Wall St., Main St. Bearish On Gold Prices
(Kitco News)- Main Street has joined WallStreet in calling for gold prices to move lower in the short term, according tothe Kitco News weekly survey.
This is only the third timeall year that voters in both surveys were bearish, including the second time inless than a month.
Eighteen market professionalstook part in the survey. There were nine votes, or 50%, calling for gold pricesto fall. There were six votes, or 33%, calling for gold to rise, while threevoters, or 17%, look for a sideways market.
Meanwhile, 868 votersresponded in an online Main Street survey. A total of 446 respondents, or 51%,predicted that gold prices would be lower in a week. Another 319 voters, or37%, said gold will rise, while 103, or 12%, see a sideways market.
Wall Street
Bullish
Bearish 
Neutral VS
Main Street
Bullish Bearish Neutral For the trading week nowwinding down, 63% of Wall Street was bearish while the biggest bloc of MainStreet voters (44%) was bullish. Around 11 a.m. EDT, ComexAugust gold wasdown 1% for the week so far to $1,228.70 an ounce.
“I remain bearish,” saidKevin Grady, president of Phoenix Futures and Options. He noted that the marketbounced Thursday after U.S. President Donald Trump criticized Federal Reserverate hikes, but Grady characterized this as a short-covering rally rather thana change in the fundamental picture for the market.
“A lot of people are lookingfor bottoms,” Grady said. “I look at it differently - why? I don’t see a [fundamental]reason for a rally at this point.”
Colin Cieszynski, chiefmarket strategist at SIA Wealth Management, looks for the muscular U.S. dollarto continue exerting pressure on gold.
“Although we could reach aseasonal bottom in the coming weeks, gold is not oversold, and I don’t think weare washed out yet,” he said. “I still think we could retest $1,200 or even dipunder it before the current sell-off is over.”
Bob Haberkorn, seniorcommodities broker with RJO Futures, also sees more gold weakness.
“The technicals look weak,”Haberkorn said, adding that the ongoing trade tariff saga may mean more lossesfor the precious metal. “It’s helping the dollar, which puts pressure on gold.”
Charlie Nedoss, senior marketstrategist with LaSalle Futures Group, looks for a retest of Thursday’s low ormaybe even $1,200.
“If you look at theinterest-rate differentials, rest of the world is going one way and we [theU.S.] are going the other,” he said. This tends to support the dollar, therebyhurting gold. “It feels to me like people are selling rallies.”
George Gero, managingdirector with RBC Wealth Management, sees the potential for a short-coveringrally, although he added that a Comex options expiration next week could addvolatility to the market. Short covering is when traders buy to offset or covershort (bearish) positions.
Ralph Preston, principal withHeritage West Financial, looks for a consolidation bounce higher in the nearterm. Meanwhile, ForexLive managing director Adam Button suggested gold couldbe helped by a pause in the U.S. dollar.
“Trump isn’t going to stopthe Federal Reserve from hiking rates, but his talk about keeping rates low hasmade U.S. dollar bulls think twice, and that should give gold bulls a reason tobuy,” Button said.
Eugen Weinberg, head ofcommodity research at Commerzbank, is bullish on gold in the near term,commenting that market reaction to Trump’s remarks about monetary policy andcurrency manipulation show just how nervous markets are. Weinberg added in anenvironment of rising volatility, gold remains the ultimate safe haven.
By Allen Sykora
For Kitco News
Follow @AllenSykora
asykora@kitco.com Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Kitco Metals Inc. The author has made every effort to ensure accuracy of information provided; however, neither Kitco Metals Inc. nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This article is strictly for informational purposes only. It is not a solicitation to make any exchange in commodities, securities or other financial instruments. Kitco Metals Inc. and the author of this article do not accept culpability for losses and/ or damages arising from the use of this publication.