Comments on: Investors in COMEX Futures Don’t Necessarily Want Physical Gold

By: Rob

Rob — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 22:00:58 +0000

Are you sure you haven't missed the boat on this one? It looks like China is buying base metals rather than gold at the moment - instead of US Bonds - hence the massive price rises over the last few months. This will only continue as the US furiously prints cash (along with the rest of us).

By: diggla

diggla — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 05:49:54 +0000

Inflation is, and will only ever be a monetary phenomenon. Because debt is money, when debt defaults, money dies. But this makes debt more expensive, and so more money must be created to cover the debt. This ensures every greater debt creation until the destruction of the currency. All paper money experiments end in collapse, because paper money is only, and will only ever be a fraud.

If you buy gold and silver now, you are buying future money at a fraction of what it is truly worth. But I suggest everybody buy T-bills, that way I have more time before the magic show is done.

By: Richo

Richo — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 03:21:37 +0000

Deflation and inflation aren't blank and white.
I believe what we have now is price correction for some assets (My wonderful shares in ExampleCo have dropped in price because the company is at risk of default);
But we could have inflation in goods and low-risk assets.
When South American nations had hyperinflation in the 80's, it wasn't because their economies were so strong, it was due to printing money.
I believe that while prices will fall for most assets, prices for goods with fixed supply (gold, oil, food, land) will rise.

On that note, I think its crazy that govts exclude land (a component of house prices), oil, and some food from their inflation calculations, as these items are the most reliable inflation indicators and the most important to citizens.

By: billf

billf — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 01:35:39 +0000

The problem i have with all this "money printing" is that it is not mentioned in the context of the 52 trillion in debt outstanding in America. Hence when viewed in this light we realize that the amount of money being printed is paltry and deflation is still winning. Remember, the government is a follower, not a leader, so they are starting this printing after deflation has started. There is one person who gets it in perspective and that's Robert Prechter, from EWI.