27-Sep (USAGOLD) — Gold has retraced nearly 38.2% of its recent correction, having found support yesterday right in front of the 200-day moving average. The broad rebound in assets is being largely attributed to the latest in a long string of plans to save Europe, which has resulted in a rise in risk appetite. The new scheme calls for the €440 bln EFSF rescue fund to be leveraged up to 8-times, with those funds being used to buy periphery sovereign debt, in the hopes of preventing contagion to core-Europe.

With little political or public resolve in core-Europe to increase the size of the bailout fund, policymakers are making an end-run around the will of the people: If you wont give us more money to bailout the PIIGS, we’ll just leverage up the money we have. Ah, but leverage is very much a double-edged sword…

• US consumer confidence edged higher in Sep to 45.4, below market expectations of 46.0, vs upward revised 45.2 in Aug.
• US S&P Case-Shiller home price index for 20-cities +0.9% in Jul to 142.8 (nsa); -4.1% y/y, not quite as bad as expectations.
• Eurozone M3 money supply growth unexpectedly accelerated to 2.8% y/y in Aug.
• Germany GfK consumer confidence unch at 5.2 in Oct, slightly better than market expectations.