December 2nd, 2009 by Prieur du Plessis, Investment Postcards from Cape Town

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The stock market assessment below comes from highly regarded David Rosenberg, chief economist and strategist of Gluskin Sheff & Associates.

Gold just capped off its best month in a year - ±14% in November and 34% year-to-date. It’s not just the middle-class in China that is starting to buy gold, but the central bank, which has very deep pockets, is going to do likewise. We just came across a Bloomberg News article quoting an official from the state-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (Ji Xiaonan, the Chief) as saying “we recommend China increase its gold reserves to 6,000 metric tons within three-to-five years and possibly to 10,000 tons in eight to 10 years.” China’s reserves, after a 76% buildup since 2003, currently stand at 1,054 tons, so we are talking here about the prospect of some pretty heaving buying in coming years.

If China were to lift their gold reserves to 5,000 tonnes, which is equivalent to about two years of global production, that shift in demand would boost the gold price by $800/oz to around $2,000 ($1,978) based on our models. If China moves towards 10,000 tonnes, well, that would end up taking the gold price to $2,623/ounce if our calculations are in the ball-park.

Make no mistake, we are gold bulls. Central banks have deep pockets and production of gold is stagnant so the demand-supply backdrop for bullion is bullish. At the same time, we have to pay respect for market positioning over the near-term. The market for precious metals is overextended right now after the parabolic move of the past two months. The net speculative long position has swelled to a record 273,552 contracts (100 ounces each) on the COMEX. Open interest has never been higher, at 693,661 contracts. So this is one crowded trade - as is the short-trade on the USD against all the major currencies, especially the commodity-based units.

So, we could get a meaningful gold correction at any time, and we are talking about a correction in what is still a secular bull market - the 200-day moving average is $970/oz, which means we could get as much as a 20% pullback and no fundamental trendline would be violated. We remain long-term gold bulls, and our commentary remains fundamentally bullish, but anything that could spark a countertrend rally in the U.S. dollar, which is our principal near-term concern, would put gold at a much better price point for investors than the peak we are at today.

Source: David Rosenberg, Gluskin Sheff & Associates - Breakfast with Dave, December 1, 2009.

Dr. Prieur du Plessis is an investment professional with 26 years' experience in investment research and portfolio management. More than 1,200 of his articles on investment-related topics have been published in various regular newspaper, journal and Internet columns, including his blog, Investment Postcards from Cape Town. He has also published a book, Financial Basics: Investment. Prieur is Chairman and principal shareholder of South African-based Plexus Asset Management, which he founded in 1995. The group conducts investment management, investment consulting, private equity and real estate activities in South Africa and a number of foreign countries. He also serves as Honorary Consul of Slovenia for South Africa, actively developing economic, cultural and scientific relations between Slovenia and South Africa. Prieur is 54 years old and live with his wife, television producer and presenter Isabel Verwey, and two children in Cape Town, South Africa. His leisure activities include long-distance running, traveling, reading, motor-cycling and scripophily. Read more from the author/contributor here.

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