Archives for November 2008

Seasonal Trends for Gold Prices

November 4, 2008 by admin 4 Comments

It’s only two trading days into November, and gold is already posting a sizable gain for the month. I took a look at some recent historical data to try to see if gold displays any seasonal performance patterns.

Specifically, I looked at the closing price of gold for each month since 1998. Then I determined the percentage gain or loss for each month based on the difference between the closing price present month and prior month.

With the percentage change for each month, I could take a look at the average gain/loss for each month and the number of times gold was up or down for each month. While this is only a limited set of data, it does suggest some strong seasonal patterns.

Closing Monthly Gold Prices 1998 – Present
(click image for large version)

Monthly Percentage Change Gold Prices 1998 – Present

(click image for large version)

Based on the data examined, gold typically experiences its worst month in October, which certainly held true this year.

Gold experiences its strongest month in September. This year gold posted its second biggest monthly percentage gain in September. Other strong months based on the data include January, November, and December. So far this year, January has held true. Will November and December follow?

I usually don’t put too much faith in seasonal patterns, but I feel that they are useful to be aware of. If nothing else, this is just one more factor contributing to a growing number of catalysts which could propel the price of gold higher into the end of the year.

Filed Under: Gold Tagged With: Gold, Seasonality

US Mint to sell final inventory of 2008 American Buffalo Gold Bullion Coins

November 3, 2008 by admin 1 Comment

The following memo was sent by the US Mint to authorized bullion purchasers.

MEMORANDUM TO ALL AMERICAN BUFFALO BULLION COIN AUTHORIZED PURCHASERS

SUBJECT: 2008–Dated American Buffalo Bullion Coins

On Monday, November 3, 2008, the United States Mint will resume taking orders for 2008-dated American Buffalo One Ounce Gold Bullion Coins.

Final inventory for these bullion coins is based on current in-house blank supplies and supplies are limited. The United States Mint will allocate these remaining coins among the Authorized Purchasers (AP’s).

The United States Mint will use a slight modification of its standard allocation process, which is as follows:

Monday morning, the inventory available for sale that week will be divided into two equal pools for this bullion coin product.

The first pool for this bullion coin product will be allocated equally to all active American Buffalo One Ounce Gold Bullion AP’s respectively (active AP’s are those which have purchased American Buffalo One Ounce Gold Bullion Coins in the past three fiscal years).

The second pool will be allocated based on each AP’s sales performance for this bullion coin product in the last three fiscal years (e.g., an AP who purchased 30% of all American Buffalo One Ounce Gold Bullion Coins during this time will be allocated 30% of this second pool).

Each AP will be advised via fax Monday morning (or if a government holiday, Tuesday morning) of its allocation, and will have until 3 p.m. on the following Friday to place an order for its allocated coins.

Any unordered coins remaining after 3 p.m. Friday will be put back into the pool for allocation the following Monday only until coin inventory for this product is depleted.

Included in the communication with each AP’s initial allocation on November 3 will be its allocation percentage based on sales performance.

Thank you for your patience and your continued support of the United States Mint Bullion Coin Program.