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(Kitco News) – You know markets were dull when Ryan Lotche – and not the Fed – dominates the chatter on the street.
The U.S. Olympic swimmer apologized Friday for his behavior at a gas station on Sunday in Rio de Janeiro, where he and three other American swimmers were caught on tape allegedly vandalizing the place.
Markets have been relatively quiet this week especially since the release of the July FOMC minutes, which showed us…errr…nothing, except that maybe, the rate hike is coming? Maybe, just maybe…
In gold market news, reporter Neils Christensen says there appears to be a battle of the hedge funds playing out in the market as some funds continue to add to their positions while others look for the exit sign.
According to the latest SEC filings, at the end of Q2 Stanley Druckenmiller, who runs Duquesne Family Office LLC., completely exited his positions in the world’s largest gold-backed ETF SPDR Gold Shares (NYSE: GLD). While this week, George Soros, manager of Soros Fund Management LLC., revealed that his fund sold more than 18 million Barrick shares in the second quarter.
Let’s look at gold and silver prices – they were trading solidly lower in early U.S. trading Friday, as a rebound in the U.S. dollar index is helping to push prices lower. December Comex gold was last down $14.40 an ounce at $1,342.70. September Comex silver was last down $0.48 at $19.26 an ounce.
In other completely different news…remember the good ole’ days when Happy Meals were something to be well, HAPPY about? After McDonalds announced it would be giving kids pedometers in an effort to show they are a healthy choice after all (wink, wink)…the chain said it will no longer distribute the fitness trackers in its Happy Meal after reports surfaced that they might cause skin irritations. Do you want fries with that?
Here’s some other food for thought (no pun intended): with the Olympic closing ceremonies just days away, should medalists be taxed on their winnings? Known as a victory tax, medalists are required to pay Uncle Sam a hefty levy – could be close to $10k for a gold a medal, $6k for a silver and close to $4k for a bronze medal win.
That’s it for this week! Just a heads up, there will be no newsletter next week.
By Daniela Cambone of Kitco News; dcambone@kitco.com
Follow @DanielaCambone
