Why Gold is Money Despite Changing Conditions

The price of gold shot up yesterday. Reports said investors were betting on another round of “quantitative easing,” aka money printing.

But are gold buyers making a big mistake? Is history repeating itself? The New York Times suggests it is:

As it was in 1980, could it be again in 2012?

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RBA Sounds Upbeat About Global Economic Growth

Good day… And a Tom Terrific Tuesday to you! Well… Yesterday, I realized that I couldn’t eat all day on Sunday, and expect to want to eat on Monday! But I’m ready to do so today! HA! I also realized yesterday just what a Donnie Downer I’ve been lately, with my insistence that there’s something going on to pull the wool over our eyes… That may be, but I’ve got to be more upbeat, eh?

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Buying Gold in Uncertain Times

Dow down slightly yesterday. Oil falling further below $100. And gold still going up.

What is most interesting is the movement in the price of gold. It seems to be heading up again — almost no matter what else is happening.

So, let’s look at what might be going on…

If investors sensed a recovery…they would expect banks to lend more freely…people to shop more freely…and prices to rise.

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Creating More Debt to Solve the Crisis

Readers who expect an early end to this Great Correction are going to be disappointed. There is no sign of it reaching its conclusion anytime soon. Just the contrary…there’s no end in sight.

The Great Correction seems to be going along just as you’d expect. Or, just as we’d expect.

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Manufacturing Growth Continues

I have to tell you what’s on my mind this morning after watching the price action again yesterday… I know, it’s just me, and no one else in the writing/analyst world will tell you this, because they have no proof… I don’t either, but that never stops me from saying what’s on my mind regarding these markets now, does it?

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Trends that Won’t End

U.S. taxpayers have lost $133 billion from TARP — the abominable acronym inflicted on us by former Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson — a new report out this morning shows.

We begin another week pulled in two directions: In one direction lie unresolved failures in policy… and the mayhem it has wrought in the financial system. In the other lie breakthroughs in energy and biotechnology.

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How Ben Bernanke Rationalizes “Exceptionally Low” Interest Rates

Anything happen in the markets yesterday? To tell the truth, we forgot to check. Let’s have a look now, then…

Dow up by 80-something points. A barrel of the world’s currently-preferred energy sits pretty at $100, on the nose. Nothing much, in other words.

Ooh…but here’s something: “Gold extends post-Fed rally to 6-week high.” MarketWatch has the story…

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Big Ben Discusses Another Round of Quantitative Easing

Good day… And a Tub Thumpin’ Thursday to you! I wonder what I’ll talk about today…. Hmmmm… Could it be…. The Fed meeting? Oh, you are so smart! In case you missed this yesterday, because I’m sure the major media outlets couldn’t muster up enough intestinal fortitude to do it, but the Fed threw a cat among the pigeons yesterday… There are a lot of things I’m thinking about, this morning, so, this should be entertaining… For me at least!

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Demand Fears in a Consumer-Based Economy

Yesterday, Europe was back in the news. Whenever Europe is in the headlines, the headlines are bad. And the ideas behind the headlines are absurd. In fact, it is amazing how many crackpot ideas the press can throw at you in a single day.

The immediate problems in Europe were two:

First, it looked like Portugal was going the way of Greece. It would soon need another bailout, said the papers.

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