNS (AUY)
KANUNDRUM CAPITAL OWNS (GFI)
KANUNDRUM CAPITAL OWNS (IBM)
KANUNDRUM CAPITAL OWNS (FCX)
KANUNDRUM CAPITAL OWNS (CLF)
KANUNDRUM CAPITAL OWNS (TLT)
KANUNDRUM CAPITAL OWNS (STD)
KANUNDRUM CAPITAL IS SHORT THE EURO
KANUNDRUM CAPITAL IS SHORT THE YEN
KANUNDRUM CAPITAL IS SHORT THE SWISS FRANC
KANUNDRUM CAPITAL IS SHORT (EXPE)
KANUNDRUM CAPITAL IS SHORT (SU)
KANUNDRUM CAPITAL IS SHORT (IOC)
KANUNDRUM CAPITAL IS SHORT (XLI)
FOR STEVE GRASSO
STUART FRANKEL & CO. INC. AND ITS PARTNERS OWN (AMR)
STUART FRANKEL & CO. INC. AND ITS PARTNERS OWN (BAX)
STUART FRANKEL & CO. INC. AND ITS PARTNERS OWN (CUBA)
STUART FRANKEL & CO. INC. AND ITS PARTNERS OWN (DHR)
STUART FRANKEL & CO. INC. AND ITS PARTNERS OWN (DYN)
STUART FRANKEL & CO. INC. AND ITS PARTNERS OWN (GERN)
STUART FRANKEL & CO. INC. AND ITS PARTNERS OWN (HSPO)
STUART FRANKEL & CO. INC. AND ITS PARTNERS OWN (MERC)
STUART FRANKEL & CO. INC. AND ITS PARTNERS OWN (NWS.A)
STUART FRANKEL & CO. INC. AND ITS PARTNERS OWN (NYX)
STUART FRANKEL & CO. INC. AND ITS PARTNERS OWN (PDE)
STUART FRANKEL & CO. INC. AND ITS PARTNERS OWN (PFE)
STUART FRANKEL & CO. INC. AND ITS PARTNERS OWN (PRST)
STUART FRANKEL & CO. INC. AND ITS PARTNERS OWN (RDC)
STUART FRANKEL & CO. INC. AND ITS PARTNERS OWN (SYMC)
STUART FRANKEL & CO. INC. AND ITS PARTNERS OWN (TLM)
STUART FRANKEL & CO. INC. AND ITS PARTNERS OWN (TRV)
STUART FRANKEL & CO. INC. AND ITS PARTNERS OWN (XRX)
STUART FRANKEL & CO. INC. AND ITS PARTNERS OWN (SDS)
STUART FRANKEL & CO. INC. AND ITS PARTNERS OWN (TBT)
STUART FRANKEL & CO. INC. AND ITS PARTNERS ARE SHORT (QQQQ)
FOR NIAMH ALEXANDER
KEEFE BRUYETTE & WOODS MAKES A MARKET IN (NDAQ)
