Sooner or later I think everyone will have an epiphany about money that pushes them to buy gold – even if it’s at levels that would seem expensive today. When that time comes, we won’t be focused on the price of gold but on the absolute need to acquire a more lasting asset. If I’m right, the plus $1,700/ozt. price today is not too high a price to pay. [Let me explain further.] Words: 874
Many investors are worried about inflation and, as a result, are considering buying inflation indexed bonds and other inflation protected investment vehicles. They may be setting themselves up for significant losses, however, because of the way the government is now calculating the CPI, and the further changes being proposed. In the opinion of this writer, the CPI calculation appears to be inaccurate and, as a result, such investments may not be appropriate inflation hedges. [Let me explain.] Words: 1533
Inflation is a significant measurement for the economic health of countries around the world but rates are often reported weeks after data is collected. To address this problem, two professors at MIT Sloan School of Management have launched the Billion Prices Project which is the first website to publish daily price indexes and provide real-time inflation estimates around the world. Words: 825
The economic news is not very encouraging these days. Everywhere I’ve looked, and I’ve looked at 10 different indicators (surveys, polls and indexes), things appear to be either down or stagnant. Let me be more explicit. Words: 1058
There is a tremendous fixation on the inflationary components of CPI of which the most obvious driver is gasoline without which even the rate of headline inflation would be dropping, and the largest risk would be falling inflation. [Deflation? Yes, that is the case when you look at] what consumer prices have declined over the past few years. Words: 460
[There is a considerable difference between the official BLS inflation rate (1.63%) and the ShadowStats' alternative method of calculating consumer prices (9.07%) but] I believe that the optimum method is probably somewhere between the two. [Let me explain.] Words: 390
Based on past massive monetary pumping, and using the time lag of 36 months which it normally takes before changes in money supply generate a visible effect on the prices of goods in general, we forecast that the yearly rate of growth of the CPI based inflation could rise to 2.4 percent by September of this year before jumping to 4.4 percent by December. Year on year, the rate of growth of the CPI less food and energy is forecast to climb to 1.5 percent by September before climbing to 2.7 percent in December. Let me explain. Words: 1670
Contrary to popular belief, Gold Prices have in fact tracked the true inflation rate very closely… and there is a very real possibility that we will have a short-term spike – a genuine investment bubble – in gold that takes us into the $5,000/oz to $8,000/oz range. Words: 748
In Europe, they were able to come up with a clever moniker, PIGS, to succinctly represent [and name the countries in dire financial straights - Portugal, Iceland, Ireland, Greece and Spain] the most boorish animals on the farm, and [I have taken it upon myself to call the U.S. state budget crises] the story of CAIN (California, Arizona, Alaska, Illinois, New York and New Jersey), the seven most rotten pillars of our union, and (Un)Abel, the country as a whole, which is (Un)Abel, i.e. unable, to do anything about the impending crises. Given the current political climate and implicit anti-bailout mandate of the new Congress, the Federal government might be powerless to do anything but accept painful state defaults. Before we know it, we could all be ancestors of evil… 2011 could be the year that CAIN starts to face some serious trouble, and may need some serious help to avoid killing his brother (Un)Abel! Words: 1529
The U.S. economy is in an intensifying inflationary recession that eventually will evolve into a hyperinflationary great depression… [at which time] a $100 bill in the United States will become worth more as functional toilet paper/tissue than as currency. The U.S. government and Federal Reserve already have committed the system to this course through the easy politics of a bottomless pocketbook, the servicing of big-moneyed special interests, and gross mismanagement. The article is long but well worth the read. Words: 3565
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