I had a conference to attend in Southern California last week but the true capstone was a Sunday evening dinner with several readers. Although ‘gold bugs’ may be perceived in their writing as cranky I have found them to be among the most considerate and cultured company. Perhaps it stems ...read more

First let me confess that I have not been to China. Some folks think that handicaps me. They are woefully mistaken. I make it a pretty steadfast rule not to go to Washington, either, but I can give you a good idea of what’s going on there. Since I have no ...read more

Ever since the War Between the States (circa 1860), there hasn’t been a serious (or at least widespread) move for succession from the United States. However, there is a call by some for the State of California to be removed. Have you heard about this? As you may know, California is ...read more

Gold up, Dollar down...? Not entirely... So the last decade of rising gold prices simply mirrored the US Dollar’s steady decline. Right…? Well, no actually as I have repeatedly noted...and never less than when clutching a whisky and ginger this past Yuletide...typically to a fast-emptying room. Gold's tripling-and-more since Tues 4th Jan. 2000 ...read more

The world is not yet ready to give up its addiction to paper currency. Actually, the world may be getting a snoot-full of it, but governments are not. You see, paper currency has an unbelievably strong attraction for governments. Do you know what it is? Do you wanna know? It’s elastic. ...read more

So this is what it feels like in an inflationary melt up. House prices were up 6.2% in the third quarter over the same time last year, according to data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics. House prices in the capital cities are surging. Stocks are surging. Gold and oil ...read more

The Fed’s been carrying on with its wayward monetary policy. And it's carried on with the carry trade by keeping short-term rates low. In deciding to make hardly any changes to its interest rate policy or even the language from its last statement, the Fed is encouraging traders to resume the ...read more

The dollar’s days are numbered…but there’s going to be a lot of movement both up and down before its ultimate demise. Pound up... Euro down… Aussie pulling back… Canadian giving way… Yen losing ground… October is coming to an end, and we haven’t really seen hide nor hair of any terrifying market moves or monstrous returns ...read more

This week, the price of gold touched $1,040 per ounce while silver took a ride to now over $17 per ounce. It seems like the gold and silver run-up caught the politicians and monetary authorities by surprise. The lookouts were napping up in the crows’-nest. Then the golden alarm clock ...read more

The last week has handed us some interesting developments once more, and as we pause to catch our breath again this week, we’ll make note of the important underlying currents and what they may mean going forward. The Pause That Refreshes We saw a short reversal in the recovery trade that has ...read more