(Bloomberg) — Traders are abandoning bearish bets on gold as the yellow metal surges to all-time highs.Short interest as a percentage of shares outstanding on the $75 billion SPDR Gold Shares exchange-traded fund, ticker GLD, is near the lowest level since July 2009, according to data from IHS Markit Ltd. Meanwhile, bullish call option volume in the ETF posted its second-biggest jump ever last week before bullion climbed to a record $1,946 per ounce Monday.What began as a haven bid amid the coronavirus pandemic has been kicked into overdrive by central bank stimulus as slumping real interest rates — which strip out the effects of inflation — drive investors into gold. The bullish momentum along with a tumbling dollar has fueled “stunning” speculation in precious metals, according to analysts at Sundial Capital Research Inc.“The popular narrative is that government monetary support will lead to inflation and currency debasement, so buy precious metals as a hedge,” Sundial’s Troy Bombardia wrote in a note Monday. “Regardless of whether this theory is right or wrong, the fact remains that traders are full-bore bullish on metals.”Gold prices added as much as 2.3% on Monday as the Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index sank to its lowest level since September 2018. Hedge funds and other large speculators have amassed the largest net-short position on the greenback since May 2018, according to the latest Commodity Futures Trading Commission data. That’s largely because rising U.S. virus case counts coupled with the Federal Reserve’s easing bias have dented the dollar’s appeal as a safe haven, said Commerzbank AG’s Esther Reichelt.“The prospect of further expansionary adjustments to the Fed’s monetary policy, as well as the search for alternative safe havens are the main driver behind this move,” said Reichelt, a currency strategist.The demand for gold has been insatiable in the $4 trillion ETF market. Total gold holdings in ETFs climbed to a record last week and posted an 18th consecutive week of inflows, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.Silver has also got in on the action, with the the $12.6 billion iShares Silver Trust, ticker SLV, absorbing a record weekly inflow.The flood of cash into gold ETFs is evidence that retail investors are driving bullion’s record-breaking run, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co. analysts. ETFs are a popular choice for individual investors seeking commodity exposure, who might be unable to invest in futures contracts or take delivery of physical gold.“The buying of physical gold ETFs, a major vehicle used by retail investors, rose steeply in recent weeks,” wrote analysts including Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou in a July 24 note. That makes “this year already the strongest on record with still five months remaining.”For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
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Yahoo Finance’s Jessica Smith joins the On The Move panel to discuss the latest on The White House releasing details of the second stimulus package benefits this afternoon.ImagineAR Inc. (IP:CSE) (IPNFF:OTCQB) is an augmented reality (AR) platform, ImagineAR.com, that enables businesses of any size to create and implement their own AR campaigns with no programming or technology experience.
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U.S. investment bank Goldman Sachs Group Inc is adopting a performance review system that will grade up to 10% of its 39,000 employees as under-performers this year, according to an internal memo sent on Monday, potentially leading to more job cuts in 2021 than the bank has made in recent years. Goldman Sachs’ new head of human resources, Bentley de Beyer, who joined the bank in January, is revamping its opaque performance review process to make it more transparent and determine what proportion of staff is put in each grouping, said bank spokeswoman Leslie Shribman. The bank’s main goal is to let staff know where they stand as roughly 90% of the bank’s workforce works from home due to COVID-19 restrictions, said Shribman, who verified the contents of the memo seen by Reuters.
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