Ideas and analysis on money, markets and the world around us.
Oil prices have sharply risen over the past two weeks on the back of the unfolding war in Ukraine. Prompt month Brent prices went from an already elevated $95/bbl in mid-February to $112/bbl at the time of writing. WTI,…
Read the articlePutin’s hubris, yes-men for generals, lack of fighting conviction among the men, poor logistics and strong Ukrainian leadership and determination have combined to turn the Russian invasion of Ukraine into a military…
Read the articleThis was the week that Russia attacked Ukraine, taking out its military capability. Europe awoke on Thursday morning to this news, and gold and silver spiked higher before falling back into net losses for the day, up…
Read the articleUkraine is part of a far bigger geopolitical picture. Russia and China want US hegemonic influence in the Eurasian continent marginalised. Following defeats for US foreign policy in Syria and Afghanistan and following…
Read the articleGold and silver rose this week continuing the rally from the depressed levels of earlier this month. In European trade this morning, gold was at $1894, up $34 on the week, while silver at $23.92 was up 32 cents. Not…
Read the articleBehind the battle to convince everyone that price inflation is not a lasting problem is the necessity to keep interest rates and bond yields suppressed. In the past, the interest rate cycle was entirely due to the…
Read the articleYesterday it was announced that in the year to end-January US CPI rose by 7.5%, against expectations of 7.3%. Shock horror!! Gold and silver initially dipped as amateur speculators feared interest rates rising sooner…
Read the articleGovernments and central banks are making the mistake of believing that growth in GDP is a primary measure of economic performance. This confuses growth, measured as a total of transactions without regard to their…
Read the articleGold and silver prices were subdued this week as markets absorbed a Bank Rate increase by the Bank of England to 0.5%, and the ECB held its deposit rate unchanged at minus 0.5%. From last Friday’s close, gold rose $23…
Read the articleTwo years after leaving the EU Britain has made almost none of the promised progress towards economic liberalisation. While Brussels hasn’t been helpful, libertarian ministers in the Tory government have been both…
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