Imagine a bedroom. It looks clean and safe, but there is a monster under the bed that nobody notices. As host Mike Maharrey explains in this episode of the Friday Gold Wrap, that’s basically the condition of the US banking system right now. It appears “sound,” but a closer look reveals a financial crisis is still bubbling under the surface. He also talks about the recent run-up in the price of gold.
October CPI coming in cooler than expected ramped up expectations that the Federal Reserve is at the end of its inflation fight. In fact, many analysts now expect the Fed to begin cutting interest rates in 2024.
Looking at the bigger picture, inflation’s apparent retreat boosted mainstream belief that the economy will glide to a “soft landing.” With a lot of economic data weakening, the markets anticipate that the Fed will proactively cut rates to preempt a recession and prevent a crash landing. The thinking is as soon as it sees the economy coming in for a landing, it’s going to cut rates to ensure that landing is soft.
The Federal Reserve has lost well over $100 billion dollars, and even when it returns to “profitability,” it will likely take over four years before the central bank is completely in the black.
And you’re going to foot the bill.
Deutsche Bank economists say the Federal Reserve will create more inflation in 2024.
OK, that’s not exactly what they said. But that is the implication of their latest forecast.
Ahead of a possible challenge on the $2,000 level, gold consolidated recent rises this week, and silver held up well. This morning in European trade, gold was $1995, up $15 from last Friday’s close, and silver was $23.70, unchanged on the week. Comex volumes were healthy, despite the Thanksgiving holiday in the US.
Did you know Thanksgiving almost didn’t happen thanks to the Pilgrims’ experiment with socialism? It didn’t work. Fortunately, they figured out some economic truths and the rest is history. In this episode of the Friday Gold Wrap, host Mike Maharrey tells the Thanksgiving story you almost certainly didn’t hear in school. He also explains why today is called Black Friday.
“Resilient” American consumers are digging into their retirement funds to pay their bills.
Mainstream financial pundits, politicians, and Fed officials keep telling us the economy is strong because Americans keep spending money. They just assume this is a sign of economic strength without ever asking exactly how they’re paying for all of this “robust” spending.
Inflation robs you of purchasing power by driving up the price of everything you buy. You see the impacts of inflation every time you go to the store. But sometimes inflation hits you in a more subtle way that’s difficult to see – through “shrinkflation.”
I experienced shrinkflation first-hand last weekend.
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) drives markets and motivates policy, but it is nothing but speculation, estimation and wild guesses.
A recent “tweak” to the health insurance CPI reveals the formula is basically a scam.
