Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine recently signed a bill into law exempting gold and silver bullion and coins from sales tax. This will not only relieve some of the tax burdens on investors in the state; it will also take a step toward treating gold and silver as money instead of as commodities.
Jerome Powell delivered his much-anticipated speech virtually during the Jackson Hole summit on Aug. 27. Peter Schiff talked about the speech during his podcast. Everybody expected a hawkish speech outlining the Fed’s plan to taper quantitative easing. Instead, Powell tapered the taper talk.
Silver could serve as a replacement for more expensive rare-earth metals in touch screens and other electronic applications according to an article in the latest edition of Silver News by the Silver Institute. Silver News also covers other technological developments and news relating to silver.
The “transitory” inflation swamping the country has stubbornly persisted into July. Producer prices posted a second straight 1% month-over-month increase, which brought the full-year number to a record 7.8%. Twelve-month US export prices rose 17.2%, and nearly 22% if the rate of the first seven months of 2021 were annualized. (I find it telling that those prices – which are subject to no after-the-fact data collection adjustments – are rising at a rate that is nearly triple the CPI).
The Fed balance sheet stands at $8.33 trillion, up $111 billion from the prior month-end.
The chart below shows how the Fed Balance sheet has grown by instrument over the last 18 months. The major surge from COVID can be clearly seen as $2.5T was added within 2 months. The monthly changes since then reflect QE on autopilot.
Jerome Powell will speak today at the Jackson Hole economic summit. Everybody is on pins and needles in anticipation of the Fed chairman’s speech. In this episode of the Friday Gold Wrap podcast, host Mike Maharrey discusses the Fed’s messaging and then moves past the talk to discuss the “here and now” reality. He also spends some time talking more fundamentally about gold as part of an investment strategy.
The current economic environment is generally supportive of commodities. Higher inflation rates, improving economic conditions and commodity supply shortages all favor this sector. As a result, investors are increasing allocations to commodities. And according to a report published by the World Gold Council, gold is positioned as the most effective commodity investment in a portfolio.
During a Q&A with students and teachers, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell praised the bad economics that drove the government response to the coronavirus pandemic. In this clip from his podcast, Peter Schiff breaks down everything Powell got wrong.
During the Zoom event, Powell went out of his way to praise Congress for passing the “CARES Act.” The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act was the first $2.2 trillion stimulus plan Congress passed in response to the pandemic back in March 2020.
M2 Money Supply is measured by the Federal Reserve to calculate the amount of money in the financial system. Historically, the term inflation was defined as an expansion of the money supply that generally led to higher prices. Therefore increases in M2 is the measure of inflation. This analysis reviews the changes in money supply as a potential indication of future price increases.
This analysis focuses on gold and silver physical delivery on the Comex set for September 21, 2021. See the article What is the Comex for more detail.
