Most Popular
1. Banking Crisis is Stocks Bull Market Buying Opportunity - Nadeem_Walayat
2.The Crypto Signal for the Precious Metals Market - P_Radomski_CFA
3. One Possible Outcome to a New World Order - Raymond_Matison
4.Nvidia Blow Off Top - Flying High like the Phoenix too Close to the Sun - Nadeem_Walayat
5. Apple AAPL Stock Trend and Earnings Analysis - Nadeem_Walayat
6.AI, Stocks, and Gold Stocks – Connected After All - P_Radomski_CFA
7.Stock Market CHEAT SHEET - - Nadeem_Walayat
8.US Debt Ceiling Crisis Smoke and Mirrors Circus - Nadeem_Walayat
9.Silver Price May Explode - Avi_Gilburt
10.More US Banks Could Collapse -- A Lot More- EWI
Last 7 days
US Presidential Election Cycle and Recessions - 18th Mar 24
US Recession Already Happened in 2022! - 18th Mar 24
AI can now remember everything you say - 18th Mar 24
Bitcoin Crypto Mania 2024 - MicroStrategy MSTR Blow off Top! - 14th Mar 24
Bitcoin Gravy Train Trend Forecast 2024 - 11th Mar 24
Gold and the Long-Term Inflation Cycle - 11th Mar 24
Fed’s Next Intertest Rate Move might not align with popular consensus - 11th Mar 24
Two Reasons The Fed Manipulates Interest Rates - 11th Mar 24
US Dollar Trend 2024 - 9th Mar 2024
The Bond Trade and Interest Rates - 9th Mar 2024
Investors Don’t Believe the Gold Rally, Still Prefer General Stocks - 9th Mar 2024
Paper Gold Vs. Real Gold: It's Important to Know the Difference - 9th Mar 2024
Stocks: What This "Record Extreme" Indicator May Be Signaling - 9th Mar 2024
My 3 Favorite Trade Setups - Elliott Wave Course - 9th Mar 2024
Bitcoin Crypto Bubble Mania! - 4th Mar 2024
US Interest Rates - When WIll the Fed Pivot - 1st Mar 2024
S&P Stock Market Real Earnings Yield - 29th Feb 2024
US Unemployment is a Fake Statistic - 29th Feb 2024
U.S. financial market’s “Weimar phase” impact to your fiat and digital assets - 29th Feb 2024
What a Breakdown in Silver Mining Stocks! What an Opportunity! - 29th Feb 2024
Why AI will Soon become SA - Synthetic Intelligence - The Machine Learning Megatrend - 29th Feb 2024
Keep Calm and Carry on Buying Quantum AI Tech Stocks - 19th Feb 24

Market Oracle FREE Newsletter

How to Protect your Wealth by Investing in AI Tech Stocks

Stumbling Manufacturing and Rising Gold – Now or Later?

Commodities / Gold & Silver 2019 Oct 04, 2019 - 08:48 AM GMT

By: Arkadiusz_Sieron

Commodities

American manufacturers are scoring ever deeper recessionary readings. We haven’t seen this bad an ISM Manufacturing reading in quite a while. Can it take the broader economy with it? And what about gold – when exactly will it get its shine?

ISM Manufacturing Index Drops To Disturbingly Low Level

The September ISM Manufacturing Index registered 47.8 percent, a decrease of 1.3 percentage points from the August reading of 49.1 percent. It’s not only below 50 percent, which indicates a contraction, but it’s actually the lowest level since June 2009, when the Great Recession formally ended, as the chart below shows.


Chart 1: The US ISM Manufacturing PMI from 2009 to 2019


The sharp decline in the index rattled the Wall Street, sending the stock market sharply lower.  President Trump also got upset. He tweeted:

As I predicted, Jay Powell and the Federal Reserve have allowed the Dollar to get so strong, especially relative to ALL other currencies, that our manufacturers are being negatively affected. Fed Rate too high. They are their own worst enemies, they don’t have a clue. Pathetic!

It’s always great idea to make fun of the central bankers who think they can set the adequate interest rates and run complex economy. And, yes, Trump is right that the strong US dollar is not helping the American manufacturers. But the non-manufacturing part of the economy continues its expansion, while the unemployment rate remains very low. In such an environment, to further lower the interest rates would only add fuel to excessive risk-taking, indebtedness and irrational exuberance in the asset markets. The unpleasant truth is that the current level of interest rates is unprecedented and it should be normalized. Yes, this is a painful process – and this is why the Fed is in a trap without any good solutions – it either normalizes the monetary policy risking a slowdown or financial crisis, or it eases further, creating larger macroeconomic imbalances that risk an even greater economic crisis later on.

What is missing in Trump’s tweet is, of course, any reference to the US-China trade war, although global trade remains the most significant issue for manufacturers. As one executive said “Chinese tariffs going up are hurting our business. Most of the materials are not made in the U.S. and made only in China.” So, it’s really ironic that Trump blasts the Fed that already cut the federal funds rate by 50 basis points to save the economy from Trump’s trade war.

Implications for Gold

What does the manufacturing recession imply for the gold market? Well, in theory, it should be positive for the yellow metal, which shines the brightest during recessions. However, we have so far just a manufacturing recession, not the broad slump of the whole economy. Although the significance of manufacturing in the economy is often underestimated (many services depend on manufacturing for their own expansion), the U.S. economy foremost relies on services. 

Let’s look at the chart below, which shows the earlier episode of industrial downturn. As one can see, 2015 was a terrible year for the U.S. industrial production. But gold did not shine then. Actually, it has been declining and it rebounded only when industrial production bottomed out.

 

Chart 2: Industrial production (green line, left axis, annual % change) and gold prices (yellow line, right axis, London P.M. fix, in $) from 2014 to 2019

So, a mere manufacturing recession does not have to boost gold prices. Of course, today’s situation is different from that in 2015. First of all, the 2015 slump was mainly caused by plunge in oil prices and lower energy-related investment, while today we experience global slowdown magnified by trade wars that nobody wins). Second, the macroeconomic context is different. Bond yields are lower, the Fed is more dovish. And the yield curve has inverted, which suggests that recession in manufacturing could spill over to the broad economy. And this is something that the gold bulls are waiting for.

Thank you.

If you enjoyed the above analysis and would you like to know more about the link between the U.S. economy and the gold market, we invite you to read the August Market Overview report. If you're interested in the detailed price analysis and price projections with targets, we invite you to sign up for our Gold & Silver Trading Alerts . If you're not ready to subscribe at this time, we invite you to sign up for our gold newsletter and stay up-to-date with our latest free articles. It's free and you can unsubscribe anytime.

Arkadiusz Sieron

Sunshine Profits‘ Market Overview Editor

Disclaimer

All essays, research and information found above represent analyses and opinions of Przemyslaw Radomski, CFA and Sunshine Profits' associates only. As such, it may prove wrong and be a subject to change without notice. Opinions and analyses were based on data available to authors of respective essays at the time of writing. Although the information provided above is based on careful research and sources that are believed to be accurate, Przemyslaw Radomski, CFA and his associates do not guarantee the accuracy or thoroughness of the data or information reported. The opinions published above are neither an offer nor a recommendation to purchase or sell any securities. Mr. Radomski is not a Registered Securities Advisor. By reading Przemyslaw Radomski's, CFA reports you fully agree that he will not be held responsible or liable for any decisions you make regarding any information provided in these reports. Investing, trading and speculation in any financial markets may involve high risk of loss. Przemyslaw Radomski, CFA, Sunshine Profits' employees and affiliates as well as members of their families may have a short or long position in any securities, including those mentioned in any of the reports or essays, and may make additional purchases and/or sales of those securities without notice.

Arkadiusz Sieron Archive

© 2005-2022 http://www.MarketOracle.co.uk - The Market Oracle is a FREE Daily Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting online publication.


Post Comment

Only logged in users are allowed to post comments. Register/ Log in