Any sentiment that market mechanics, higher fees, or other impediments to widespread participation in the petro-yuan would impede its immediate impact are falling by the wayside as quickly as they arise. Some analysts believed international investors would be discouraged to tap the Shanghai oil futures. If the first day of trading is any indication, however, this is not the case, at least no... read more

After a 25-year history of fits and starts and near-misses, there was reason for trepidation that the petro-yuan might not start trading in earnest without some real difficulties, technical of otherwise. Not so. Booming volume, right out of the gate. After all the preparation, all the expectation, cheerleading and doomsaying, China's Yuan-denominated crude oil futures contract began trading... read more

It’s easy to focus on the economic problems besieging the US from within its own borders. Lord knows we’ve created enough of them on our own and have plenty to worry about given the self-inflicted cataclysm coming down the pike. But lest we forget, world sovereign financial systems are inextricably bound up with each other at this point, and one region’s macroeconomic issues are hardl... read more

Another example of how the Fed has inevitably painted itself into a corner. You can’t engineer the downside out of economic systems. They can’t keep rates low and they can’t afford to raise rates. There is no easy solution anymore because there is no fiscal free lunch. If you want to get super drunk on stimulus today, you can’t do that without paying for it tomorrow. Unless you’re... read more

Very few people know exactly what was said, promised, discovered, obfuscated, threatened, etc. in the dark and high-tension days surrounding the collapse of Bear Stearns and its taxpayer-subsidized subsequent digestion by JPMorgan. What is irrefutable is that JPMorgan inherited Bear’s enormous and disastrous short silver position. How they would deal with it in response has fundamentally a... read more

From the economic scion who brought you such governmental gold as “I love debt. I love to play with it.” and “Trade wars are good and easy to win.” Beleaguered White House staff offered an arbitrary “Placate the lunatic” $30B tariff option and Trump decides, of course, it’s not big enough. So he arbitrarily decides to double it. Because no decision this government makes is about... read more

Plato Totally Saw This Coming: Ship of State, 2018 Edition Some 500 years ago, Plato floated the metaphor of the Ship of State. In it, he posited that the only man fit to steer a ship is a benevolent philosopher, who always thinks in terms of the big picture, the long term, and the welfare of all. Otherwise, the ship is doomed to sink, as demagogues and politicians fight amongst themselve... read more

NEW YORK (Scrap Register): If history is any guide, next week could signal a significant buying opportunity for gold investors as long as prices hold critical support above $1,285 an ounce, according to one analyst. “The five rate hikes seen so far in this current cycle all resulted in the same behavior with gold selling off ahead only to rally strongly once the announcement was made,” O... read more

Smart. In the wake of true crises, government banks have proven they will take any number of outlandish and questionably legal actions to shore themselves up. If you’re a sovereign nation and you’re trusting your physical gold cache to another nation (and, more to the point, their goodwill during potentially desperate times), you’re asking for trouble. The leadership of the Hungarian Nat... read more

The Industry Council for Tangible Assets has notched another sales tax win. Congratulations. Alabama becomes the 37th state to exempt sales of gold, silver, platinum and palladium bullion and money, ICTA’s David Crenshaw reports. Numismatic commerce can blossom thanks to Gov. Kay Ivey. She signed into law Senate Bill 156 on March 6 to create a sales and use tax exemption on U.S.. coins and... read more