Peter's Blog

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 […]

2017: The Year of the Bubbles

2017 may well go down in history as the year of the bubble. We’ve talked a lot about the stock market bubble in recent months, but there are a whole slew of bubbles floating around out there – most of them created by loose monetary policy that has dumped billions of dollars of easy money […]

The Fed Gets Spooked By the Monster It Created

The Federal Reserve released the minutes from its most recent FOMC meeting on Wednesday and it appears the monster they created has finally spooked the central bankers. 

Last Time Housing, This Time Bonds

Over the last couple of months, we’ve focused a lot of attention on the stock market bubble. But some analysts say we should be watching the bond market bubble. Last summer, former Fed chair Alan Greenspan issued an emphatic warning: Beware, the bond bubble is about to burst. And when it does, it will take stock […]

Trusting the Fed: Will the White Knight Save the Day?

As we reported last week, investors are in an era of “irrational exuberance.” The US stock market is at all-time highs. Meanwhile, market volatility is at lows not seen since the 1990s. In an odd juxtaposition of seemingly contradictory points of view, investors realize the market is overvalued, but at the same time, they believe it […]

Tax Cuts Without the Reform

Last week, the House passed its version of “tax reform,” along party lines. The final vote came in at 227-205, with the entire Democratic caucus opposing the bill. Thirteen Republicans joined the Democrats in voting no. The debate now shifts to the Senate where things will likely become more contentious. Wisconsin Republican Sen. Ron Johnson has […]

Platinum Shortage on the Horizon

There’s a significant platinum shortage on the horizon according to an industry report. According to a quarterly report released by the World Platinum Investment Council, a resurgence in demand for platinum jewelry, increasing industrial demand, along with falling production, will lead to a shortfall of 275,000 ounces in 2018.

Peter Schiff: The Fed Is Behind the Curve; Financial Conditions at Loosest Level Since 1994

According to data compiled by the Chicago Fed, financial conditions have reached the loosest level in the US since January 1994. This despite Federal Reserve tightening over the last year. On Nov. 10, the Chicago Fed National Financial Conditions index hit -0.93. As Peter Schiff pointed out in his most recent podcast, that was early […]