Peter's Blog

What Did European Central Bank Quantitative Easing Accomplish? Not Much

We often criticize the Federal Reserve for its three rounds of quantitative easing. Coupled with artificially low interest rates, Fed QE stimulus — essentially money creation –pumped up all kinds of asset bubbles. Now that the US central bank is trying to tighten, we’re beginning to see the air seep out of those bubbles. But […]

Student Debt Bubble: 43% of Loans “In Distress”

Student loan debt has grown to over $1.5 trillion. And that just accounts for loans held by Federal Student Aid. It doesn’t include private loans. Meanwhile, the Department of Education says 43% of those government-backed loans are considered “in distress.” In a speech last month, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos put the current level of student […]

Merry Christmas from Uncle Sam — You Got More Debt!

Between Christmas 2017 and Christmas 2018, the US government added a staggering $1,370,760,684,441.54 to the national debt, according to Treasury Department figures. If you split that up between all American, your share of Uncle Sam’s 2018 spending spree comes to about $4,178.10. Merry Christmas! You’re welcome.

Peter Schiff: It’s Not Just the Stock Market; It’s the Economy

There was no Santa Clause rally on Christmas Eve. Instead, US stock markets continued to tank. The Dow Jones dropped 653 points. The S&P 500 fell another 2.7% and officially entered into bear territory. It was the worst Christmas Eve’s on Wall Street in history. The Washington Post put it in stark terms. By the […]

Leveraged Loan Market Comes Unglued

As WolfStreet put it, the $1.3 billion leveraged loan market has come unglued. “Leveraged loans” are made to firms already deeply in debt. Think subprime loans for corporations. As with any risky loan, they could be difficult to either collect or resell in a downturn, putting both the borrower and lender at risk.

Peter Schiff: NASDAQ in Bear Market

What the Federal Reserve doesn’t understand about the market is that the market is going to continue to keep falling until they cut rates again and do another round of quantitative easing. The market is acting like a drug addict in withdrawal thanks to the drugs (easy, cheap money) the Fed gave everyone during the […]

Nasdaq Officially Dips Into Bear Territory

The Nasdaq officially dipped into bear territory on Thursday. The tech-heavy index rallied off its interday lows to close just a rounding error away from official bear status — for now. The Nasdaq has lost nearly 20% of its value in just four months. Reuters called it “the latest sign that the bull market that […]

The Federal Reserve Just Stuck a Fork in the Stock Market

As expected, the Federal Reserve nudged interest rates up another 25 basis points to 2.5% during its December meeting this week. It also scaled back its projected hikes in 2019 from three to two. Peter Schiff said Jerome Powell and company just stuck a fork in the stock market.

China and Japan Dump More US Debt

China and Japan dumped more US Treasuries in October, even as the federal government continued to run up its debt. Chinese holdings of US Treasuries dropped for the fifth straight month, sinking to the lowest level since May 2017, according to data recently released by the Treasury Department. The total amount of US debt held […]

Officials Break Ground for Construction of Texas Bullion Depository

Last week, officials broke ground for construction of the country’s first state gold depository in Texas. The creation of the Texas Bullion Depository represents a power-shift away from the federal government, provides a mechanism for the state to establish a higher level of economic independence, and sets the foundation to undermine the Federal Reserve’s monopoly on money.