Last week opened at $1,269.68 and, after a slight pullback in early trading, rallied to end the day at $1,276.89, reported the gold price history chart. Tuesday opened down slightly at $1,276.44, and after some ups and downs during the day, settled at $1,271.31 to end the day. Afterhours trading pushed Wednesday’s open up significantly to $1,274.62, and while Wednesday saw significant movements, the bulls overwhelmed the bears to end the day with gold prices up almost $3.00 an ounce at $1,277.28. The price of gold opened on Thursday at $1,276.23 and saw a major midday rally that featured the week’s highest point of $1,282.77, but trading ended at a more modest increase to $1,277.32. Friday opened at $1,275.62, and markets pulled back some of the week’s gains, closing slightly up from Monday’s open at $1,269.85. Much movement, but the week ended similar to how it started.
The main news for the week was confirmation of market rumors that President Trump would nominate Jerome Powell for chair of the Federal Reserve and the release of details on the tax plan unveiled by House Republicans, both of which hit on Thursday. First, the nomination of Powell is viewed as continuity with Janet Yellen’s policies, as Powell is not known to espouse a particular economic philosophy and has voted with Yellen in every instance since joining the Fed. Known to be a centrist, equity markets and the dollar were buoyed by his nomination, and further fueled by the release of the 429-page tax bill that features a major cut in the corporate tax rate, removal of state and local tax deductions, and other simplifications generally in line with supply-side economic theory. 1
Yet the voices calling a bubble in the current equity markets are growing louder. New data suggests that U.S. consumer savings are close to all-time lows seen in 2007, and some commentators have pointed out that we are in one of the longest periods of growth in our history. 2 The prospect of continued low interest rates combined with a new tax plan that will benefit corporations most of all are a possibly fatal combination to inflate this bubble until it bursts.