Ideas and analysis on money, markets and the world around us.
Many think that interest rates will increase sometime leading to a significant fall in all asset prices. A version of this logic casts all markets as being overdue a collapse. Another school of opinion rides the wave…
Read the articleGold and silver prices declined during the first half of the week with gold falling $70 to a low of $1,274 on Wednesday morning. The $1,300 level was seen as support that failed spectacularly, and it was this that has…
Read the articleA BANKER FOR ALL SEASONS, PART II: John Exter's Views on Financial Crises, Money Demand and the 'Exter Pyramid' This is the second in a series of essays discussing the life, times and monetary theories of the late John…
Read the articleThere is some evidence in the UK of a pick-up in consumer spending, probably echoed elsewhere. There are two likely factors behind this, the first perhaps being seasonal, aided by the fine weather. The second is less…
Read the articleIndia has a history of gold ownership, spurred by long-term experience of a weak rupee. Only a fool leaves rupees on deposit, because they usually buy less and less every year. Alternative stores of value, such as…
Read the articleThe gold price moved sideways for most of the week, capped at just under $1,340, before challenging support at the $1,300 level on Thursday night UK time, after a day when US Treasuries fell heavily on a bullish…
Read the articleIn an interview on 8 July in King World News I noted how gold that day had slipped into backwardation. Since then I have read a lot of commentary on various websites about backwardation, which made clear to me that this…
Read the articleFrom 2006 the Bank of England’s Annual Report has declared the quantity of gold in its custody, including the UK’s own 310 tonnes. Prior to that date a diminishing quantity of on-balance sheet gold (sight accounts) was…
Read the articleThis week gold moved firmly above the $1,300 level, which with expiring $1,300 call options had been a line in the sand. The weakness on Wednesday and Thursday probably owed something to this option expiration, when the…
Read the articleThe purpose of this article is to explain how derivatives have distorted gold prices with particular reference to the US futures markets. This will enable us to anticipate the price effect when the distortion is…
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