Sell in May and Go Away' Won't Work for Gold

The old saying "Sell in May and Go Away" might work great for stocks, but it's not the wisest choice when it comes to gold this year. That's because gold's fundamentals remain intact even as stock-market risks are growing, so I think holding gold is not only prudent, but might be quite profitable.

After all, gold maintained its upward momentum in April following a very positive first quarter. After running up to $1,295 an ounce, the metal retraced and consolidated at $1,265. That's very positive short-term technical action that invites us to take a longer-term view of gold. My assessment is that gold's fundamental case remains solidly intact, and I anticipate additional gains as 2017's second half approaches.

I think gold's chief drivers going forward will be global trade wars, growing geopolitical stress, global debt concerns and central-bank policies regarding money creation and currency valuation targets. With gold prices also moving higher in dollar terms as dollar/gold catches up with the metal's price relative to other major currencies, I think gold has a firm bid in place above the $1,257-an-ounce level.

Physical gold also saw strong demand during the first quarter in the metal's largest buyers' markets: China, Russia and India. Additionally, individual investors made a robust move into gold during the period. Strong demand for physical gold has picked up throughout Europe, particularly in the United Kingdom, where mint sales surged 20% in the first quarter.

Source: Bloomberg

Junior Trader Stefan Panteleev

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