Gold demand has been so strong in 2016 that the largest gold exchange-traded commodity (“ETC”) has temporarily suspended the issuance of new shares to investors. While Blackrock’s demand problem is good news generally for gold and silver investors, it also highlights the risks of holding “paper gold” instead of actual physical bullion. Because of the … Read more

Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Larry Summers made waves last week with an pronouncement heard across the world: he believes that large denomination bills should be phased out permanently. In his words: “It’s time to kill the $100 bill.” The reason? These paper instruments allow for anonymous transactions that can’t be tracked by government authorities. In … Read more

Like any good quote, this one just gets more true every year: “Invest in inflation. It’s the only thing going up…” – Will Rogers No surprise, then, that the idea of returning the USA to a gold standard is again under public discussion. This is especially true on the red side of the aisle. However, … Read more

It is a pattern I’ve seen repeated again and again in the news media over the years. First comes concerns over the economy, then oil hits the skids, then the major stock indices hit double-digit negative territory… and then suddenly articles about gold are blooming everywhere. Over the weekend, both the Wall Street Journal and … Read more

2016 is a clear, painful lesson in diversification for people who are over-invested in stocks. I don’t point this out to rub salt in any wounds, especially since I have stocks among my retirement assets too. My goal is to help you prepare for what might come next.As the old proverb goes: hope for the … Read more

January was a painful and volatile month for stock investors. No matter what your means, it can be quite scary to watch your future financial security bounce around so easily. Both the S&P 500 and Dow Jones are down over 5% and the NASDAQ is down almost 8% in 2016. Oil is down over 9%. … Read more

You’ve seen the news: continued weakness in the U.S. market and lots of economic and political uncertainty ahead. The Dow Jones Industrials finished last week down over 7% year-to-date and oil down over 13%. Do you think this will turn around? Some analysts say yes, some say no. But you can’t gamble with your retirement. … Read more

Both gold and silver held tough last week as the new year’s bear market continued to pummel stock investors. In a week where oil plunged over 11% and the S&P 500 was down 2%, gold and silver finished down less than 1%. In this new year, the diversification value of owning gold couldn’t be clearer. … Read more

2016 kicked off to a rocky start last week with sharp sell-offs across global equity markets, a 6% drop for the S&P 500 and falling oil prices as well. This was, in fact, the worst starting week for the S&P 500 in its entire history. As you might expect, gold and silver remained resilient as … Read more

As 2015 rang into 2016, both silver and gold ended their final trading sessions at prices below their 2014 close. Gold finished its last trading session at $1,061.90/oz., compared to $1,184.30/oz at the end of 2014. Silver closed 2015 at $13.84/oz., down from $15.64/oz. a year ago. ARE YOU OPTIMISTIC? You should be. Gold and … Read more

As 2015 draws to a close, how exciting to see both gold and silver hovering near the lowest prices we’ve seen since 2010! Whether you acquire precious metals for diversification or some other purpose, it is an excellent time to be keeping a close eye on the metals markets. Last week was short for the … Read more

Gold finished last week at $1,066/oz., just slightly lower than the previous week’s close. Silver ended slightly higher at $14.15/oz. It is a very interesting time in the market, as both metals actually hit multi-year lows during the week. Gold dipped below $1,050/oz. for the first time since 2009! The market was focused on one critical … Read more