Worst Gold Headline Ever

DJ PRECIOUS METALS UPDATE: S Africa Gold Output Drop To Slow
Okay, after reading that headline, do you think it means:

A) South African gold output is going to drop, from “fast” to “slow”
B) SA’s gold output is going to slow
C) SA’s gold output is dropping, but it’s not going to drop as fast as it was dropping
D) This is a job for Auric Goldfinger!

The answer is D. Oh wait, it’s C. Still, wouldn’t the headline be easier to understand if it said: “Declining S African Gold Output May Stabilize”?

Anyway, if you click through, you’ll find that South Africa’s gold production which plummeted to 296 metric tons in 2005 from 673 tons in 1980, should slow its rate of decline or even stabilize this year.

I’ve done a chart illustrating the problem…

So if South African gold production stabilizes, that would be bearish for gold prices. Considering how the South African government generally acts like gold miners are a bunch of riff-raff who crashed the party, I’ll believe it when I see it.

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