Gold: People Don't Trust Fiat Currencies

People don't trust fiat currencies they don't trust a dollar euro yen they're looking for an alternative and believe me the real alternative is gold and more and more people are going to embrace it. (SPDR Gold Trust ETF (GLD), Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (GDX), Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF (GDXJ))

Real Estate: Prices Will Have To Go Down

Housing unit prices are gonna have to implode, prices are so high people can't afford them even with these ridiculously low interest rates. But in a higher interest rate environment where you know mortgage money is 8 to 10 percent, which was the average for many, many decades and you know that people had to put down payments, to I mean if we go back to the days where you need a 20 percent down payment, I mean imagine how low prices would have to fall for the average American to be able to come up with 20% down payments. (SPDR S&P Homebuilders (ETF) (XHB), KB Home (NYSE:KBH), Lennar Corporation (LEN), D.R. Horton (DHI))

Markets: Federal Reserve, Crude Oil

You look at the Fed minutes and it doesn't sound like a Fed that is getting ready to raise rates even though they're gonna do it. I mean they're talking about how much they're concerned and worried about the fact that inflation isn't high enough even though oil prices on Friday went above fifty nine dollars a barrel again, trading at almost a two-and-a-half year high.

Stock Market: The Trump Rally

Where Trump is is getting into trouble is by claiming that the stock market going up is no longer a bubble that now this is just a real bull market that reflects the improvement of the fundamentals since he's been elected.

That's not the case. This is simply more air into the same bubble and this bubble is going to burst and I think unfortunately now that Trump has branded it you know just like it was one of his buildings he's put the big Trump marker on it, when this thing pops it's he's gonna have to take the blame. (SPDR S&P 500 Index ETF (SPY), Nasdaq 100 Index ETF (QQQ), SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF (DIA), iShares Russell 2000 Index ETF (IWM))

Oil Prices Are Moving Higher

Oil prices got above $58 a barrel for the first time in over two years, a very strong oil market and if you look at the chart if we get above 60 dollars, I mean that's kind of a long -term moving average on a monthly chart, 60 to 75 was a key high from about two and a half years ago, if we take that out we can have a quick move up .

Remember the move down, oil fell from a hundred down to under 30 in about six months and then it's been recovering slowly ever since but if we can break through decisively that sixty to seventy-five we're gonna move up.

Gold Is Trying To Breakout

Gold (SPDR Gold Trust ETF (GLD)) still looks like it wants to break out somebody is obviously trying to stop that from happening or somebody's don't really know who these sellers are but I do think eventually whatever their agenda is the markets are going to overwhelm it.

There Is No Way Out, A Crisis Is Coming

There is no way off of this monetary policy. Once you take this much drugs you can never get off, not without massive withdrawal and so nobody politically wants to deal with that because if the Federal Reserve were to actually not come to the rescue next time the stock market wouldn't just go down 50 percent like it didn't in 2008-2009, it might go down 80 or 90 percent.

Banks would actually fail I mean the government would actually have to default on its debt but I don't think that is gonna happen because nobody in power wants to let that happen and so the US dollar is gonna be sacrificed. But ultimately in sacrificing the US dollar the damage that's going to be done to the economy and to the standard of living of the average American is going to be much greater than had we just bitten the bullet and dealt with the financial crisis.

How Much Debt Can The US Withstand?

We got 20 trillion in national debt, why can't we go to 35 trillion? Why can't we go to 40 trillion? 

Why can't we just continue to increase the national debt? 

It reminds me of the old adage about how many straws can you put on a on a camel's back? You don't know until you put that final straw that's one too many and then you break its back. 

So, can we go to 25 trillion? Maybe. But can we go to 30 trillion? We're not going to know. At some point we're gonna break the back of the camel with all this debt and then we're gonna find out how much debt we can pile on and it's not going to be pretty because then we're gonna have a crisis.

Dollar Crisis, Sovereign Debt Crisis

This is the third gigantic bubble that the Federal Reserve has inflated and when this one pops it's not going to be the third time's the charm. It's gonna be three strikes you're out because I think that this bubble is too big to pop. It's the mother of all bubbles and when it bursts there is not a bigger one that the Federal Reserve is going to be able to inflate to mask these problems meaning that we can't kick the can down the road anymore we're gone we're going to have to deal with these problems.

I think the problem that we're going to be confronted with is going to be much worse than a financial crisis, it is going to be a dollar crisis and it is going to be a sovereign debt crisis where the bonds that people are worried about are not some subprime mortgage that some guy borrowed money to buy a house that can't afford. It's going to be the US government that people are worried about and the the the solvency of the government and the Treasury bonds.

The Appeal of International Stocks

People who are in the US stock market are overlooking much better returns from much better valuation levels that are happening overseas. So, I think people should take advantage of the overpriced US stock market plus the overpriced US dollar and sell and move money abroad get into the international markets. (SPDR S&P 500 Index ETF (SPY), Nasdaq 100 Index ETF (QQQ), iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Index ETF (EEM))

Stock Market: The Valuations Here Are Extreme

The valuations here really are extreme, the complacency is also extreme. I mean investors are willing to pay very high prices and have very little worry that the stock market is going to go down.

People have very short memories, I mean we've had two major 50% declines in the stock market this century. Since 2000 we've had the market cut in half twice and it could easily happen again yet nobody seems concerned. 

Related trading instruments: SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF (DIA), SPDR S&P 500 Index ETF (SPY), Nasdaq 100 Index ETF (QQQ), iShares Russell 2000 Index ETF (IWM)

Thoughts On Powell As The New Fed Chairman

It's just more of the same but you know Powell embodies everything that candidate Trump criticized when he ran for office!

Instead of taking the opportunity to change the Fed he is simply reappointed or nominated somebody who is going to continue the very policies that he criticized when he was running for President and Powell is going to be just as political as Yellen except now the beneficiary is going to be Trump instead of Obama.

Video: "Trump Names Powell Fed Chairman"

RT Video: "Trump names Powell Fed Chairman"

Trump, Stock Market & Consumer Confidence

So we have the stock market at all time highs, we have consumer confidence high yet Donald Trump's popularity has never been lower! (SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF (DIA), SPDR S&P 500 Index ETF (SPY), Nasdaq 100 Index ETF (QQQ), iShares Russell 2000 Index ETF (IWM))

The Swiss National Bank Is A Big Investor In US Tech Stocks

The Swiss National Bank now has 88 billion dollars in US stocks alone. Their number one holding is Apple but if you look at their portfolio their top five holdings are Apple (AAPL) then Alphabet (which is Google), Microsoft (MSFT), Facebook (FB) and Amazon (AMZN). Those are the top five holdings of the Swiss National Bank and it also makes sense that those are some of the highest flying stocks in the US market because the Swiss National Bank just so you know they print Swiss francs for nothing, they create them out of thin air and then they go and they buy up US tech stocks.

There's only about seven and a half million people living in Switzerland including little babies. So they basically have more than ten thousand dollars of US stocks for every man, woman and child living in Switzerland. That means a family of four has got $40,000 worth of US stocks!

US Stock Market: Complacency, Overvaluation

I think if you look at the amount of complacency relative to the overvaluation stocks have really never been this expensive and people have never been this sure that they're not going to go down.

Related trading instruments: SPDR S&P 500 Index ETF (SPY), iShares Russell 2000 Index ETF (IWM), SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF (DIA), Nasdaq 100 Index ETF (QQQ)

Bull Markets: Foreign Stocks, Commodities

I think that we're early on in the bull markets in some of these foreign stock markets and again as I said, commodities in my opinion are just beginning a new bull market. (iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Index ETF (EEM), United States Oil Fund LP ETF (USO))

Gold Will Rise In US Dollar Terms

Gold will rise in US Dollar terms rather substantially as the dollar loses purchasing power, you will need more and more dollars to buy an ounce of gold among other things.

I think people that own gold will be able to preserve their purchasing power and of course gold is not the only asset that people can own but it's certainly one of the most reliable. I also I think today gold does not really reflect all the potential for inflation, the potential for dollar debasement. Investors are too complacent, they're too optimistic about the future and you can see that in the stock market but you can also see it in the price of gold because as stocks are going up, gold prices are not.

What Will Happen When The Stock Market Bubble Pops?

The Fed has inflated three gigantic stock market bubbles this century. The first one popped in 2001, the second one popped in 2008. Who knows when this one is gonna pop, but this is the biggest one yet and in the prior the market was cut in half. 

The only way the government was able to bail out investors was because the Fededral Reserve inflated a bigger bubble to replace the one that just popped. Well, I think this bubble is too big to replace. When it pops, that's it, the Fededral Reserve is out of tricks, there's not going to be a fourth one that they can inflate because in order to do that they will have to use so much stimulus that they will actually kill the dollar. They will end up overdosing on stimulus and we will have a dollar crash and that's gonna hurt investors but it's gonna hurt the economy even more.

Federal Reserve: Trump Will Announce His Pick

On Thursday, President Trump is supposedly going to announce his pick to replace Janet Yellen as the new Fed Chairman.

Madness of the Crowds: Bitcoin

Charles Mackay wrote a book, Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of the Crowds and I think if they republished that book they should add a chapter so they can put Bitcoin in there because it's all the same mentality, that's the lesson. Everybody (investing in Bitcoin) should read that book.

The Federal Reserve Will Not Upset The Status Quo

The Federal Reserve does not want to do anything that might upset the status quo. And at this point, the Fed is between a rock and a hard place. The central bank can normalize interest rates, which will ultimately pop the stock market bubble, or it can continue with its easy monetary policies and wreck the US Dollar. The Federal Reserve will ultimately sacrifice the currency (US Dollar) on the altar of the stock market.

Related trading instruments: SPDR S&P 500 Index ETF (SPY)

Real Vision: Discussing Gold and the US Dollar

Peter Schiff on Real Vision discussing the markets in general and gold in particular.

Related trading instruments: SPDR Gold Trust ETF (GLD), Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (GDX), Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF (GDXJ)

The Downside Risks Of Gold & Bitcoin

Bitcoin is approximately $6,000 a coin right now, It could be $600 a month from now. We don't know that, I mean it could be higher, it could be $10,000! Gold it's not likely to crash and if it goes down, you know gold has a real cost of mine and there's a lot of demand for it so there's a limit really. I mean if the price goes down there's not going to be any more of it made. (SPDR Gold Trust ETF (GLD))

Tax Cuts: Bullish For Gold, Bearish For The Dollar

If we get these tax cuts the US Dollar is going down, not up and gold is gonna go way up not down! (SPDR Gold Trust ETF (GLD), Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (GDX), Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF (GDXJ), iShares Silver ETF (SLV))

The Problem With Bitcoin

The only person who would be willing to buy my Bitcoin is somebody who believes he can also sell it to somebody else at a higher price.

So you always need the idea that there's always gonna be somebody else willing to buy my asset at a higher price than I paid because there's no other use for it. You can't do any thing with it, it's not going to generate any income if it just sits there, you can't use it in industry, there's no actual function that it serves other than my ability to sell it to somebody else.

Bitcoin Moved Through Another Milestone

Bitcoin has moved through another milestone over the weekend we were trading above 6,000 I think we got close to 6,200 not sure if we got above it as there are so many different exchanges that's hard for me to keep track. I know as I'm recording now we're at about 5,000 we did get back down to almost 5600 during the day so again the volatility continues but the direction is clearly up. I would put the support now around 5,000 that used to be resistance so at this point 5,000 or so or maybe just below is the support in the market right now. 

There was some selling intraday and then you had billionaire Saudi Prince Alwaleed talking on CNBC and they were asking the guy a lot of questions about a lot of things and obviously you know he's pretty influential because he oversees an enormous amount of money, you've got all the kingdoms oil revenues coming in and so he's got a lot of money to invest and he has a huge portfolio, he is a big shareholder, he owns a lot of US stocks as well and he was asked about Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies.

The Saudi Prince was very negative about Bitcoin. He said it was an Enron in the making that he does not understand it, he thinks it's gonna crash and I think what's interesting though about the Saudi Prince`s criticism is what he points out as being the problems are exactly the benefits that the people who are buying see in the currency. I mean if at this point there's lots of people who are just buying it because it's going up so they don't really have any other allegiance to other than the fact that it's going up.

Video: New Fed Chair, Stock Market and Gold

Peter Schiff discusses the gold outlook with RT.com

Related trading instruments: SPDR Gold Trust ETF (GLD), Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (GDX), Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF (GDXJ)

Rising Inflation Will Be Bullish For Gold

Peter Schiff explains in this podcast why a rise in U.S. inflation will be bullish for the precious metals and at the same time bearish for the U.S. Dollar. 

"The reality is, higher inflation is not going to produce a tighter monetary policy. The Federal Reserve is going to have to ignore the higher inflation which means the inflation is going to get even worse!"

Related trading instruments: SPDR Gold Trust ETF (GLD), Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (GDX)

This Is Bullish For Gold

Ultimately if the Federal Reserve has to make a choice between fighting inflation and unemployment because the Federal Reserve believes in the Phillips curve, the trade-off between inflation and employment, the Federal Reserve will always choose to fight unemployment or to prop up the labor market and sacrifice its inflation goal. (SPDR Gold Trust ETF (GLD), Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (GDX), Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF (GDXJ))

There's Optimism Everywhere Except Gold

There's optimism everywhere except when it comes to gold and that's the one place where people should be optimistic and it's the one place they're not. (Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (GDX), Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF (GDXJ), SPDR Gold Trust ETF (GLD), iShares Silver ETF (SLV))

Investors Are More Convinced That They Can't Lose Than At Any Prior Time ($VIX, $SPY, $VXX)

If you look at that the VIX is at all-time record lows so investors have never been this complacent about the US stock market ever and pretty much all of those measures that measure fear and confidence are at the highest readings they've ever been even though the US stock market is extremely expensive and it's only been this expensive during previous bubbles, near the peaks of previous bubbles. But what's different about this bubble is it’s bigger but people are even more confident now that it's not a bubble. You have less fear, less anxiety, investors are more convinced that they can't lose than at any prior time despite the fact that ww actually probably have more risk now than during any of the previous bubbles.

Stock Market: Optimism and Enthusiasm

Markets continue to move up day after day, it's almost like a melt up at this point of optimism and enthusiasm despite the enormity of the problems that everybody wants to sweep under the rug and you got a mountain of stuff already underneath it. I think the newest catalyst that is fueling the euphoria is the anticipation of these tax cuts that are coming. (SPDR S&P 500 Index ETF (SPY), iShares Russell 2000 Index ETF (IWM), Nasdaq 100 Index ETF (QQQ), SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF (DIA))

Fed Nonsense

The FOMC minutes indicate the Federal Reserve is worried that inflation will not be high enough. That is the last thing the Federal Reserve should be worried about! (SPDR Gold Trust ETF (GLD), iShares Silver ETF (SLV))

The Fed Will Not Be Able To Save The Stock Market

The Federal Reserve won't be able to rescue investors during the next stock market crash, like they did in the years following the 2000 and 2008 crashes. They were successful in reflating yet another bubble but I think this bubble will be the similar fate as the prior two. The difference is, the third time is not going to be the charm - it's going to be three strikes you're out. Let's say the Dow goes to 30,000, if it gets cut in half, that's 15,000 - that's still a low lower than it is right now. (SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF (DIA), SPDR S&P 500 Index ETF (SPY), Nasdaq 100 Index ETF (QQQ))

Renewed Weakness In The US Dollar

Gold is still hanging out below 1300 and the renewed weakness in the US Dollar, I think part of the renewed weakness in the US Dollar has to do with the idea that maybe all these tax cuts aren't going to pass that this Republican plan or the Trump plan that was outlined it's gonna have a hard time getting through Congress.

Stock Market: Optimism and Euphoria

Markets continue to move up day after day, it's almost like a melt up at this point of optimism and enthusiasm despite the enormity of the problems that everybody wants to sweep under the rug and  you got a mountain of stuff already underneath it. I think the newest catalyst that is fueling the euphoria is the anticipation of these tax cuts that are coming. (SPDR S&P 500 Index ETF (SPY), iShares Russell 2000 Index ETF (IWM), Nasdaq 100 Index ETF (QQQ), SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF (DIA))

US Dollar Recent Strength Is Just Noise

I don't think anything's really gonna happen there (the vote in Spain with Catalonia voting to separate from Spain) I mean pretty much everybody the EU is saying if these guys leave we're not gonna recognize them. Spain is saying that they don't recognize the validity of the election...so I doubt anything's gonna happen there but I guess all this uncertainty weighing on the Euro and that helped prop up the US Dollar which has continued to rise ever since the supposed bullish comments by Janet Yellen about hiking rates and shrinking the balance sheet. So now we're back up to about 93.50 on the US Dollar Index, gold back down about $1280 or so but I think the fundamentals are still there for the weak dollar I think this is all a bunch of noise.

International Stocks Beating U.S. Stocks

US stock markets were overshadowed by international markets thanks in large part to the weakness in the US dollar. The US Dollar did recover some of its losses in this closing week of the quarter. I believe again a bit of a dead cat bounce as I think the dollar is probably going to have its weakest quarter of the year in the fourth quarter.

Related trading instruments: Dax 30 Index, EuroStoxx 50 Index, Nikkei 225, FTSE 100 Index, HSI Index, Kospi Index;

Trump Tweets About The Record Highs In The Stock Market

Donald Trump was tweeting about the record highs in the stock market earlier this morning. Of course when we were having record highs under Obama it was a bubble and it didn't matter but now that it's his bubble it's now a bull market and it simply shows what a great job he's doing as President.

Related trading instruments: SPDR S&P 500 Index ETF (SPY), Nasdaq 100 Index ETF (QQQ), iShares Russell 2000 Index ETF (IWM)

U.S. Markets: Who Will Replace The Fed’s Purchasing Power?

Peter Schiff recently left this unanswered question on his Twitter, "One big concern going forward is who will step up to replace the Fed’s purchasing power in the US Securities market?" 

This comes after last week’s announcement that the Federal Reserve will begin reducing its massive balance sheet. 

Trump Tax Plan: Highlights

Peter Schiff discussed the pros and cons of the Trump tax plan. Here are the highlights:

"President Trump announced some of  the details of his highly anticipated tax reform which is really not tax reform it's more of a tax cut masquerading as a reform."

"I would say the best part about it is the elimination of the estate tax."

Gold: Below 1,300 Will Likely Be A Buying Opportunity

Peter Schiff’s most recent commentary on gold:

"We are at 1290 on the price of gold, so we're right below where I thought the support was at 1300." 

"I'm not that worried that we're going all the way back down to 1200."

"I don't think we see a bigger pullback though given the fact that we're not getting a rise in the dollar and oil prices are now comfortably holding above $50 a barrel."

"Strong oil, a weak dollar, to me that means that gold prices are likely heading higher even though we're a little bit below that support, I think that people are gonna buy it, I do think that 1300 is maybe the new 1200 so anything under that I think is going to be looked at as a buying opportunity."

Related trading instruments: SPDR Gold Trust ETF (GLD), Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (GDX), Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF (GDXJ), Barrick Gold (ABX), NovaGold (NG), Newmont Mining (NEM)

The Federal Reserve Is In A Box

The Federal Reserve is in a box, they boxed themselves in because they've kept interest rates so low for so long, they've allowed so much debt to accumulate that now it's impossible to allow interest rates to rise. But they can't admit that so they have to pretend as if everything's gonna be fine, they're gonna be able to normalize interest rates, they're gonna be able to shrink their balance sheet. None of this is possible and it's only a question of time before traders and investors figure it out.

Markets: Yellen, US Dollar and Gold

The US Dollar got a bit of a bounce but very little in the way of upward trajectory despite the the supposed hawkishness and the way the markets are greeting what Janet Yellen said. 

So the US Dollar is already falling but it's not collapsing yet. I mean, it's falling but people are still not completely aware, there's just not enough bearishness yet in the US Dollar. Obviously if there was the price of gold (SPDR Gold Trust ETF (GLD)) would be taking off but we're not too far away from that point and when the US Dollar starts to fall next time there's gonna be nothing stopping it.

Bitcoin, Gold and The Madness Of The Crowds

In a recent podcast, Peter Schiff advised Bitcoin investors to read the book Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds and put gold and Bitcoin in an interesting historic perspective when he mentioned that in a few thousand years, Gold will still be money while bitcoin and the other crypto currencies will be just a blip in history:

"...gold will still be money who knows if anybody will even remember a Bitcoin or any of these crypto currencies that existed for a relative nanosecond in the history of time but I don't know I mean maybe they'll write a new chapter in that book popular delusions and the madness of crowds and by the way if you own some bitcoins get a copy of that  book and read it because it is very applicable to what's going on now."

Related trading instruments: Bitcoin, SPDR Gold Trust ETF (GLD), Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (GDX),

Toys R Us Bankruptcy: Companies Saddled With Debt Can’t Respond to a Changing Marketplace

The air is rushing out of the retail bubble. It’s easy to finger-point at the internet and blame it for the black cloud enveloping the brick and mortar retail sector. But in truth, it’s not all Amazon’s fault. During a podcast last spring, Peter Schiff put his finger on a more fundamental problem. 

While online sales have increased significantly, they still don’t make up for the total decline in sales in brick-and-mortar stores. Peter believes the problems in the retail sector reveal disturbing economic truths about middle America. 

"Another reason people are shopping on the internet, other than just the convenience of not leaving your house when you’re doing your shopping, is the fact that the average American shopper is broke. They can barely afford to buy the stuff that they’re buying. In fact, most people are buying stuff that they can’t afford. They’re just buying anyway and they’re using a credit card…Retailing is a shrinking market because Americans’ pocketbooks are shrinking, their paychecks are shrinking.”

Related: Toys R Us

Jamie Dimon (J.P. Morgan): Bitcoin Is A Fraud

Jamie Dimon came out and said bitcoin is is a fraud so now I'm kind of in his camp although I don't agree with everything that Jamie Dimon said and I think that there are problems that Bitcoin has that he doesn't even understand. He just assumes that the government is gonna shut Bitcoin down and you know if it actually worked he would be right.

Russia and China Are Buying Gold

Russia and China are buying gold specifically to minimize their dependence on the US dollar. (SPDR Gold Trust ETF (GLD), Newmont Mining (NEM), Barrick Gold (ABX), Market Vector Russia ETF Trust (RSX), iShares FTSE/Xinhua China 25 Index ETF(FXI))

Federal Reserve: A Cosmetic Reduction In Its Balance Sheet

Even if the Federal Reserve does get away with a cosmetic reduction in its balance sheet, the total will be completely reversed by the first month of QE4. (SPDR Gold Trust ETF (GLD), SPDR S&P 500 Index ETF (SPY), Nasdaq 100 Index ETF (QQQ), iShares Russell 2000 Index ETF (IWM), SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF (DIA))