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POSTED ON February 24, 2016  - POSTED IN Key Gold Headlines

After a tepid first half of 2015, demand for gold rallied during the last half of the year, despite a number of economic and external factors working against it.

According to the World Gold Council’s Gold Demand Trends Full Year 2015 a surge in demand during the fourth quarter turned around what was looking to be a bad year for the yellow metal:

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Gold demand in the fourth quarter increased 4% year-on-year to a 10-quarter high of 1,117.7 tons. Full year demand was virtually unchanged…Weakness in the first half of the year was cancelled out by strength in the second half. Fourth quarter growth was driven by central banks (+33 tons) and investment (+25 tons).”

POSTED ON February 23, 2016  - POSTED IN Key Gold Headlines

Central bankers want you to think they have all the answers. They talk about their policy “tool kits” as if they can just reach in and find the proper solution for any possible economic scenario.

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But if you peer behind the curtain, it becomes apparent they may not really know what they’re doing after all. In fact, with a recession looming on the horizon, there are some signs of desperation among economic central planners.

The conventional Keynesian wisdom that dominates today holds that central banks need to lower interest rates when the economy slumps in order to stimulate borrowing and spending. But rates in the US hover just barely above zero. In the Eurozone and Japan, they languish in negative territory. So, what is a central banker to do when the next recession hits?

POSTED ON February 22, 2016  - POSTED IN Data Dependent Series, Key Gold Headlines

With four states officially in recession, and economic data continuing to point toward a broader downturn, it’s getting increasingly difficult for officials to sell the illusion of a strong US economy.

Peter Schiff has been saying for weeks that the US may already be in a recession. Recently, Jim Grant appeared on CNBC’s Closing Bell and echoed Peter’s sentiments, saying the US likely went into recession in late December. And while officials at the Federal Reserve keep insisting the US economy remains strong, some mainstream analysts have started sounding recession warning bells as well. In fact, the number of mainstream economists predicting a recession within the next 12 months continues to rise.

recession odds

So far, people have been able to blow off talk of a looming recession as mere chatter, but in some US states, it’s not just speculation; it’s reality. According to a Bloomberg report, four US states have officially gone into recession, with three more “at risk of prolonged declines.”

POSTED ON February 19, 2016  - POSTED IN Key Gold Headlines

Could the student loan bubble be on the verge of popping?

If desperate government actions serve as any indication, it may well be.

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Last week, seven US Marshals armed with automatic weapons came to Paul Aker’s home in Houston to arrest him for a $1,500 student loan debt dating back to 1987. According to the Guardian, Acker isn’t alone facing the barrel of a gun over outstanding student loans:

Aker is unlikely to be the only person to be surprised by marshals collecting on student loans. A source at the marshal’s office told Fox 26 that it is planning to serve warrants on 1,200 to 1,500 people over student loan debts.”

POSTED ON February 18, 2016  - POSTED IN Key Gold Headlines

The war on cash heated up this week when a former Obama economic adviser/ex-Treasury secretary floated the idea of eliminating the $100 bill.

Lawrence Summers called for death to the Benjamins in a post on his Washington Post blog titled It’s Time to Kill the $100 Bill. The post announced the release of a paper by Harvard’s Mossavar Rahmani Center for Business and Government senior Fellow Peter Sands arguing that governments should stop issuing high-denomination currency such as 500 euro notes and $100 bills. The paper even proposed withdrawing such currency them from circulation.

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Cash warriors always publicly center their arguments on the need to limit cash as a way to fight drug crime, terrorism, and tax fraud. This was exactly how Summers framed the argument in his blog post:

POSTED ON February 17, 2016  - POSTED IN Original Analysis

company-dickson-buchananThis article was written by Dickson Buchanan, SchiffGold Precious Metals Specialist. Any views expressed are his own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Peter Schiff or SchiffGold.

Mainstream media pundits, economists, and journalists alike love to lump gold in with other commodities. They put it in the same category as oil, copper, wheat, natural gas, and other things that come out of the ground. But while gold is in fact a metal you must dig up, it is a mistake to call it “just another commodity.” Gold’s recent price performance shows that it is anything but. Gold is a superior safe-haven asset to own in times of financial duress and uncertainty.

Since the beginning of 2016, the market has demonstrated that gold is a unique asset we should approach differently than other commodities. Here is a chart comparing the price of gold against major US domestic indices since the beginning of the year.

chart 1

POSTED ON February 16, 2016  - POSTED IN Key Gold Headlines, Videos

Kyle Bass, a well-known hedge fund manager who profitably shorted the subprime mortgage crisis, strongly believes gold investors should take physical possession of their precious metals. Speaking about his role as a fiduciary board member for the University of Texas Investment Management Company (UTIMCO), Bass explained last year why he advised UTIMCO to take physical possession of its nearly $1 billion worth of gold bars held in COMEX vaults.

Bass’ comments are particularly important given the newfound love for gold in the mainstream media that we’ve been reporting. Many investors assume that buying a gold Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF) on the COMEX is the same as investing in the physical metal, because such funds are “backed” by physical gold. Even Jim Cramer, who has recently come around to gold, actually advises buying paper gold instruments, rather than the real thing. But Bass shattered the illusion of the so-called “gold backing” of these funds:

POSTED ON February 15, 2016  - POSTED IN Key Gold Headlines

Negative interest rates are becoming more and more in vogue and that could be good news for gold.

Last week, Sweden’s central bank plunged a key interest rate even deeper into negative territory. Riksbanken slashed the rate from negative 0.35% to negative 0.50%. Many analysts anticipated the rate reduction, but the magnitude of the cut caught most by surprise.

The Swedish central bank’s move followed on the heels of the Bank of Japan dropping a key interest rate to negative 0.1%. The Japanese bank indicated it was willing to go deeper into negative territory if necessary.

POSTED ON February 12, 2016  - POSTED IN Original Analysis

company-addison-qualeThis article was submitted by Addison Quale, SchiffGold Precious Metals Specialist. Any views expressed are his own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Peter Schiff or SchiffGold.

The Wall Street Journal recently reported on a fascinating phenomenon unfolding in Venezuela. As many are aware, the nation is beset by a multitude of economic problems as its government has vainly attempted to produce a socialist paradise – with, of course, devastating results.

Things are apparently going to the next level. Recent air cargo shipments to Venezuela have not only included the usual fare of goods and supplies. Rather, 36 Boeing 747 jumbo jets recently arrived filled to the brim with, of all things, millions and millions of bolivars – Venezuelan paper currency

Yes – this is a mind-boggling amount of physical cash!

Sadly, Venezuela has actually had to outsource most of the printing of its currency due to shortages in supplies as well as a need for anti-counterfeit technology.

No doubt, all of these printed notes will end up sloshing around the Venezuelan economy driving up prices massively. Venezuela, according to sources, is effectively doubling the physical currency supply in circulation which will only worsen the country’s hyperinflation problem. It is projected to reach an inflation rate of 720% in 2016. And the currency is already nearly worthless. Last summer, a photo uploaded to Reddit of a man using a 2 bolivar note as a napkin went viral.

POSTED ON February 11, 2016  - POSTED IN Interviews, Videos

Jim Grant didn’t hesitate when asked. He sees the price of gold is going up.

Grant made the rounds Wednesday, appearing first on CNBC, saying he thinks the US is already in a recession, and we can expect even crazier monetary policy in the future. Then he did an interview with The Street and made an emphatic prediction about the price of gold:

I think gold is going to be coming into its own in reaction to the wrong-headed notions of our central bankers.”

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