Peter's Blog

Gold-Backed ETF Holdings Climb Again in September on North American Demand

After surging in August, gold continued to flow into ETFs last month, signaling continued strong demand for the yellow metal – specifically in North America. According to the World Gold Council, gold-backed ETF holdings increased by 22.4 tons in September. This follows on the heels of a 31.4 ton increase in August.

Digital Fools Gold – Bitcoin’s Sustainability in Question

Recently, Jamie Diamond of Citibank made headlines by labeling Bitcoin a fraud. Whether those comments played any part in Bitcoin’s recent sell off is hard to say, but the true believers reacted with predictable outrage given that the comments came from the ultimate Wall Street insider whose financial supremacy is supposedly threatened by crypto currencies […]

Hartford and America: Suffering the Consequences of Political Malfeasance

What happens when government officials spend with virtually no restraint and they don’t have a printing press that can crank out more money? Hartford, Connecticut. Last week, both S&P Global Ratings and Moody’s Investors Service downgraded Hartford’s credit rating deeper into junk status. According to a Reuters report, the downgrade puts Hartford near the bottom […]

Gold: More than Just a Hedge

Conventional wisdom holds that gold is a good store of value, and provides a hedge of protection against inflation and economic upheaval. But a close look at the data reveals gold offers a long-term growth trajectory comparable to other financial asset classes.

Gold Sales at Australia’s Perth Mint Doubled Last Month

Gold sales at Australia’s Perth Mint doubled in September. Meanwhile, sales of silver surged 78%. Sales of gold coins and minted bars jumped to 46,415 ounces in September, up from 23,130 ounces a month ago. Silver sales during the month came in at 697,849 ounces, compared with 392,091 ounces in August.

Trump’s China-Sanctions Madness Imperils the Dollar

Earlier this month, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin threatened China, saying the US would “put additional sanctions on them and prevent them from accessing the US and international dollar system” if they don’t go along with the most recent round of sanctions slapped on North Korea. We argued that the threat may be meaningful, but it also might […]

India’s Appetite for Silver

Indians love gold. Despite rising prices, a tax increase, and government attempts to tighten regulation of the jewelry industry, gold imports into the country nearly tripled year-on-year in August. India ranks as the second largest gold consuming country in the world, trailing only China. But gold isn’t the only precious metal Indians covet. They also buy […]

Trump Tax Plan, Obamacare & Gold Fundamentals: SchiffGold Friday Gold Wrap Podcast Sept. 29, 2017

The SchiffGold Friday Gold Wrap podcast combines a succinct summary of the week’s precious metals news coupled with thoughtful analysis. You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes.

Fun on Friday: He Put Gold Where???

A few Fridays back, I shared some of the innovative ways people have come up with to smuggle gold. Like I said in that article, gold smuggling is a very lucrative business. People want gold, and they’ll go to great lengths to have it. But smuggling isn’t as easy as you might think, and people have put […]

Questions Remain as the Fed Finally Begins to Reverse QE

Last week, Janet Yellen announced the Federal Reserve will begin the much anticipated “tapering” of its massive balance sheet. The Fed chair also hinted another interest rate hike is in the works. After the most recent FOMC meeting, we raised the question: Is this a viable path forward, or is the central bank playing a game […]