IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/empfin/v38y2016ipbp717-738.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The shine of precious metals around the global financial crisis

Author

Listed:
  • Figuerola-Ferretti, Isabel
  • McCrorie, J. Roderick

Abstract

We analyze the price behavior of the main precious metals – gold, silver, platinum and palladium – before, during and in the aftermath of the 2007–08 financial crisis. Using the mildly explosive/multiple bubble technology developed by Phillips, Shi and Yu (2015, International Economic Review 56(4), 1043–1133), we find significant, short periods of mildly explosive behavior in the spot and futures prices of all four metals. Fewer periods are detected using exchange-rate adjusted prices, and almost none when deflated prices are used. We assess whether these findings are indicative of bubble behavior. Convenience yield is shown to have little efficacy in this regard, while other fundamental proxy variables and position data offer only very limited evidence against prices having been anything other than fundamentals-driven. Possible exceptions are in gold in the run-up to the highpoint of the financial crisis, and in silver and palladium around the launch of specific financial products. Some froth, however, is reported and discussed for each metal.

Suggested Citation

  • Figuerola-Ferretti, Isabel & McCrorie, J. Roderick, 2016. "The shine of precious metals around the global financial crisis," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 38(PB), pages 717-738.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:empfin:v:38:y:2016:i:pb:p:717-738
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jempfin.2016.02.013
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0927539816300275
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jempfin.2016.02.013?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Białkowski, Jędrzej & Bohl, Martin T. & Stephan, Patrick M. & Wisniewski, Tomasz P., 2015. "The gold price in times of crisis," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 329-339.
    2. David I. Harvey & Stephen J. Leybourne & Robert Sollis, 2015. "Recursive Right-Tailed Unit Root Tests for an Explosive Asset Price Bubble," Journal of Financial Econometrics, Oxford University Press, vol. 13(1), pages 166-187.
    3. Brian M. Lucey & Fergal A. O’Connor, 2013. "Do bubbles occur in the gold price? An investigation of gold lease rates and Markov Switching models," Borsa Istanbul Review, Research and Business Development Department, Borsa Istanbul, vol. 13(3), pages 53-63, September.
    4. Batten, Jonathan A. & Ciner, Cetin & Lucey, Brian M., 2010. "The macroeconomic determinants of volatility in precious metals markets," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(2), pages 65-71, June.
    5. Figuerola-Ferretti, Isabel & Gonzalo, Jesús, 2010. "Modelling and measuring price discovery in commodity markets," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 158(1), pages 95-107, September.
    6. Peter C. B. Phillips & Shu-Ping Shi & Jun Yu, 2011. "Testing for Multiple Bubbles," Working Papers CoFie-03-2011, Singapore Management University, Sim Kee Boon Institute for Financial Economics.
    7. Peter C. B. Phillips & Jun Yu, 2011. "Dating the timeline of financial bubbles during the subprime crisis," Quantitative Economics, Econometric Society, vol. 2(3), pages 455-491, November.
    8. Peter C. B. Phillips & Yangru Wu & Jun Yu, 2011. "EXPLOSIVE BEHAVIOR IN THE 1990s NASDAQ: WHEN DID EXUBERANCE ESCALATE ASSET VALUES?," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 52(1), pages 201-226, February.
    9. Zhao, Yanping & Chang, Hsu-Ling & Su, Chi-Wei & Nian, Rui, 2015. "Gold bubbles: When are they most likely to occur?," Japan and the World Economy, Elsevier, vol. 34, pages 17-23.
    10. Dwight R. Sanders & Scott H. Irwin & Robert P. Merrin, 2010. "The Adequacy of Speculation in Agricultural Futures Markets: Too Much of a Good Thing?," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 32(1), pages 77-94.
    11. Xiaoli L. Etienne & Scott H. Irwin & Philip Garcia, 2015. "Price Explosiveness, Speculation, and Grain Futures Prices," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 97(1), pages 65-87.
    12. Harvey, David I. & Leybourne, Stephen J. & Sollis, Robert & Taylor, A.M. Robert, 2016. "Tests for explosive financial bubbles in the presence of non-stationary volatility," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 38(PB), pages 548-574.
    13. Deaton, Angus & Laroque, Guy, 1996. "Competitive Storage and Commodity Price Dynamics," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 104(5), pages 896-923, October.
    14. Phillips, Peter C.B. & Magdalinos, Tassos, 2007. "Limit theory for moderate deviations from a unit root," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 136(1), pages 115-130, January.
    15. Working, Holbrook, 1960. "Speculation on Hedging Markets," Food Research Institute Studies, Stanford University, Food Research Institute, vol. 1(2), pages 1-36.
    16. Neil Kellard & Denise Osborn & Jerry Coakley & Isabel Figuerola-Ferretti & Christopher L. Gilbert & J. Roderick McCrorie, 2015. "Testing for Mild Explosivity and Bubbles in LME Non-Ferrous Metals Prices," Journal of Time Series Analysis, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(5), pages 763-782, September.
    17. Diba, Behzad T & Grossman, Herschel I, 1988. "Explosive Rational Bubbles in Stock Prices?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 78(3), pages 520-530, June.
    18. Mark Bertus & Bryan Stanhouse, 2001. "Rational speculative bubbles in the gold futures market: An application of dynamic factor analysis," Journal of Futures Markets, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 21(1), pages 79-108, January.
    19. Yiu, Matthew S. & Yu, Jun & Jin, Lu, 2013. "Detecting bubbles in Hong Kong residential property market," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 28(C), pages 115-124.
    20. Peter C. B. Phillips & Shuping Shi & Jun Yu, 2015. "Testing For Multiple Bubbles: Limit Theory Of Real‐Time Detectors," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 56, pages 1079-1134, November.
    21. Christopher L. Gilbert, 2010. "Speculative Influences On Commodity Futures Prices 2006-2008," UNCTAD Discussion Papers 197, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.
    22. Behzad T. Diba & Herschel I. Grossman, 1984. "Rational Bubbles in the Price of Gold," NBER Working Papers 1300, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    23. Peter C. B. Phillips & Shuping Shi & Jun Yu, 2015. "Testing For Multiple Bubbles: Historical Episodes Of Exuberance And Collapse In The S&P 500," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 56, pages 1043-1078, November.
    24. Wei Long & Dingding Li & Qi Li, 2016. "Testing explosive behavior in the gold market," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 51(3), pages 1151-1164, November.
    25. Baur, Dirk G. & Glover, Kristoffer J., 2015. "Speculative trading in the gold market," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 63-71.
    26. Etienne, Xiaoli L. & Irwin, Scott H. & Garcia, Philip, 2014. "Bubbles in food commodity markets: Four decades of evidence," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 129-155.
    27. Pindyck, Robert S, 1993. "The Present Value Model of Rational Commodity Pricing," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 103(418), pages 511-530, May.
    28. Riza Emekter & Benjamas Jirasakuldech & Peter Went, 2012. "Rational speculative bubbles and commodities markets: application of duration dependence test," Applied Financial Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(7), pages 581-596, April.
    29. Miltersen, Kristian R. & Schwartz, Eduardo S., 1998. "Pricing of Options on Commodity Futures with Stochastic Term Structures of Convenience Yields and Interest Rates," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 33(1), pages 33-59, March.
    30. Evans, George W, 1991. "Pitfalls in Testing for Explosive Bubbles in Asset Prices," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 81(4), pages 922-930, September.
    31. Peter C.B. Phillips & Shu-Ping Shi, 2014. "Financial Bubble Implosion," Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers 1967, Cowles Foundation for Research in Economics, Yale University.
    32. Nikolay Gospodinov & Serena Ng, 2013. "Commodity Prices, Convenience Yields, and Inflation," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 95(1), pages 206-219, March.
    33. Phillips,Garry D. A. & Tzavalis,Elias (ed.), 2007. "The Refinement of Econometric Estimation and Test Procedures," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521870535, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Ma, Richie Ruchuan & Xiong, Tao, 2021. "Price explosiveness in nonferrous metal futures markets," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 75-90.
    2. Su, Chi-Wei & Wang, Xiao-Qing & Zhu, Haotian & Tao, Ran & Moldovan, Nicoleta-Claudia & Lobonţ, Oana-Ramona, 2020. "Testing for multiple bubbles in the copper price: Periodically collapsing behavior," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    3. Joel Verghese & Phaik Nie Chin, 2022. "Factors affecting investors’ intention to purchase gold and silver bullion: evidence from Malaysia," Journal of Financial Services Marketing, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 27(1), pages 41-51, March.
    4. Yang Hu, 2023. "A review of Phillips‐type right‐tailed unit root bubble detection tests," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(1), pages 141-158, February.
    5. Figuerola-Ferretti, Isabel & McCrorie, J. Roderick & Paraskevopoulos, Ioannis, 2020. "Mild explosivity in recent crude oil prices," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    6. Harvey, David I. & Leybourne, Stephen J. & Whitehouse, Emily J., 2020. "Date-stamping multiple bubble regimes," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 226-246.
    7. Pedersen, Thomas Quistgaard & Schütte, Erik Christian Montes, 2020. "Testing for explosive bubbles in the presence of autocorrelated innovations," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 207-225.
    8. Tangyong Liu & Xu Gong & Boqiang Lin, 2021. "Analyzing the frequency dynamics of volatility spillovers across precious and industrial metal markets," Journal of Futures Markets, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 41(9), pages 1375-1396, September.
    9. Fuentes, Fernanda & Herrera, Rodrigo & Clements, Adam, 2018. "Modeling extreme risks in commodities and commodity currencies," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 108-120.
    10. Gao, Wang & Zhang, Haizhen & Zhang, Hongwei & Yang, Shixiong, 2024. "The role of G7 and BRICS country risks on critical metals: Evidence from time- and frequency-domain approach," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    11. Vigne, Samuel A. & Lucey, Brian M. & O’Connor, Fergal A. & Yarovaya, Larisa, 2017. "The financial economics of white precious metals — A survey," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 292-308.
    12. Oxley, Les & Hu, Yang & Corbet, Shaen & Goodell, John W., 2023. "Role of precious metals in global risk dynamics: Exploring their impact from a connectedness approach," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 58(PD).
    13. Chen, Jinyu & Wang, Yilin & Ren, Xiaohang, 2023. "Asymmetric effect of financial stress on China’s precious metals market: Evidence from a quantile-on-quantile regression," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    14. Hudepohl, Tom & van Lamoen, Ryan & de Vette, Nander, 2021. "Quantitative easing and exuberance in stock markets: Evidence from the euro area," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 118(C).
    15. Dinh, Theu & Goutte, Stéphane & Nguyen, Duc Khuong & Walther, Thomas, 2022. "Economic drivers of volatility and correlation in precious metal markets," Journal of Commodity Markets, Elsevier, vol. 28(C).
    16. Aamir Aijaz Syed & Muhammad Abdul Kamal, 2024. "Do cryptocurrency and commodities markets affect stock market performance in South Asia? An empirical investigation during the COVID-19 pandemic," International Journal of Economics and Business Research, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 27(4), pages 673-692.
    17. Bredin, Don & Potì, Valerio & Salvador, Enrique, 2023. "Revisiting the Silver Crisis," Journal of Commodity Markets, Elsevier, vol. 30(C).
    18. Semeyutin, Artur & Downing, Gareth, 2022. "Co-jumps in the U.S. interest rates and precious metals markets and their implications for investors," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    19. Cervera, Ignacio & Figuerola-Ferretti, Isabel, 2024. "Credit risk and bubble behavior of credit default swaps in the corporate energy sector," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 89(PA), pages 702-731.
    20. Andria C. Evripidou & David I. Harvey & Stephen J. Leybourne & Robert Sollis, 2022. "Testing for Co‐explosive Behaviour in Financial Time Series," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 84(3), pages 624-650, June.
    21. Su, Chi Wei & Song, Xin Yue & Qin, Meng & Lobonţ, Oana-Ramona, 2024. "Is copper a safe haven for oil?," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    22. Emily J. Whitehouse & David I. Harvey & Stephen J. Leybourne, 2023. "Real‐Time Monitoring of Bubbles and Crashes," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 85(3), pages 482-513, June.
    23. Ozgur, Onder & Yilanci, Veli & Ozbugday, Fatih Cemil, 2021. "Detecting speculative bubbles in metal prices: Evidence from GSADF test and machine learning approaches," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    24. Rıdvan Karacan & Mehmet Emin Yardımcı, 2024. "Free market economy: Is the market or prices free? Theory and evidence from the United States," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 83(1), pages 59-74, January.
    25. Yunus, Nafeesa, 2020. "Time-varying linkages among gold, stocks, bonds and real estate," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 165-185.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Neil Kellard & Denise Osborn & Jerry Coakley & Isabel Figuerola-Ferretti & Christopher L. Gilbert & J. Roderick McCrorie, 2015. "Testing for Mild Explosivity and Bubbles in LME Non-Ferrous Metals Prices," Journal of Time Series Analysis, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(5), pages 763-782, September.
    2. Ma, Richie Ruchuan & Xiong, Tao, 2021. "Price explosiveness in nonferrous metal futures markets," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 75-90.
    3. Harvey, David I. & Leybourne, Stephen J. & Sollis, Robert & Taylor, A.M. Robert, 2016. "Tests for explosive financial bubbles in the presence of non-stationary volatility," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 38(PB), pages 548-574.
    4. Figuerola-Ferretti, Isabel & McCrorie, J. Roderick & Paraskevopoulos, Ioannis, 2020. "Mild explosivity in recent crude oil prices," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    5. Yang Hu, 2023. "A review of Phillips‐type right‐tailed unit root bubble detection tests," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(1), pages 141-158, February.
    6. Sinelnikova-Muryleva, Elena & Skrobotov, Anton, 2017. "Testing time series for the bubbles (with application to Russian data)," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 46, pages 90-103.
    7. Skrobotov Anton, 2023. "Testing for explosive bubbles: a review," Dependence Modeling, De Gruyter, vol. 11(1), pages 1-26, January.
    8. Aktham Maghyereh & Hussein Abdoh, 2022. "Bubble contagion effect between the main precious metals," Studies in Economics and Finance, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 40(1), pages 43-63, March.
    9. Cretí, Anna & Joëts, Marc, 2017. "Multiple bubbles in the European Union Emission Trading Scheme," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 119-130.
    10. Etienne, Xiaoli L. & Irwin, Scott H. & Garcia, Philip, 2014. "Bubbles in food commodity markets: Four decades of evidence," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 129-155.
    11. Assaf, Ata & Demir, Ender & Ersan, Oguz, 2024. "Detecting and date-stamping bubbles in fan tokens," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 98-113.
    12. Wei Long & Dingding Li & Qi Li, 2016. "Testing explosive behavior in the gold market," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 51(3), pages 1151-1164, November.
    13. Caravello, Tomas E. & Psaradakis, Zacharias & Sola, Martin, 2023. "Rational bubbles: Too many to be true?," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    14. Białkowski, Jędrzej & Bohl, Martin T. & Stephan, Patrick M. & Wisniewski, Tomasz P., 2015. "The gold price in times of crisis," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 329-339.
    15. Mehmet Balcilar & Rangan Gupta & Nico Frederick Katzke, 2015. "Identifying Periods of US Housing Market Explosivity," Working Papers 15-03, Eastern Mediterranean University, Department of Economics.
    16. Efthymios Pavlidis & Alisa Yusupova & Ivan Paya & David Peel & Enrique Martínez-García & Adrienne Mack & Valerie Grossman, 2016. "Episodes of Exuberance in Housing Markets: In Search of the Smoking Gun," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 53(4), pages 419-449, November.
    17. Fantazzini, Dean, 2016. "The oil price crash in 2014/15: Was there a (negative) financial bubble?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 383-396.
    18. Caspi, Itamar & Katzke, Nico & Gupta, Rangan, 2018. "Date stamping historical periods of oil price explosivity: 1876–2014," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 582-587.
    19. Balcilar, Mehmet & Katzke, Nico & Gupta, Rangan, 2018. "Date-stamping US housing market explosivity," Economics - The Open-Access, Open-Assessment E-Journal (2007-2020), Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel), vol. 12, pages 1-33.
    20. O'Connor, Fergal A. & Lucey, Brian M. & Batten, Jonathan A. & Baur, Dirk G., 2015. "The financial economics of gold — A survey," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 186-205.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Commodities; Precious metals; Fundamentals; Economic bubbles; Mildly explosive processes; Generalized sup ADF test;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C22 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Time-Series Models; Dynamic Quantile Regressions; Dynamic Treatment Effect Models; Diffusion Processes
    • D84 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Expectations; Speculations
    • G13 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Contingent Pricing; Futures Pricing

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:empfin:v:38:y:2016:i:pb:p:717-738. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jempfin .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.