Welcome to SurvivalBlog’s Precious Metals Month in Review. Here, we take a look at “the month that was” in precious metals. Each month, we cover the price action of gold, and examine the “what” and “why” behind those numbers. This column is authored by Steven Cochran of Gainesville Coins. Today, we highlight the effects of terrorism on the price of gold.
What Did Gold Do in May?
Gold stated the month of May right at $1,268. However, unexpectedly strong economic data blasted prices down by $40 an ounce to a seven-week low in the first week. The first estimate for the US economy in the second quarter was far higher than anyone expected, and the Federal Reserve declaring first quarter weakness was temporary.
Gold prices bottomed out on May 11, and began an uptrend that saw the gold market erase all of May’s losses by the end of the month. May 17th saw the largest one-day gains for gold since last year’s Brexit vote. Action was choppy in a tight range for the rest of the month. Gold jumped more than $10 an ounce on the last day of trading, to close out May right where it started, at $1,268.
Factors Affecting Gold This Month
If you had to name the largest influences on gold in May, you could sum it up in the phrase “Terror, Tories, and Trump”.
TERRORISM: ATTACK ON BRITISH CHILDREN
The most shocking incident in May was the suicide bomb blast in Manchester, England. There, children and young teens were deliberately targeted for murder. The bomber killed 22 people and wounded more. (Some of those, critically.)
As British authorities uncovered a pro-ISIS terrorist network in and around Manchester, they warned that another attack could be imminent. They believe that the attacker did not have the skills to make a suicide bomb, which meant the actual bombmaker was still at large. This news drove safe haven flight into gold.
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