All major categories of silver demand charted highs in 2022, contributing to a new total global silver demand record of 1.242 billion ounces.
This is one of several silver-related stories in the latest edition of Silver News published by the Silver Institute.
The failure of First Republic Bank reveals that the banking system isn’t nearly as sound as Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell would have us believe. But as Peter explained in a recent podcast, it’s not just the banking system that’s messed up. The Fed has screwed up everything that is a function of interest rates by keeping rates at zero for so long.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen keeps insisting that the banking system is “sound.” Is it though? Because it doesn’t look particularly sound.
In fact, we just witnessed the second-largest US bank failure ever.
On May 1, new Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) rules went into effect that will allow borrowers with lower credit ratings to qualify for better mortgage rates than they otherwise would have. Meanwhile, borrowers with better credit ratings will pay higher fees to subsidize the program. Peter Schiff recently appeared on Real America with Dan Ball to talk about the new rules.
President Biden has announced he will run for a second term in 2024. Peter Schiff recently appeared on the Ingraham Angle on Fox News to talk about what will happen if we keep going down the Biden road. In a nutshell, Peter said we can’t afford to let Biden “finish the job.”
The CoTs report is a breakdown of open interest in the major futures markets as reported by the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission
Please note: the CoTs report was published 04/28/2023 for the period ending 04/25/2023. “Managed Money” and “Hedge Funds” are used interchangeably.
The Fed is still bailing out banks.
The Bank Term Funding Program (BTFP) reached a new all-time high in April, suggesting that the banking crisis has not yet passed.
And while the aggregate balance sheet looks to be shrinking, the detailed data shows it is more complex than that.
Silver has seen a relatively weak delivery to start the action in May. While this could be considered disappointing to some who were looking for fireworks, a look beneath the surface shows that all is not well.
Many people are concerned about a possible move toward central bank digital currency and we’re starting to see organized pushback on the idea. But as Friday Gold Wrap host Mike Maharrey explains, a lot of people are so caught up in taking on CBDC that they’re missing the more fundamental problem with government-issued fiat currency. Paper money isn’t the solution. It is the parent of the problem.
Bed Bath and Beyond might be a canary in the coal mine.
The home goods retailer filed for bankruptcy earlier this week. And according to research by UBS, this is likely just the beginning of a surge of retail store closures.
