Commodities

Bernanke On Gold: Higher Prices Reflect Commodity Fundamentals, Not Higher Inflation Expectations

During recent re-confirmation hearings for Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, U.S. Senator Jim Bunning – a frequent critic of the Federal Reserve – asked Bernanke several questions about gold prices. Bunning’s questions appear targeted at prodding Bernanke into acknowledging that inflation expectations are much higher than the Federal Reserve’s current estimation. Bunning also uses high … Read more

The Rising Skepticism In Gold

In “That’s one long gold bubble,” Tim Ianaco created an illustrative animated graphic from Google news archives comparing the news coverage of “housing bubble,” “credit bubble,” and “gold bubble.” He rightfully observes the following: “…my understanding of how bubbles work is that they materialize rather quickly, fueled by media coverage toward the end and then … Read more

The Dollar Is Bad – Bad Meaning Good

“Tricks are for kids he plays much gigs He’s a big bad wolf and you’re the three pigs He’s a big bad wolf in your neighborhood Not bad meaning bad but bad meaning good“ “Peter Piper” – Run D.M.C., 1986 from the album “Raising Hell” What was once bad is now good. Or maybe what … Read more

Invesments Into Commodities Surpass Record from 2006

If inflation expectations remain “contained” why is a record amount of money pouring into commodities this year? Indeed, there is nothing like a rapidly increasing global supply of paper currency to drive interest in hard assets and push prices upward. Reuters summarizes a recent research report from Barclays on investment flows into commodities: “Barclays Capital’s … Read more

More Voices for a Stronger Dollar

The Wall Street Journal printed a trifecta of articles to day that seem to cry out for the dollar to lift its head out of the sludge. Coincidentally (or not), the dollar rallied for its biggest one-day gain in almost three weeks. In “Uncertainty May Help Dollar“, analysts remind us that the economic recovery remains … Read more