Archives
Europe Bails Out Its Failed States with “Common” (i.e., German) Bonds
July 22nd, 2020
The “European Project” was designed with something like the current crisis in mind. The adoption of a common currency was just the first, politically easiest, step in a process that would eventually – its architects hoped – culminate ...
Why the Gold/Silver ratio is a useful indicator
May 26th, 2020
There’s a debate in gold bug circles over whether the price difference between gold and silver – the gold/silver ratio – tells us anything useful. Some skeptics, for instance, view the original gold/silver ratio of 15 — from America’s ...
What happens when the pandemic ends?
April 15th, 2020
Let’s assume that by the end of this year a combination of social distancing and some new and effective treatments convert covid-19 from existential threat to chronic nuisance and the economy starts to assume an air of normalcy. Which ...
Gold Is Now “Unobtanium”
March 30th, 2020
The Wall Street Journal just published the kind of article gold bugs dream of seeing in the mainstream press. Here’s an excerpt: “Coronavirus Sparks a Global Gold Rush Epic shortage spooks doomsday preppers and bankers alike; ‘Unaffordium and unobtanium.’ ...
Feeling Adventurous? Consider Silver
March 16th, 2020
Silver is getting crushed in the pandemic-driven flight to safety — which might have created one of those blood-in-the-streets opportunities that contrarian investors dream about. To understand why, lets start with the gold/silver ratio. The relationship between the prices ...
Why a flu outbreak in China can spook global markets
January 23rd, 2020
When people talk about empires of the past, they generally mean Rome and Britain. But the biggest and in some ways most interesting empire was built and run by the Mongols in the 13th and 14th centuries. At its ...
Signs Of A 2020 Top: “Buyers Return to Riskiest Junk Bonds”
December 30th, 2019
If you’re managing money and need positive results in the year ahead, you’re in a tough spot. Stocks are at levels that in the past have preceded cycle-ending crashes while high-grade bonds yield virtually nothing but could easily produce ...
Europe gives up on sound money, prepares to join the currency war
July 3rd, 2019
Not so long ago, Europe seemed to have its financial house more-or-less in order. German government spending was actually falling. Industries that had been nationalized in the socialist 70s were being privatized. The European Central Bank – run by ...
Something Huge Just Happened In Europe
June 10th, 2019
Critics of modern monetary policy have been predicting that the day would come when a central bank would cut interest rates (or at least promise to), and the financial markets, instead of throwing a party, would fall. Then it ...
The Terrifying Truth About Negative Interest Rates
May 29th, 2019
Pushing interest rates below zero is both an act of desperation and something that in theory should have a huge, immediate impact of the behavior of borrowers and savers. The fact that negative rates have become the new normal ...
