The Economics of Bethlehem, Remembering the Inn Keeper

At the heart of the Christmas story rests some important lessons concerning free enterprise, government, and the role of wealth in society. Let’s begin with one of the most famous phrases: "There’s no room at the inn." This phrase is often invoked as if it were a cruel and heartless dismissal of the tired travelers Joseph and Mary. Many renditions of the story conjure up images of the couple going from inn to inn only to have the owner barking at them to go away and slamming the door.

Strong U.S. Dollar Foreshadows Economic Doom in 2010

Normally, in what passes for Orthodox economics, a strong currency for a consumer nation is a good thing, a positive development. And America is the biggest consumer, and one of the smallest producers, in human history.

Will the U.S. Dollar Rally End the Gold and Silver Bull Market?

It has become clear to us that the media and so many institutional analysts are going to keep talking the $ up despite the lack of fundamental reasons. We feel that you will benefit most from a look at what lies ahead for the $ and its fundamentals and what could take it higher, if it does rise.

Bernanke, Times Person of the Year Drives the Debt Crisis Spiral

Fed President Ben Bernanke has been named Time magazine’s Person of the Year for 2009. However, in looking back at former People of the Year it becomes crystal clear that this title doesn’t necessarily mean that the honored person has done something good for the world …

Gold Forecast to End 2010 at $2000

THE PRICE OF WHOLESALE gold bullion recovered from a new 7-week low in Asian and London dealing on Wednesday, rising above $1080 an ounce as world stock markets extended their 3-day gains. "Trading is uneventful with Tokyo out on holiday," said one dealer.

Why Gold and Silver Will Be the Next Currency

In the currency game, only one player has dominated throughout the course of history: precious metals.   Over time, fiat currencies lose their worth, as governments inflate the paper through printing and confidence is lost with each recession.  This phenomenon was proven in the United States with the Continental currency, which was rapidly inflated to pay for the revolutionary war.  Thereafter, the inflated Continental dollar was replaced with hard metals, which retained and actually grew in value from 1774 to the creation of the Federal Reserve Bank in 1913.

China Secures Natural Gas From Turkmenistan, Who’s the real winner?

On December 14, 2009, an inauguration took place that deserves more attention than it received because it marks an economic power shift to the benefit of three Central Asian countries and China and to the detriment of Russia .  The presidents of China - Hu Jintao , Turkmenistan - Gurlanguly Berdymukhamedov , Kazakhstan – Nursultan Nazarbayev, and Uzbekistan -Islam Karimov, inaugurated the Central Asia–China gas pipeline that links Turkmenistan ’s natural gas fields on the Caspian Sea to the Western Chinese border in the Xinjiang province.

Junior Mining Stocks

Commentary on 10 Junior Miners: A Victor Gonçalves Interview VANCOUVER, BC - The Gold Report: Victor, you and many others were expecting a major pullback in the market and we had some pullback in late October. Is that what you anticipated? Victor Gonçalves: It's roughly what I expected. It could have gone one of two ways, but technical indicators have been showing that we have one of those triple-top occurrences that cascade on the way down. Preceding that pullback was a broad based rally but it gave a false sense of hope, if you will, in the sense that it wasn't going to go any higher. The TSX, for example, which is mostly what I follow, hit about 11,700 several times and then went down. That's telling me is that we're looking at an interim market top, at least. Whether we're going to have another major crash again now is still in the air. I don't think we're going to have a major, let's say, 50% correction on this dip. I think we might have another shot at a rally before a major correction. And although I do think one is imminent and investors are taking some profits off the table, I haven't seen all the signs a full-up crash this time, and fall-to-winter typically sees seasonal strength. The economic gale-force headwind will be bit of a problem when we get into the seasonal weakness. [Read more...]

A Gold Price, Roubini and Currency Overview

Gold Over $1,090 and Climbing Did you see the strong performance that gold put in yesterday? And it didn’t stop there… Overnight, gold is up another $7 on top of the $20 gain it had yesterday… So $1,090 and change should look pretty good to you right about now… That is as long as you are a gold holder! [Read more...]