Why Gold Is Spiking Now
Many investors think of gold as a hedge against economic turmoil, inflation, and financial crisis. And with the economy slowing, stock markets near all-time highs and poised for a crash, and the Federal Reserve returning to its money-printing ways, savvy investors have already made the move to invest their portfolios in gold. But while that has helped gold gain...
Why Is Gold Important? A Brief Guide
For over 200 years, gold has been the most important precious metal in the world. It was once the linchpin of the international monetary system, and in a way still anchors the workings of the world’s central banks. Even though it no longer features as prominently as a currency, it nonetheless retains its importance. Gold has a number of attributes...
The Federal Reserve’s Monetization of Debt Is a Bad Omen for the Future
One of the characteristic traits of an economy that is circling the drain is one in which the central bank directly monetizes the debt issued by the government. Once that starts to happen, there is no check on the government’s ability to spend money, and the currency unit quickly becomes more and more worthless. We’ve seen this happen in...
5 New Year’s Resolutions for Investors
The coming of the new year has traditionally been a time for people to make resolutions about how they’ll improve their way of living in the year ahead. It’s become famous in some circles to joke about those resolutions, and how few people stick to them. That’s particularly true when it comes to exercise and fitness. But while many people...
What Would Trillions of Dollars of Corporate Downgrades Mean for Your Investment Portfolio?
One of the dominant themes in markets today is the vast amount of near-junk grade debt that’s floating around out there. Corporate debt levels are nearly double what they were during the financial crisis, and in terms of corporate debt to GDP, we’re at levels that we last saw at the top of the last two market crashes. That...