Peter's Blog

Tech Company Buys $50 Million in Gold to Protect Against “Black Swans”

Palantir Technologies Inc. bought $50.7 million in gold bars this month as a hedge against another “black swan event.” The company is also inviting customers to pay for data analysis software in gold.

Stimulus Does Little More Than Give Us an Economic Sugar High

GDP for Q2 came in far below expectation at an annualized rate of 6.5%. But despite being a big miss, 6.5% growth is still pretty solid — until you consider what it took to buy that growth. As economist Daniele Lacalle pointed out, the Fed and the US government rolled out the biggest fiscal and […]

US Government Runs Third-Biggest Deficit of 2021 in July

After a briefly shrinking for two months thanks to IRS tax collections, the US government budget deficit ballooned again in July, hitting the third-highest number of fiscal 2021. The July budget shortfall was $302.05 billion. The only months with bigger deficits in fiscal 2021 were February ($310 billion) and March ($600 billion).

Incentives Matter

Economics 101 – incentives matter. But politicians often seem to forget this. Or simply ignore it. “Generous” unemployment benefits provide the perfect example. With the US government handing out enhanced unemployment checks, we ended up in a bizarre situation with high unemployment even as job openings hit record levels.

50 Years Ago: Nixon Slams Shut the “Gold Window”

Fifty years ago this week, President Richard Nixon slammed shut the “gold window” and eliminated the last vestige of the gold standard. Nixon ordered Treasury Secretary John Connally to uncouple gold from its fixed $35 price and suspended the ability of foreign banks to directly exchange dollars for gold. During a national television address, Nixon promised […]

Chinese Gold Demand Rebounds in First Half of 2021

Chinese gold demand rebounded sharply in the first half of 2021 after plummeting in 2020, according to data released by the China Gold Association (CGA).

“Transitory” Price Increases Are Forever

Prices are rising throughout the US economy. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell keeps telling us this inflationary surge is “transitory.” But transitory doesn’t mean what you think it means. The truth is higher prices are forever. Here’s just a sampling of the price increases we’ve seen over the past few months.

Consumer Debt Grew at Record Rate in June

After posting a 10.4% increase in May, consumer debt continued to expand, growing by a record rate in June. Consumer credit grew by $37.69 billion in June, according to the latest data from the Federal Reserve. That represents a 10.6% increase. The Fed also revised the May number up from $35.3 billion to $36.6 billion.

Markets Are Moving on a Fantasy

We’ve seen a sharp selloff in both gold and silver. Gold was down over $40 an ounce Friday. Meanwhile, the US dollar saw a sharp increase, along with a rise in long-term Treasury yields. The catalyst for these sharp moves was a better-than-expected jobs report and expectation that it will spark a quick pivot to […]

ETFs Globally Continued to Add Gold in July

Gold continues to flow into ETFs. After increasing holdings by 40 tons in the second quarter, funds globally added another 11.1 tons of gold in July, according to the latest data from the World Gold Council.