News

Socialism seems to be on the rise, with jurisdictions like New York City electing avowed socialists to “fix the economy.” Whether it’s state control of the money supply or intervention in capital and labor markets, sound economics demonstrates that central planning never works. The following article was originally published by the Mises Institute. The opinions […]

One way that inflation-prone fiat currency took over the monetary system was legal tender laws, which obligate private citizens to accept currencies like the dollar even when they don’t want to. Without these policies, weak and eroding currencies would fall to the wayside, and more stable currencies would replace them. The following article was originally […]

U.S. private-sector hiring slipped into negative territory last month, according to the November ADP National Employment Report released December 3rd. Payrolls fell by 32,000 positions—an abrupt reversal that economists say underscores gathering economic headwinds and a wary consumer. Small businesses were the hardest hit, shedding 120,000 jobs, while the spot price of gold briefly punched […]

President Trump recently classified a certain group of graduate degrees as non-professional degrees. This decision lowered the limit for Federal student loans for these programs. Whether one perceives this as a helpful reduction of spending or a political slight against social sciences, this example shows the government rationale regarding education. Education’s value is often evaluated […]

Federal Reserve Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman assured House lawmakers on December 2nd that the “Federal Reserve” “banking system remains sound and resilient,” citing robust capital ratios, ample liquidity, and falling non-performing loans. Testifying before the House Committee on Financial Services, she painted a largely upbeat picture of traditional banks even as gold prices—often […]

Black Friday, the ultimate consumer holiday, has lost some of its luster in recent years as Americans become increasingly indebted, cash-strapped, and hamstrung by high inflation. Known as an all-out buying bonanza where shoppers flood retailers for deals on everything from TVs and toys to kitchen utensils, this year all signs point to a muted […]

The following analysis breaks down the Fed balance sheet in detail. It shows different parts of the balance sheet and how those amounts have changed. It also shows historical interest rate trends. Breaking Down the Balance Sheet The Fed has decided to end Quantitative Tightening (QT) on December 1st. In late 2019, the Fed balance […]

Peter Schiff presents his ‘Friday Gold Market Wrap,’ starting with a reflection on Thanksgiving and an unexpected but critical analysis of gold and silver markets. Despite intentions to skip the wrap, the dramatic movements in gold and silver prices warranted attention. Schiff highlights record highs in silver, mentioning silver’s substantial year-to-date increase of 95% and […]

A gold selloff as feared overnight after the bulls failed to regain the 55hr moving average.  The bears pounced on the first chance they got and, unfortunately for the bulls this time, it was a legitimate reason to sell: a much higher-than-expected USDCNY fix from the PBOC (aggressive pushback against Chinese yuan strength) that lifted […]

A poor rest of the day for gold in that it couldn’t regain the MSFT-induced losses from the 9amET hour.   The broader stock and crypto markets ultimately shrugged off the unsubstantiated reporting from The Information when Microsoft swiftly denied the core claim of reduced AI sales quotes, but gold continued to languish.  With the broader USD now […]

A disappointingly challenging overnight session for gold, with Chinese buyers ultimately getting squashed by sellers who seemingly wanted to stir anxiety over a new cycle high for Japanese 10yr bond yields.  While much calmer Western bond markets and broad USD selling during the European AM, plus this morning’s much weaker-than-expected November ADP Employment report, then […]

A strange rest of the day for the precious metals, mainly because of an obnoxious 1.3% gold selloff during the 10amET hour.  One could argue that platinum’s continued weakness into the London close, and a not-strong-enough bond market, were legitimate reasons for a gold pullback; but suddenly giving up the 55hr moving average, the COMEX opening […]

A volatile start to the week for the precious metals.  Spillover buying momentum from Friday’s incredible +6% surge for silver, and yet more excitement for platinum at the China open, got things off to a great start.  However, we then saw gold get hit in three distinct waves over the last 48hrs as global bond […]

A wild end to the week for the precious metals.  Bitcoin’s strong defense as Wednesday’s highs (as new support) in quiet US Thanksgiving trade yesterday laid the groundwork for silver to finish holiday-shortened Thursday trade more positively (back into Wednesday’s high).  A second day in a row of frenzied platinum buying at the China open, […]

A strange overnight session for the precious metals; almost as if the trading algorithms were programmed to hunt stop orders in both directions amid the holiday-thinned trading conditions.  The first move for gold & silver was to the downside during the 8amET hour, mind you this was rational given USDCNH’s pop following one of the […]

An impressive rest of the day for silver and the PGMs, largely because of the USD reversal lower during the 9amET hour, following an awful looking November Chicago PMI report.  Stocks and Bitcoin soon followed with strong rallies, adding further fuel to the advance for the risk-sensitive white metals.  Gold lagged however, and was unable […]