February, 2013

Rising Debt Burden & Falling and Rising Rates

  Three links from Seeking Alpha’s Wall Street Breakfast: Must-Know News today really underscore the intractable debt and interest rate problems in irredeemable currency. Corporate pension deficits soar. The WSJ shines a light on the significant funding gap in corporate pension plans, with the deficit among Russell 3000 companies rising to $441B in 2012 from […]

Swapping Equity for Debt

When I was working out at the gym a few weeks ago, TJ Rodgers was on the Mad Money show on CNBC (I recall this being Friday January 25, but I cannot find video of this show on the Internet). For those who haven’t seen the show, the host, Jim Cramer, affects a loud and […]

What Drives the Price of Gold and Silver?

If there is a credible rumor that the Fed is planning to further extend its “Quantitative Easing”, how would you expect the monetary metals to react? Typically, the gold price would rise and the silver price would rise even more. The question is why. Traders read the headlines and they know how the price “should” […]

February 23, 2013

The Last Contango Basis Report The downdraft in the dollar prices of the metals began in late January, with gold just under $1700 and silver over $32. This is not likely news to readers of the Last Contango Basis Report.  Gold and Silver Price The purpose of this Report is to shed some light onto […]

The Precise Definition of Inflation

Inflation

Communicating about money and finance in today’s culture is a real challenge; you want to inform and enlighten your audience on their level of knowledge—but this makes the use of terms extremely difficult. Ayn Rand Institute President Yaron Brook’s video about deflation demonstrates why. In the video clip, Dr. Brook makes two key points. First, […]

The Curious Case of Falling Gold and Silver Prices. Part II

In Part I , we presented the data for gold and silver price, open interest, and basis. They form a curious combination, which we discuss in this Part II. If open interest is rising, then it means one of two things. Contracts are being created by fresh buyers taking the ask, in which case we […]

The Curious Case of Falling Gold and Silver Prices

  A curious thing happened last week. The prices of both monetary metals have been falling for a week and a half through February 15. No, that’s not the curious part. There is no law of nature that says the prices have to go up, but if they go down it must be artificial somehow. […]

Don’t Short the Treasury Bond Just Yet

Keith Weiner discusses why interest rates prior to 1933 was set by the marginal saver and how the saver was removed from this process post 1933.

Gold Leaps Into Backwardation!

Since late January, the February gold contract has been in backwardation.  This means that one could make a profit by simultaneously selling a gold bar and buying a February contract.  One would still have one’s gold plus a little extra.  I coined the term “temporary backwardation” (https://monetary-metals.com/temporary-backwardation-the-path-forward-from-2008-3/), to describe this curious and very recent phenomenon.  […]

Measuring Gold Demand

The World Gold Council asserts that gold demand fell 4% in 2012.  Can you spot the fallacy? See: The Business Insider