Obama

The US Congress and Obama administration are under pressure of the largest US banks who call for a deal to increase the country’s debt limit, saying that even a short default could be devastating for the financial markets and economy. Congress and the White House face the need to raise the US debt ceiling, which stands at $14,300 billion.

The deadline for America comes on May 16 and the Treasury department has said that in the absence of congressional action, the world’s largest economy could default by early July.

According to the recent poll conducted by NY Times and CBS News the majority of the Americans are pessimistic about the future of their country economy. As of the results of the poll less than one quarter of the Americans think that the economy will improve (23%), and 70% are sure that they develop in a wrong direction.  

Google and Microsoft announced their support for a new non-for-profit outfit created to join the Obama administration's effort to crackdown on illegal internet pharmacies. The alliance is comprised of companies that service "choke points" on the Internet including Yahoo, MasterCard, Visa, American Express, GoDaddy, Neustar, eNom, and Paypal. It is being formed in response to the President's call for private efforts to police online drug peddlers.

 On Wednesday a former General Motors now known as Motors Liquidation Company has agreed with the Obama administration to pay $773 million to clean up 89 old plant sites in 14 states to prepare them for new enterprises. This statement is expected to be approved by a bankruptcy judge next year. 

IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn appealed the US, Britain and other countries to cooperate on new policies and regulations in the wake of the financial crisis.

As he claimed at the annual Herziliya Conference, at the onset of the crisis, world leaders were "scared" and agreed to work together to cancel out the crisis. However, at present, countries are formulating policies on their own.

Monday, bullion prices recovered to hover around $1,080 after posting a third straight week of declines as investors remained wary of gains in the dollar which weaken bullion's appeal as a currency hedge.

Spot gold was little changed at $1,078.60 per ounce as of 2:42 GMT compared to New York's notional close of $1,079.20.

Friday, bullion prices estrange from near 3-month lows on Friday but remained under pressure, hurt by a rising dollar and waning risk appetite among investors.

Spot gold eased by 0.4% to $1,082.80 per ounce as of 2:37 GMT, compared to New York's notional close of $1,086.75. Spot gold hit a low of $1,073.75 on Thursday, the weakest since November, 3.

Thursday, bullion prices were mostly unchanged at under $1,090 per ounce on as investors mulled direction after Barack Obama laid out plans to revive the US economy in his State of the Union speech.

Spot gold was little changed at $1,087.70 per ounce as of 3:29 GMT, compared to New York's notional close of $1,087.25.

Obama vowed to boost job growth and curb exploding deficits, as he recast his agenda after suffering a political setback.

dollar reverses its uptrend direction after hitting new multi-month highs against the franc and the euro at 8:45 pm ET Wednesday following the US President Barack Obama's State of the Union address. Dollar also slid from a 2-day high vs yen, and weakened against the pound. 

Wednesday, bullion prices flat around $1,100 an ounce underpinned by consistent retail demand from Asia, while investors were mostly cautious ahead of key events, including a US rate decision later in the day.

Spot gold rose slightly by 0.1% to $1,098.05 per ounce as of 00:09 GMT, compared to New York's notional close of $1,097.25.

Tuesday, bullion prices drifted higher hovering $1,100 an ounce as recent sharp losses offered some bargain hunting incentives, but key events including a US interest rate decision later in the week kept investors cautious.

Spot gold added 0.3% climbing to $1,101.75 per ounce as of 2:25 GMT, compared to New York's notional close of $1,097.95.

Early on Monday, bullion prices climbed to near $1,100 per ounce after the US dollar lost ground, prompting precious metal move away from a one-month low hit in the previous session when commodities dipped on President Barack Obama's proposal to limit financial risk-taking.

Spot gold was at $1,098.90 per ounce as of 3:03 GMT, gaining about 0.7% from New York's notional close of $1,091.65. Bullion touched a high of $1,099.25.

Friday morning, bullion retained its losing positions, staying under pressure as US President Barack Obama's unveiled its plans to limit financial risk taking raised concerns about diminishing capital flows from banks, which have provided liquidity for gold and commodities investors.

U.S. employers unexpectedly cut 85,000 jobs in December, limiting optimism on the labor market's recovery and pressing on President Barack Obama to find ways to spur job growth.
The Labour Department said on Friday that November payrolls were revised to show the economy actually added 4,000 jobs rather than losing 11,000 as initially reported, breaking a streak of consecutive losses that dates back to December 2007.
With revisions to October, however, the economy lost 1,000 more jobs than previously estimated over the two months.

As Obama announced at a town hall meeting Thursday, clean energy will support the economic recovery and uphold the environment. 

 At the meeting, one of the participants asked Obama what can be done to make environmental policies more effective. So, the president suggested promoting renewable energy and reducing the nation's dependence on foreign oil.