Gold demand increases along with uncertainty thanks to Trump, Brexit and North Korea
– Recent events have increased concerns over ability of leaders to repair rather than excerbate problems
– Holdings in gold-backed ETFs rose by 9.1 tonnes to 2,357 tonnes thanks to European demand
– Trump inflames Middle East tensions. Israel announcement seen as sign of U.S. “failure and impotence”
– Key Brexit Minister admits divorce from EU could have consequences as bad as the financial crisis
– Chinese media bordering North Korea offer advice on how to deal with nuclear attack
Last Saturday was the 75th anniversary of the Chicago Pile experiment. The experiment that proved for the first time that an atomic bomb could exist. The experiment was a key step in the Manhattan Project that went onto develop the infamous bomb in World War II.
The timing of the anniversary could not be more apt. The results of the experiment not only resulted in devastation at the end of the Second World War but also changed science and turned the nature of war on its head.
Today the world feels very much on the brink of something huge about to be detonated. It might be a nuclear weapon from North Korea, it could be the grenade that Trump has just thrown into the Middle East peace protest or it might be a subtle economic disaster courtesy of Brexit. It might be all three.
The truth is we just don’t know. It is this uncertainty that is making so many investors and savers nervous. There is almost a euphoria to the panic – see the bitcoin price by way of example or stock market performances. But there is also an underlying air of calm and understanding. Gold investment is climbing whilst Google searches for ‘buy gold’ peaked last month.
Trump is ‘declaring war against 1.5 billion Muslims’
No matter your thoughts on Trump’s decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, it cannot be denied that it is a contentious one. The city is arguably the most important aspect of the entire Palestine question.
Trump’s decision has reversed decades of US policy and brought with it a raft of criticism from US allies as well as the Arab and Muslim world.
President Mahmoud Abbas said the decision was tantamount to the United States “abdicating its role as a peace mediator”.
A spokesman for Hamas said the decision would “open the gates of hell on US interests in the region”.
Saudi Arabian media say King Salman told Mr Trump by telephone on Tuesday that the relocation of the embassy or recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital “would constitute a flagrant provocation of Muslims, all over the world”.
His views were echoed by President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi of Egypt, who warned against “complicating the situation in the region by introducing measures that would undermine chances for peace in the Middle East”.
And this is seen as a declaration of war:
the Palestinian delegate to the United Kingdom said on Wednesday that President Trump’s move to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel signals “a declaration of war” in the region. “He is declaring war in the Middle East, he is declaring war against 1.5 billion Muslims, hundreds of millions of Christians that are not going to accept the holy shrines to be totally under the hegemony of Israel,” Manuel Hassassian told BBC 4 Radio’s “Today.”
Trump argued that this is a ” long overdue st