A Treasured Sword

The war of words continues, as over the weekend statements made by leaders in both the United States and North Korea have once again taken this verbal conflict up another level. The war of words 2.0 continues.

As reported by MarketWatch, “A brace of Saturday afternoon tweets by President Donald Trump signaled a potentially new sort of resignation over North Korea’s push toward nuclear armament and the U.S.’s long-running effort to preclude that eventuality — this line, in particular: ‘Sorry, but only one thing will work!’”

This tweet is a follow-up to recent statements made by President Trump indicating the real potential for military action. However, up until these most recent tweets, his “fire and fury” statements were in the context of a defensive retaliation for any moves initiated by the North Korean. It seems as though that line of reasoning has changed, at least in regards to his most recent statements.

These statements speak about “the calm before the storm,” which could easily be interpreted as yet another defensive statement threatening North Korea against making any initial moves. However, this weekend’s tweet stating that only one thing will work is obviously a veiled reference to military action.

This weekend Kim Jong Un doubled down on his desire to become a nuclear power by stating this program is a “treasured sword” protecting the country’s independence.”

The rogue dictator of North Korea spoke to the Central Committee of the Ruling Workers Party saying that his nuclear weapons are a “powerful deterrent” protecting peace on the Korean Peninsula. He added that “the missiles “are a precious fruition borne by its people’s bloody struggle for defending the destiny and sovereignty of the country from the protracted nuclear threats of the U.S. imperialists.” 

These weekend statements quickly fell onto the ears of market participants and traders who began bidding up gold prices in overseas trading yesterday. In the United States, market participants continue to bid up gold pricing, resulting in a gain today of $11.50. As of 430 EDT, the most active December’s gold contract is currently fixed at $1286.40.

Today’s upside spike in gold pricing is primarily due to traders bidding up gold. According to the Kitco Gold Index spot gold is currently fixed at $1283.50. This is a $7.40 gain, with only one dollar of today’s gain directly attributable to a weakening US dollar, which is only fractionally lower, and the remaining $6.40 gain directly attributable to buyers in the market.

Wishing you as always, good trading,