Gold is getting beaten up on Trump’s win but eye the pick for Treasury Secretary

Gold is down $78 today to $2666 on the combination of higher Treasure yields and a stronger US dollar following the election. There is also some element of ‘sell the fact’ and relief that we don’t have a contested, uncertain result.

It’s a 2.8% daily drop but it’s only a moderate setback in this year’s 29% rally. I don’t have an opinion on the short-term as momentum trades are likely to extend here but gold traders will want to keep an eye on Trump’s selection for Treasury Secretary.

A strong candidate is hedge fund manager John Paulson. The New Yorker ran a small merger arb firm before soaring into prominence and billionaire status by buying CDS on mortgage-backed securities in the sub-prime crisis. After that he became an outspoken gold bug, even establishing a gold-specific fund that was ultimately unsuccessful.

Ultimately, he was a one-hit-wonder in markets but he bet on Trump early and has been auditioning for a spot in cabinet.

This article was written by Adam Button at www.forexlive.com.