Gold rose to a record in London, breaching $900 an ounce, on speculation U.S. interest rates will decline and the dollar will weaken, increasing the appeal of the precious metal as an alternative investment. Silver reached its highest since 1980.
HSBC Securities USA and Morgan Stanley predicted the Federal Reserve will reduce its benchmark rate by half a percentage point this month. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index has fallen for three weeks and has lost 4.6% this year, the worst start since 1982. You've got the U.S. dollar falling out of bed'' and increasing concern over inflation, Peter McGuire, managing director of Commodity Warrants Australia Ltd., said by telephone from Sydney. "People are looking at precious metals as principally a safe haven while they ride out a correction in equity markets."
- I am awaiting the establishment of $100 oil and $1000 gold. They make for nice, round numbers, don't you think?