Peter's Blog

Gold Can Unify Us Across the Great Political Divide

There is one thing Republicans and Democrats should agree about – buy gold. But like everything else, the yellow metal has become politicized. If you believe the stereotype, only people on the right buy gold. A recent article by Martin Tiller at Nasdaq.com highlighted the phenomenon.

European Investors Lead the Way as Gold Continues to Flow into ETFs

After a somewhat tepid October, gold inflows into ETFs picked up again in November, driven primarily by investors in Europe. Global gold-backed ETFs increased their holdings by 9.1 tons last month, according to the latest data released by the World Gold Council. This continues a streak of monthly gains. In October, inflows came in at […]

Demand for Gold in Technology Sector Expected to Rise

We think of platinum and palladium as the “industrial metals,” but in 2016, there was more gold used in industrial applications than either of these two metals. According to a report released by the World Gold Council, demand for gold in electronics has been growing since the fourth quarter of 2016. On top of that, […]

Russia Is Buying Gold, Stability and Economic Independence

Russia’s gold holdings have topped 1,800 tons. To put that into perspective, between 2000 and 2007, the Russian central bank held just 400 tons of gold. At that point, the country launched an aggressive gold acquisition program. In October of this year alone, the Bank of Russia bought 21.8 tons of gold. At 1,801 tons, the yellow […]

Trump Picks Another Swamp Creature for Fed

Pres. Donald Trump has nominated another swamp creature to sit on the Federal Reserve board of governors. Marvin Goodfriend does not come from the ranks of politicians. He’s an academic – an economics professor at Carnegie Mellon University. But he’s perfectly suited for the role of central planner. He fits right in with the other […]

Which Snowflake Will Trigger the Financial Avalanche?

Loose monetary policy has dumped billions of dollars of easy money into the world’s financial systems over the last eight years, pumping up a whole slew of bubbles. We are still on the upside of the business cycle, with stock markets hitting record levels it seems like on a daily basis. But if history serves […]

What Happens to the Federal Debt If the Bond Bubble Pops?

Earlier this month, Mint Capital strategist Bill Blain warned that the bond bubble is about to burst. A crash in the bond market would likely take stocks down with it, but there is another impact that is less obvious. It could have a huge impact on the United States’ ability to finance its massive debt.

Walking in Their Footsteps: Powell Will Maintain Status Quo at Fed

It looks like Trump’s pick to chair the Federal Reserve plans to walk in the footsteps of his predecessors. In other words, we can expect the legacy of Ben Bernanke and Janet Yellen to continue unbroken. That means a continuation of interventionist monetary policy, artificially low interest rates into the foreseeable future, and plenty of quantitative easing […]

GOP Tax Plan: Government on a Credit Card

The middle class is not getting tax relief under the Senate plan currently under consideration. It’s getting big government on a credit card. Here’s a fun fact. Did you know virtually all of the individual tax cuts in the Senate version of tax reform are temporary? Indeed, what the Senate giveth, it also taketh away. Most of […]

Is Bitcoin a Threat to Gold?

Some people were predicting Bitcoin would push through the $10,000 level before the end of the year. At the rate it’s going, it may happen before the end of the month. Bitcoin is on a roll. The cryptocurrency broke $9,000 over the Thanksgiving holiday and quickly pushed up to $9,700. There are also increasing signs […]