I don’t know about you, but I’m fed up with being a victim of Wall Street speculators who are driving food and fuel prices up through the roof. The recent plunge in commodities prices confirms what everyone knew all the time — inflation is being driven by commodities speculators who are profiting from everyone else’s collective misery. [read full story]
Today I heard it again on the car radio — an advertisement claiming that since gold has topped $1,500 an ounce it’s a “must buy” for every responsible saver.
If only it were true that I could protect my family from economic Armageddon by buying gold.
Unfortunately, the hard facts are that increasingly since 2000 gold has been the opposite of an inflation hedge. Even worse, when interest rates rise in response to inflation, gold will fall in value, and maybe by a lot.
The historical relationship of gold to inflation, i.e., that it is a hedge, is no longer true. Gold has been “financialized” by Wall Street and its price is being driven by institutional speculators that buy it by borrowing money at near 0% interest. As long as interest rates remain low, the cost of betting on gold is very low and money flows into the gold market.
As gold prices soar individual investors need to beware. One day interest rates will start to rise and gold prices will plummet. Innocent victims that buy gold because of a mass market sales pitch will be sorry.
My strong advice to readers is don’t be a gold bug. It’s only a matter of time before the Fed exterminates you. [read full story]
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