Gold has been rangebound for months, gyrating up and down around the $1,300 mark. In this episode of the Friday Gold Wrap, host Mike Maharrey talks about this “wash, rinse, repeat” cycle we’re seeing in the precious metals markets and then pivots into a discussion of some more fundamental dynamics. Mike touches on the financial condition of the US federal government, surging central bank demand for gold and the positive dynamics he’s seeing in the silver market.
Silver demand was up 4% and hit a three-year high in 2018, according to the 2019 World Silver Survey released by the Silver Institute this week.
Physical demand for silver came in at over 1 billion ounces last year.
Meanwhile, silver mine production fell for the third straight year, dropping 2% in 2018 to 855.7 million ounces.
In this week’s Friday Gold Wrap, Mike Maharrey covers some more bad signs in the economy, including rising oil prices, an unexpected drop in retail sales and a surge in negative-yielding government bonds. At best, it looks like the economy is slowing down. Or it could be the prelude to the next crisis. This raises an important question: who’s going to save us? Mike suggests we probably shouldn’t be counting on the politicians or the central bankers.
The federal government set an all-time record budget deficit in February. And this is with a Republican in the White House. The GOP is supposed to be the fiscally responsible party. In this episode of the Friday Gold Wrap, host Mike Maharrey offers some interesting analysis that reveals spending money in Washington DC is really a bipartisan sport. He also talks about Thursday’s selloff in gold and silver, explains why dollar strength is something of an illusion and illustrates how the way “the market” thinks is often pretty dumb.
The Fed wrapped up another FOMC meeting this week and came out even more dovish than expected. Rate hikes are off the table in 2019 and the central bank now only expects one hike in 2020. In his episode of the Friday Gold Wrap, host Mike Maharrey talks about the meeting and the dirty little secret Reuters let slip out. The goal here is to get you to spend more money and keep the bubble full of air. As Mike put it, “The Fed is trying to feed the debt monster and it wants you to pick up the tab.” He also covered the meeting’s impact on the markets and the latest in political theater.
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell appeared on 60 Minutes last Sunday to reassure us that the US economy is great. There’s nothing to worry about. So, why the sudden reversal in Fed monetary policy? According to Powell, the central bank is just worried about slowing global growth. But as Mike Maharrey discusses in this week’s Friday Gold Wrap, it’s pretty clear the real problems are right here in the good ol’ US of A. Mike also covers the latest in precious metals news, with a focus on silver.
Central bankers and politicians think they can run the economy.
They can’t.
In this episode of the Friday Gold Wrap, host Mike Maharrey digs into some fundamental economic theories that explain why these central planners will always fail, no matter how noble their intentions.
Jerome Powell went to Capitol Hill this week and continued to preach patience. In other words, the Powell Pause is still firmly in play. In fact, the Fed chair confirmed that balance sheet reduction is a done deal. But why this sudden patience? In this episode of the Friday Gold Wrap podcast, Mike Maharrey talks about it. He also covers the Q4 GDP report, reveals some more bad economic data and reviews gold’s rollercoaster February.
Investors are gobbling up American Silver Eagle coins. Sales were so brisk last week that the US Mint temporarily suspended orders when its inventory ran out.
February sales this year have already doubled 2018 levels. As of Feb. 26. the mint had sold 2,157,500 Silver Eagles this month. That compares with 942,500 coins in February 2018. This represents a whopping 118% year-on-year sales increase.
Silver often gets lost in gold’s shadow, but it’s important in its own right – both as an industrial and a monetary metal. In this episode of It’s Your Dime, Mike Maharrey talks all things silver with Silver Institute Executive Director Michael DiRienzo.
