Sometimes the most important news is buried so deep it's not even news. A certain story may be the most important market development by far, but if no one notices and no one understands the significance, it hardly qualifies as news.We had an event like that last week. The most important financial story I have read in a long time went completely unnoticed. It was not reported in the mainstream medi...Read More
Yesterday, the Fed released the minutes from its January Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting.The minutes revealed that most members expect higher economic growth ahead, indicating that “further gradual policy firming would be appropriate.”Stocks initially rallied when the report was released, since it didn't appear to raise fears of rapidly rising inflation. It seemed to indic...Read More
Only one full month of the year in the books and the “Hot Money” is telling me 2018 is a different market.We’ll likely continue to see volatility, even severe swings, for at least the first part of 2018.Let me explain…“Hot Money” is when someone risks all or nothing that a stock will either skyrocket higher or sink lower.This type of trading happens every day i...Read More
The bulls took charge Wednesday morning.The major averages were up more than 1% on the day. Stocks were holding their gains and looking to erase the damage caused by the rapid-fire pullback that shook the markets earlier this month.But everything changed during the last hour leading into the closing bell.The rally suddenly imploded and stocks spiraled lower. Gains vaporized in the blink of an eye,...Read More
Asian stocks have not been this cheap since the Asian Financial Crisis of 1997...Which is a little strange because there is nothing in the economies of Asia today that even compares to the last crisis.In fact, right now the valuation spread between the MSCI Asia Pacific Index and the S&P 500 is wider than it’s been since 2002 on both a price to earnings basis and a price to book basis.Mo...Read More
Gold is supported by friendlier macro forces in spite of fading risk aversion.Speculators cut their net long positions for a 3rd week in a row, the CFTC shows.ETF investors rebuild long positions in gold, albeit at a small pace, according to FastMarkets' estimates.Expect gold to remain in an uptrend thanks to friendlier macro forces in the months ahead.I am long IAU with a very long-term approach...Read More
Since gold has no intrinsic value and limited industrial applications, a position in gold is all about watching demand trends in the precious metal.Introducing a quantitative system for gold investing based on trend following and relative strength.Looking at the economic landscape, accelerating inflation could be a strong tailwind for gold.Gold as an investment is a very particular asset class. Th...Read More
The ratio tends to signal the path of prices.February 2018 looks a lot like 2016.Silver is like a rubber band.It has been a long time since we have seen a big move on the upside.Silver will attract speculative interest when it starts to move.Establishing whether the price of a commodity or any asset, is cheap or expensive is often a subjective exercise. I believe that use of those attributes is in...Read More
Yamana Gold shares fall after the release of Q4 report.The story of disappointments continues.Expect to see Yamana's shares near $2.50 if gold price has some more downside.Yamana Gold (AUY) has recently reported its fourth-quarter results. The company has often disappointed its investors in the past and Q4 results were not an exception. The company booked another loss below analysts' expectati...Read More
CloseGain/LossOn WeekGold $1329.30-$2.20-1.44%Silver$16.52-$0.09-0.96%XAU80.53+0.64%-3.24%HUI176.71+0.49%-4.46%GDM613.86+0.90%-2.83%JSE Gold1089.59-10.40-9.51%USD89.92+0.15+0.86%Euro122.99-0.30-0.91%Yen93.77-0.08-0.24%Oil$63.55+$0.78+3.03%10-Year2.867%-0.055-0.14%Bond144.125+1.00-0.11%Dow25309.99+1.39%+0.36%Nasdaq7337.39+1.77%+1.35%S&P2747.30+1.60%+0.55% The Metals: Gold fell $5.70 to $132...Read More
By Ira EpsteinGold staying directionless as Dollar rises and stock indices rally.http://iraepstein.com/ Read More
Widely followed proprietary analyst Rob Kirby sounds the alarm that the facts can no longer be denied that MAJOR FINANCIAL PLAYERS ARE ABANDONING THE US DOLLAR. Kirby names specific examples to prove that the drumbeat of new hard evidence is accelerating, as we are rapidly approaching the point of no return. Kirby further blazes through hot topics ranging from the real root causes behind mass trag...Read More
Mainstream economics uses a fairly simple equation when it comes to public policy: More government spending equals more growth, which is just about always a good thing. The problem is with the "just about always" part. At the bottom of recessions, tax cuts and higher government spending can indeed stop the shrinkage and get things going again. And fiscal stimulus might be relatively harmless whe...Read More
"Debt levels have reached a point where they have to be defaulted upon," Michael Pento of Pento Portfolio Strategies tells Silver Doctors.The rate of the 10-year Treasury is at a four year high nearing three percent. Pento forecasts it will rise to four percent, which will be a "floor rather than a ceiling." If the rate rises to four percent, people will have lost about 25 percent from a "risk fre...Read More
By Alasdair Macleod"While it is the duty of the citizen to support the state, it is not the duty of the state to support the citizen" - President Grover ClevelandThe point President Cleveland made back in the 1880s was that individuals and vested interests had no rights to preferential treatment by a government elected to represent all. For if preference is given, it is always at the expense of...Read More
This week, Eric Sprott discusses the recent news that Russian gold holdings have surpassed China's reported level. He also describes how and why higher gold prices have yet to be reflected in higher prices for mining shares.Eric Sprott has more than 40 years of experience in the investment industry. In 1981, he founded Sprott Securities (now called Cormark Securities Inc.), which today is one of C...Read More
Gold COT Report - FuturesLarge SpeculatorsCommercialTotalLongShortSpreadingLongShortLongShort257,20566,28367,636154,913369,791479,754503,710Change from Prior Reporting Period 5,345-9,9713,3944,06624,40812,80517,831Traders17877754658262177 Small Speculators LongShortOpen Interest 48,40024,444528,154 3,604-1,42216,409 non reportable positionsChange from the previous report...Read More
Here's one important fact that has been left out of the conversation about cryptos and precious metals - you literally can not have cryptocurrencies without silver. As well as being true honest money, silver is an irreplaceable industrial metal that is used throughout the entire chain that all cryptocurrencies and blockchain projects need to operate. Mining rigs: Silver. Computers: Silver. Servers...Read More
By David SmithAll great events hang by a hair. The man of ability takes advantage of everything and neglects nothing that can give him a chance of success; whilst the less able man sometimes loses everything by neglecting a single one of those chances.~Napoleon BonaparteChina's launch several years ago of the One Belt, One Road Initiative is set to become the biggest commercial linking-system co...Read More
As a general rule, the most successful man in life is the man who has the best informationThe global economy is booming again after years in the doldrums, commodities are back in a big way, and metals prices are for the most part, way up. In our last article showing how commodities are the place to be in 2018, we looked at five drivers: inflation, the low dollar, economic growth, the relative...Read More