Peter Reagan

$3,500 could be the next long-term target for gold, the dollar’s status as the global reserve currency could be slipping, and gold’s jump looks to have come from unexpected sources.

Stories include: The Fed is in no position to respond to the spike in inflation, Swiss hedge fund is offering clients a precious metals shield against inflation, and Michigan jeweler launches his own Treasure Quest.

If people aren’t paying the bill that puts a roof over their head, that doesn’t paint a pretty picture for the state of the U.S. economy. Sadly, it looks like that picture could be taking shape right now.

According to a study by the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau (CFPB), almost half of Americans do not have enough savings to maintain original spending levels past the first five years of their retirement.

The fact the Fed is buying corporate bonds at all signals favoritism toward big existing players — indebted lumbering behemoths that can’t innovate. It’s not as if the Fed is going to take the largesse it creates from thin air and spread it around to a plucky but capital-starved startup, right?

Part of the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act, the “Volcker Rule” was intended to prevent big banks from taking irresponsible risks. But in spite of an already-uncertain economy, regulators are now proposing to ease these rules…

In another episode of “Strange 2020”, banks have become flush with deposits. But not in the way you might expect. In one month, deposits grew by $865 billion, which beat the record for an entire year

As if Social Security didn’t already have enough challenges ahead, we now have yet another complication. Not surprisingly, it’s a ripple effect from COVID-19. Before coronavirus hit the scene, experts agreed that if nothing was done, Social Security would be facing a 21% cut by 2035.

The national debt currently looks like a runaway freight train. Not only is it clocking in at $26.1 trillion at the moment, but it has made the jump of the last few trillion dollars fast… Really fast.