Peter's Blog

St. Louis Fed President Comes Up With Another Excuse to Stop Raising Interest Rates

It looks like the Federal Reserve may have another excuse to slow or even stop hiking interest rates if it so desires. According to the conventional wisdom, the Federal Reserve is in the process of “normalizing” interest rates and will continue to push rates up into the foreseeable future. But could the Fed be close to […]

Sub-Prime Credit Card Delinquency Rates Rise Above Financial Crisis Peak

Americans have loaded themselves down with debt and some are struggling to pay the bill. Total household debt hit a record $13 trillion in 2017, eclipsing levels seen on the eve of the Great Recession. Americans have been burning up the credit cards. Revolving debt grew by $26 billion in the fourth quarter of 2017 alone, a […]

Peter Schiff Potpourri: Oil, Bonds, Bitcoin, Tariffs and Guns

In his most recent podcast, Peter Schiff hit a number of subjects including oil prices, bond prices, Bitcoin, the dollar and tariffs. Peter said he thinks we’re seeing a lot of movement in a number of markets that are counter to the long-term trends. For instance, oil dropped late last week, but he expects it’s […]

Axis of Gold: Countries Could Undermine Dollar Dominance Using Yellow Metal

Last week, we explained how economic sanctions on Iran could boost the price of gold as Iranians turn to the yellow metal as a way to skirt restrictions. In a recent article published by the Daily Reckoning, financial expert Jim Rickards put this in a broader context. He described an evolving “axis of gold” as […]

What Can the Tooth Fairy Tell Us About Inflation

Earlier this week, I shared a story about my wife finding a bag of change in the attic of her grandparent’s old house that turned out to be worth over $2,000. The dimes, quarters and half-dollars in the bag were all minted before 1965. In other words, they were all made primarily of silver. The […]

Peter Schiff: Look Out for the Mother of All Busts

The US economy is now technically in the second-longest recovery in history. If it continues another 14 months, it will eclipse the longest recovery, which took place in the 1990s. As Peter Schiff pointed out in his latest podcast, the Federal Reserve pulled out all the stops in the 1990s to keep the recovery going. […]

World Gold Council Report: Gold Demand Soft in First Quarter

The World Gold Council described overall demand for gold as “soft” in its Global Demand Trends Q1 2018 report. Global demand was down 7% year-on-year. The WGC said the drop was primarily due to weak investment demand. Investors added to their holdings of gold coins and bars, as well as gold-backed ETFs, but at a […]

Egypt’s Second Richest Man Has Half His Net Worth Invested in Gold

The second richest man in Egypt has put half of his $5.7 billion net worth in gold. During an interview with Bloomberg, Naguib Sawiris said he expects gold to rally above $1,800 per ounce as “overvalued” stock markets crash. 

US Treasury Sets First Quarter Borrowing Record

The US government has hit borrowing levels not seen since the peak of the financial crisis. The US Treasury’s net borrowing totaled $488 billion from January through March, according to a statement released Monday. That was $47 billion more than the department’s estimate. It was also a record for first quarter borrowing, according to Bloomberg.

Jim Rickards Speculates About a Bank Run on the New York Fed’s Store of Gold

Could we be seeing a run on the Federal Reserve Bank of New York? Jim Rickards thinks we just might be. But it’s not your typical cash run. It’s a run on the bank’s gold. The classic image of this is the scene from the Christmas-season film It’s a Wonderful Life, with Jimmy Stewart. We’ve all […]