Peter's Blog

Recent CPI Dip May Prove “Transitory”

The latest seasonally adjusted month-over-month inflation rate was 0.3% (vs. .4% expected), with a non-seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.3% (vs 5.4% expected). The reason for the fall from July’s .47% pace was spread across multiple categories, specifically Commodities, Food, Shelter, and Transportation. While the CPI drop-off since the June peak appears to prove the […]

Breaking Down the $171 Billion August Federal Budget Deficit

The Federal Budget Deficit for August 2021 was $171B which was down from the $302B in July. The chart below shows the Federal Budget for the previous 18 months.

Government Wrecks Everything It Touches! SchiffGold Friday Gold Wrap Sept. 10

The government is always promising to fix things. It has policies to fix the economy, fix foreign countries, and even fix the pandemic. But as Friday Gold Wrap podcast host Mike Maharrey explains in this episode, instead of fixing things, the government wrecks pretty much everything it touches.

Did The Treasury Raid $250 Billion from Government Retirement Accounts (Again)?

The Treasury bumped up against the debt ceiling at the end of July. Since then, it has been using “extraordinary measures” to allow the Government to keep hemorrhaging cash without having to increase the debt ceiling. The chart below shows the month-over-month change in debt for August equal to $0. Despite zero net change, there […]

Commitment of Traders Shows a Potentially Bullish Setup in Gold and Silver

The CFTC Commitment of Traders (COTs) report is released once a week and shows a breakdown of open interest by trader category. The CFTC breaks down open interest by: Managed Money (e.g. Hedge Funds) Producers (e.g. gold mining companies) Swaps (e.g. banks) Non-Reportable Other

Big Jobs Miss: Leisure and Hospitality Add Zero Jobs

The Labor Department released its August jobs report on Friday. To say the numbers were disappointing would be an understatement. According to the report, there was an increase of only 235k jobs, well below the estimated 720k. That’s a miss of nearly 500k jobs.

Inflation Is a Thing! SchiffGold Friday Gold Wrap

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell spent most of his Jackson Hole speech continuing to try to convince everybody that inflation is transitory. As Friday Gold Wrap podcast host Mike Maharrey points out in this episode, whether it is or isn’t transitory, inflation is a real thing that has a real impact on real people. In […]

July Trade Deficit Shrinks but Trailing Twelve Month Number Hits New Record

The month-on-month trade deficit fell in July but remains far larger than it was a year ago. And the Trailing Twelve Month figure hit a new record.

Delivery Results: Gold and Silver Both Underwhelm

This analysis focuses on gold and silver physical delivery on the Comex. See the article What is the Comex for more detail. Delivery for both gold and silver was underwhelming.

Ohio Repeals Sales Tax on Gold and Silver Bullion

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine recently signed a bill into law exempting gold and silver bullion and coins from sales tax. This will not only relieve some of the tax burdens on investors in the state; it will also take a step toward treating gold and silver as money instead of as commodities.