Ideas and analysis on money, markets and the world around us.
This article posits that there is an unpleasant conjunction of events beginning to undermine government finances in advanced nations. They combine the arrival of a long-term trend of rising welfare commitments with an…
Read the articleGold and silver sold off this week, with gold trading down to $1459 intraday on Tuesday, and silver sold down to $16.89. Dollar strength based on the suspicion that the recent repo turmoil was to do with dollar…
Read the articleFinancial markets are ignoring bearish developments in international trade, which coincide with the end of a long expansionary phase for credit. Both empirical evidence from the one occasion these conditions existed in…
Read the articleGold and silver sold off this morning, taking them to the lower end of the current consolidation range, which has been in place all month. It is also the quarter-end, a time when the bullion banks play their games to…
Read the articleLast week’s failure in the US repo market might have had something to do with Deutsche Bank’s disposal of its prime brokerage to BNP, bringing an unwelcome spotlight to the troubled bank and other foreign banks with…
Read the articleUsing nominal GDP, or GDP deflated by the CPI, as the principal guide to the state of the economy is a common mistake which will eventually prove very costly. Having convinced themselves that GDP measures economic…
Read the articleAfter the sharp falls seen at the end of last week, gold and silver consolidated in a narrow range, other than yesterday when the ECB announced a 10 bp cut in its deposit rate to minus 0.5%. Gold’s trading range before…
Read the articleTrump and Johnson face a common enemy in their complacent and costly establishments, but it is wrong to think they share a common approach to government business and finances. For the moment, all attention in Britain is…
Read the articleGold and silver had a remarkably strong performance before a sharp mark-down yesterday, which continued into early morning trade in Europe. Gold was down a net $14 on the week at $1505, and silver down 26 cents at…
Read the articleChina has made some silly errors in its conflict with the US, reflecting the arrogance that often afflicts every state actor. But the appearance that China is being backed into a corner over Huawei, trade tariffs and…
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