With a debt ceiling deal done, the threat of a US government default is off the table for the time being. But a wave of corporate defaults is on the horizon according to Deutsche Bank’s annual default study.
This is the inevitable consequence of central bank monetary policy and it was entirely predictable.
In March, I warned that the commercial and investment real estate markets could be the next thing to break in this bubble economy. A recent article in the Wall Street Journal put a face on my warning.
The debt ceiling “crisis” is coming to a head. We’re pretty confident Republicans and Democrats will strike a deal and raise the debt ceiling. That’s supposed to solve the problem. But Friday Gold Wrap podcast host Mike Maharrey says the solution is the problem. In this episode, he also offers some bullish perspective on silver.
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and former chair Ben Bernanke recently fielded questions together at the annual Thomas Laubach Research Conference put on by the central bank. They engaged in a lot of finger-pointing but didn’t offer a hint of self-reflection as they discussed inflation and the state of the economy.
We’ve talked about the recent selloff in gold. On the other side of the coin, the NASDAQ has made a string of 52-week highs. What is driving these market dynamics?
The Fed.
The markets generally believe that the Federal Reserve is finished hiking interest rates, or at least close enough to being done that a rate cut is on the horizon.
And they’re wrong.
We saw a big selloff in the gold market last week and the price dropped below $2,000 an ounce. The catalyst for that selloff was tough talk from several Federal Reserve officials and an increasing expectation that the central bank will raise rates again in June. As Peter Schiff explained in his podcast, everybody thinks the Fed is going to win the inflation fight because it is going to be even tougher. In reality, they are talking tougher because they are losing the fight.
There are a few things that Friday Gold Wrap host Mike Maharrey writes about that don’t seem to garner much interest. In this show, Mike is going to talk about two of those things, why they matter, and why you should care. He also talks about the recent drop in the price of gold and what the markets are getting wrong.
The CPI data for April came out this week. The mainstream spin was that it was more good news for the Fed’s inflation fight. But the actual data tells a different story. In this episode of the Friday Gold Wrap, host Mike Maharrey talks about the CPI report and the disconnect between the mainstream narrative and reality. He also highlights some interesting Q1 gold demand numbers.
Great news on the inflation front!
At least if you believe the headlines.
For example, “Consumer Prices in April Rise at the Slowest Annual Rate in Two Years.”
But if you read about one inch below the headline, you’ll discover things aren’t so great. In fact, the actual data reveals price inflation is looking pretty sticky.
Peter Schiff recently appeared on Real America with Dan Ball to talk about the ongoing banking and financial crisis. Peter emphasized that the Federal Reserve and the US government are trying to fix a problem that they caused. And their cure is going to unleash an inflation tsunami.
