Investors are telling a story in the latest adaptation of Treasure Island, where one doesn't have to be a buccaneer to turn a profit. The quest for ...
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| | Top News  Getty Images Investors are telling a story in the latest adaptation of Treasure Island, where one doesn't have to be a buccaneer to turn a profit. The quest for precious metals has led to new heights in 2024, with gold nearly reaching $2,700/oz for the first time ever. Other shiny objects are close behind, benefiting from a Federal Reserve that has returned its cutlass to its scabbard after calling time on higher interest rates.
Long Investor Silver: Outperforming its cousin in recent weeks, spot silver (XAGUSD:CUR) has officially topped spot gold's (XAUUSD:CUR) year-to-date return after hitting its highest level since December 2012. Silver is also used for industrial purposes, like solar panel cells and EV batteries, and is relatively cheap in ounces when compared to pricey gold. However, the YTD rally of both of the metals has been impressive - silver (+34%) and gold (+29%) - outperforming the 20% gain of the benchmark S&P 500 Index (SP500).
Other reasons for the precious metal boom have been central bank buying and safe-haven demand. Geopolitical and economic uncertainty have increased in the post-COVID era amid heavy debt loads seen across the globe, as well as wars and sanctions that have made many nations wary of the U.S. dollar. The greenback and bond yields are also big factors in the equation, while institutional and the retail crowd have not wanted to miss out on one of the year's best momentum trades (don't forget gold bars from Costco).
Shiver me timbers! "According to Bank of America, gold has surpassed the euro to become the second-largest reserve asset after the U.S. dollar," wrote SA analyst Dave Kranzler, adding that demand is being boosted by the BRIC/eastern hemisphere alliance of countries. "Gold now represents 16% of global bank reserves. The dollar represents roughly 58% of central bank reserves, down from over 70% since 2002." | | Tech Intel (INTC) is set to finalize an agreement with the U.S. government for $8.5B in direct funding by the end of this year under the CHIPS Act. While the talks are at an advanced stage, any takeover of the company or a portion of it could scuttle discussions. There has also been a lot of takeover speculation surrounding Intel, with the latest media report indicating that the chipmaker rebuffed an approach by Arm Holdings (ARM) for its product division. Meanwhile, Qualcomm (QCOM) is said to be interested in M&A, while Apollo (APO) offered to invest up to $5B in the company. (3 comments) | | Featured  Want to get more from investing efforts? Take our world-class Premium service for a test drive. Sign up now, and you can try all of Premium's powerful tools and resources: - Our proprietary Quant ratings, plus ratings from Wall St. and analysts on Seeking Alpha
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Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Any content and tools on the platform are offered for information purposes only. Seeking Alpha does not take account of your objectives or financial situation and does not offer any personalized investment advice. Seeking Alpha is not a licensed securities dealer, broker or US investment adviser or investment bank. | | Inflation The Federal Reserve's 50-basis-point interest rate cut has displayed policymakers' confidence that inflation is sustainably heading towards their 2% goal. This morning, they'll get new data in the August personal income and outlays report on any further progress. "Everything is looking good so far," Christopher Clarke, assistant professor of economics at Washington State University, told Seeking Alpha. "I don't see any reason on the inflation side for any more negative news." Wednesday's revision of Q2 GDP was also encouraging, in that the Q2 PCE figures showed no revisions. ( 2 comments) | | Healthcare The FDA has cleared Bristol-Myers Squibb's (BMY) novel treatment for adults with the psychiatric disorder schizophrenia. BMY shares rose over 6% on the news in early trading on Friday. Cobenfy, previously known as KarXT, was added to the pharma giant's pipeline following its $14B acquisition of Karuna Therapeutics in March. "This drug takes the first new approach to schizophrenia treatment in decades," declared Tiffany Farchione, director of the Division of Psychiatry, Office of Neuroscience in the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. (17 comments) | | Today's Markets In Asia, Japan +2.3%. Hong Kong +3.6%. China +2.9%. India -0.3%.
In Europe, at midday, London +0.4%. Paris +0.2%. Frankfurt +0.9%.
Futures at 7:00, Dow -0.1%. S&P -0.1%. Nasdaq -0.3%. Crude +0.2% to $67.82. Gold -0.3% to $2,686.90. Bitcoin +1.9% to $65,583.
Ten-year Treasury Yield unchanged at 3.79%. Today's Economic Calendar | | | | | Seeking Alpha's Wall Street Breakfast Podcast Seeking Alpha's Wall Street Breakfast podcast brings you all the news you need to know for your market day. Released by 8:00 AM ET each morning, it is a quick listen that you can put on as you get ready to start your working day. | | | | |
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