Mike Maharrey

A few weeks ago, gold sold off on news that the People’s Bank of China didn’t add any gold to its reserves in May. At the time, I called it a “kneejerk reaction,” and said the news wasn’t “a particularly good reason to sell gold.” Before the news, China had bought gold for 18 straight months. However…

Since mid-2021, we lived through the worst price inflation since the 1970s. CPI peaked in June 2022 at 9.1 percent. During this inflationary period, a lot of people sold gold as evidenced by the rangebound price through most of 2023. Was selling a good move?

Most people don’t understand the enormity of the national debt, the amount of government spending, or the size of the monthly deficits. As a result, they come up with all kinds of absurd “solutions” to the problem. Whenever I talk about the national debt and government spending, somebody says, “We just need to tax the rich more.”

We’ve reported on young Chinese investors buying gold beans and gold flying off convenience store shelves in Korea. Gold demand in India recently surged during an important festival season. And now we have a gold-buying spree in Vietnam. Banks reported long lines as customers queued up to take advantage of lower gold prices…

Gold-backed exchange-traded funds (ETFs) reported net inflows of gold for the first time in 12 months in May. Funds based in Europe and Asia led the way as total gold holdings by ETFs globally rose by 8.2 tons. ETFs globally now hold 3,087.9 tons of gold.

The Federal Reserve was sold as a way to “provide the nation with a safer, more flexible, and more stable monetary and financial system.” That’s not what the central bank does. In fact, the Fed destabilizes the monetary system by constantly interjecting itself into it, tinkering with interest rates, and creating money out of thin air

The Reserve Bank of India recently brought a little over 100 tons of gold home from the UK. According to a Times of India report, moving 100 tons of gold over 4,000 miles was “a massive logistical exercise, requiring months of planning and precise execution.” The process required specialized aircraft and detailed security arrangements.

Last month, Zimbabwe officials introduced a gold-backed currency in an effort to stabilize the country’s economy. At the time, I warned that a gold-backed currency would be a great step, but that it wasn’t going to solve Zimbabwe’s problems unless the government changed its ways. So far, things don’t look good.

If you listen to government officials and central bankers talk about price inflation, you might think they don’t have the foggiest idea of what caused it. It might have been supply chain problems, or perhaps it was Putin’s fault. Maybe greedy corporations are jacking up prices. Or it could be that consumer expectations are driving prices higher…

Could the world REALLY be creeping closer to a monetary gold standard? Steve Forbes sees signs that it is. In a recent article published by Forbes Magazine, Steve Forbes wrote that it may seem hard to believe, but the world is “beginning to lurch toward a gold-based monetary system.”

Are the central bankers at the Federal Reserve just winging it? It sure seems that way if you step back and take a long view of their decision-making. Fed officials project this aura of authority. You might imagine them as hyper-intelligent experts in the field of economics and finance making carefully calculated monetary policy decisions… but.

All that glitters isn’t gold. Silver also has quite a shine lately. While gold has gotten the headlines, silver has had a solid bull run over the last several months. In fact, the white metal has outperformed gold in this gold bull market. Last week, silver charted an 11 percent gain, cracking $30 an ounce for the first time in over a decade.

Could we see $27,000 gold? That seems far-fetched but financial analyst and investment banker Jim Rickards makes the case that it could happen. Gold charted a big rally in recent months, hitting a new all-time high of over $2,400 an ounce last month. Even with the higher prices, gold demand has remained robust.

Bars of gold are flying off the shelves in South Korean convenience stores. This is yet another example of the movement of gold from West to East. Korea’s largest convenience store chain, CU, has teamed up with Korea Minting and Security Printing Corporation (KOMSCO) to offer customers fingernail-sized gold bars.

Gold was up 4 percent in April, despite some profit-taking, along with headwinds from a strong dollar and waning hope for an interest rate cut. Gold hit a new all-time high of 2,431 in April, but pulled back later in the month as hopes the Federal Reserve would cut interest rates in the near future faded.

Factoring in sizeable over-the-counter (OTC) buying, gold demand charted its strongest first quarter since 2016. By including over-the-counter buying by investors, gold demand grew by 3 percent year-on-year, reaching 1,238 tons, according to data compiled by the World Gold Council.

There are cracks in the foundation of dollar dominance. Could Chinese gold be the straw that breaks the dollar’s back? In a column published by the Telegraph, economist Julian Jessop points out that people have been predicting the dollar’s demise for decades. Eventually, they’ll be right.

Central banks continued to steadily add gold to their reserves in March. On net, central banks globally increased their gold holdings by 16 tons, according to the latest data compiled by the World Gold Council. Buyers added 40 tons of gold to their reserves. This was offset by a net 25 tons in sales.

If the hotter-than-expected March CPI data wasn’t enough to convince you, there is more evidence that the “cooling inflation” we saw late last year was transitory. The PCE data for March came out Friday – hotter than expected. You might be picking up on a theme here…

The Federal Reserve has a $34.5 trillion problem. And the problem is growing. Yes, I’m talking about the national debt. How is the debt the Fed’s problem? It hamstrings the Fed’s ability to fight price inflation. In a recent interview, Crescat Capital macro strategist Tavi Costa told Kitco News that soaring debt levels could ultimately render…

Did you know Thomas Jefferson and many other prominent Founding Fathers predicted our current economic problems? No, they didn’t have a crystal ball. They didn’t need one. All they needed was an understanding of money and human nature. The founders recognized the “evils” of paper money…

Big money managers are starting to jump on the gold bandwagon as inflation worries grow. Over the last few weeks, gold held its ground despite headwinds including a strong dollar and rising bond yields. Geopolitical tensions have supported safe-haven buying but it appears a new player is entering the market – hedge funds

Americans throw away millions of dollars in coins every year. That’s because American money is junk. But that wasn’t always the case. In an article published by the Wall Street Journal, Reworld, a Pennsylvania waste management facility, claimed that Americans toss about $68 million worth of coins every year.

Indians are known to have a love affair with gold. India ranks as the number two gold-consuming country in the world behind only China. But Indians are also pretty fond of silver. In fact, India is the world’s biggest silver consumer.
And Indian silver demand is surging.

After moderating credit card spending in January, American consumers pulled out the plastic yet again in February. Credit card balances surged, driving overall consumer debt up by another $14.1 billion – Americans now owe $5.05 trillion in consumer debt, according to the latest data from the Federal Reserve.

Gold has surged to record highs of over $2,350 per ounce, and there is reason to believe this bull run has plenty of legs left. Gold dipped below $2,000 for the last time in mid-February. Since that time, it has gained nearly 18 percent. But despite the rally, a lot of investors in the West have not jumped on the bandwagon – yet.

Many American founders warned us about paper money. Thomas Paine summed it up best: “The evils of paper money have no end.” In an 1814 letter to Thomas Cooper, Thomas Jefferson was prophetic. “Every thing predicted by the enemies of banks, in the beginning, is now coming to pass. We are to be ruined now by the deluge of bank paper.”

Gold broke another intraday record on Monday. This continues the gold bull run that has been ongoing for several weeks. But there is something else happening that’s quite unusual. Treasury bond yields are also rising. As gold was setting records on Monday, yields on the long end of the Treasury curve were also rising.