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Leonardo da Vinci – L’Uomo Vitruviano – 1492
Dear Readers!
You may have noticed that our so-called “semiannual” funding drive, which started sometime in the summer if memory serves, has seamlessly segued into the winter. In fact, the year is almost over! We assure you this is not merely evidence of our chutzpa; rather, it is indicative of the fact that ad income still needs to be supplemented in order to support upkeep of the site. Naturally, the traditional benefits that can be spontaneously triggered by donations to this site remain operative regardless of the season - ranging from a boost to general well-being/happiness (inter alia featuring improved sleep & appetite), children including you in their songs, up to the likely allotment of privileges in the afterlife, etc., etc., but the Christmas season is probably an especially propitious time to cross our palms with silver. A special thank you to all readers who have already chipped in, your generosity is greatly appreciated. Regardless of that, we are honored by everybody's readership and hope we have managed to add a little value to your life.
Bitcoin address: 12vB2LeWQNjWh59tyfWw23ySqJ9kTfJifA
Most read in the last 20 days:
The Hollow Promise of a Statist Economy
Brainwashed by Academe Not a day goes by that doesn’t supply a new specimen of inane disclarity. Muddy ideas are dredged up from tainted minds like lumps of odorous pond muck. We do our part to clean up the mess, whether we want to or not. No longer in demand: famous Enlightenment philosopher John Locke (1632–1704), who is widely considered the “Father of Liberalism” (classical liberalism, that is). [PT] These days, individuals, who like John...
The Great Debasement - Precious Metals Supply and Demand
Fiat Money Woes Monday was Labor Day holiday in the US. The facts are that the euro lost another 1.4%, the pound another 1.1%, and the yuan another 0.9% last week. Assorted foreign fiat confetti against the US dollar – we have added the Argentine peso as well, as it demonstrates what can happen when things really get out of hand. [PT] So, naturally, what is getting play is a story that Bank of England governor Mark Carney said the dollar’s influence...
Hong Kong - Never the Same Again
Freedom Rock Hong Kong ranks among the freest societies in the world. Not only economically, but socially it is a very liberal place. It was marinated in British ways until 1997, much longer than Singapore and other colonies. Then China took it over as a special administered region, which according to the agreement with the UK meant that it was only nominally to be under Chinese control for the next 50 years. It was possibly the only colony in which a vast majority of citizens did not...
Suffering the Profanity of Plentiful Cheap Money
A Case of Highway Robbery What if the savings in your bank account lost 55 percent of its value over the last 12 months? Would you be somewhat peeved? Would you transfer some of your savings to another currency? USD-ARS, weekly. For several years the Argentine Peso has followed a certain pattern: it declines mildly, but steadily, with little volatility for long time periods, and then spikes in crash waves whenever a crisis situation comes to a head. In early 2011, it...
Don’t Be Another Wall Street Chump
The Future and the Past Securities and Exchange Commission Rule 156 requires financial institutions to advise investors to not be idiots. Hence, the disclosure pages of nearly every financial instrument in the U.S. are embedded with the following admission or variant thereof: “Past Performance Is Not Indicative of Future Results” “Buy and hold”... “The market goes always up”... “No-one can time the market”... “Buy the dip” “With what? You...
A Wild Week - Precious Metals Supply and Demand
Paying a Premium for a Lack of Default Risk The price action got pretty intense last week! The prices of the metals were up Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. But Thursday and Friday, there was a sharp reversal and the silver price ended the week below its close of the previous week. The net speculative position in gold futures has become very large recently – the market was more than ripe for a shake-out. [PT] Silver made a round trip down from $18.35 to...
Will the Nikkei Win the Next Olympic Games?
Listless Nikkei On 24 July 2020 the Olympic Summer Games will begin in Tokyo, the capital of Japan. Olympic Games and Soccer World Cups are among the largest sporting events in the world. Do you perhaps also think that these events may affect the performance of local stock markets? Olympic Summer Games 2020 – official logo (left), and a fan-made logo (right) by designer Daren Newman [PT] Let us examine whether and in what way such major sporting events impact...
The Weird Obsessions of Central Bankers, Part 3
Inflation and “Price Stability” We still remember when sometime in the mid 1980s, the German Bundesbank proudly pointed to the fact that Germany's y/y consumer price inflation rate had declined to zero. It was considered a “mission accomplished” moment. No-one mentioned that economic nirvana would remain out of sight unless price inflation was pushed to 2% per year. CPI, annual rate of change. During the “stagflation” period of the 1970s, Congress enacted the...
The Weird Obsessions of Central Bankers, Part 1
How to Hang on to Greenland Jim Bianco, head of the eponymous research firm, handily won the internet last Thursday with the following tweet: Jim Bianco has an excellent idea as to how Denmark might after all be able to hang on to Greenland, a territory coveted by His Eminence, POTUS GEESG Donald Trump (GEESG= God Emperor & Exceedingly Stable Genius). Evidently the mad Danes running the central bank of this Northern European socialist paradise were...
The Weird Obsessions of Central Bankers, Part 2
The Negative Interest Rates Abomination Our readers are probably aware that assorted central bankers and the economic advisors orbiting them occasionally mention the “natural interest rate” (a.k.a. “originary interest rate”) in speeches and papers. It is generally assumed that it has declined, which is to say, time preferences are assumed to have decreased. This is actually an understatement... Although interest is generally associated with money, the...
Why Are People Now Selling Their Silver? Precious Metals Supply and Demand
Big Moves in Silver Last week, the prices of the metals fell further, with gold -$18 and silver -$0.73. On May 28, the price of silver hit its nadir, of $14.30. From the last three days of May through Sep 4, the price rose to $19.65. This was a gain of $5.35, or +37%. Congratulations to everyone who bought silver on May 28 and who sold it on September 4. The recent move in silver [PT] To those who believe gold and silver are money (as we do) the rising price...
Austrian Theory and Investment
Realtime Charts
Gold in USD:
![[Most Recent Quotes from www.kitco.com]](http://www.kitconet.com/charts/metals/gold/t24_au_en_usoz_2.gif)
Gold in EUR:
![[Most Recent Quotes from www.kitco.com]](http://www.kitconet.com/charts/metals/gold/t24_au_en_euoz_2.gif)
Silver in USD:
![[Most Recent Quotes from www.kitco.com]](http://www.kitconet.com/charts/metals/silver/t24_ag_en_usoz_2.gif)
Platinum in USD:
![[Most Recent Quotes from www.kitco.com]](http://www.kitconet.com/charts/metals/platinum/t24_pt_en_usoz_2.gif)
USD - Index:
![[Most Recent USD from www.kitco.com]](http://www.weblinks247.com/indexes/idx24_usd_en_2.gif)
