Central banks closed out 2022 with reported net purchases of 28 tons of gold in December. Including large unreported purchases, this brought total central bank gold buying in 2022 to 1,136 tons. It was the second-highest level of net purchases on record dating back to 1950, and the 13th straight year of net central bank gold purchases.
With the Federal Reserve delivering a smaller 25 basis point rate hike at its February meeting, there is a perception that the central bank is nearing victory in the inflation fight. But as Peter Schiff pointed out during his podcast, Jerome Powell made several statements that indicate he doesn’t really understand inflation. That raises a question. How can the Fed fight what it doesn’t understand?
By all measures, the latest job report absolutely blasted past expectations with one of the biggest upside surprises in recent memory. The current month came in at 517,000 jobs created. But even that massive figure was beaten by the latest Household Survey which showed 894k jobs created in January.
Do you believe your eyes? Or do you believe your ears? That’s the dilemma you face as you try to make sense of the latest Federal Reserve meeting and Jerome Powell’s messaging. It’s also a question to ask yourself if you’re evaluating the performance of gold over the last year. In this episode of the Friday Gold Wrap podcast, host Mike Maharrey explores this dilemma in both contexts.
Most people believe the Federal Reserve stabilizes the economy and our money. In reality, the central bank incentivized debt and destroys wealth. Is there a way to sidestep the destructive forces of central banking and fiat money?
T.W. Thiltgen believes there is a freedom train we can escape on — gold.
Is the Federal Reserve easing off the accelerator on its inflation fight?
The answer depends on whether you believe your eyes or your ears.
Gold mine production was up modestly in 2022 as mining operations normalized post-pandemic. But mine output still hasn’t returned to the peak we saw in 2018, boosting speculation that we have possibly reached “peak gold.”
Federal Reserve officials insist they can still shrink the balance sheet significantly more than they already have.
You can file this assertion under the same category as “inflation is transitory,” and “the problems in the subprime mortgage market are contained.”
In other words, Fed officials have detached from reality — again.
Strange activity continues at the Comex!
Delivery volume for February was a little less than half the contracts open at first notice. 6,005 contracts were delivered with 7,370 remaining in open interest. This was a much larger relative delivery than December which saw less than a third of contracts delivered on the first day. Things seemed suspicious back in December, but this month had a potentially bigger red flag.
Why is there a labor shortage in the US?
In a nutshell, a lot of people have simply dropped out of the labor market. They’re not working.
But why?
