Is the US losing its grip on the world? And could the dollar ultimately be dethroned from its spot as the world’s reserve currency?
We’ve reported extensively on countries working to undermine dollar hegemony and reduce the United States’ ability to weaponize the dollar as a foreign policy tool, along with the global gold rush on the part of central banks. Last week, Peter Schiff appeared on RT, along with former Pentagon official Michael Maloof, to talk about the world’s growing frustration with America. Peter said countries worldwide are ready to dump the US.
During a recent interview on RT America, Peter Schiff said investors should stay away from the dollar, not only because of the looming recession, but because its days as a reserve currency could be numbered.
Is this just hyperbole, or could the US dollar really fall off its throne? America’s enemies would certainly like to see it happen. And increasingly, so would its friends.
In a podcast a couple of weeks ago, Peter Schiff said we now have all the elements of a gold bull market. Well, it looks like the mainstream might be starting to catch on. A headline at Bloomberg on Friday proclaimed “Hedge Funds Go All-In on Gold.”
According to the Bloomberg report, hedge funds increased their gold net-long position by 23% to 285,082 futures and options, this according to US Commodity Futures Trading Commission data that was published on Friday. This figure measures the difference between bets on the price of gold going up and bets on a decline. It was the highest since July 2016.
The price of gold surged this week, breaking all-time records in a number of currencies. It also did pretty well in dollar terms, hitting six-year highs and pushing above the key $1,500 level. Meanwhile, silver had its best single day in over three years. What drove this week’s precious metals rally? And can we expect it to continue? Host Mike Maharrey talks about it in this week’s Friday Gold Wrap.
Several currencies have been strong against the dollar over the last couple of days, but as Peter Schiff said in his podcast, the biggest gainer wasn’t a currency at all. It was real money – gold.
Gold hit six-year highs on Monday and set records in a number of currencies. It continued to move upward on Tuesday. Overnight, the yellow metal pushed briefly above $1,500.
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.
The Reserve Bank of India has jumped on the gold bandwagon.
Since December 2017, the Indian central bank has added 50.4 tons of gold to its reserves.
India bought 8.2 tons of gold in January and February of this year and analysts project that pace to pick up. Economist Howie Lee told Bloomberg he expects the RSB to add as much as 1.5 million ounces of gold to its reserves in 2019. That comes to about 46.7 tons.
This has become a monthly feature here a SchiffGold News – Russia buys more gold.
The Central Bank of Russia added another 18.7 tons of gold to its stash in March according to a press release last week. This boosts the country’s gold reserves to 2, 167.9 tons or 69,700,000 ounces. Gold now makes up about 18% of the Russian central bank’s reserves.
Central bank gold purchases hit a level not seen since 2008 through the first two months of 2019.
Central banks added 90 tons of gold in the first two months of this year according to the latest report by the World Gold Council. This compares to 56 tons through the first two months of 2018 and ranks as the highest rate of growth since 2008.
China bought gold for the fourth straight month in March, adding another 11.2 tons of the yellow metal to its reserves, according to the latest data released by the People’s Bank of China.
With the most recent purchases, the Chinese official gold reserves stand at about 1,884 tons or 60.62 million ounces. The Chinese have been adding gold to their reserves over the last several months as they continue to minimize exposure to the US dollar.
