One of the seminal moments during my precious metals education over the past decade was hearing former Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke once explain to Ron Paul that “nobody really understands gold prices, and I don’t pretend to really understand them either.”...
Why Mark Cuban’s Comments On Gold Make Me Want To Buy More
During my time training to be an equity options trader, the shop I worked for required that I log 100 hours of poker training. Under the belief that there are great similarities between the decision-making required for poker, and that required for successfully trading...
What If Silver Isn’t Manipulated After All…
There’s a headline to get the silver bugs riled up! But take a deep breath. As far as I can see there is still every reason to thoroughly believe the market has been manipulated. And that there is a large short position that will eventually have to be resolved with a...
Are The Bubbles Teetering?
In a rather wild sequence of events this past Friday, a flurry of news indicated that we might be getting a bit closer towards the collapse of the stock, bond, and real estate bubbles. Consider some of the following CNBC screenshots from Friday, beginning with the...
How Do You Think The Chinese Feel About Buying Those Treasures Now?
Back in the beginning of the year Bloomberg reported that “senior government officials in Beijing reviewing the nation’s foreign-exchange holdings have recommended slowing or halting purchases of U.S. Treasuries.” A fair amount has happened since then, so it's worth...
Fed Launches Stealth QE “New Normal”
In recent years the Federal Reserve has hardly been known for its track record and credibility. Yet a few weeks ago chairman Jerome Powell slipped in a real whopper that was downright stunning, even for the Fed. It turns out that apparently when the Fed has been...
New “Budget” Deal Has Debt on Track for $30 Trillion
New “Budget” Deal Has Debt on Track for $30 Trillion Recently the mainstream media has been celebrating the news that the government has passed a spending deal and averted another shutdown. However as usual, the coverage avoids seeing the bigger picture. As well as...
Following Fed Meeting, Watch Out For These Market Risks
Following Fed Meeting, Watch Out For These Market Risks Last week the Federal Reserve held a policy meeting and raised interest rates by 25 basis points as expected. But perhaps even more important was the guidance they issued going forward, and the impact it will...
What To Expect From The Fed This Wednesday
Much of the attention in the financial markets this week will be focused on the Federal Reserve's upcoming meeting on Wednesday. Where it’s widely assumed that the Fed will raise its short-term interest rate target by 25 basis points. So why is this particular meeting...
Is The Housing Market Flashing A Warning?
On Monday the Commerce Department released data indicating a second straight month of weak home sales. Economists have cited "weather and the volatile nature of the new-home sales data” as the primary factors. Although given the recent rise in interest rates, as well...
Will New Fed Chairman Powell Really Allow Rates To Rise?
On Tuesday morning Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell testified before Congress. Of note was that right as Howell hinted at a somewhat slightly more hawkish than expected outlook, the bond market sold off. "At the December meeting the median participant called for...
Where Is The Stock Market Money Going To Go?
Given the way markets have stagnated in recent years under unprecedented amounts of central bank management and distortion, it can be easy to think that what's happening will continue indefinitely. However a recent CNBC report highlighting investor withdrawals from...
Is Gold Worth More Or Less Than Its $1900 High In 2011
One of the challenges with investing in precious metals is that there is so much distortion in the market that figuring out a true fair value is not always the easiest thing to do. Yet there are clues investors can look at that indicate that when the price starts to...
Did The Office Of Management And Budget Just Throw In The Towel?
At some point you really have to begin to wonder if the U.S. government has simply given up on the idea of even pretending to have any sort of fiscal plan. It’s almost as if they’ve stopped trying to even bother to maintain the appearance of solvency, and are just...
China Rating Agency Downgrades U.S. Debt
While U.S. government and Federal Reserve officials continue to pretend as if all is well in the economy, apparently a rather important counter-party doesn't share the same view. A few weeks ago there was a story about how the Chinese government is considering...
