There are four stages of fiat money printing that have been used by central banks throughout their horrific history of usurping the market-based value of money and borrowing costs. It is a destructive path that began with going off the gold standard and historically ends in hyperinflation and economic chaos.

Does lousy growth + lousy construction spending = trouble for the U.S. economy? That’s what you have to wonder in light of the latest figures coming out of Washington.

Investors globally have never faced risk of the magnitude that the we are now exposed to but, sadly, very few are aware of the unprecedented risks the world is facing. For the ones who understand risk and take the right decisions, it will “lead to fortune”. Only very few will choose that route, though. Instead most investors will continue to...

At the end of June, the BIS, or the central bank for central banks, produced its annual report, which is a must-read for investors interested in the global economy, macroeconomics, as well as gold, whose price is to a large extent shaped by macroeconomic factors. What does the report imply for the precious metals market?

There was a time when U.S. central bankers worried that inflation was too high, and they tried to bring it down. Now the opposite is true: the Federal Reserve is concerned that inflation has remained stubbornly low, and it’s trying to boost prices. The reason: persistently low inflation raises the risk that prices will actually start to decline. That’s bad news because it makes people less willing to borrow and spend—anticipating lower prices, consumers will put off spending—and could also lead to a fall in wages.

There are many ways to gain exposure to movements in the price of gold - bullion (bars or coins), gold futures, shares in gold exchange-traded funds, jewelry, certificates, pool accounts, options, structured products, etc., but today we will focus on gold stocks, i.e. shares in gold mining companies.

We are not yet hoarding toilet paper and baked beans, but the prospect that we will be driven to do so has already been signalled to us. This article draws on the evidence of extreme overvaluations in equities and bonds worldwide, and concludes the explanation lies increasingly in a greater perception of risk against holding cash, or bank deposits.

“Crexit:” a credit crunch brought about by plunging bond prices, soaring losses, an implosion in China’s high-risk debt markets, and a reversal of all the “yield chase” trades investors have flocked to in the last couple of years. That's what S&P's debt analysis team fears is about to unfold with the acceleration in corporate debt and That tells me there’s more going on beneath the surface – and that caution is still warranted when it comes to your investing strategy.

The chart below shows the US Dollar Index value during the past 44 years (1972-2016). It is imperative to notice the two peak values occurred 16 years apart (1985 and 2001), when the US dollar had soared +101% and +50%, respectively. Consequently, if one assumes the 16 year cycle will indeed repeat, then the greenback may well again rise to a peak in 2017. Moreover, if we assume the US$ could rise the average of the two previous peaks, then we might see it peak next year (2017) to +75%.

The Western gold community needs to let go of all bad past memories, grab this exciting gold stocks bull by the horns, and enjoy the ride!