As I predicted last week, gold's pullback has been sharp. (I've always wanted to say "as I predicted". Any good market commentator knows you should have a clutch of vague forecasts in your back pocket to pull out at the right moment. If they are wrong, keep them in the pocket).
Anyway, it looks as if the news that more Americans have their noses to the grindstone than analysts were expecting (and cough, cough: let's see how many them can say "as I've predicted, US jobless claims were spectacularly low").
Jobless claims are only one of a batch of statistics regularly issued to give the market some idea of the underlying health of the world's biggest economy. These numbers take on different weight, depending on the broader picture. Awhile back, when oil was at an all-time high, it was the weekly US fuel inventory stats, which show the gap between soccer moms walking or taking the SUV out of the drive, that everyone was watching.
Now we are all very, very happy to see an increase in McJobs. It suggests the recovery is under way, if not quite signed, sealed and delivered. More jobs means more consumers. And the more Americans buy, the happier the global financial picture is.
Bad news for gold, though. The yellow metal lost 4 per cent last week. Its safe haven status will come under pressure if the global economic climate improves.
