The Federal Reserve manipulates interest rates, creates money out of thin air, blows up asset bubbles and generally wreaks havoc on the economy. But some people have found an even more insidious problem with the Fed.
It’s not “diverse” enough.
Historian Tom Woods offered up some pretty sharp observations about this latest “outrage” in a recent email. And lest you think this is just a screed against left-wing social justice warriors, he has some sharp words for Republicans too. There’s pretty much bipartisan agreement when it comes to the “indispensable” nature of the Fed.
This article was written by Joel Bauman, SchiffGold Senior Precious Metals Specialist. Any views expressed are his own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Peter Schiff or SchiffGold. The article focuses on the gold market through the lens of technical analysis. Technical analysis is a subjective form of study based on historical price patterns. The analysis offered is for educational purposes and is not a recommendation to buy or sell.
Over the last several weeks, we’ve spotlighted a lot of data indicating the economy isn’t nearly as strong as the mainstream pundits keep telling us. We’ve focused on the collapsing retail sector. We’ve looked at household debt and US consumer stress. We’ve talked a lot about the US federal debt and its potential impact on the economy.
There’s another factor that indicates there may be some cracks in the global economy – the silver-gold ratio.
Stocks rebounded Monday after their precipitous fall late last week. The Dow Jones rose 669 points. Then on Tuesday, it tanked again, falling over 300 points.
In his latest podcast, Peter Schiff said the increase in stock market volatility is another sign things are different. He reiterated what he said last Friday. He thinks we are in a bear market. All of the flashing warning signs are there. It’s just that nobody can seem to see them.
Yesterday, we reported that some of the big mainstream players in the investment world, including Goldman Sachs, have suddenly gone bullish on gold. They aren’t alone. US Global Investors CEO Frank Holmes said he thinks the yellow metal might hit $1,500 per ounce this year.
Even with the headwinds caused by Federal Reserve monetary tightening, gold has had a pretty good start to 2018. It’s up close to 3% on the year. In fact, gold is one of the best-performing assets so far this year. As of March 23, gold had outperformed the dollar index, the S&P 500, US Treasuries and the Bloomberg Commodity Index.
Twitter has announced a ban on cryptocurrency ads.
The social media company’s announcement is more bad news in what has turned into several bad months for cryptocurrencies.
In his most recent podcast, Peter Schiff said gold could explode at any minute. Maybe the mainstream was listening because some big players, including Goldman Sachs, have suddenly turned bullish on gold.
Commodity analysts at Goldman say they expect gold to “outperform” in the coming months due to an uptick in inflation and “increased risk” of a stock market correction. According to a CNBC report, it’s the first time in more than five years Goldman’s commodity analysts have been bullish on the yellow metal.
Last Thursday, the Dow Jones fell 724 points. It followed up with a 424 point decline on Friday. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq fell 2.43% Friday.
Most analysts blamed the plunge on fear of an all-out trade war between the US and China. But the Federal Reserve rate hike on Wednesday also likely played a part in the stock market decline. The markets don’t like the prospect of having their easy-money punch bowl taken away.
So, could we be on the verge of a gold breakout as stocks break down?
Spending America into oblivion has become business as usual on Capitol Hill.
On Friday, Pres. Donald Trump signed a $1.3 trillion dollar spending bill. The legislation funds the federal government through the remainder of the 2018 budget year, which ends Sept. 30.
The bill directs $700 billion to the military and $591 billion to various domestic agencies. According to the Washington Post, military spending will increase $66 billion over the 2017 level, and the nondefense spending comes in at $52 billion more than last year.
The SchiffGold Friday Gold Wrap podcast combines a succinct summary of the week’s precious metals news coupled with thoughtful analysis. You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes.
