Ideas and analysis on money, markets and the world around us.
Regular readers of these market reports will have not been surprised by the sell-off this week ahead of the FOMC’s quarter point rate increase. It took silver into a loss on the year so far in dollars, as our headline…
Read the articleEurope’s financial and systemic troubles have retreated from the headlines. This is partly due to the financial media’s attention switching to President Trump and the US budget negotiations, partly due to Brexit and the…
Read the articleConclusion: Another week of counter-seasonal draws. The draws continue to be concentrated in Crude. Cushing, the point of delivery for WTI contracts, continues to draw very fast as the arb to the USGC remained open for…
Read the articleGold and silver had a torrid week, with gold falling $31 from last Friday’s close to $1249 in early European trade this morning. Silver was worse, down 66 cents to $15.78 over the same time scale. For weeks I have been…
Read the articleThere is a general belief, and that is all it is, that state finances fare better in an inflationary environment than a deflationary one. This perception arises from the transfer of wealth from lenders to the state…
Read the articleConclusion: Bit of a mixed bag. Overall larger than normal draws, with large crude draws but large gasoline builds. Net imports still at extremely low levels. With net imports closer to normal levels, the US would…
Read the articleGold and silver suffered a sell-off, repeating what we saw in late November in both the last two years. The attack on precious metals is futures-driven, and occurs during New York trading hours. Gold fell $12 from last…
Read the articleA dispassionate look at the quantities and flows of fiat dollars tells us much about the current state of the US economy, and therefore prospects for the dollar itself. This is a starting point for understanding the…
Read the articleGold and silver prices on balance drifted with an upwards bias over the week, with a firm undertone. Interest was impacted by the US Thanksgiving Holiday. Given the near-certainty of a rise in the fed funds rate next…
Read the articleThere are two problems with understanding deflation: it is ill defined, and it has a bad name. This article puts deflation into its proper context. This is an important topic for advocates of gold as money, who will be…
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