the real price of gold, page-17

TDA....some GOLD info for you, Bud: from Bloomberg today 20/10/08

Long Positions

Still, recent data from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission showed that hedge-fund managers and other large speculators cut their net-long positions in New York gold futures in the week ended Oct. 14.

Some of the reduction ``might be coupled with the need to pay margin calls amid the uproar in the financial markets,'' Heathcote said. ``Some investors may start to think gold's not as safe as they expected because of the wild swings in prices'' recently, he also said.


AND....


Gold Rebounds as Decline Below $800 Spurs Buyers; Silver Gains

By Pham-Duy Nguyen

Oct. 20 (Bloomberg) -- Gold rose after the lowest price in more than a month attracted investors. Silver also gained.

Gold dropped 8.3 percent last week, touching $772.20 an ounce, the lowest price since Sept. 15. UBS AG said gold will trade at $800 in one and three months, compared with previous forecasts of $925 and $975.

``After the recent declines, gold has found some support from Indian physical demand,'' said John Reade, a UBS metals strategist in London. ``Other Asian demand has picked up, too. Although safe-haven buying of gold continues at a good pace, this buying is insufficient to counter financial flows.''




It will be interesting to see how the GOLD v. Inflation v. Safe Haven ideas work themselves out..

Cheers, Skip