Silver pushed above $27 an ounce last week and rallied to over $28.50 on May 18. There has been some selling since, but as of the morning of May 19, the white metal was trading around $27.40 an ounce. That’s a better than 70% increase year-on-year. Even the mainstream is bullish on silver with many commodity analysts saying the rally will likely continue.
Monday is tax day. That means I have to send a big check to my overlords – a sacrifice to the gods of government if you will.
Of course, sacrifice to the gods is nothing new.
CPI came in much hotter than expected. Fed Vice Chairman Richard Clarida actually said, “We were surprised by higher than expected inflation data.” But should we really be surprised by this? In this episode, Friday Gold Wrap host Mike Maharrey talks about inflation and suggests maybe you shouldn’t be shocked. He also discusses the whacked-out labor market.
Gold demand in the technology sector was up 11% year-on-year, coming in at 81.2 tons in the first quarter of 2021.
According to the World Gold Council, the strong growth was partially due to comparison with relatively weak tech demand in the first quarter of 2020, as governments began shutting down economies in response to the coronavirus. But comparisons with Q1 2019 and Q1 2018 suggest that demand has recovered quite quickly and is now at more typical Q1 levels.
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell insists inflation is “transitory.” As prices have spiked throughout the economy, Powell’s messaging has essentially been, “Move along. Nothing to see here.”
Peter Schiff has been saying the central bankers at the Fed can’t actually tell the truth about inflation because even if they acknowledge it’s a problem (and it is) they can’t do anything about it.
In a recent talk, Jim Grant, investment guru and founder of Grant’s Interest Rate Observer, echoed Peter, saying the Fed can’t control inflation.
Central banks globally added a net 79.5 tons of gold to their reserves in March, led by a major purchase by Hungary, according to the latest data compiled by the World Gold Council.
If you are a regular Fun on Friday reader, you know I love sports. Hockey is my favorite followed by football. My favorite teams are the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Well, all of those worlds collided in a moment of sports harmony this week.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers tight end Rob Gronkowski joined Lightning players at their practice. Gronk even donned the goalie pads. (He showed a pretty solid glove hand.)
Gronkowski even brought along the Lombardi Trophy. Lightning players posed for pictures with the Super Bowl hardware.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen did a big flip-flop this week. Her comments and her subsequent attempt to walk them back were telling. She accidentally revealed the ugly truth about inflation and the central bank’s ability to deal with it. In this episode of the Friday Gold Wrap, host Mike Maharrey takes Yellen to task. He also talks about the recent rally in both gold and silver.
Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson recently signed a bill into law exempting gold and silver bullion and coins from sales tax. This will not only relieve some of the tax burdens on investors in the state; it will also take a step toward treating gold and silver as money instead of as commodities.
China and India rank one-two in global gold consumption, and through the first quarter of 2021, gold demand charted an impressive rebound in both countries.
China’s year-on-year gold consumption surged 93.9% as first-quarter demand rebounded to pre-pandemic levels. Meanwhile, official Indian gold imports hit the highest level in a decade in March.
