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Jim Rickards of JAC Capital Advisors and Currency Wars fame gave a presentation last week at Jim Grant's Spring 2013 conference titled "Easing at the Zero Bound: Beyond QE & the 'Foolproof Way'." Rickards is a prominent gold bull and has been

In March 2013 the index of producer prices for industrial products rose by 0.4% from the corresponding month of the preceding year. In February 2013 the annual rate of change was +1.2%, in January 2013 it had been +1.7%. Compared with the preceding

Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso defended his country's fight against deflation this week, saying that the yen's decline is an unintended consequence of policies designed to boost growth. Japan is using a combination of monetary policy and

European Central Bank Governing Council member Jens Weidmann said the bank would only cut interest rates if economic data worsen. “We didn’t change interest rates at our last meeting as they are currently appropriate and in accordance with our

It's not that the price is different, per se. When gold crashed on Monday, dragging market prices down to a low of $1321.50 an ounce from levels around $1560 only days before, holders of physical gold saw the value of their holdings decline as well

There was widespread confusion over the funding of Cyprus' bailout on Friday morning, as media reports suggested the country had asked for a further 10 billion euros of aid. Dow Jones reported that Cypriot President Nikos Anastasiades would ask for

Retail sales in the U.S. unexpectedly fell in March by the most in nine months as employment slowed, showing households ended the first quarter on softer footing. The 0.4 percent decrease, the biggest since June, followed a 1 percent gain in

Gold has taken three sharp declines this morning: once around 5 AM ET, again around 8:15, and then again around 10:30. Despite weaker than expected retail sales figures and plummeting consumer confidence in the United States, it's down 4.5%, trading

The dollar plummeted from a four-year peak against the yen on Friday after dismal data on U.S. retail sales last month reinforced expectations the Federal Reserve will continue buying bonds to support the U.S. economy. The yen's bounce, however

Stocks saw a modest sell-off in the wake of some bad economic data. Gold, on the other hand, got destroyed. First the scoreboard: Dow: 14,865, -0.0 pts, -0.0% S&P 500: 1,588, -4.5 pts, -0.2% NASDAQ: 3,294, -5.2 pts, -0.1% And now the top stories

The European Union and International Monetary Fund will not give Cyprus extra cash to help plug gaping holes in its finances over the next three years, officials said Friday. Cyprus needs to find 6 billion euros more than originally forecast to meet

I had the opportunity this afternoon to connect with Peter Schiff, CEO and Chief Global Strategist of Euro Pacific Capital. It was a fascinating conversation, which took place while gold was absolutely collapsing. During the interview, Peter

Gold officially entered bear market territory on Friday, down 20% from the cycle high. Prices fell below $1,500 per ounce for the first time Since July 2011. Frank Holmes at US Global investors told Business Insider that this was being driven by

Bitcoin. It’s the raging topic at every financial media outlet in the world, the center of every “currency collapse” conversation from London to Tokyo, and I personally can’t open a page of Twitter feed without seeing the word at least four times

apan has struggled to keep its standing as the world's third-largest economy. For the past 15 years, it has been plagued by falling prices, making it the only major economy to undergo prolonged deflation since the Great Depression. Over the years

In this week's print edition, Barron's Randall Forsythe updates his readers on the story of Bitcoin, the virtual currency that saw its value balloon and burst in a matter of days. He sees the story as a reflection of skepticism towards fiat money as

The big story today (and actually for awhile) is the collapse in gold, which has just fallen below $1500/oz. If you look on Twitter, or anywhere else econ types chat, there's a lot of glee over this news. Why should the decline of a relatively

Hedge funds and other speculators added to bullish gold bets as the metal slumped into a bear market and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. warned the retreat is accelerating after the longest rally in nine decades. The investors increased net-long positions

Almost one in five U.K. companies favor Britain pulling out of the European Union because it would have a positive impact on their business, according to a survey. The British Chambers of Commerce said today its polling of 4,387 companies showed 18