InvestorMind

At the latest Casey Research conference, Recovery Reality Check, James Rickards, senior managing director of Tanget Capital Partners and author of Currency Wars: The Making of the Next Global Crisis, debates Harry Dent, founder and president of HS Dent Foundation, on the subject of which is more likely in the near-term economic future, inflation or deflation.

With gold remaining in a trading range below the $1,700 level, the Godfather of newsletter writers, Richard Russell, had this to say about what is happening with regards to gold, silver, stocks, inflation and the Fed: “Technically, both the US and Europe are dead broke, and their GDPs would have to run wild on the upside to make the debt to GDP ratio more acceptable. How will it all end? It will end with the central banks churning out junk fiat inflation-adjusted money in order to service the debts. Meanwhile, the precious metals and other tangibles are being bought up by millionaires and billionaires as they await their turns to feast on the remnants.” Richard Russell continues: “The fact is that the Fed is happy with 2% inflation each and every year. Compound 2% inflation year after year, and you know what's happening? -- you've effectively wiped out the middle class. Between inflation, stagnant wages, higher taxes, and no jobs, the middle class has hit the brick w...

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke had an interesting morning over on Capitol Hill, facing the ire of Ron Paul and receiving Democratic praise from Barney Frank. Bernanke was testifying before the Committee on Financial Services, where he said the economic recovery continues but remains frail, but was put on the spot by Ron Paul who pulled out a silver eagle and accused him of debasing the currency and destroying America’s wealth. Ron Paul was in full campaign mode. So was Barney Frank. Bernanke was caught in the middle. In what was supposed to be a Q&A session, the Fed chief essentially sat down and listened to one side bash him and the other love him. Barney Frank took the floor after some softballs by Committee Chairman Spencer Bachus, praising Bernanke’s tenure as Fed Chairman and pointing to continuing job growth. It was Ron Paul, though, who took the day. In what is usually the most heated and interesting exchange of Bernanke’s excursions to Congress, the Fed Chairman was f...

Saw this report today. Pretty interesting.

A young woman – let's call her Andrea – inherited some money from her father in late 1997. She was only nineteen at the time. Not knowing the first thing about investing, she kept the money in stocks and bonds as her father had, wanting to hold on to it until she really needed it. She played it "safe." She got married last year and so began to withdraw the money. She was pleased to see a chart from the broker that showed her portfolio was up about 20%. While admittedly not a great return over 12 years, her account had nevertheless survived both the 2000 tech crash and the 2008 market meltdown. She knew not all investors could not say the same thing. Andrea began spending the money, thankful that she'd saved the money to start a family. But a cruel reality slowly began to set in: the money didn't seem to be going very far. She couldn't quite put her finger on why, but it all clicked when she saw the lofty price of a new SUV she wanted. She remembered her Da...

An animated short about the history of one of the most sensational get-rich-quick schemes that took place in France over 200 years ago. With economist John Law at the helm, the plan was to open a bank and exchange bank notes for gold at wildly inflated share prices to mask the fact that the country's gold had been depleted in the building of Louis XIV's palace. When the inevitable rush to cash in the notes takes place, poor John Law is left broke and broken-hearted. This is pretty much how inflation, over printing of the money supply, manias and a bubble works.