The US gold market went into a deficit last year despite sluggish American demand, according to analysis by SRSrocco.
I’ve mentioned this several times in these Fun on Friday columns, but the whole phenomenon of eating gold fascinates me.
Because, really, it’s kind of weird.
When it comes to Bitcoin, you can count on one thing – volatility.
The price of Bitcoin plunged more than 11% Thursday morning, dipping below the $14,000 level after the South Korean government announced plans to more tightly regulate cryptocurrencies.
Last month, we reported on a Bank of America survey that indicated the mainstream has started to acknowledge that the stock market is a big, fat, ugly bubble.
The latest fund-manager survey by Bank of America Merrill Lynch found that a record 48% of investors say the US stock market is overvalued. Meanwhile, 16% of investors say they are taking on above-normal risk. BoA chief investment strategist Michael Hartnett called this “an indicator of irrational exuberance.”
Now, even the government has taken notice, acknowledging asset prices are floating in dangerous bubble territory.
As we pointed out a few weeks ago, we’ve now entered the prime time to buy Christmas cards, decorations, and wrapping paper. Why? Because with Christmas in the rearview mirror, Christmas stuff is all on sale.
There are a lot of reasons to believe gold is also on sale right now.
The investment world has focused most of its attention on stock markets and cryptocurrencies over the last few months. But as an article recently published in Forbes points out, there are at least 10 good reasons to believe now is the time to buy gold.
In a recent interview on RT Boom Bust, Peter Schiff talked gold.
In a piece he wrote for the December issue of the World Gold Council Gold Investor, WGC chief market strategist John Reade outlined several key reasons he thinks gold will shine in 2018. He said rising global income will be the primary factor pushing demand for the yellow metal upward in the next year.
Peter put a little different spin on Reade’s analysis, saying it’s not just rising incomes in places like India and China that will help boost gold. Global inflation will play a key role.
Indians are buying silver.
India ranks as the second largest gold consumer in the world, behind only China, but Indians also have an appetite for the white metal. After a drop in silver demand last year, Indians are once again buying.
After a somewhat tepid October, gold inflows into ETFs picked up again in November, driven primarily by investors in Europe.
Global gold-backed ETFs increased their holdings by 9.1 tons last month, according to the latest data released by the World Gold Council. This continues a streak of monthly gains. In October, inflows came in at 3.3 tons, after surging in August and September.
To date, gold is up nearly 10% in 2017, but as Ron Paul pointed out in his recent Market Update video, most people aren’t paying much attention.
Why not?
Because a lot of other things such as the stock market and cryptocurrencies are going up faster. Nevertheless, Paul thinks there are good reasons to believe what he calls the “third bull market” in gold has started.
The SchiffGold Friday Gold Wrap podcast combines a succinct summary of the week’s precious metals news coupled with thoughtful analysis. You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes.
