US Mint set a new record for American Silver Eagle bullion coins this year.
The mint sold over 44,850,000 ounces of American Silver Eagles, topping the previous record of 44,006,000 ounces set last year. Analysts expect the final sales total for 2015 to come in between 45 and 47 million ounces.
This article is written by Peter Schiff and originally published by Euro Pacific Capital. Find it here.
Over the past year, while the US economy has continually missed expectations, Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen has assured all who could stay awake during her press conferences that it was strong enough to withstand tighter monetary policy. In delivering months of mildly tough talk (with nothing in the way of action), Yellen began stressing that WHEN the Fed would finally raise rates (for the first time in almost a decade) was not nearly as important as how fast and how high the increases would be once they started. Not only did this blunt the criticism of those who felt that the delays were unnecessary, and in fact dangerous, but it also began laying the groundwork for the Fed to do nothing over a much longer time period. To the delight of investors, the Fed has telegraphed that it will adopt a “low and slow” trajectory for the foreseeable future and move, in the words of Larry Kudlow, like “an injured snail.”
With the “positive” jobs report that came out last Friday, most analysts now think the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates this month.
Peter Schiff argues that the jobs report wasn’t really that positive considering the labor participation rate and the number of part-time workers. But he concedes that the rate hike may happen anyway, because Janet Yellen has changed the criteria she’s using to base her decision. On this edition of the Schiff report, Peter explains why the Fed has changed its tune, and why a hike, if it happens, isn’t the beginning of an upward trajectory.
The Fed chairman is trying to minimize the importance of liftoff…It’s not liftoff, It’s the flight path. It’s the trajectory. It’s how high do interest rates go and how quickly do they get there. And in fact, what the Fed chairman has really been saying is that, ‘Look, we’re going to raise interest rates, but don’t worry, because we may not raise them again any time soon.’ And in fact, from my perspective, if we actually get a rate hike next week, that’s the only rate hike we’re going to get from the Fed. It’s not going to be the beginning of the tightening cycle; it’s going to be the end of the tightening cycle.”
Peter Schiff got right to the point with Alex Jones last week: Obama is just trying to finish out his term without any major disasters. At this point, Peter thinks the Federal Reserve just might raise interest rates a hair this month, but then immediately lower them again when it becomes clear the economy is in a recession in 2016. Meanwhile, he believes the inclusion of the Chinese yuan in the IMF’s basket of reserve currencies signifies the end of an era for America on the global economic stage. Peter thinks buying gold and silver is a great way to profit from the coming crises, and he explained why he thinks silver may be an even better investment than gold.
While analysts and investors debate the latest jobs report, or obsess over the most recent Federal Reserve announcement, it’s easy to overlook the basic fundamentals of the gold market. With that in mind, consider this recent news: one of the world’s top gold producers says market dynamics may well lead to shrinking gold supplies in the future.
Randgold Resources Ltd. CEO Mark Bristow told Bloomberg that half the gold mined today is not viable at current prices. In other words, many mines aren’t even hitting their break-even point on half of the gold they dig out of the ground. That means new supplies of gold could begin to dry up in the near future.
Asian countries are not only buying up gold, they also have a huge appetite for silver.
Chinese imports of the white metal are on a record-breaking pace this year, driven partly by strong demand for jewelry and industrial applications such as solar panels.
According to the Wall Street Journal, based on the current trend, Chinese silver imports will top 3,000 tons in 2016, making it the best year since 2011:
China continued adding to its gold reserves and accelerated its pace in November.
According to Bloomberg, the Chinese upped their stash of of gold an estimated 21 tons last month, the largest increase in at least five months.
The value of gold assets was $59.52 billion at the end of last month from $63.26 billion at end-October, according to data on the People’s Bank of China website released Monday. That works out to 56.05 million troy ounces or about 1,743 tons, based on the London Bullion Market Association afternoon price auction on Nov. 30, Bloomberg calculations show. The stash was 55.38 million ounces a month earlier.”
This article was written by Dickson Buchanan, SchiffGold Precious Metals Specialist. Any views expressed are his own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Peter Schiff or SchiffGold.
To hike or not to hike – that question continues to swirl around the Federal Reserve. But it obscures an even more significant question: what difference does it really make to the gold investor?
As I explained last week, the Fed finds itself in a damned-if-it-does, damned-if-it-doesn’t scenario. Regardless of whatever economic news spins out of Washington D.C. in the next few weeks, the central bank has plenty of reasons not to raise rates. As we’ve argued for months, the economy simply can’t sustain a rate-hike of any significant amount over the long-haul. But if the Fed balks at a rate hike yet again, its credibility takes another shot on the chin.
So, it might try to nudge rates up this month. Or, it may well put it off again. But what does this mean for gold? Does it really matter in the long run?
Not really. There are more important fundamentals to consider.
Dr. Ron Paul interviewed Chris Rossini, regular contributor to LewRockwell.com and author of Set Money Free: What Every American Needs To Know About The Federal Reserve. Together, they debunked some common American myths, including the real source of inflation, US foreign policy against radical Islam, and the importance of real savings and capital in an economic system.
Going back and forth with Paul Krugman, I argue the case that his definition of inflation is different than mine. He says inflation is when the CPI goes up, which is a government statistic which they can alter at will… Austrian economics teaches that inflation really is the increase in the supply of money and credit, especially when it is artificial and comes from the Federal Reserve.”
After months of speculation, the Chinese yuan is now officially part of the International Monetary Fund’s benchmark currency basket, elevating it to reserve currency status.
Chinese monetary policy has focused on gaining entry into this elite club for the last year or so. With its membership safely secure, it raises an interesting question.
What’s next?
The IMF announced the yuan’s inclusion in the Special Drawing Rights (SDR) basket Monday. The New York Times called it a “milestone decision,” underscoring the significance of the move in terms China’s growing power on the world economic stage:
