Bubble Watch: The Fed KNOWS We’re in a 1999-Type Mania

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The Fed raised rates another 0.25% the week before last.
This marks the 5th rate hike since the Fed embarked on its policy tightening in December 2015 and the fourth rate hike in the last 12 months. The Fed’s latest statement also indicates it plans on raising rates three more times in 2018.
It is easy to gloss over the significance of this, but the Fed’s actions are indeed unusual; other major Central Banks (the Swiss National Bank, Bank of Japan, European Central Bank and Bank of England) are all currently running QE programs (the BoJ, ECB and BoE) or openly printing new money to buy stocks outright (the SNB).
What precisely is the Fed doing? Why the urge to tighten when other banks are all printing new money by the billions?
The following quotes from Fed offer us clues.
Fed Monetary Policy Report, June 2017:
‘Forward price-to-earnings ratios for equities have increased to a level well above their median of the past three decades,
Fed minutes, July 2017:

This post was published at GoldSeek on 26 December 2017.


WGC: 2018 Set To Be A Positive Year For Price of Gold and Investors

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WGC: 2018 Set To Be A Positive Year For Price of Gold and Investors
– Gold expected to build on 2017 gains into 2018 despite headwind conditions
– Gold has gained more than 9% in the year-to-date
– Monetary policy and policymakers will continue to be ‘significant drivers of gold demand’
– Physical and structural market changes will support gold into 2018
– Goldcore has been at forefront of reporting on major developments in gold market and price
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Gold’s had a tough year. This isn’t in reference to price. After all, it has made double-digit gains in some currencies and US Gold futures are up more than 9%. The precious metal has had some harsh criticism from the mainstream media and unfair comparisons to bubblicious assets, such as bitcoin and US equities.

This post was published at Gold Core on December 15, 2017.