Peter's Blog

Fun on Friday: Gold Quacks and Scammers

“But however mysterious is nature, however ignorant the doctor, however imperfect the present state of physical science, the patronage and the success of quacks and quackeries are infinitely more wonderful than those of honest and laborious men of science and their careful experiments.” – P.T. Barnum Yes. There are plenty of quacks in the world. And you’ll find more […]

Fed’s Monetary Tightening Could Become a Havoc-Wreaking Juggernaut

The price of gold has fallen four straight weeks, primarily driven down by anticipation of Federal Reserve monetary tightening. The kickoff of the Fed’s balance sheet normalization program and the expectation of rising interest rates have helped spark a dollar rally. But few people seem to be paying any attention to the pitfalls of quantitative […]

Committee Forming to Establish Indian Spot Gold Exchange

The World Gold Council has announced plans to form a committee that will help set up India’s first physical gold exchange. Officials say they hope to have the exchange up and running in 12 to 18 months. The committee will not actually set up the exchange, but will provide guidance. WGC Indian operations managing director […]

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 […]