To question or not to question

摘要

The latest edition of The Hedge Book, published by Virtual Metals and Haliburton Mineral Services, reports that gold hedging fell by 5,1 -million oz in Q2 of 2006, the largest quar-terly fall since Q1 of 2003 and, in percentage terms, the largest ever seen. Leading the way was Barrick, who made a 3-million oz hedge reduction, followed by AngloGold Ashanti which cut 1 -million oz. However, importantly, of the 53 other companies with hedge books at the start of the quarter, 41 reduced their positions, taking more than 1-million oz off the global hedge impact. This pace of dehedging must have been highly supportive of the gold price. This quarter's reduction follows another huge reduction in Q1 of 2006, and means the hedge impact of the global gold hedge book is now just 43-million oz, 10,1-million oz lower than at the start of the year.