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The government’s reaction to the coronavirus has caused financial problems of monumental proportions. With the shutdown of businesses and massive layoffs, states and municipalities suffered huge losses in revenue. Two-thirds of state revenues come from income taxes or sales taxes.
This past Sunday, Scott Pelley interviewed Fed Chairman Jerome Powell on 60 Minutes. Below are some excerpts. PELLEY: Fair to say you simply flooded the system with money? POWELL: Yes. We did. That’s another way to think about it. We did.
Goldman Sachs forecasts a federal deficit of $3.6 trillion for the current fiscal year. Last year’s deficit was a mere $984 billion, for a 3.6- fold increase. Fedgov’s fiscal year ends September 30.
“Central Banks only hold gold because of tradition (if you believe their nonsense), so it probably comes as some surprise to many that central banks bought more of this ‘traditional’ asset in the first half of 2019 than they have done in any other first half on record.
The US Federal Reserve and the European Union’s central bank recently announced plans to inject massive liquidity into their respective money markets. However, the Fed denies that its buying is another quantitative easing program while the ECB admits that it is.
In 2018 the Fed imposed four rate hikes, and stocks were virtually flat for the year. Actually, in the fall of 2018, stocks took a huge tumble.
Some of the world’s most famous and successful investors have taken positions in gold. It pays to note what successful people do with their money. “Some regard [gold] as a metal, we regard it as a currency, and it remains our largest currency allocation… – Stanley Druckenmiller. Druckenmiller was chairman and president of Duquesne Capital,
Incredibly, a bank in Denmark is offering home buyers 10-year mortgages at an interest rate of -0.5%. Borrowers who opt for these mortgages will pay back less than the amount borrowed. This has come about because of the massive money creation by the world’s central banks.
Before he was appointed chair of the Federal Reserve, Alan Greenspan was a “goldbug.” He didn’t just believe that at times gold was a good investment. He believed that gold was the foundation of an economic system (read below).
Durable goods orders are one of the most watched indicators of economic activity. They comprise such items as automobiles, washers, dryers, furniture, firearms, and toys. Things that are supposed to last for years. The chart below clearly indicates the downward trend in durable goods orders, and I’m sure that members of the FOMC were well
