FEATURE: Gold and the Fed's rocky relationship

The bank’s quantitative easing program has pumped more than $3.6 trillion of easy money into financial markets and should the program of asset purchases and other stimulus measures stay in place till the end of the year – something that's increasingly likely – the Fed's balance sheet will top $4 trillion.

The gold price has benefited massively from the Fed's ultra-loose monetary policy that's kept interest rates near zero and until recently negative in real terms.

QE weakens the dollar and increases the risk of inflation.  The gold price and the dollar usually move in opposite directions and the metal's status as a hedge against inflation and a storer of wealth has only been bolstered by the Fed's actions.

Read More: www.mining.com/graphic-gold-and-the-fed-rocky-relationship-55190/