So, did you go Black Friday shopping this morning?
I didn’t. In fact, I have never gotten up to join the Black Friday hordes. There isn’t a Walmart deal that can entice me to go shopping at 5 a.m. I like to sleep more than I like saving a few bucks. Not only that, I worked at Toys R Us in my younger days and once had to break up a fist-fight over a Power Ranger on Black Friday. It’s scary out there. You need to be careful.
Stock markets hit new highs again this week. If you believe the headlines, the bullishness on Wall Street is mostly a function of trade deal optimism. But there’s another factor driving stocks higher – easy money courtesy of Federal Reserve (not) quantitative easing. In this episode of the Friday Gold Wrap, host Mike Maharrey talks about the impact QE4 is having on the markets and some delicious irony courtesy of a paper published by the central bank that admits its own policy might just be a problem.
Peter Schiff hit a number of subjects in his most recent podcast, including bitcoin, the stock market, wealth inequality, the Fed and the voting age. He also said we should be thankful for capitalism.
A paper by Scott A. Wolla and Kaitlyn Frerking for the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis warns that the Fed’s own policy could lead to “economic ruin.”
The paper titled “Making Sense of National Debt” explains the pros and cons of national borrowing in typical Keynesian fashion. In a nutshell, a little debt is a good thing, but too much debt can become a problem.
But in the process of explaining national debt, Wolla and Frerking stumble into an ugly truth — Federal Reserve money printing can destroy a country’s economy.
America’s economy is built on consumption. Average Americans have been pushing the US economy along, spending money they don’t have. But as we’ve reported, there are signals that the credit cards might be close to maxed out. Now there appears to be another warning sign – the wealthy are reining in their spending.
Poland has repatriated 100 tons of gold from England. National Bank of Poland Governor Adam Glapiński announced the yellow metal’s return home on Monday.
“The gold symbolizes the strength of the country,” Glapiński told reporters.
How much more can the auto loan bubble blow up before it pops?
Total auto loans and leases outstanding for new and used vehicles increased by another 4.3% year-on-year in the third quarter, according to the latest data from the Federal Reserve. This was a factor in pushing total American consumer debt to a new record of $4.15 trillion in September.
Meanwhile, auto loan delinquencies are surging.
Which countries produce most of the world’s gold?
Gold mine output has flatlined over the last several years and that trend appears to be continuing in 2019. Gold production rose fractionally in 2018 by about 1% totaling 3,346.9 tons. That compared with 3,318.92 tons mined in 2017 — a modest 28-ton increase year-on-year. According to the World Gold Council’s Gold Demand Trends Q3 report, on a year-to-date basis, mine production ended the third quarter at 2,583 tons. That’s virtually identical to production levels at this point in 2018.
Remember a couple of months ago when I told you about the stolen toilet? Well, they still haven’t found it.
For those of you who missed that one, you’re probably wondering why on earth anybody would steal a toilet. Well, it was made out of gold. Eighteen-karat gold to be precise. The golden potty was valued at about $6 million. Theives stole it from the Blenheim Palace in England.
It’s been a pretty dreary week on Wall Street with another round of trade war pessimism. Otherwise, there hasn’t been a lot of economic news to roil markets and precious metals have remained pretty much rangebound. But host Mike Maharrey has a silver lining for you on this episode of the Friday Gold Wrap podcast, along with a little Fed analysis.
