Peter's Blog

Jim Rickards: Trump’s Stimulus Plan Not Happening

Economist Jim Rickards appeared on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” outlining his 2017 predictions for rate hikes, Trump stimulus, and the coming US recession. Rickards believes the markets are unwittingly pricing in a stimulus plan that will never materialize. “Trump wants to cut taxes. Steve Bannon is talking to his advisors about a trillion dollars of infrastructure […]

New Gold Study Shows Emerging Markets Bringing More Demand

The World Gold Council, a leading market development organization, released a study on global gold markets showing the retail investment market is “well positioned” for future growth. The study looked into four major markets: China, India, Germany, and the US and found healthy latent demand within every market. It also identified some interesting purchasing distinctions […]

Survey Shows Economists Lack Confidence in 2017 Rate Hikes

According to a recent Financial Times survey, a majority of top economists predict the Fed won’t be as aggressive on raising interest rates as it suggests. After last week’s rate hike announcement, the Fed’s own dot plot showed it had planned for three federal funds increases for 2017, according to MarketWatch. However, the majority of […]

Fed Up Friday: How the Rate Hike May Impact US Economy

Unsurprisingly, the Fed decided to raise rates this week to a range between 0.5 -0.75%. Janet Yellen cited dropping unemployment as one of the primary reasons the FOMC green lit an increase. However, an economy so dependent on cheap money for so long may find it difficult going through the withdrawals of higher rates, especially […]

Rising Interest Rates Will Lower Stock Prices

As many expected, the Federal Reserve raised the benchmark interest rate to a range of 0.5% – 0.7%. During Janet Yellen’s announcement, she said rising employment rates among other measures have led to “considerable progress” for the economy, adding she and her FOMC colleagues expected the economy to “continue to perform well.” In response to […]

$5 Billion London Gold Exchange Market Getting Revamp

Competition among some major exchange groups is beginning around the London gold market, one of the world’s largest gold exchanges. The overall market is worth around $5 trillion and is expected to be hotly contested over the next 5 years as groups like CME Group Inc., Intercontinental Exchange Inc., and the London Metal Exchange fight […]

Trump’s Inherited Economy Is No Reagan Era

Peter Schiff’s recent podcast addresses the mistaken comparisons of Trump’s proposed economic stimulus plans to Reagan’s. Investors are looking for Trump to deliver the same results of economic stimulus, deregulation and smaller government are misreading the differences between the early 80s, post-Carter economy, and today’s realities. “There really isn’t any precedent between now and the […]

Fed Up Friday: Rate Hike Likely, But Fed Still Recession-Deniers

Across the world this week, many different political strains were generating economic challenges. Venezuela is producing a cautionary tale about hyperinflation, while Italy began expressing its own populist movement. Meanwhile, the Fed has begun nervously testing the waters of the future Trump administration. Venezuela Issuing 20,000 Bolivar Notes to Combat Worthless Currency Venezuela’s Runaway Inflation […]

Housing Bubble Floating Towards Sharp Drop in Demand

On Wednesday, the Mortgage Bankers Association released data showing a sharp drop of 0.7% in mortgage applications from a week prior. The MBA’s report blamed higher interest rates on fixed-rate mortgages as the cause for the downturn. Currently, these rates are at a two-year high.

Investors Continue Misguided Selloff of Gold Despite Coming Inflation

Monday saw a drop in gold prices as investors look to the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates next week. The misguided selloff comes despite almost certain future inflation levels, and many traders are likely to backtrack their bets in the coming months. Higher interest rates will add to inflationary pressures. Leveraged businesses will find […]