Gold Editorials & Commentary

There's a lot of confusion about money and about what does and does not form part of the money supply. Our goal in this short discussion is to reduce the confusion.

Gold prices have managed to recover more than $ 80 an ounce from its recent low as demand for the physical metal explodes.

The cyclical recovery that began in March 2009 has been impressive but is getting long in the tooth.  Investors wonder when it will end, and while this can’t be known with precision there are signs that its terminus isn’t far away.

In the years following the global financial crisis, economists and investors have gotten very comfortable with very high, and seemingly persistent, government debt.

Here are the historical bull and bear markets for Gold since 1972 (post Bretton Woods) through 2007.

Here are the historical bull and bear markets for Gold since 1972 (post Bretton Woods) through 2007.

I covered municipal bond yields last year as they approached their second anniversary of an amazing and historic yield inversion.  Geeze Louise, muni-bonds pay tax-free income, yet since November 2011 they have yielded more than Barron’s Best Grade Bonds.  Ther

Have a good look at the following two charts.

I have never appealed to the so-called conspiracy theories in trying to explain the strange world of fluctuations in the price of monetary metals.

Explanations for this gold selloff abound everywhere and nearly all of them are inane and incorrect.

There are likely, at minimum, half a dozen reasons for the swift correction in precious metals over the past week. The real reason might be one, two, or even all of what I’m going to lay out below.

The recent drop in gold and silver is not critical to buyers of physical metals. Instead, it is an opportunity – to buy more at lower prices; at worst, it is an irritation, since it means a longer wait.

On Friday we witnessed a great plunge in gold (almost $80 – from $1560.30 to $1480.50) and silver (almost $1.7 – from $27.58 to $25.89) and we are seeing even lower prices this week.

That was the question I asked myself after being 100% cash into the last hour yesterday and seeing the bottom fall out on the gold stocks once again. Classic trading methodology teaches that you do not try to catch a falling knife.

To me, at least, times are fascinating as much as they are disturbing. The take down we have seen in gold and silver beginning on Friday and still continuing on Monday is breathtaking.

I have come across the above item on eBay. It is selling at $60 for a 2 pound bag. It is not an illegal drug and it would not be much good for smoking either.

The threat of war against the United States is making headlines and roiling investors’ nerves.  While full-scale war is likely not imminent, it’s something worth considering in light of where we stand in the long-term War Cycle.

It has been a painful few days for those who believe that gold (and silver) are a safe haven from government money-printing machines and the mountain of debt of the Western economies.

When volatility prevails in the gold market, I love seeing so many different opinions because it promotes critical thinking and healthy markets.

To me, at least, times are fascinating as much as they are disturbing. The take down we have seen in gold and silver beginning on Friday and still continuing on Monday is breathtaking.

I have come across the above item on eBay. It is selling at $60 for a 2 pound bag. It is not an illegal drug and it would not be much good for smoking either.

It has been an increasingly brutal ride for gold and silver, beginning around late March and accelerating through April. The gold price was over $1600 and on Monday April 15, it fell below $1350, a loss of $250. Silver did even worse, falling from $29 to $22.

Until recently I was expecting the bubble phase for gold to occur as we came out of the next 8 year cycle low in 2016.

Three weeks ago, the investing public was awarded a brief glimpse into the mysterious world of central banking through events in Cyprus.