Peter Reagan

It’s hard to deny that inflation is the most pressing economic issue for most of us these days, whether we’re saving for retirement or just filling up our tanks at the gas station. Ask anybody what’s on their minds, and you’ll get an earful. It doesn’t matter who you ask, liberals or conservatives. It doesn’t matter how you ask,

There isn’t any doubt, when inflation accelerates like it is right now, the lower income class has their financial worlds turned upside down. After all, that’s what happens when most of the food that we eat and fuel we use every single day suddenly becomes 10% – 43% more expensive.

We’ve suggested many times that an economic “storm could be brewing” so that you could start or continue preparing for it. Well, if Jamie Dimon (CEO of JP Morgan) is correct, it looks like we might have underestimated how bad things could get.

For as much as we struggle to compare present day to any point in U.S. history, the 1970s to early 1980s are an almost eerily accurate parallel. People on the street didn’t have a smartphone in their hands, and mail took a bit longer to arrive. But the economic conditions are all here.

It turns out that quality growth stocks do not always outperform; that the Federal Reserve will not always step in to protect your wealth… and that the prices of the growth stocks in your portfolio have long been more a function of loose monetary policy than the priceless nature of innovative thinking.

At this point, it has almost become cliché to say that “inflation is accelerating,” and that it’s taking a bite out of retirement savers income. But just how big is that bite? According to this Moody’s analysis, that bite amounts to hundreds of dollars a month consumed by the tax nobody voted for

Economists agree both gold and silver share many virtues: Easily accessible and redeemable, highly liquid, historically money, intrinsically valuable and free of counterparty risk. The parallels lead some to call silver “poor man’s gold.” That’s not a helpful description…

If you pay any attention to financial news (or if you’re a regular reader of my columns), you’re probably familiar with the term “bubble.” We’ve seen the 2008 housing bubble, the dot-com stock bubble, some are referring to the recent collapse in bonds as the end of a bond bubble and so on…

Bonds are generally considered a conservative investment vehicle. Corporate bond-holders get paid before shareholders, and even in the worst-case scenario of a bankruptcy, bond owners are likely to recoup some of their investment, while shareholders are usually wiped out.

The times ahead will likely be radically different from those we’ve experienced in our lifetimes—but similar to those that have happened many times before. Studying history lets us find recurring patterns that determine likely future developments.

In response to the recent Fed announcements, on Thursday the Dow Jones tumbled almost 1,100 points. The NASDAQ also lost 5% of its value. Both losses completely erased their relief-rally gains from the day before – when stock bulls were excited the Fed didn’t raise rates higher.

Inflation isn’t a scary word, is it? It makes you think of blowing up balloons for birthday parties, the Macy’s Thanksgiving parade, maybe helping a toddler get their water wings on before an adventure in the swimming pool. It just sounds so innocuous.

Keith McCullough, founder and CEO of Hedgeye Risk Management, says that the economy is heading towards something they label a “Quad 4,” a state of emergency warranting government intervention. A Quad 4 means disappointing growth and inflation, year after year.

The head of the UN World Food Program is warning that this is going to be the worst worldwide food crisis since World War II, and even Joe Biden is admitting that the approaching food shortages “are going to be real”. Unfortunately, there have been some new developments…

SPOILER ALERT: So, what if there was an investment that offered the benefits of diversification, return on investment and hedging? An investment that could help capitalize on both upside growth opportunities while also protecting against downside risks of loss?

Even the most hawkish Federal Reserve estimates that inflation for March could come in as high as 8.41%, with forecasts of a quarter-over-quarter rise to 9.1%. That’s not quite double-digit inflation, not yet, but it’s plenty alarming…

Essentially, Russia has done exactly what we predicted and created a gold-backed currency. What this will mean for international trade involving Russia, let alone gold’s role in it, will undoubtedly become incredibly influential on future efforts to return to a gold standard.

The last time America saw such a vast surge in gas prices was the 1970s energy crisis. That crisis led directly to a decade of stagflation, a toxic brew of rapidly-rising prices, a 50% drop in the stock market, unemployment over 10%, shrinking GDP and widespread civil disorder.

The number of black swan events since mid-2019 is astounding. These days, investors are constantly waiting for the next financial or geopolitical calamity, with some new sources of disruptive events added to the mix.

Say what you will about Russia’s government, you can’t deny they understand the importance of investing in physical gold. Accumulating $140 billion of an asset with zero counterparty risk was a smart move. Now Russia’s gold bullion is likely to prove its merit once again.

After a steady week of gains, gold has had a volatile Friday, of the kind that is very much to the gold bug’s liking. Bullish forecasts for $2,000 gold this year were expedited with force by the Russia-Ukraine conflict. We’re now thinking $2,000 will be the price that could define the long-term trajectory of gold’s price.

Last week has been a volatility showcase that is rarely seen in the gold market. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sent gold flying past its 2011 high and up to $1,976, the highest level in a year and a half. The next day gold posted considerable losses and ended Friday’s trading session around $1,890

One good thing that can be said about this is that rate hikes get priced in far ahead and in succession. As far as the markets are concerned, three rate hikes have already happened. But that’s where speculators stop doing gold any favors.

In his new research paper, Wharton finance and economics professor Urban Jermann proposed that investors and market participants have been misinterpreting the true value of gold as an investment asset. In particular, more attention should be paid to…

UBS strategists said that gold’s “tried-and-tested insurance characteristics” had again shined brightly, especially compared to other common portfolio diversifiers, including digital assets such as bitcoin. (Recently, bitcoin’s price has been more closely correlated with stocks than previously, reducing its effectiveness as a hedge.)

Financial reporter Emma Dunkley directed our attention to the latest commodities research report from Goldman Sachs, titled Gold: Time to buy the defensive real asset. Goldman’s researchers offer a number of compelling reasons for concerned investors to consider…

It looks as though the next few years will be a bumpy ride for retirement savers. Not welcome news, considering the fact that today’s “stubbornly, persistently high” inflation looks like it will stick around. Worse yet, some projections forecast a negative annual return on stocks for the next decade.

There are so many ways for retirement savers to invest their hard-earned dollars it can make your head spin. There are high risk investments like options. There are lower risk investments like Treasuries. There are both long-term investments and short-term investments. No wonder retirement savers get confused.