The Federal Reserve FOMC met this week. When it was all said and done, the Fed did nothing. We’re stuck in neutral.
As expected, there was no rate hike. Fed Chair Jerome Powell indicated that the central bank would likely maintain this neutral stance into the foreseeable future, staying patient, neither raising nor lowering rates. So, why in the world did markets react like the Fed just jacked up interest rates? On this episode of the Friday Gold Wrap, host Mike Maharrey talks about it. He also gives an overview of the most recent World Gold Council demand report.
The Federal Reserve Open Market Committee meeting wrapped up yesterday with Fed policy still in neutral.
As expected, the FOMC left interest rates unchanged and seemed to indicate it doesn’t plan to do anything at all in the near-term. Jerome Powell’s comments dampened expectations that the central bank might move to cut rates in the coming months.
The committee is comfortable with current policy stance. Don’t see a strong case for a rate move either way.”
Most took Powell’s comments to be less dovish than expected, but Peter Schiff said he thinks the Fed is a lot more dovish than it admits.
Gold demand was up 7% year-on-year in the first quarter, according to the World Gold Council Gold Demand Trends Q1 2019 report.
Total global demand came in at 1,053.3 tons, driven primarily by central bank buying, inflows of metal into ETFs and strong demand for gold jewelry.
Australian mines are running out of gold, according to a report by S&P Global Market Intelligence.
Analysts say Australia sits poised above a “production cliff.” The country could slip from the world’s second-largest gold producer to fourth by 2024.
The Australian gold mining industry faces the same problem as South Africa’s – aging mines.
Global silver demand rose for the first time since 2015 last year.
The Silver Institute highlighted the growing demand for silver along with a number of technological innovations utilizing the white metal in its latest edition of Silver News.
It looks like the Federal Reserve is about to get back into the bond business and help the US government deal with its massive debt.
The Treasury Department announced yesterday that it will not have to borrow as much money in the third quarter of fiscal 2019 as originally anticipated. But this is not because of a slowdown in government spending. According to a Treasury official cited by Reuters, the reason for the lower borrowing estimate is due to an anticipated increase in Fed Treasury holdings as the central bank ends its balance sheet reduction program.
Central banks added more gold to their reserves last month, continuing a trend that stretches back into last year.
Globally, central banks added another 31 net tons of gold in March, according to the latest report by the World Gold Council based on International Monetary Fund data. That brings the total increase in central bank gold holdings this year to 145.5 tons.
The Commerce Department released the first estimate of Q1 GDP growth on Friday. It came in higher than expected at 3.2%.
Somewhat surprisingly, the price of gold rose on the news and the dollar showed some weakness. The primary reason was presumably lower inflation. This means the Fed still has the excuse it needs to continue the Powell Pause.
There was also some data in the Commerce Department’s report that reveals shakiness in that growth number. In fact, Peter Schiff said he thinks this will likely be the strongest growth of the year.
Peter Schiff recently appeared on RT to talk about rising oil prices, how they relate to inflation and what it could mean for the US economy.
There’s a video going around on Facebook blaming Trump because tax refund amounts are lower this year. I’m telling you, this video takes dumb to a whole new level!
