Peter's Blog

South African Gold Production Drops for 14th Straight Month

Gold output in South Africa fell for the 14th straight month in November. According to Bloomberg, it ranks as the longest streak of monthly declines since 2012. Production fell 14% from a year earlier, Pretoria-based Statistics South Africa said in a statement on its website last week. South Africa once led the world in gold […]

He Said What? Gold Is a Useless Metal?

A couple of days ago, CNBC commentator Jim Leventhal made a pretty astounding comment. When asked about gold, Leventhal said he had no interest in it because gold has no uses as a metal. No uses? What?

Billionaire Buys Gold for the First Time

Billionaire Sam Zell said he recently took the plunge and bought gold. “For the first time in my life, I bought gold because it is a good hedge,” Zell said during an interview on Bloomberg TV.

Peter Schiff: The Eye of the Financial Hurricane

Stock markets appear to have stabilized after a “December to remember.” But in his most recent podcast, Peter Schiff said we’re really just in the eye of a financial hurricane. The selloff began after the September Fed rate hike. At the time, Peter called it the hike that broke the camel’s back. The market plunged in […]

Troubling Signs for Uncle Sam as Demand for US Treasuries Sags

Last February, we asked the question: who will buy all of this US debt? With the demand for US Treasuries dropping precipitously as the US Treasury floods the market with paper, it’s time to revisit that question.

Brits Deal With Brexit Uncertainty By Hoarding Gold

As uncertainty swirls around Brexit and exactly what that will mean for the economy, Brits have been hoarding gold. According to a statement by The Royal Mint, the demand for gold bars and gold coins spiked in December as uncertainty about the UK’s exit from the EU grew. We have seen a significant increase in demand […]

Exploding US Debt “The Most Viable Threat” to the Economy

Tocqueville Management Corp. chairman John Hathaway says the growing US government debt to GDP ratio poses “the most viable threat” to the US economy. In his fourth-quarter investment letter, Hathaway said the ballooning US debt, coupled with a bear market and a recession, will likely weaken the dollar and send gold much higher in the near future.

Is the “Powell Put” In?

The Federal Reserve released minutes from the December Federal Open Market Committee meeting on Wednesday and it looks like the “Powell Put” might be in. The minutes revealed a much more dovish sounding Fed as we move into 2019. Members of the FOMC indicated they could be “patient” with future rate hikes and said the […]

Why Gold? Why Now?

Gold will have an increasingly relevant role to play in investors’ portfolios in 2019. This was the conclusion of the World Gold Council’s Outlook 2019 Report. In the report, the WGC highlights three key trends it thinks will influence gold demand and price performance in the coming year. 

Global Gold-Backed ETF Holdings Top $100 Billion for First Time in Six Years

Total holdings in global gold-backed ETFs finished above $100 billion in 2018, according to the latest data by the World Gold Council. It’s the first time ETF total gold holdings have eclipsed the $100 billion mark since 2012. Globally, ETFs added 69 tons of gold in 2018, bringing total holdings to 2,440 tons valued at […]