Entries by Keith Weiner

Latvian Deflation will Increase their Debt Burden

This article claims that falling prices will increase Latvia’s burden of debt. It is not falling prices, but falling interest rates, that increase the burden of debt (and it is not just Latvia but the whole world, which has falling interest rates). Think of borrowing at the high level as selling a bond. Think of selling […]

Are Japanese Banks on the Verge of Insolvency?

“…holdings in [gold] exchange-traded funds fell to the lowest in over four years…” as this article states. But is this a real relationship? Do holdings at the ETF necessarily fall with a falling gold price and rise with a rising gold price? The same thing has not occurred in SLV–amidst an even larger price drop than that of […]

Lies, Damn Lies, and Statistics

Homebuilder confidence increased in May. Lumber prices in the last two months? Not so much, down over 20%.   When I was a kid, I saw many competing stereo receivers offering higher and higher wattage. It was pretty ridiculous to see these lightweight and flimsy boxes claiming to put out 500 watts or more. Clearly […]

“Indisputable Proof”

If there really was gold manipulation, articles like this one would do an injustice. The author uses the word “indisputable”. I do not think that word means what he thinks it means. According to this article: “Indian inflation eased to a 41-month low in April, giving the central bank room to extend monetary easing…” I think […]

Forensic Basis Analysis of Apr 12-15 Gold Crash

With all the discussion of the crash of April 12-15, I thought it would be interesting to do a little forensic analysis. Instead of looking at price graphs, let’s look at a graph of the gold basis. Contrary to the currently popular assertion that the gold price crashed due to manipulation, the evidence points to something […]

A Picture of Capital Destruction in Germany

Today, the European Central Bank announced that it was cutting interest rates. It also said that it was open to negative deposit rates. We are witnessing nothing less than the metastasis of monetary cancer. A falling interest rate causes the destruction of capital. Here is a picture of the rate falling from over 4% to […]

How Not to Trade the Dollar

I hope this essay provides some food for thought. It is not my intention to insult or belittle anyone, but using humor and cold logic, to help people understand an abstract topic with many counterintuitive principles. The ultimate goal is to protect what you have and make some more (in that order). Gold is money. […]