Silver Editorials & Commentary

We have been stating for some time the Federal Reserve was using quantitative easing (QE) as monetary lighter fluid to get the economic fire started again. The Fed desperately wants to cut back on monetary injections and pass the baton to the economy. Right or wrong...

Silver has cratered in 2013, spawning a sentiment wasteland of extreme bearishness. Yet peak despair is the very best time to buy low. Silver prices have converged on multiple major secular support zones, an exceedingly bullish technical launchpad. The white...

The curious case of Bitcoin and the associated rise of electronic currency has rekindled money and wealth discussions. It has also given rise to the re-birth to a libertarian cyberpunk ideology. In some ways, the response is a natural reflection of the devaluing of...

Today we note that: The US economy is tipping back into recession again. Corporate profits are at record highs and set to fall. Stocks are extremely overvalued. All of these add up to a real problem for long-term stock investors today. The classic method of valuing...

The taper surprise was that stocks rocketed higher once the markets digested the Fed’s statement. The market chose to focus on the improving economy rather than a reduction in monetary stimulus.

There are several potential reasons to buy silver. For some, it is about inflation protection. For others it is about the financial privacy offered by a real asset. Still others look to own silver as a play on industrial demand, while other people own silver as...

It’s ‘taper’ talk time again and here is a post that is only too happy to join the cacophony… Dear Federal Reserve, please signal what would be at least a symbolic gesture to the market and pretend to tighten policy by beginning a tapering of long-term bond buying...

In early December, we used Japan as an extreme example of why central banks are terrified of allowing their respective economies to slip into a deflationary spiral. Do the same concepts apply to the United States? They do. The federal government offers standard...

With the last major news item for 2013 less than 48 hours away, I thought I would share some insights as to what the S&P500 Cash Index (SPX) options were pricing into the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement due out Wednesday.

On Monday, October 18th 1987, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 508 points (22%). There are many theories as to why the crash occurred, but the simple truth is that the panic stemmed from a sharp rise in interest rates. Likewise, another stock market crash...

A growing number of market technicians, some of them highly respected, are forecasting a sharp correction in the January-February time frame. In light of a number of recent inquiries I’ve had regarding this possibility, let’s examine this topic.

Let’s take a look at the short-term and intermediate-term technical pictures for both gold and silver. Before we get too excited over the rally in silver, consider that whenever a commodity rallies after a multi-week sustained decline, there’s always the danger (...

No one can question the fact that the demand for silver has grown exponentially in the past few years, record sales for American Eagle coins being one small example, record buying in India, another larger example. Demand has never been greater. Supply, on the...

In all periods silver is giving sell signals and SLV is a on short term sell signal.

The good news is: The Santa Claus rally is scheduled to begin around the middle of next week. The negatives: New highs deteriorated on both the NYSE and NASDAQ last week while new lows were pretty steady on the NASDAQ and rose significantly on the NYSE. Most of...

Most people simply cannot conceive of a US dollar hyperinflation any more than a current resident of San Francisco could imagine a 1906 or 1989 earthquake. Many simply choose to not dwell on these potentialities, often rationalizing them against other existential if...

The Federal Reserve has been looking for noticeable improvement in the economy to allow them to begin paring back their latest quantitative easing campaign. Thursday, economic bulls went 2-for-3.

Even though its price has declined over 30% this year alone, silver remains the people’s metal. Silver remains a store of value when central planners try to inflate their way out of debt. Silver remains an asset for anyone who senses that there is a need to hedge...

Informed precious metals investors are well aware of the tremendous “squeeze” placed upon gold demand in India, via the draconian suppression of imports. Regular readers of my work understand that this gold-squeeze was, in fact, instigated by the One Bank – through...

Much has been made of the 203 thousand jobs that were added in the November employment report in the US. It was the second month in a row for 200 thousand plus jobs created. As well, the unemployment rate unexpectedly fell to 7% from 7.3%. This occurred despite the...

We made the case on July 30 the Fed’s desire to taper is about bubble management rather than confidence in the economy. Hard evidence aligning with a “the Fed is still concerned about the economy” stance was included in the most recently released Fed minutes:...

A reader asks, “I was wondering if it’s possible that the long cycles, such as the 60-year cycle, have already bottomed early. Is that even a possibility within the scope of the cycles? It appears that the Fed has complete control of the markets right now. One...

When bond investors are worried about the economy and default risks, it is concerning for stock investors. When bond investors are worried about rising interest rates, it is much less concerning for the equity markets. What is the primary fear in the bond market now...

Jean-Baptiste Say was a French businessman and economist in his early twenties when the Bastille was stormed and the French revolution followed. While the terrors unleashed by the revolution are what we remember from history lessons, what is less known are the...

If you follow the markets closely, you have probably asked yourself at some point why does the Fed keep sending mixed messages? If we think in extremes, we can understand the Fed’s rationale.

Although the U.S. stock market continues to hit new nominal highs on a nearly daily basis, the U.S. economy bumps along at a lackluster pace. This disconnect has been achieved by a massive Fed experiment in monetary stimulation. Through the combination of seemingly...

I originally wrote this in September 2013. It is just as relevant now in December. The big news in America is that the rate on the 10-year Treasury bond has risen dramatically from around 1.6% to over 2.9%. This is 130 basis points from a starting point of 160, or...

We are not a source for or fans of endless statistics, like the number of ounces purchased from one period over another, how many ounces are available at the Comex, how many ounces have been mined, the demand for v the production of silver, etc, etc, etc. Too...

We advocate a proactive stance in managing one’s stock portfolio as the most prudent way to preserve and grow capital, by capturing gains and limiting risks. The days of buy and hold are finished, at this stage of a central bank propped-up market, fed by fiat and...

The good news is: NASDAQ breadth data was stronger than NYSE breadth data last week. The negatives: As of Thursday most of the major indices were short term oversold having been down for 5 consecutive days. A violent rally on Friday took the NASDAQ composite (...

Earlier this week, we covered the good news is bad news logic that dominated the markets Monday through Thursday. Friday, the markets shifted to a “good payroll numbers mean a strengthening economy, which is good news for stocks” stance.

Are economic reports finally indicating an acceleration in the economic recovery - or not? Markets need to know. Investors need to know. Most importantly, the Fed needs to know. The prognosis changes from month to month, even week to week, and this week even day to...

Despite the quiet nature of things lately from a geopolitical standpoint, coupled with the mainstream media’s obsession with new nominal highs in the various paper indexes, there is definitely turbulence below the surface. There have already been a number of thought...

Beyond the typical underlying changes in money supply there are very important elements of demand that continue to push the price of physical silver higher and higher. This is despite the fact that silver has been money for much longer then gold.

Markets can get somewhat confused when the economy begins to strengthen. On one hand, economic growth is good for earnings. On the other hand, an improving economy increases the odds of a Fed stimulus reduction announcement. Thursday’s GDP report hit the market with...

I still remember December 2012 and how petrified CNBC was trying to make people of the fiscal cliff. They had a fiscal cliff countdown for an entire month as if when it expired the stock market would explode. Everyone on there was scared and telling you to sell...

With silver once again holding above the June lows—but with price still 60% of its peak—future catalysts for the price of silver may seem hard to find. Commodity prices are also sharply lower from their 2011 highs, and sentiment for the metals is negative. Most hot...

On December 29, 1989 a massive inflationary bubble began to pop in Japan. As prices dropped, investors with cash sat on their wallets waiting for lower equity prices. The desire to “get out” became much stronger than the desire to “get in” and prices continued to...

A couple of weeks ago we looked at a recent cover of Barron’s, which featured a picture of a giant bubble. The cover story asked the rhetorical question of whether there was a bubble in the financial market. Indeed, the bubble vigilantes are out in full force which...

We recently learned sales for this year’s Black Friday weekend declined for the first time since 2009. I have been warning my readers for months that falling consumer confidence would result in a pullback in consumer spending—and that’s exactly what’s happening this...