Peter's Blog

Corporations Piling Up Debt at Record Pace

Corporations are piling on the debt. Last week, companies borrowed $74 billion in the US investment-grade bond market. It was the largest corporate debt increase for any comparable period since they started tracking such things in 1972.

Here We Go Again! SchiffGold Friday Gold Wrap Sept. 6, 2019

Here we go again! Gold and silver both took a tumble yesterday because US and Chinese officials are reportedly going to have a meeting. Hope that this might mean a thaw in the trade war boosted risk sentiment and drove profit-taking in the precious metals markets. We’ve seen this song and dance before. In this […]

The Fed Is Back in the Treasury-Buying Business!

Has QE4 already started? For the first time since October 2014, the Federal Reserve has bought a significant number of US Treasurys. Over the past two weeks, the Fed purchased $14 billion in US bonds.

Recession Warning! SchiffGold Friday Gold Wrap Aug. 16, 2019

The bond market flashed a major recession warning sign as the yield curve inverted this week. Meanwhile, Trump whipsawed markets when he appeared to blink in the never-ending trade war with China. That made for an interesting week for gold. In this week’s Friday Gold Wrap podcast, host Mike Maharrey breaks down the events of […]

Yield Curve Inverts Flashing Recession Warning; Stocks Plunge

The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell below the yield on the 2-year for the first time in 12 years, stoking recession fears and tanking stock markets. Yield curve inversions have preceded all nine recessions since 1955.  This was the first time the 10-year Treasury yield has dropped below the 2-year yield since June 2007 […]

Gold’s Record Week! SchiffGold Friday Gold Wrap Aug. 9, 2019

The price of gold surged this week, breaking all-time records in a number of currencies. It also did pretty well in dollar terms, hitting six-year highs and pushing above the key $1,500 level. Meanwhile, silver had its best single day in over three years. What drove this week’s precious metals rally? And can we expect […]

Who’s Gonna Save Us? SchiffGold Friday Gold Wrap 04.05.19

In this week’s Friday Gold Wrap, Mike Maharrey covers some more bad signs in the economy, including rising oil prices, an unexpected drop in retail sales and a surge in negative-yielding government bonds. At best, it looks like the economy is slowing down. Or it could be the prelude to the next crisis. This raises […]

Negative Yielding Government Debt Surges to Over $10 Trillion

Last week we reported that the yield curve on US Treasurys had inverted after the yield on the 10-year fell below the yield on 3-year bonds for the first time since 2007 – the cusp of the Great Recession. This has historically been an early-warning sign signaling a recession. Now we have some more bad […]

The US Government Has Spent Itself Inbetween a Rock and a Hard Place

As we pointed out in an article last week, the US federal government has added $1.5 trillion to the national debt over the last 12 months. As a result, the US Treasury Department is flooding the market with bonds. Meanwhile, the biggest buyers of US debt – China, Japan and the Federal Reserve – are […]

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 […]