If you were thinking federal government spending might slow down a bit after the national debt crossed the $22 trillion mark – well, it didn’t.
Last month, the federal budget deficit came in at $208 billion, according to Treasury Department data. It was the largest May deficit in history.
Uncle Sam spent $440 billion last month, up 21% year-on-year. Receipts increased to $232 billion, up 7% from May 2018.
A European payment system set up to circumvent US sanctions on Iran will be ready soon, according to German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas.
This is yet another move in a global effort to minimize dependence on the US dollar.
After a dip in demand in 2018, it appears Indians are buying gold again.
Anecdotal data seemed to indicate strong demand for the yellow metal in India during the Akshaya Tritiya holiday. Retailers reported sales were up by as much as 25%. As it turns out, demand was indeed strong. Gold imports into India were up 36% year-over-year in May, according to sources cited by Bloomberg.
China added to its official gold reserves for the sixth straight month in May as it continues efforts to minimize exposure to the dollar.
The People’s Bank of China increased its gold reserves by another 15.86 tons last month, according to data released by the bank on Monday. That raises the official Chinese gold reserves to 61.61 million ounces (1925.26 tons).
Central banks bought more gold in April, according to a report by the World Gold Council. This continues a gold-buying spree that stretches back to last year.
Globally, central bank net purchases of the yellow metal totaled 43 tons. That is an 8% increase month-on-month.
Oil and gold are marching in opposite directions. If history is any indication, that’s not good news for the US economy.
Oil prices fell sharply starting late last week and through the early part of this week. On Monday, West Texas Intermediate crude touched $53.25, the lowest level since February. Meanwhile, the price of gold surged, blasting through the $1,300 mark to reach prices not seen in more than a year.
The silver-gold ratio has spread to over 89-1. In non-technical terms, that’s way out of whack!
But what does this really mean?
In a nutshell, it means silver is on sale. And right now, SchiffGold has a great opportunity for you to take advantage of this bargain.
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Two more countries have joined the global gold-buying spree.
According to a Bloomberg report, the Philippines’ central bank will increase gold purchases to upwards of 1 million ounces per year in the wake of a new law that exempts taxes on the monetary authority’s bullion purchases from small-scale miners. The country’s central bank has been adding between 20,000 and 30,000 ounces per year.
Meanwhile, Serbia plans to increase its gold reserves from 20 to 30 tons by the end of this year, according to an RT report.
Russia is considering creating a gold-backed cryptocurrency to build an alternative international payment system as the country continues to seek a path toward de-dollarization.
According to the Russian news agency TASS, Governor of the Bank of Russia Elvira Nabiullina said the bank would consider a proposal for a gold-backed cryptocurrency at the request of the State Duma (the lower house of the Federal Assembly) even though the bank would prefer to advance payments in national currencies.
Last week we highlighted the rising level of auto loan delinquencies and the growing number of student loan borrowers who can’t make their payments. This week, we got some more bad news for lenders. Subprime credit card charge-offs remain at levels reminiscent of the Great Recession.
In the first quarter of this year, credit card charge-off rates at all but the largest 100 banks remained above 7% for the sixth quarter in a row. During the peak of the recession, the charge-off rate at these banks was above 7% for just four quarters, and not consecutively.
