Precious metals news

The rest of the sovereign world powers have decided to ignore the US and create their own trade plan with Iran. This particularly damaging development both undermines the US dollar's global trade dominance and demonstrates a world willing to simply move on without a US that insists on excluding itself from any sort of global community.

One of the more disgusting and all-too-common features of the current stock market bubble is corporations using Fed ZIRP money to buy back their own stock, while executives crow loudly in press releases that they're doing so because that stock is so cheap and undervalued...while quietly selling their personal shares into that very buyback.

"It's long been an article of faith in the sound money community that the Fed, by bailing out every dysfunctional financial entity in sight, would eventually be forced to choose between the deflationary collapse of a mountain of bad debt and the inflationary chaos of a plunging currency."

Rate hike day is here again as we wind down what has been a mild stock market September, and await typically chaotic October, the month during which the market has experienced its most severe crashes.

From TVs to cars to washing machines to cosmetics to clothing...to beer. In the scariest seasonal news yet, an early Halloween frightmare has become a reality. At a time when the yellow metal is becoming a wiser and wiser investment choice, the yellow liquid just got tariffed.

Historical patterns repeat. What do you get when you have a prolonged and ever-more-extreme wealth gap? The rise of angry, persistent, populism. Especially when the 99% are constantly told how great things are, while their daily lives tell a stark and different story. And here we are again.

A recent Paul Krugman New York Times column praised the success of the Keynesian macro model in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. In his view, the Federal Reserve did exactly what was necessary  - pushed interest rates to zero and launched rounds of quantitative easing to jumpstart demand. As Tom Woods and Bob Murphy put it in a recent episode of the Contra Krugman podcast, "we agree that Krugman’s model did great…if we overlook all the times it blew up in his face."
As is typical of Keynesians, Krugman ignores the side-effects of Federal Reserve policy. It works for a while, but it perpetuates the boom-bust business cycle. Sure, the economy today seems to be booming, but there is a rotten underbelly that most everybody in the mainstream seems to be ignoring. Peter Schmidt offers a succinct breakdown of Keynesian-based Fed policy and reveals why its doomed to failure.

The EU has announced it will create a special payment channel to circumvent US economic sanctions and facilitate trade with Iran.
Last month, German foreign minister Heiko Maas called for the creation of a new payments system independent of the United States. The announcement Monday sets that plan in motion.  

Stewart says as the fundamentals and technicals keep getting better, the "world's mightiest metal" seems poised to start a run to $1900. Here's more...

A beautiful, powerful, informative timeline of humankind's relationship with gold, starting in 4,600 BC and working its way up to the present day, from U.S. Global Investors.

In the newest non-recovery recovery chapter, everyone is super positive on the indefatigable stock market, and yet "the number of people expecting income growth fell the most since April 2017...Regarding their short-term income prospects, the percentage of consumers expecting an improvement declined from 25.4% to 22.6%."

Harry Dent is expecting a rally in gold, possibly up to $1,400/oz, and Harry says this gold rally will be the last chance to sell that stack. Here's why...

Is the merger between Barrick and Randgold a desperate way to drastically cut selling, general and administrative costs? Here's some insight...

Not exactly the sort of revolving-door non-leadership one would expect from a 7-time sovereign-debt-defaulter with "zero chance" of defaulting again, as Argentina's President Macri (aka The Most Optimistic Man in the World) claimed just yesterday.

"One-month interbank borrowing costs, known as Hibor, surged the most in nearly a decade Monday, as liquidity tightened amid bets local banks will increase the prime rate for the first time since 2006."

"Countries that pursue the most open markets are the ones that prosper the most and whose citizens' income increases the most. Mercantilism does not work."

Yet another country with yet another politician making yet another promise there is nearly "zero chance" he can keep. And of course, this new hot air assault comes on the heels of news that Mauricio Macri is, in fact, running for reelection.

Anyone who wanted to buy a house did so when mortgage rates hit all-time lows over the last 10 years. With mortgage rates at multi-year highs, blind and reckless real estate buying for investment purposes no longer makes sense. What happens when both organic and speculative demand dry up at the same time?

Summer's over. The kids are back to school. And we can all turn our full attention back to the markets. And if history is any guide, they will be providing plenty of near-term fireworks.

Only in the current political environment could long-protectionist China cast themselves as noble crusaders for free trade on the world stage against a US president hellbent on interfering in free markets.