Peter's Blog

News Flash: Yuan Passes Yen; Now Fourth Most-Used Payment Currency

The Chinese yuan continues to gain stature on the world financial stage, overtaking the Japanese yen to become the fourth most-used currency for global payments. Bloomberg reports the yuan rose to its highest ranking ever in August, boosting its claim for reserve status.

New Tool: Gold and Silver Bartering Made Easy

Barter with gold or silver provides a means of conducting business using real money with real value. SchiffGold has created an innovative tool to help you get started today. The ability to barter can be a lifesaver during a currency or banking crisis, as the situation in Greece vividly demonstrates. But you shouldn’t wait for […]

Raising Interest Rates Could Cause ‘Wonderland Economy’ to Collapse

Bank of England chief economist Andy Haldane dug through thousands of years of historical data and found interest rates now sit at the lowest levels in some 3,000 years. Wonkblog economic affairs reporter Matt O’Brien places the historic state of interest rates in vivid perspective in a Washington Post op-ed: This is the best time […]

Chinese Gold Holdings Up Again; Other Countries Also Hoarding the Metal

China continues to increase its central bank gold holdings, and other countries are following suit. The world’s largest bullion consumer upped its stash of the precious metal another 1% in August. Bloomberg reports the hoard rose to 54.45 million troy ounces in August from 53.93 million ounces a month earlier, according to data released by the […]

Zimbabwe Gold Miners Facing Crisis; Global Production Expected to Fall

As we reported a couple of weeks ago, mining companies worldwide face increasing obsticals, and analysts expect gold production to drop for the first time since 2008. Now Bloomberg provides us with a concrete example of the struggles facing many gold mining operations. According to the largest industry lobby group in the country, gold producers […]

Convenient Spot Price Tool for Precious Metals Investors

SchiffGold has a new tool to help you analyze the price of gold, silver, and platinum in real time. It also provides you with the detailed information you need for in-depth historical research. The new SchiffGold Price Charts page features an easy to read, live table with up-to-the-minute precious metals pricing. But the tools on […]

Atlanta Fed’s GDPNow Slashes Q3 GDP Forecast in Half

The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta’s GDPNow estimate released today reveals a terrible early forecast for third quarter gross domestic product (GDP) growth. It’s especially bad when compared to Wall Street expectations. The GDPNow model puts Q3 2015 GDP growth at 0.9% – that’s a 50% drop from just three days ago. The Atlanta Fed […]

Physical Silver Demand Exploding: US Mint Sales Hit New Record

The demand for physical silver is absolutely through the roof. The mainstream media has finally caught up with a story we began reporting on back in July. Yesterday, Reuters reported booming worldwide demand for silver coins: The global silver-coin market is in the grips of an unprecedented supply squeeze, forcing some mints to ration sales […]

News Flash: Record Shanghai Gold Withdrawals as Chinese Demand Increases

Investors have withdrawn a record amount of gold from the Shanghai Gold Exchange over the past year, signaling a steady increase in demand in the world’s largest gold consuming country. Bloomberg reported the most recent numbers: Withdrawals jumped 37% to 1,891.9 metric tons through Sept. 18 from 1,380.9 tons a year earlier, according to data on the […]

News Beyond the News: Consumer Data Not as Rosy as Advertised

Every week, various government agencies trot out economic facts and figures, and every week, the media breathlessly reports the “good news.” Here is some of the news beyond the news reported by the mainstream media over the last week. As USA Today reported, consumer spending and personal income rose last month. But while Commerce Department […]