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In an article last year entitled “Bankruptcy 1995 Revisited”, I presented a detailed analysis of the US government’s financial position. It wasn’t a pretty picture then, and it looks even worse now. When you take away the political posturing, promises and rhetoric surrounding the US government’s financial position, all the cold, hard facts boil downRead more

In 1992 a book entitled “Bankruptcy 1995: The Coming Collapse of America and How to Stop It” hit the nation by storm. Written by Harry Figgie, a prominent businessman who had built a Fortune 500 company, and Gerald Swanson, an economics professor with expertise in public finance, it forecast that the US federal government wouldRead more

Every bull market for each type of financial instrument has three phases: accumulation of an undervalued asset by so-called “smart money” that recognizes the undervaluation, growing public participation as the uptrend gains increasing attention, and inevitable speculation that leads to overvaluation of an asset and eventual resumption of a new downtrend.   Gold is nowRead more

Note: This article is based on my presentation to the Mines & Money Conference on 27 November 2017. Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. The title of my presentation is “Positioning Yourself for a New Bull Market in Gold”. I highlighted ’New’ because gold’s bull market actually began a century ago when central banks started takingRead more

Leverage is the use of credit or borrowed capital to increase the earning potential of your investment portfolio. But like everything else in finance, higher returns mean higher risk, so leverage is not for everyone. Nevertheless, leverage can be a useful tool for those accepting the risk. If you choose to use it to maximiseRead more

We are told by Shakespeare: “Neither a borrower nor a lender be.” Is it good advice?   Like so many things in life, the answer is – it depends. Individuals are different, and what is right for one person may not be suitable for another. What’s more, everyone’s circumstances are different, which may require differentRead more

Transferring Power to the People Of the many significant statements made by President Donald Trump in his inaugural address, I believe the following stands out: Today, we are not merely transferring power from one administration to another or from one party to another, but we are transferring power from Washington, D.C. and giving it backRead more

How Much Did It Cost to Build the Titanic   I recently received a link to an article in The Vintage News with an eye-catching headline: “The replica Titanic cost $435 million & is set to launch in 2018”. I was intrigued, so I couldn’t resist reading the article. It reported that an Australian billionaire wasRead more

The US federal government’s financial accounts end each year on September 30th. Last week the Treasury Department reported the government’s financial position for the fiscal year ended 2016, and it does not look good. I will ignore for the moment the government’s negative net worth, which itself means that the federal government owes more thanRead more

The following exchange occurred on December 18, 1912 when J.P. Morgan – the most influential American financier and banker of his time – was called to testify before Congress. Mr Untermyer: I want to ask you a few questions bearing on the subject that you have touched upon this morning, as to the control ofRead more