Bernanke offers no new steps for now

The gold price advanced Friday night, gaining $50.00 to close this week at $1,828.05 per ounce ahead of a widely anticipated speech from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke at a central bank symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Bernanke will deliver his latest thoughts and outlook on monetary policy and the state of the U.S. economy.

Heading into this year’s Jackson Hole speech, calls for a third round of quantitative easing (QE3) have increased in recent months as the economy has softened and financial markets have declined. Although most economists are predicting that the Fed Chairman will not announce QE3 at Jackson Hole today, the potential for it over the course of the next year remains substantial.

Goldman Sachs analyst Sven Jari Stehn does not believe a new round of money printing would have nearly as much of an impact on easing financial conditions as the first two rounds of asset purchases did. “This is because Fed asset purchases are likely to have larger effects during times of extreme market stress, and particularly when they are targeted at a specific market dislocation, like the mortgage-related purchases during QE1,” he wrote in a note to clients.

Up to date, Bernanke offers no new steps for now.

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