Blanchard in the News

Sales of gold coins by the U.S. Mint have risen to their highest levels since December 2008, with coin dealers reporting that business is booming thanks to demand from investors unnerved by Europe's sovereign-debt problems and a sharp decline in stock markets.

So far in May, the U.S. Mint has sold 158,000 one-ounce 2010 American Eagle bullion coins, according to the agency's website. This is already more than double the full-month total of 65,000 for May 2009.

Gold, trading at about $1,200 an ounce, has hit record highs in recent weeks, even as other commodities have fallen sharply, as investors seek assets that are thought to retain their value during volatile times. The increased demand for gold coins, which tend to be purchased by private investors who want to hold physical metal, indicates that the concerns about the deepening financial problems in Europe are weighing on an increasingly wide swath of investors.

"We've seen a tremendous uptick in investors looking toward gold for their portfolio," said David Beahm, vice president for marketing and economic research with New Orleans-based coin dealer Blanchard and Co. "It's been like that for a couple of years now. But just over the last two or three weeks, it has exploded."

View article

Yes, the epic Goldman Sachs hearing in the U.S. Senate dominated much of the financial news this week, but the real top story should not be Goldman – but gold.

Gold bullion just hit a new high for 2010 – about $1,180 an ounce – after gaining 6 percent in April as it gets closer and closer to the all-time intraday high of about $1,227 in December 2009.

What’s driving the rally? Clearly, the sovereign-debt crisis raging in Greece and threatening to infect other European Union nations. The flight from the euro to traditional safe-haven assets has fueled gold’s latest price surge.

“What’s happening in Europe is making investors incredibly nervous and that’s driving gold higher,” said David Beahm, vice president of economic research Blanchard & Company Inc, a New Orleans-based investing firm that specializes in tangible assets like gold.

“Greece may be solved this weekend but now Spain is a big concern and Spain is a much larger economy than Greece. The IMF and Germany can’t bail out everyone in Europe,” Beahm said, adding that he expects the dollar to keep rising and that it’s only a matter of time before gold is back above $1,200.

View article

You hear many people pushing gold these days, citing our nation’s $12.4 trillion debt. Gold is the classic hedge against inflation. If the U.S. resorts to printing money to repay our debts, the value of paper dollars will fall, and gold prices will skyrocket.

Coins also don’t have to be tested for weight and gold content, as gold bars sometimes do. “With a 100-ounce bar, there’s a greater chance someone has shaved a few ounces off it,” says David Beahm of Blanchard & Co., a New Orleans gold dealer.

View article

So will this trend continue? David Beahm, vice president of economic research with Blanchard & Co., a New Orleans-based investing firm that specializes in gold and other precious metals, said one reason gold and oil prices are falling now is simply because there was too much enthusiasm at the end of 2009.

The price of gold for example, shot up from about $1,050 an ounce to its peak of more than $1,215 an ounce in only two months.

“This is a healthy pullback from the highs. Some investors thought gold went up too much and too many people were getting in the market,” Beahm said.

The fact that several European economies are such a fiscal mess right now may also keep gold, oil and other commodities—such as silver and copper—in check for a bit. That’s because the dollar has once again regained its status as being one of the world’s safer investments.

“People are going to wait and figure out what’s going to happen with Europe’s financial disarray. Right now, it appears investors think the smartest and safest play is the dollar,” Beahm said.

View article

Gold futures finished higher but were volatile in electronic trading Wednesday, briefly relinquishing some of the regular session’s 1.2% advance after the Federal Reserve reiterated a commitment to low rates but nailed down the end dates of its special liquidity programs.

“The dollar rallied after the announcement due to the Fed’s accompanying statement,” said David Beahm, vice president of economic research at Blanchard and Co. in New Orleans, in emailed comments. “While the Fed continues to support interests near zero percent for some time, it may be ending the additional quantitative easing that the Fed has needed to support the economy.”

However, Beahm believes that with the economy still weak, the Fed will keep interest rates near zero for a long time, ensuring ample liquidity and lifting inflation expectations. In this context, Blanchard maintains a price target of $1,500 for gold in 2010.

View article

The price of gold is flirting with $1,100 an ounce. Many other precious metals continue to surge. How much higher can gold go – and what’s it all mean?

“Gold producers are going to need to close their hedge books because for every dollar that the price of gold goes up, they lose a lot of money,” said David Beahm, vice president of economic research with Blanchard & Company Inc., a New Orleans-based investing firm that specializes in gold and other precious metals. This demand, coupled with more worries about inflation, is likely to lead gold significantly higher, Beahm said. He thinks gold could hit $1,150 by the end of this year and $1,500 by the end of 2010.

“There is no doubt that there will be inflation. It’s not a matter of if but a matter of when. And when that happens gold will spike again,” he said.

View article

Gold futures surged to record highs above $1,090 an ounce Wednesday as the dollar sold off and buyers piled onto the precious metal’s recent rise amid bets the Federal Reserve would maintain its ultraloose monetary policy.

“The Fed reiterated the fact that they’ll keep interest rates low to stimulate growth, which will ultimately lead to a weaker dollar and higher inflation,” said David Beahm, vice president in economic research at Blanchard & Co. in New Orleans.

Combined with demand from central banks, the continued drop in the U.S. dollar “is a great recipe for gold,” he said.

View article

“To see a central bank buy at this kind of level shows there are going to be a lot of other buyers out there,” said David Beahm, vice president of economic research at Blanchard & Co., a precious metals investment firm.

“It signals that there are people out there that think the price is going to continue to go up,” he said. Beahm sees gold rising to as high as $1,150 an ounce by the end of this year.

View article

Forex TV - The dow stays above 10,000 and S&P heads towards 1100. Investors still think the market is over priced. Apple beats expectations. Blanchard & Company, Inc.’s Beahm comments.

View video

Analysts say there is little standing in the way of more advances for gold.

“The only way this doesn’t continue would be a stronger dollar,” said David Beahm, vice president of economic research at Blanchard & Co., a precious metals investment firm. “I can’t find anybody out there that is saying that is going to happen.”

View article

Forex TV – Stocks lost after a 2-day rally as analysts said they expected a pullback on the start of earnings. Blanchard & Company, Inc.’s Beahm comments on commodities.

View video

Gold is poised for a “big breakout” by the end of September, Donald W. Doyle, the chief executive officer of Blanchard & Co., a retail coin and bullion dealer in New Orleans, said today in a statement. He said the price may top the record $1,033.90 for New York futures reached in March 2008.

View article

DAVID BEAHM, VICE PRESIDENT, ECONOMIC RESEARCH, BLANCHARD & CO "We believe very strongly that the dollar is going to fall, and we will have inflation. The real question is when is that going to happen. Once the banks begin to feel comfortable with lending money, certainly we are going to see some high inflation. As the economy continues to get better - although it will be relatively slow–commodities prices will be one of the few assets that will perform very well, not just this year, but over a period of time."

View article

A three-piece gold 1843 Proof set once part of a complete 10-coin Proof set owned by John J. Pittman was sold for $937,765 on May 21 to an investor, in a private transaction conducted by Blanchard and Company Inc.

Kind of. Oil at $60 is good news if the rise is fueled by stronger demand, not a weak dollar and speculation. But at some point oil prices may become too high.

“People are seeing inflation on the horizon and lining up their portfolios accordingly,” said David Beahm, vice president of economic research with Blanchard & Company Inc, a New Orleans-based investing firm that specializes in commodities.

View article

I'm interested in investing in gold. It seems to be one of the few things that has been doing well during the bear market. What is the best way for an individual to invest in gold?—Cindy Reed, Rockford, Ill.

Although some advisers dismiss gold for its association with perpetual doomsayers, there are perfectly respectable reasons to add some to your portfolio. Gold can provide a hedge against inflation and a falling dollar. Neither of those has been a problem of late, but both are likely to cause headaches long term. And gold prices tend to move in separate cycles from stocks. In 2008, U.S. stocks lost 37% while bullion gained 5.5%.

If you want to buy gold in a more tangible form, you can buy bullion online—just be sure to go through a reputable site, such as Blanchard's (blanchardonline.com)...

View article

Days after famed Lehman Bros. bank announced its bankruptcy in September, Blanchard and Co. Inc., the largest precious metals retailer in the country, was breaking company sales records. Blanchard sold more gold in 60 days after the Lehman collapse than it had in the preceding three years combined, an executive for the firm said.

“I think what was happening was that people were motivated by fear at that point,” said David Beahm, vice president of economic research for the New Orleans company. “They wanted to have an asset they could hold in their hand and that wouldn’t go to zero overnight.”

Blanchard customers, it seems, were not alone. Demand for gold and silver have been increasing nationwide. The U.S. Mint sold four times as many American Gold Eagle coins in January 2009 as it did in the same month a year ago.

View article

“Investors are scared,” says David Beahm, vice president for economic research at Blanchard & Co., a large New Orleans–based coin dealer. “They’re looking for something that won’t go to zero overnight.”

View article

David Beahm, vice president of gold bullion dealer Blanchard and Co. in New Orleans, said his company sold more gold coins and bars during the final three months of last year than it did in the previous three years combined.

“Investors have been trained to buy and hold stocks for years, and that strategy has worked,” Mr. Beahm said. “But more people are realizing that it’s not working now, and they need another way to protect and hold wealth.

“Investors are looking for something safe and stable, and gold is something that provides that stability,” he said.

View article

“These days, with everything going on with the [Bernard] Madoff scandal and now the [Allen] Stanford scandal, you have to know exactly who you're dealing with,” says David Beahm, vice-president at Blanchard & Co., a leading retail dealer of gold coins and other precious-metals products based in New Orleans.

View article

“January was the best month we’ve ever had, and February is shaping up to be the same,” says David Breahm, vice president of economic research at Blanchard & Co., a New Orleans bullion dealer.

View article

“January was the best month we've ever had, and February is shaping up to be the same,” says David Breahm, vice president of economic research at Blanchard & Co., a New Orleans bullion dealer. “We sold more gold in January than in all of 2007.”

View article