The year 2020 will not go down as a banner year, but it was fantastic for gold and silver. Both metals charted their best years since 2010.
On New Year’s Eve 2019, gold was trading at $1520.90. It closed the year at $1892.90 for a 24.5% gain.
There aren’t many people sad to see 2020 in the rearview mirror. But there’s no guarantee that 2021 is going to be any better. In his podcast final podcast of 2020, Peter Schiff said that hopefully, the upcoming year will be better healthwise in terms of COVID-19, but economically, this could be the year the chickens come home to roost.
Not just the ones that we let out in 2020 but the ones we have been letting out for the years and years and years that preceded 2020.”
It’s time to bid a fond farewell to 2020. Good riddance and don’t let the door hit you in the butt on the way out!
Of course, the New Year also means it’s time for — resolutions.
Confession: I’ve never been good at resolutions. In fact, I refuse to make them. Why set yourself up for failure? But get this; now I’m not only supposed to make resolutions for myself. I have to make them for my pets!
Ummm – no.
The year 2020 is coming to a merciful end. As it was with pretty much everything, it was a nutty year for the economy and the precious metals markets. We all hope 2021 will be better, but it seems unlikely that it will be any less nutty. In this special Thursday episode of the Friday Gold Wrap podcast, host Mike Maharrey takes a look back at 2020 and speculates on what could lie ahead in 2021.
So far, the US has escaped negative interest rates as a matter of central bank policy. Back in May, many thought a Fed move to negative rates was a real possibility. Of course, much of the world has operated under negative rates as a matter of policy for years. The European Central Bank (ECB) launched negative rates in June 2014. The Bank of Japan (BOJ) introduced negative rates in January 2016. Both are still maintaining a negative rate policy today.
While the Fed has resisted the temptation of a negative rate policy so far, that doesn’t mean Americans have escaped the reality of below-zero real rates. In fact, the world is awash in negative-yielding debt.
Peter Schiff has been saying that all of the “help” the US government and the Federal Reserve have offered up during the coronavirus pandemic isn’t helping. In fact, it’s made the situation worse. In a podcast last month, Peter said that all of the money printing and stimulus allowed people to keep spending, but they aren’t producing anything.
The problem is government doesn’t seem to understand the difference between money that is actually earned by being productive and money you get just because the Federal Reserve or some other central bank conjures out of thin air. When you’re productive, you’re helping to grow the economy. When the Fed prints money, all they’re doing is distorting the economy and increasing the cost of living.”
Peter Schiff has been driving home the fact that the Fed’s extraordinary monetary policy isn’t helping the economy. In fact, it’s setting the stage to destroy it.
Peter points out that the Fed seems to think inflation is the cure for what ails us. That means the monetary and fiscal policies that resulted from COVID are here to stay.
The Federal Reserve has increased the money supply by an astounding amount. This is by definition inflation. But the mainstream insists this isn’t a problem because we haven’t seen a big jump in the consumer price index. CPI has been creeping up, but it hasn’t reached the mythical 2% level. The Fed has signaled it will allow inflation to above that level for some time once it gets there. This should cause concern. As Peter Schiff said, the question is whether or not the Fed can keep doing this indefinitely and the answer is no.
Eventually, the dollar has to give way.”
The People’s Bank of China was the first central bank to roll out a digital currency. The digital yuan recently got a boost when China’s biggest online retailer announced it has developed the first virtual platform to accept the Chinese digital currency.
Digital currency is nothing more than a virtual banknote or coin that exists in a digital wallet on your smartphone instead of a billfold or a purse. Digital currencies issued by central banks are backed by the state, just like traditional fiat currency.
Peter Schiff shared his son’s Christmas list and drew a rather disconcerting conclusion – a lot of Americans think like a 7-year-old kid.
