global economy

It’s a little-known fact in the West, but Russia has very little sovereign debt. In fact, if you ignore the corruption and misallocation of capital in the Russian economy, you could make the case that Moscow has been more financially responsible than Washington over the last several decades . . . .

Investors should not take it for granted that inflation will rise from here, but whatever the direction of markets, gold is a prudent investment right now, according to Bill McQuaker, multi asset investment manager at Fidelity . . . .

Yesterday, the President’s comments left all the currency traders and the Gold traders scratching their heads. The price of Gold was enjoying a healthy sustained rally after the Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin indicated that a weak dollar was in the best interests of our economy . . . .

If gold trading this morning in Europe is anything to go by, gold is headed for US$1,350 an ounce . . . .

Sterling and yen also make gains against dollar as US markets close for holiday . . . .

Central banks are hoarding gold. China, Russia and many Asian and West Asian central banks have started accumulating gold. Now that the fashion of hoarding gold is back, let us see the fundamental reasons behind it . . . .

Bullion is often used as a safe haven in times of geopolitical and economic uncertainty, while riskier assets such as equities are generally sold off . . . .

Large stashes are a handy weapon against currency jitters and US pressure . . . .

His prior forecasts noted that countries around the world would soon stop trading commodities like oil in the U.S. dollar, something we’re already seeing with China, Russia, Iran, and Venezuela, all of which are preparing non-dollar, gold-backed mechanisms of exchange . . . .

The largest Russian bank, Sberbank, is planning to increase the supply of gold to China up to 10-15 tons in 2018. Keeping in mind that both the Russian ruble and Chinese yuan are covered by gold, this step is a part of the “de-dollarization” of their economies . . . .