Mike Maharrey

Gold and silver have been on a tremendous run in 2024. In fact, they are the two best-performing assets this year. As of the end of October, silver was up by 42.4 percent, and gold was up by 33.7 percent. This compares to a 24 percent gain in the NASDAQ, the best-performing stock index.

While President Biden and talking heads in mainstream media talk about the amazing robust economy, retail stores are closing at a frenetic pace. According to Coresight Research, 6,189 stores have already closed in 2024. That puts retail store closures at the fastest pace since 2020, when government shutdowns decimated the retail sector.

Gold demand set a third-quarter record, driving the price to a series of record highs. Including over-the-counter (OTC) sales, gold demand came in at 1,313 tons in Q3, a 5 percent year-on-year increase. Gold averaged a record $2,474 an ounce in the third quarter. That represented a 28 percent year-on-year increase.

Eerily Symbolic: Treasury Seal Falls Off Podium as Yellen Is Asked About Dollar’s Status! The universe seems to know the dollar is in trouble. During a recent news conference, a reporter asked Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, “How concerned are you about the potential impact of the dollar’s status as the world reserve currency?” And the seal fell off…

HSBC Hong Kong announced it will formally join China’s Cross-Border Interbank Payment System (Cips). The move is yet another body blow to dollar dominance. According to the Financial Times, it will give “the world’s biggest player in trade finance a key role in Beijing’s push to expand use of the renminbi.”

Gold is typically seen as a store of value. Over time, investors expect its price to keep pace with inflation. We find gold’s returns are tightly correlated with the general price level as measured by the consumer price index. Using this assumption, the long-term expected return for gold generally ranges between zero and 1 percent. However…

According to National Bank of Poland Governor Adam Glapiński, the county holds 420 tons of gold “on behalf of all Poles,” noting that Poland “has thus entered the exclusive club of the world’s largest gold reserve holders.” Only 10 countries hold more gold than Poland – Poland now holds more gold than Great Britain.

How close are Americans to hitting their credit card limits? Based on the latest consumer credit data from the Federal Reserve, they may be getting closer. American consumers have been yo-yo-ing between slowing credit card spending and going on spending sprees. But in August, credit card balances contracted significantly.

Gold is being boosted by a “debasement trade,” and according to JPMorgan analysts, this dynamic “may have legs.” According to a team of JPMorgan strategists led by Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou, the gold price has climbed above what should be expected, given these factors.

According to Bank of America, gold has overtaken the euro to become the world’s second-largest central bank reserve asset. With the central bank gold buying spree over the last several years, along with the rapid rise in price in 2024, the yellow metal now makes up about 16 percent of total reserve assets, just ahead of the euro.

Well, that didn’t take long. In April, Zimbabwe introduced a gold-backed currency in an effort to stabilize the country’s financial system. Less than six months later, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe has already devalued the new money. I hate to say, “I told you so,” but, well, I told you so.

Talking heads and politicians laud the “resilience” of American consumers. They managed to keep spending despite rapidly rising prices thanks to post-pandemic price inflation. But they rarely talk about how Americans have weathered the inflationary storm. When you look hard, it’s not a story of resilience but one of desperation.

According to the Russian website Russia’s Pivot to Asia, Russian businesses are buying physical gold in Russia and then transporting it to Hong Kong via courier. There, the gold is sold, and the cash is deposited into the bank accounts of Chinese suppliers to pay for goods and services.

Nassim Taleb, best known for his book The Black Swan, said on X that “people are not seeing the real de-dollarization in progress.” He pointed out that global transactions are still generally labeled in dollars “as an anchor currency. But central banks (particularly BRICS) have been storing, that is putting their reserves, in Gold.”

ING Bank has revised its short and midterm gold price forecast higher, saying the gold rally is “just getting started.” The Dutch financial group cites the prospect of a Federal Reserve rate-cutting cycle, geopolitical risks, and uncertainty going into the presidential election as potential catalysts to drive gold to new record highs.

Gold demand in China has been strong this year, reflecting a broader movement of the yellow metal from the West to the East. But the Chinese aren’t just accumulating gold. They have also been hoarding silver in recent months. Is China deliberately driving up the price of silver to drain the West’s resources?

There has been quite a bit of pushback against central bank digital currencies. But in the scramble to block CBDCs, some people seem to have forgotten that there is a more fundamental problem: government-issued paper fiat is the parent of a CBDC, and whether it is in physical or digital form, fiat currency isn’t real money.

For the first time ever, a 400-ounce bar of gold is worth $1 million. We hit the $1 million gold bar milestone on Friday when the price of gold topped $2,500 for the first time. The price of gold is up about 22 percent on the year and has set several new records along the way.

Rapidly increasing industrial and military demand for silver is depleting global inventories, and the rate may well accelerate quickly. Silver demand has outstripped supply for three straight years and the Silver Institute projects another market deficit this year.

Many central banks are opting for a “stateless currency” – gold. That’s how a recent article published by Nikkei Asia put it, noting that “central banks are diversifying away from the dollar and yuan.” Central banks globally added a net 483 tons of gold through the first six months of this year, 5 percent above the record of 460 tons in H1 2023.

The idea is pretty simple. The U.S. Treasury could mint a $1 trillion platinum coin, deposit it at the Federal Reserve, and then the federal government could write checks against that asset. Voila! Budget problem solved. Now, it may sound a little bit like creating money out of thin air… That’s because it is.

I Thought Gold Was a Safe Haven! Why Did It Tank With Stocks? It was a bloody Monday in the stock market as analysts digested the dreary jobs report released Friday and suddenly discovered the rot in the economy’s foundation. So, What Happened to Gold?

Central Bank and Over-the-Counter Buying Pushed Gold Demand to Record Levels in Q2. Gold demand was up 4 percent to 1,258 tons in the second quarter, the highest level on record since the World Gold Council started compiling data. Demand for gold was strong in the second quarter despite record gold prices.

On July 26, the national debt blew past $35 trillion for the first time. We are now cursed with a debt of $35,001,278,179,208.67. This milestone will likely raise some eyebrows, but nobody will do anything about it. And sadly, most people don’t care.

The 2024 Summer Olympics kicked off over the weekend. Thousands of athletes from all over the world have converged on Paris with one goal in mind. Win silver! Now, you’re probably thinking, ‘Umm… Mike, they’re going for gold.’ And technically, you’re correct. But did you know that gold medals are mostly made from silver?

How will the upcoming presidential election impact the gold market? Biden has dropped out of the presidential race. It appears Kamala Harris has the inside track to the Democratic Party nomination, but that isn’t a foregone conclusion. Polling currently shows Trump and the Republicans holding an edge, but we are a long way from November…

On July 16, a jury convicted Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) on 16 counts, including wire fraud, bribery, and extortion. At least he accepted bribes that would retain their value. Let me be clear: you really shouldn’t take bribes. But if you do (don’t), get it in gold.

The federal government ran another big deficit in June, as the national debt inches closer to $35 trillion. $35 trillion USD. Trillion with a ‘T.’ That’s an unfathomable number. It’s meaningless to most people. We simply can’t comprehend a number that big.