Why Gold ETFs Are a Bad Idea
A major trend in investing over the past decade has been the tremendous growth of exchange-traded funds (ETFs). ETFs have sprouted up to offer investors the ability to invest in a number of different assets, some of which they otherwise would have great difficulty investing in. That has opened up the range of investment options and allowed ordinary investors...
Global Manufacturing Has Contracted Spectacularly
While the mainstream financial media tries to put a rosy spin on the economy and make us believe that everything is going well, under the hood things aren’t looking so good. Forget about mainstream employment numbers such as the unemployment rate or the number of jobs created. The real gauge of the economy’s strength is how much is being...
Russia Issuing Yuan-Denominated Debt Means Another Nail in the Dollar’s Coffin
The time is coming when the dollar will no longer be the world’s reserve currency. In all likelihood it will be the Chinese yuan that replaces the dollar, as China is making moves to internationalize its currency, make it more convertible, and use it in foreign trade with more and more nations. The progress made by the yuan is...
Corporate Debt Continues to Spiral Out of Control
The biggest bubble in the United States today is also the one that hardly anyone knows about, recognizes, or cares about. It’s well known that the response to any financial crisis is to take action to ensure that such a crisis doesn’t occur again. But that means that we’re always fighting the last war. So while the Federal Reserve...
Think You Can Count on a Pension? Not So Fast
To younger workers the idea of a pension hearkens back to days gone by, when employees spent their entire career with a single company from first hire to retirement. In the modern workplace, with workers ready to jump from company to company in search of better pay or benefits, the idea of a pension seems almost antiquated. And with...