2006年VOA标准英语-Volatility Seen in Precious Metals Market

By George Dwyer
Washington, DC
29 May 2006
 
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Last week the price of gold on the New York Mercantile Exchange declined by 7 and a half percent, the most since 1990. By Wednesday of this week it was down again: 13 percent off from the 26-year high it reached on May 12th. On Thursday gold prices turned up again.  VOA's George Dwyer reports on the recent volatility¹ in the precious metals market.

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In good times and bad, wise investors² buy precious metals as part of a diversified³ investment portfolio⁴, says gold market investment analyst⁵ George Milling-Stanley.

 

George Milling-Stanley  
  

"What you really want are assets that move in different directions, so that you have some protection."

What investors need to protect themselves against is over-commitment to traditional investments - such as currency and shares of stock and bonds. When they perform similarly, as Mr. Milling Stanley says they have been doing in recent years, investors risk sharp losses should the market turn downward.

"So if the three traditional investment assets are starting to move in a correlated fashion, then an uncorrelated asset like gold becomes even more valuable."

The value of gold has increased 170 percent in the past five years  - Milling-Stanley says its performance is related to four specific factors. First, the value of the US dollar has been declining. Second, inflation in US, while not great, has been steadily⁶ inching up. Third, the performance of US equities⁷ has been generally lackluster…

"And the fourth, non-gold market factor that effects the gold market is geopolitical tension. And I do not think anyone would argue with my contention⁸ that geopolitical tensions are worse now then they were five years ago."

Milling-Stanley points to one key geopolitical benchmark - January 2006, when Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced his nation had resumed nuclear research - raising the specter of conflict with the U.S. and other concerned nations.

"That is probably the one that has given us most of the oomph in the gold price in just the last few weeks."

As for the market's seesaw⁹ movements of recent weeks, he explains that recent drop-offs in gold's value should be seen as short-term market corrections - and that long-term prospects¹⁰ for gold still appear strong.

"There are good reasons why most analysts¹¹ are expecting the gold price to pick up and continue to rise for another few years to come yet. So there is still a good deal of potential in it."

That's something many investors believe in.

1 volatility   

n.挥发性，挥发度，轻快，（性格）反复无常

参考例句：

• That was one reason why volatility was so low last year.这也是去年波动性如此低的原因之一。
• Yet because volatility remained low for so long,disaster myopia prevailed.然而，由于相当长的时间里波动性小，灾难短视就获胜了。

2 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

3 diversified   

adj.多样化的，多种经营的v.使多样化，多样化( diversify的过去式和过去分词 )；进入新的商业领域

参考例句：

• The college biology department has diversified by adding new courses in biotechnology. 该学院生物系通过增加生物技术方面的新课程而变得多样化。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Take grain as the key link, develop a diversified economy and ensure an all-round development. 以粮为纲，多种经营，全面发展。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

4 portfolio   

n.公事包；文件夹；大臣及部长职位

参考例句：

• He remembered her because she was carrying a large portfolio.他因为她带着一个大公文包而记住了她。
• He resigned his portfolio.他辞去了大臣职务。

5 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

6 steadily   

adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地

参考例句：

• The scope of man's use of natural resources will steadily grow.人类利用自然资源的广度将日益扩大。
• Our educational reform was steadily led onto the correct path.我们的教学改革慢慢上轨道了。

7 equities   

普通股，股票

参考例句：

• These are invested mainly in the OECD bonds and equities. 这些资产主要投资于经济合作及发展组织的债券与股票市场。
• They are also advantage of the global rebound in equities. 它们还在利用全球股市反弹的机会。

8 contention   

n.争论，争辩，论战；论点，主张

参考例句：

• The pay increase is the key point of contention. 加薪是争论的焦点。
• The real bone of contention,as you know,is money.你知道，争论的真正焦点是钱的问题。

9 seesaw   

n.跷跷板

参考例句：

• Prices have gone up and down like a seesaw this year.今年的价格像跷跷板一样时涨时跌。
• The children are playing at seesaw.孩子们在玩跷跷板。

10 prospects   

n.希望，前途(恒为复数)

参考例句：

• There is a mood of pessimism in the company about future job prospects. 公司中有一种对工作前景悲观的情绪。
• They are less sanguine about the company's long-term prospects. 他们对公司的远景不那么乐观。

11 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。