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Election-Year Gold Trends & Factors for 2024
by Peter Schiff, Schiff Gold:
While broader macroeconomic trends are always what’s most significant for the gold price during any given election, some interesting trends emerge when you look at the numbers. And when an election is contentious, historic, or chaotic as 2024’s promises to be, the outcome is all the more significant for gold.
From the January to the September preceding elections since 1980, gold prices have tended to rise. This is often attributed to the nature of the relationship between incumbent presidents and the Fed, as existing administrations put pressure on the central bank to maintain looser monetary policy to foster an illusion of economic prosperity (which presidents can then “take credit” for). Meanwhile, knowing that they’re more likely to be replaced if the other side wins, Fed chairs have an incentive to play ball.
The Value of Diamonds Sinks as Gold Stays Strong
by Peter Schiff, Schiff Gold:
Valentine’s Day is here and you might find yourself buying (or wishing you had remembered to buy) a Valentine’s Day present. A classic romantic present involves gold, diamonds, and sometimes both. And both diamonds and gold seem at first blush to have a lot in common.
Both are or at least can be beautiful. Diamonds are one of the shiniest gemstones (high refractive index if you’re science-minded) and can be perfectly clear or come in a wide range of colors. Gold is of course famously appealing to look at. Both diamonds and gold convey luxury and wealth, and both are regularly used to make luxury products such as rings, bracelets, watches, and earrings.
A perfect storm in the making
by Claudio Grass, Claudio Grass:
The New Year is usually associated with a new beginning, a fresh start, or a “clean slate”. Unfortunately, for millions of Americans, these are wishes that are bound to remain unfulfilled – for them, the New Year has nothing “new” to offer at all: it will only perpetuate all the same burdens, obligations and worries of the past year and of the ones that came before.
One physical, practical manifestation of this (though it is certainly not a unique, or even a rare, example) is the fact that at the start of 2024, U.S. household debt reached a record high of $17.3 trillion, according to data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. To most of us, this is probably a shocking and nearly inconceivable amount, and it becomes even more surreal once one also factors in the most recent monetary policy reversal and the subsequent interest rate hikes.
Peter Schiff: Booming Stock Market Mirrors Dot-Com Bubble
by Peter Schiff, Schiff Gold:
This week Peter covers the highlights of a volatile trading week, paying special attention to Nvidia, Wall Street’s favorite AI stock, and Newmont Corporation, a heavy hitter in the gold mining industry. Both companies’ shares experienced dramatic price action this week, with NVDA gaining $260 billion in market cap and pulling the market up after an excellent earnings report. Newmont, on the other hand, saw shares fall 7% after a disappointing last quarter.
What the Baltimore Bridge Disaster Could Mean for the Economy
by Peter Schiff, Schiff Gold:
While the total annihilation of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore probably isn’t a “Black Swan” big enough to trigger a global collapse, it adds potent fuel to several fires in an already fragile global economy.
Broad expectations are for most of the economic fallout to remain local to the surrounding area and Mid-Atlantic states, with Maryland alone estimated to lose $1 billion in value from the disaster. Most economists don’t expect national GDP to take any significant hit, despite the local challenges — but as Maryland’s Senate President Bill Ferguson posted to X after the crash of the Dali:
A Busy Week for Gold
by Craig Hemke, Sprott Money:
As January ends and February begins, the calendar has suddenly gotten very busy in terms of news events that will impact the COMEX gold price. Whether that impact will be positive or negative remains to be seen.
Let’s start with the economic news pending for Tuesday. The monthly JOLTS jobs data has long been a driver of intraday volatility for the precious metals, and when it’s released on Tuesday, you can be certain that prices will once again be “jolted”. Why? This report measures trends in hiring and firing, and with the U.S. jobs market reportedly remaining “strong”, traders look to the JOLTS report for early warning signs in total employment.
Five Wall Street Banks Hold $223 Trillion in Derivatives — 83 Percent of All Derivatives at 4,600 Banks
by Pam Martens and Russ Martens, Wall St On Parade:
According to the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission (FCIC), derivatives played a major role in the financial crash of 2007 to 2010 in the United States, the worst financial crisis in the U.S. since the Great Depression of the 1930s. The FCIC wrote in its final report: “…the existence of millions of derivatives contracts of all types between systemically important financial institutions — unseen and unknown in this unregulated market — added to uncertainty and escalated panic….”
Why America Will Never Surmount Its Mountain of Debt
from Schiff Gold:
Can America hope to climb past its mountain of $34 trillion of federal debt? With the staggering weight of unfunded liabilities in vital entitlement programs like Social Security and Medicare reaching a staggering $212 trillion, any strategy for repayment is met with formidable obstacles. Our guest contributor examines these challenges and arrives at a sobering verdict: the magnitude of the debt renders the prospect of repayment virtually impossible.
Putin, Tucker & Truth, Scotus Smashes Insurrection, Debt Surge
by Greg Hunter, USA Watchdog:
Tucker Carlson interviewed Vladimir Putin, and the Deep State melted down. They called him a “Mouthpiece for Putin,” a “traitor” and threatened to sanction Carlson. Why? The truth is a powerful thing, and the Deep State wants you to think the lies they are telling you about the Ukraine war are true. This against a backdrop of the US Senate sending another $60 billion for a war that has already cost the lives of 500,000 Ukrainian soldiers. Putin says he is ready to stop the war and negotiate a peace deal. It is dangerous for you to hear that blasphemy when so much money and kickbacks are being made off a war that was lost long ago. Way to go, Tucker!
The Commercial Real Estate Crisis Of 2024 Is Going To Be A Doozy…
by Michael Snyder, The Economic Collapse Blog:
Over the last several years we have seen commercial real estate values plummet dramatically all over the United States. One of the reasons why this is happening is because millions of Americans started working from home during the pandemic, and many of them never returned to the office once the pandemic subsided. Another reason why this is happening is because there has been a mass exodus of businesses from our core urban areas. Conditions have rapidly deteriorated in many of our largest cities, and it is exceedingly difficult to run a profitable business in the midst of an environment of constant theft and violence. Ultimately, it is very easy to understand why commercial real estate values have crashed, and they will almost certainly go even lower.
All Of The Elements Are In Place For An Economic Crisis Of Staggering Proportions
by Michael Snyder, The Economic Collapse Blog:
They were able to delay the U.S. economy’s day of reckoning, but they were not able to put it off indefinitely. During the pandemic, the Federal Reserve pumped trillions of dollars into the financial system and our politicians borrowed and spent trillions of dollars that we did not have. All of that money caused quite a bit of inflation, but it also created a “sugar rush” for the economy. In other words, economic conditions were substantially better than they would have been otherwise. Unfortunately, there will be a great price to be paid for such short-term thinking. From the federal government on down, our entire society is absolutely drowning in debt, and now it appears that our economic problems are about to go to the next level.
Why Are People Investing in Gold Now?
by Turd Ferguson, TF Metals Report:
- Delve into effective investment strategies while dissecting current market trends, offering valuable insights for navigating economic fluctuations.
A Banking Game Bait and Switch on Interest Rates, Fed Stands Idly By
by Mish Shedlock, Mish Talk:
Have you read the fine print on high yield savings accounts? Do you have any idea how banks are screwing you by renaming products?
Beware the Name Change Bait and Switch
The Wall Street Journal notes High-Yield Savings Accounts Come With an Asterisk
Online-centric banks such as UFB, Capital One Financial and CIT Bank attract deposits by paying rates far higher than typical bricks-and-mortar banks. Rates on these high-yield accounts generally rise alongside U.S. interest rates without depositors needing to take any action. But some customers say these lenders deceived them by advertising competitive rates while paying longtime customers lower ones. In some cases, only customers who were monitoring their bank’s every move could notice and respond to the changes.
