Peter's Blog

Central Bank Gold-Buying Ramps Up Again

The central bank gold-buying spree shows no signs of letting up. In fact, it ramped up again in August after ebbing slightly in July, according to the latest data released by the World Gold Council. After a relatively modest net increase of 13.9 tons in July, central banks globally took in a net 57.3 tons […]

The Plight of the Unicorn: The Bubble Bursts

The unicorns are dying. Markets seemed to really wake up to the plight of the unicorn when WeWork aborted its much-anticipated IPO, but the air started coming out of the unicorn bubble long before WeWork’s IPO demise. Unicorns are privately held companies valued over $1 billion. Companies like Lyft, Chewie, Uber and WeWork were the […]

ETF Gold Holdings Hit All-Time Record High

ETF gold holding reached all-time highs in September. Globally, gold-backed ETFs added 75.2 tons of metal to their holdings last month, according to the most recent data released by the World Gold Council. That brought total gold holdings to 2,808 tons, eclipsing the previous record set back in 2012 when the price of gold was […]

China’s Most Recent Gold-Buying Spree Tops 100 Tons

China has accumulated more than 100 tons of gold since it resumed buying the yellow metal last December in a quest to diversify its reserves away from the US dollar. The People’s Bank of China added another 5.9 tons of gold to its hoard in September, according to data on its website reported by Bloomberg. […]

Rising Investor Interest in Silver

Interest in silver investment has increased significantly in recent months. According to a report commissioned by the Silver Institute and put together by Metals Focus, silver investment has increased across a range of available instruments including physical metal, exchange-traded products (ETP) and in the futures markets. Increased market volatility, a return to easy-money policies by […]

Fiscal Malfeasance: US National Debt Increased $1.2 Trillion in FY2019

The US national debt increased by $1.2 trillion in fiscal 2019, which ended Sept. 30. This follows on the heels of a $1.27 trillion increase in the national debt in fiscal 2018.

Dow Jones and S&P 500 Off to Worst Start for a Quarter Since the Great Recession

During his podcast earlier this week, Peter Schiff said “the party is over” in the stock market. As if on cue, the Dow Jones is off to the worst start in a quarter since the 2008 financial crisis. The Dow plunged 494.4 points on Wednesday, a 1.86% decline. Combined with Tuesday’s 343.7 point drop, the […]

The World Is Awash in Easy Money

The Federal Reserve isn’t the only central bank cutting interest rates. In fact, the world is awash in easy money. The Fed met market expectations during the September FOMC meeting and lowered interest rates another 25 basis points. It was the second cut of the year and pushed the interest rate down to the range of […]

Dollar’s Share of Global Currency Reserves at 6-Year Low; Yuan’s Share Biggest Ever

The percentage of US dollars held as currency reserves globally dropped to the lowest level in nearly six years in the second quarter of 2019 according to the latest IMF data. Meanwhile, Chinese yuan made up the biggest percentage of reserves ever. The dollar’s shrinking share of global reserves comes as countries like Russia and […]

Does the Fed Have the US Economy on Life Support?

The Fed did exactly what markets expected during the September FOMC meeting and lowered interest rates another 25 basis points. It was the second cut of the year and pushed the interest rate down to the range of 1.75 – 2%. And yet we’re told that this is the economy is “great.” What gives? Economist […]