Since the end of QE (quantitative easing) and the ‘taper’ in October 2014, the Fed has been trying to ‘normalise’ its balance sheet and interest rates. The balance sheet needed to be reduced from US$4.5 trillion to about US$2.5 trillion through ‘quantitative tightening’, or QT, which is tantamount to burning money. Interest rates needed to be raised to around 4% in stages of 0.25%... read more

At the current federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour, working 40 hours per week, 52 weeks per year, yields an annual income of only $15,080. This is below the annual poverty line. It also reflects something that most people are unaware of — in Illinois, there are more than 19,000 retired teachers who get OVER $100,000 per year in their pension. According to the latest data, nearly 1.5 in ten... read more

On December 19, Jay Powell stepped to the microphone after the Federal Reserve had raised short-term interest rates and began his press conference. The market was concerned. The two-year rate on government bonds was at 2.65% and was higher than the 5-yr (2.62%) and inching perilously close to the 10-yr at 2.76%. The Fed typically inverts (raises short-term interest rates above long-term rates)... read more

According to many economic experts and commentators, an effective way to generate economic growth is through the lowering of taxes. The lowering of taxes, it is held, is going to place more money in consumer's pockets thereby setting in motion an economic growth. This way of thinking is based on the popular view that a given dollar increase in consumer spending will lift the economy’s gross d... read more

In mid-2018, we reported hedge fund managers had upped their short bets against gold to all-time highs. And for retail investors, an ongoing allocation to the precious metal is prudent. That’s especially true in the current market environment - as proved by the multi-asset fund managers getting in on the act. After a strong recovery from 2016 lows, last year was one of headwinds for the gold... read more

There has been a fundamental shift in central banks’ behavior with respect to gold over the past decade. The 2008 financial crisis led central banks to re-evaluate the relevance and importance of gold on their balance sheets. Check out the sudden change in sentiment that occurred in 2009, as central banks shifted from being net sellers to net buyers for the first time in 20 years. While ce... read more

- Bank of England Governor Mark Carney warned on Tuesday of the potential shock to Britain’s economy from Brexit which could serve as an “acid test” for countries around the world trying to respond to the challenges of globalization. The United Kingdom is on course to leave the European Union on March 29 without a deal, unless Prime Minister Theresa May can convince the bloc to amend... read more

The stock market won't keep returning the kinds of yearly gains investors have gotten used to since the financial crisis bottom in 2009, Vanguard's chief investment officer, Greg Davis, said. "If we look forward for the next 10 years, our expectations around U.S. equity markets is for about a 5 percent median annualized return," he told CNBC on Monday. "Five years ago, we'd have been somewhere... read more

As recession fears rise, Bernstein is suggesting investors look to gold and gold mining stocks to reduce risk. The firm's global quantitative trading strategy group on Monday sent a note titled "a strong case for holding gold." "We show that from current equity valuations and from similar points in previous cycles gold and equities give more similar returns ... [to] risk assets such as eq... read more

Two months after Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro visited his counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara, a mysterious company called Sardes sprang into existence. The firm started business with a bang in January of 2018, when it imported about $41 million worth of gold from Venezuela, the first such transaction between the two countries in records that go back 50 years. The next month... read more