The office next door to where I'm working temporarily was occupied by UK Uncut today - at least the picture I took on my phone suggests something was going on.
So on the day of mass strikes in the UK central banks on both sides of the Atlantic took coordinated action to push down the value of the dollar. I haven't looked into the mechanism but FT Alphaville suggests this piece for further reading on the subject. However rises in markets was as much if not more to do with traders being forced to close down their bets against the euro.
The effect, a fall for the dollar and relative rise in the value of the pound.
When the dollar falls in value the price of gold rises because it becomes more attractive to investors using different currencies. But it also means that the gold they own - dollar, denominated assets, are worth less in terms of their own currencies.
Google Finance chart of PHGP vs PHAU shows the US denominated gold rising faster than sterling denominated gold. This means, relatively speaking, it is cheaper for me to buy sterling gold and I will get fewer pounds back when I sell my gold - in other words the pound has strengthened against the dollar. Google Chart
My gold investments are still down overall since the original investment on September 22.
On Thursday and Friday of last week I bought £500 worth of BlackRock Gold and General fund which will have helped a bit but I am wondering about the price drop predictions outlined in the last couple of blogs. I need to read this from the Investors Chronicle, it mentions the fund in the context of a small investor's portfolio.
