The Fed Resumes “Printing”

One conclusion from the Fed’s actions is that it doesn’t care as much about its inflation target as it does about improving the unemployment rate. Thus, it will err on the side of letting inflation rise, if it would improve unemployment. But holding rates too low too long fueled the housing bubble. Repeating the same game will have consequences of malinvestment in the form of new bubbles in the economy. The Fed hopes to restore employment before the negative consequences of loose monetary policy show up

Your #1 Gold Risk

Similar to holding a diversified portfolio at a bank without checking the institution’s solvency, many investors keep their entire stash of precious metals inside one political system without considering the potential trap they’ve set for themselves. While storing some of your gold outside your home country is not a panacea, it does offer one important thing: another layer of protection

Chart of the Day: Guess what the best performing asset market is

Here is a chart of the relative performance of various asset classes over the past year. One asset class outperforms the others… by a wide margin

A Thousand Pictures Is Worth One Word

History has a message for us: No fiat currency has lasted forever. Eventually, they all fail. Morgan Stanley reported in 2009 that there’s “no historical precedent” for an economy that exceeds a 250% debt-to-GDP ratio without experiencing some sort of financial crisis or high inflation. Our total debt now exceeds GDP by roughly 400%

The Gold-Silver Ratio – Another Look

The gold-silver ratio (GSR) measures how many ounces of silver one can purchase for an ounce of gold, on a certain date. Reference to the ratio has a long history. One of the first mentions was that upon the death of Alexander the Great, the ratio was 12.5 to 1. During the Roman Empire, the ratio was set at 12. By the late 19th century, the ratio had risen to 15. Interestingly, these historical ratios roughly reflect geologists’ estimates that silver is 17 times more abundant than gold in the earth’s crust. This gives many investors a reason to believe that 17 is the natural balance between these elements, and that eventually the GSR will return to it

What does Jim Rogers think about the silver crash?

“I hope that silver goes down for a while because it was turning into a parabolic move, every parabolic move ends badly, I hope that silver and all commodities continue to go up with normal corrections along the way and in 5 or 10 years, they’re going to be unbelievably high prices and then I hope I’m smart enough to sell if the bull market is coming to an end.”

-Jim Rogers, on CNBC this morning before the rout

This is what a commodities crash looks like

(Hat tip Business Insider for the video and Conor Sen for the connection). Gee Wally, I wonder if speculation had anything to do with it

Silver: Is it time sit on the sidelines?

By Michael Lebowitz and Daniel Cohen, Absolute Investment Management

Given that we can not adequately explain the enormous rise as of late and don’t believe it to be related to the weakening dollar or the economy (as gold has not experienced a similar rise) we think its time to sit on the sidelines and let it play out

Gold at record high, silver at 31-year high as inflation and negative real yields bite

The easy stance of developed economy central banks is driving money into emerging markets and fostering the accommodative stance of those central banks, fearful of more hot money flows or currency appreciation. Easy money in the face of rising inflation is at the heart of the now subdued currency wars. This battle has moved to inflation and potentially to demand destruction. That is why gold and silver are rising so prodigiously. Unless central banks demonstrate that they have the stomach for counteracting this inflation, more money will continue to flow to precious metals

On Hyperinflation

I was on the Max Keiser show talking to Max about precious metals, currency debasement and hyperinflation. Max was pushing the view that the U.S. was on its way to hyperinflation due to its reckless monetary policy. I argued against this view. The video is below, but let me argue my case first. People arguing

Interviews With The World’s Best Gold Experts

In January, Jeff Clark of Casey Research’s BIG GOLD advisory set out to get opinions from some of the smartest, most accomplished investors in the gold industry – where is the gold price going to go, how volatile will the markets be, what’s the outlook for precious metals stocks? Read on for some of the most insightful answers you’ll see anywhere…

On Banning Cash and On Precious Metals and Alternative Investments

By David Galland One of the memes among the sound-money community is that one day things will get so bad that the public will come to its senses and throw the bums out, and then things will get better. Recently I came across an article by Daniel Amerman on GoldSeek offering an alternative perspective. He