One of my buddies likes to bug me about my gold views. “For a not-completely-dumb guy, you sure have a boneheaded love of that stupid yellow rock.” Yeah, I get it. It’s my hidden shame. But a part of me feels I am simply brave enough to say out loud what we all feel. Kind of like that other thing that no one says they do, but which everyone does. Don’t bother telling me you’re differ... read more

Southern California home sales hit the brakes in June, falling to the lowest reading for the month in four years. Sales of both new and existing houses and condominiums dropped 11.8 percent year over year, as prices shot up to a record high, according to CoreLogic. The report covers Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, Ventura, San Bernardino and Orange counties. Sales fell 1.1 percent compared... read more

Copper prices reached their lowest levels in a year on Thursday amid concerns that a global trade war could strain global supply chains and slow down the global economy. The metal's futures for September delivery traded as low as $2.6735 per pound, their lowest since July 14, 2017, when it hit $2.663. Copper traded at $2.691 at around 9:50 a.m., down more than 2 percent. "Dr. Copper," as it i... read more

Student loans are a hefty burden for many Americans. There are around 44 million borrowers with student debt, according to a 2017 report from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Outstanding student debt sits at about $1.4 trillion, with nearly 11 percent of debt that was 90 days or more delinquent or in default at the end of March 2018, according to the most recent report by the Fede... read more

Gold has lost its shine, falling to a one-year low. For contrarians, however, it may be the time to buy. A record number of fund managers, surveyed by Bank of America Merrill Lynch, said they see gold as undervalued. In the survey, 17 percent of the fund managers said the precious metal may be too cheap, while more than half of the 178 fund managers said the most crowded trade was in the... read more

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, in an interview published Thursday, suggested he isn't sure how President Donald Trump's trade battles are going to turn out. But Powell told Marketplace's Kai Ryssdal that business contacts across the US have raised alarm about Trump's trade policy to the 12 Federal Reserve branches. "And we are hearing a rising level of concern about the effects of c... read more

While hardly a surprise in a country in which the military recently seized control of the water supply as the local infrastructure collapses, what is going on to the price of money in this former socialist paradise is simply stunning and is set to put even the Weimar Republic and Zimbabwe to shame. In June, Venezuela's annual inflation hit 46,305% the opposition-controlled congress said on M... read more

A few months ago I sent you a note explaining that major gold discoveries are shrinking. Simply put, mining companies are no longer finding vast, new deposits of gold to replace their aging mines. I quoted Pierre Lassonde, the billionaire founder of gold royalty giant Franco-Nevada and former head of Newmont Mining: If you look back to the 70s, 80s and 90s, in every one of those decade... read more

One gauge of recession risk with a “pretty good” track record over the last half century has just raised a cautionary signal, according to the Leuthold Group. For the first time since just prior to the 2007-2009 recession, premiums on the lowest-rated tranche of investment-grade U.S. corporate bonds have risen to 2 percent after being below that level, according to data compiled by the... read more

Gold and silver prices are moderately higher in early U.S. trading Monday, supported in part by a slipping U.S. dollar index that fell to a three-week low overnight. Some bargain hunting in the cash market and short covering in the futures market are also featured, following recent losses that drove the two precious metals prices to multi-month lows last week. August gold futures were last up... read more