Suddenly Emerging Dangers
At first glance, the current environment seems quite favorable for a wide range of investments:
- Trump appears to be brokering some kind of truce in the Middle East, reducing the risk of escalation and pushing oil prices lower;
- The Federal Reserve has made it clear that it intends to cut interest rates and prevent a recession;
- Corporate earnings surged again last quarter, and so on.
It is therefore understandable that equities are reaching new highs almost daily. But why then are gold and silver prices rising so sharply? The common explanation is that inflation is expected to pick up, yet if that were the case, long-term interest rates should be rising—not falling, as they have been recently.
To understand what’s really going on, let’s briefly outline the broader background...
