Peter's Blog

US Adds $1.5 Trillion to Debt in 12 Months; Who’s Buying All These Bonds?

Over the past 12 months, the US federal government has added $1.5 trillion to the national debt. As of Jan 30, the debt stood just under the $22 trillion mark at $21.97 trillion, according to the latest Treasury Department data. As WolfStreet put it,  we’re seeing these rapidly increasing levels of debt during “good times when […]

Global Mine Output Up Slightly in 2018; Shows Continued Signs of Slowing

Global gold mine output marked its 10th year of annual growth but continued to show signs of slowing in 2018, according to the World Gold Council. Gold production rose fractionally by about 1% totaling 3,346.9 tons. That compares with 3,318.92 tons mined in 2017  — a 28-ton increase year-on-year. Meanwhile, global gold demand grew by 4%.

Peter Schiff: The Powell Pause Won’t Be Enough

The Federal Reserve Open Market Committee met yesterday and held interest rates steady in the 2.25-2.50% range. This wasn’t really a surprise. More significantly, Fed Chair Jerome Powell kept up the dovish rhetoric, saying, “The case for rate increases has diminished. I would need to see a reason for further rate hikes that would have […]

Global Gold Demand Grew By 4% in 2018

Global gold demand grew by 4% in 2018, driven by a multi-decade high in central bank buying, according to the World Gold Council’s Gold Demand Trends 2018 Report. Gold demand came in at 4,345.1 tons in 2018. That was up from 4,159.9 tons the previous year. This was in line with the five-year average growth.

Moscow Exchange Chief Pitches Alternative to US Dollar Investments — Gold

During a speech at the lower house of the Russian parliament, the CEO of the country’s key trading floor suggested Russian investors should replace investments they’ve made in dollars with gold. “Let’s offer an alternative to the US dollar in the form of Russian gold, which we produce… investment gold,” Moscow Exchange (MOEX) CEO Alexander […]

Investors Ditching Bitcoin for Gold

Bitcoin investors are selling cryptocurrency and buying gold, according to a number of investment analysts. “I do think that Bitcoin pulled a little bit of demand away from gold last year, in 2017,” Jan Van Eck told CNBC’s ETF Edge last week. “Interestingly, we just polled 4,000 bitcoin investors and their number one investment for 2019 is […]

Treasury Department Ups January-March Borrowing Estimate Another $8 Billion

The government shutdown apparently didn’t save Uncle Sam any money. The US Treasury Department said it will borrow about $8 billion more than originally estimated in the first quarter of 2019 as deficits continue to spiral upward. According to new Treasury Department projections, the US government will issue $365 billion through credit markets in the […]

Peter Schiff: Fed Capitulation Is Just the First Piece of the Puzzle

Stocks got a boost on Friday and gold rose 1.8% on further signs that the Federal Reserve is capitulating. An article in the Wall Street Journal basically confirmed the Fed is now thinking about winding down its quantitative tightening program. As a CNBC headline put it, “The Fed may be moving closer to ending its […]

China Officially Adds to Gold Reserves as It Shifts Away from the US Dollar

China officially added gold to its reserves last month for the first time in two years. Meanwhile, the Chinese have been shrinking their holdings of US Treasuries. According to the Nikkei Asian Review, the moves are intended to reduce dependence on the US dollar. According to data released by the People’s Bank of China, the […]

Existing Home Sales Plunge; Biggest Year-on-Year Drop Since 2011

Here’s another sign that the air is coming out of housing bubble 2.0. Existing home sales fell 10.3% year-on-year in December. Sales, including single-family houses, townhouses, condos, and co-ops, dropped to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.99 million homes, according to the National Association of Realtors. This ranks as the biggest year-over-year drop since May […]