Apparently, those stimulus checks weren’t enough. American consumers pulled out their credit cards and ran up big balances in February.
According to the latest numbers from the Federal Reserve, consumer debt unexpectedly spiked in February, growing at an annual rate of 7.9%. Economists had expected a small uptick in consumer debt after a flat January, but the sudden surge in credit card spending came as a surprise.
Unemployment is at 6%. Tens of thousands of people apply for unemployment every week (744,000 last week alone). The US government is spending trillions of dollars to “stimulate” the economy. But restaurants in northeast Florida can’t find enough workers to open every day.
Does this sound a nutty to you as it does to me?
Gold hit its highest price in five weeks after the release of the March Federal Reserve meeting minutes and comments by Jerome Powell both reiterated the central bank’s dovish position. In this episode of the Friday Gold Wrap podcast, host Mike Maharrey talks about the Fed’s dovish cry and how this could play out. He also discusses a strange dichotomy in the unemployment numbers.
Despite a significant selloff by Turkey, central banks globally added a net 8.8 tons of gold to their reserves in February, according to the latest data compiled by the World Gold Council.
Gold-buying by central banks slowed last year from the record pace we saw in 2018 and 2019, and that trend has continued into 2021, but many countries continue to load up on the yellow metal. Turkey and Russia’s sales through the first two months of the year have pushed net central bank reserves down, even while several countries continue to boost their gold holdings.
According to the mainstream narrative, the US economy is quickly recovering from the downturn caused by lockdowns in response to COVID-19. And while the downturn was sharp and painful, it really didn’t cause any long-term economic damage. Good times are ahead! After all, just look at the booming GDP numbers.
And therein lies a problem. The GDP doesn’t really give us a good picture of what’s going on in the economy. In fact, the way the number is calculated actually hides economic damage.
While gold prices have languished over the last few months, smart investors have taken advantage of the low prices and loaded up on physical gold.
For Q1, the US Mint reported its highest quarterly American Gold Eagle sales in more than 20 years.
Janet Yellen gave her first speech as Treasury secretary this week and called on the world to adopt a global minimum corporate tax. Peter Schiff talked about it during a recent podcast. He said Yellen’s message to the world reflects a major shift. America once led the world toward freedom. Now the goal seems to be to lead the world to less freedom.
Yellen bemoaned a “30-year race to the bottom” as countries have slashed corporate taxes in order to attack multinational businesses. Of course, the real problem Yellen wants to address is the competitive disadvantage the US will face with the Biden tax increases tucked into his new infrastructure plan.
Prices are going up. The Federal Reserve is printing money at an unprecedented rate. The US government continues to borrow and spend at a torrid pace. As Peter Schiff put it in a recent podcast, we’re adrift in a sea of inflation. Gold is supposed to be an inflation hedge. So, why isn’t the price of gold climbing right now?
In a nutshell, rising bond yields have created significant headwinds for gold. And the mainstream is reading rising yields and their relationship to gold all wrong.
We’re told inflation isn’t a problem. But a quick trip out to the grocery store or to fill up your car with gas tells you otherwise. Prices are going up. Peter Schiff recently appeared on Tucker Carlson’s show to talk about inflation. He said the price of everything is going up and the value of everything is going down.
Last week, we reported that the Russian National Wealth fund was dumping dollars and turning toward gold. The Russians have engaged in an intentional de-dollarization policy for several years. But it appears this could be part of a broader global move away from the greenback.
The dollar’s share of global currency reserves dropped significantly in the fourth quarter of 2020, falling to its lowest level in 25 years according to recently released IMF data. Globally, the dollar now makes up just 54% of global currency reserves. The last time the greenback’s share was this low was in 1995.
