The charts that matter: gold in a positive mood

The gold price perked up significantly this week. Here’s how it affected the charts that matter most to the global economy.

Welcome back.

This week’s magazine looks at the “new space age”, in light of Richard Branson winning the “battle of the billionaires” to be first in space. We also have an in-depth look at the fight against neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. There’s a lot going on in the field, and big profits for the company that can develop an effective drug. Mike Tubbs looks at the latest news, and picks some of the best stocks to buy.

This week’s “Too Embarrassed To Ask” video explains what the rather clunky acronym “Ebitda” means. You can watch that here.

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Once again, Merryn’s got a star guest for this week’s podcast. Author and economic historian Russell Napier talks to Merryn about the Asian financial crisis (the subject of his excellent new book, which you can get at 20% off with the code in the podcast); financial repression – or, as he calls it, “stealing money from old people slowly” – and why you should buy property, though perhaps not where you might expect. Find out what he has to say here.

Here are the links for this week’s editions of Money Morning and other web articles you may have missed:

Now for the charts of the week.

The charts that matter

Gold’s recovery continued - could this be the start of another one of runs? Patience is key for gold investors, says Dominic.

Gold price chart

(Image credit: Gold price chart)

(Gold: three months)

The US dollar index (DXY – a measure of the strength of the dollar against a basket of the currencies of its major trading partners) carried on getting stronger.

US dollar index chart

(Image credit: US dollar index chart)

(DXY: three months)

The Chinese yuan (or renminbi) continued to reflect the dollar’s strength (when the red line is rising, the dollar is strengthening while the yuan is weakening).

USD/CNY currency chart

(Image credit: USD/CNY currency chart)

(Chinese yuan to the US dollar: since 25 Jun 2019)

The yield on the ten-year US government bond attempted to climb back up but gave up most of its gains by the end of the week.

US Treasury bond yield chart

(Image credit: US Treasury bond yield chart)

(Ten-year US Treasury yield: three months)

The yield on the Japanese ten-year bond fell further, with a reprieve towards the end of the week.

Japanese government bond yield chart

(Image credit: Japanese government bond yield chart)

(Ten-year Japanese government bond yield: three months)

And the yield on the ten-year German Bund fell further, too.

German Bund yield chart

(Image credit: German Bund yield chart)

(Ten-year Bund yield: three months)

Copper looks to be turning up again – it might be time for the reflation trade to spark back into life, said John earlier this week.

Copper price chart

(Image credit: Copper price chart)

(Copper: nine months)

The closely-related Aussie dollar continued to fall, however.

AUD/USD currency chart

(Image credit: AUD/USD currency chart)

(Aussie dollar vs US dollar exchange rate: three months)

Bitcoin continued its drift lower.

Bitcoin price chart

(Image credit: Bitcoin price chart)

(Bitcoin: three months)

US weekly initial jobless claims fell by 26,000 to 360,000. The four-week moving average fell by 14,500 to 382,500.

US weekly initial jobless claims chart

(Image credit: US weekly initial jobless claims chart)

(US initial jobless claims, four-week moving average: since Jan 2020)

The oil price saw a big drop towards the end of the week.

Brent crude oil price chart

(Image credit: Brent crude oil price chart)

(Brent crude oil: three months)

Amazon fell, too.

Amazon share price chart

(Image credit: Amazon share price chart)

(Amazon: three months)

And Tesla slid back after some earlier gains.

Tesla share price chart

(Image credit: Tesla share price chart)

(Tesla: three months)

Have a great weekend.

Ben Judge

Ben studied modern languages at London University's Queen Mary College. After dabbling unhappily in local government finance for a while, he went to work for The Scotsman newspaper in Edinburgh. The launch of the paper's website, scotsman.com, in the early years of the dotcom craze, saw Ben move online to manage the Business and Motors channels before becoming deputy editor with responsibility for all aspects of online production for The Scotsman, Scotland on Sunday and the Edinburgh Evening News websites, along with the papers' Edinburgh Festivals website.

Ben joined MoneyWeek as website editor in 2008, just as the Great Financial Crisis was brewing. He has written extensively for the website and magazine, with a particular emphasis on alternative finance and fintech, including blockchain and bitcoin. 

As an early adopter of bitcoin, Ben bought when the price was under $200, but went on to spend it all on foolish fripperies.