On Dec. 31, 2016, the price of gold stood at 1,156.00. Today, it is knocking on the $1,300 mark. The yellow metal is on track to gain about 12% in 2017, its best year since 2010. Gold has made these gains despite a number headwinds that we would expect to put a significant drag on gold.
Here are seven major themes that have driven gold news over the past year.
When it comes to Bitcoin, you can count on one thing – volatility.
The price of Bitcoin plunged more than 11% Thursday morning, dipping below the $14,000 level after the South Korean government announced plans to more tightly regulate cryptocurrencies.
Last month, we reported on a Bank of America survey that indicated the mainstream has started to acknowledge that the stock market is a big, fat, ugly bubble.
The latest fund-manager survey by Bank of America Merrill Lynch found that a record 48% of investors say the US stock market is overvalued. Meanwhile, 16% of investors say they are taking on above-normal risk. BoA chief investment strategist Michael Hartnett called this “an indicator of irrational exuberance.”
Now, even the government has taken notice, acknowledging asset prices are floating in dangerous bubble territory.
As we pointed out a few weeks ago, we’ve now entered the prime time to buy Christmas cards, decorations, and wrapping paper. Why? Because with Christmas in the rearview mirror, Christmas stuff is all on sale.
There are a lot of reasons to believe gold is also on sale right now.
The investment world has focused most of its attention on stock markets and cryptocurrencies over the last few months. But as an article recently published in Forbes points out, there are at least 10 good reasons to believe now is the time to buy gold.
As we’ve reported, the US government is spending money like a drunken sailor. But nobody really seems to care.
Since Nov. 8, the US national debt has risen $1 trillion. Meanwhile, the Russell 2000 (a small-cap stock market index) has risen by 30%. Former Reagan budget director David Stockman said this makes no sense in a rational world, and he thinks the FY 2019 is going to sink the casino.
Earlier this month, World Gold Council chief market strategist John Reade said he expects gold to shine in 2018, and one of the primary reasons will be rising income growth in China and India.
A report recently published by the Centre for Economics and Business Research lends support to Reade’s prediction. According to the 2018 World Economic League Table, India will leapfrog France and England in 2018 to become the world’s fifth largest economy in dollar terms. The report also predicted that China will overtake the US as the world’s biggest economy in 2032.
There is a mass exodus from Illinois.
According to the US Census Bureau, the Prairie State lost a net 33,700 residents in fiscal year 2017. More people bailed out of Illinois than any other state in the US. And based on calculations the folks over at ZeroHedge worked out, the exodus was even worse than the Census Bureau numbers indicate.
Of course, the net population loss masks the true gross outflow of Illinois residents as it doesn’t account for natural births/deaths. Assuming that Illinois has the same natural population growth as the US as a whole (0.7%) implies that the state lost a staggering ~125,000 residents in aggregate, or roughly 1 man/woman/child every 4.3 minutes.”
So, why the big rush to bail out of the great state of Illinois?
The House and Senate both passed the GOP tax bill yesterday. As of Wednesday morning, it needed just one more vote in the House on some technical changes made in the Senate before it heads to Pres. Trump’s desk.
The media keeps calling the Republican bill “tax reform.” Peter Schiff called that, “fake news.”
Have you heard of the depression of 1920-21?
Unless you’re a pretty hard-core economics geek, you probably haven’t.
The most striking aspect of this depression was its duration. It lasted just 18 months. And how did the US get itself out of this sharp economic downturn?
By essentially doing nothing.
China wants to dethrone the dollar and it could take a step in that direction before the end of the year.
According to numerous reports, China is prepared to launch a yuan-denominated oil futures contract before Christmas. Last week, the Shanghai International Energy Exchange successfully completed a fifth round of yuan-backed oil futures testing. According to a report by RT, the organization has met all the listing requirements and is set for an official launch.
