The world’s largest gold bar.
Mitsubishi Materials Corp said on Thursday it has made the world’s largest gold bar.
This monstrosity weighs 250 kilograms, that’s over 550 pounds to you and me, and is valued at about $3.8 million!
It measures 45.5 centimeters by 22.5 cm at the base and is 17 cm high. The massive gold bar was made at Mitsubishi’s Naoshima refinery in Kagawa Prefecture.
Gold prices peaked to a seven week high yesterday closing at $437.7/oz.
This morning the price jumped just about 1%.
The allure of gold is becoming strong as many investors believe that higher energy costs are on the horizon.
On Wednesday OPEC met in Vienna and decided to raise the current output levels by 500,000 bpd.
This is the fifth time this year OPEC has increased production.
Gold analyst Patrick Chidley stated, “People are speculating that oil will rise, and that will lead to inflation. That is something that naturally effects gold because it’s an inflation hedge.”
Several weeks ago Mike looked into his crystal ball and called gold to over $450 in a short time.
Looks like he’ll be right again.
Other exerts are jumping on the bandwagon with him.
Several gold analysts have recently made similar claims.
“There’s a lot of fund buying and gold is strong as can be right now," said Scott Meyers, analyst at Pioneer Futures in New York, “If it takes out $441.70, the high from April 26, I don’t see why we can’t go to $450."
Dale Doelling, chief market technician at Trends in Commodities, said the upward sentiment in gold will continue in the foreseeable future and forecast gold will trade at above $500 an ounce by August.
Currently gold sits over $440.
On December 2 of last year Gold hit a 16-year high of $458.70, less than twenty dollars from its current price.
Gold is up 2.6 percent in this week alone.
"There is a growing realization that gold, commodities and commodity derived products offer far more stable investment prospects than European or US financial products," said James Moore of TheBullionDesk.com.
Oil touched $58/barrel today for the first time since April.
Investors are concerned that refiners may struggle to meet the fourth-quarter demand for winter fuels
“We have a capacity problem that isn’t just crude supply,” said Robert Skinner, director of the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies in the U.K. “Refiners don’t have the kettles and pots to make the light fuels for which demand is growing. It’s not so much the availability of crude, but of the right kind of crud
Deborah White, an economist at Societe Generale SA in Paris said, “We are extremely aware that refineries are running very close to the edge and the question is whether we are headed for an accident.”
No new refineries have been built in the U.S in about 30 years.
Not only is an accident possible, but it’s quite likely.
-Luke Burgess
