Is gold truly a solid hedge against inflation? Not quite, at least according to a study by Credit Suisse and the London School of Economics (LSE). They looked at the performance of gold and stocks from 1900 to 2012 and concluded that gold prices are too volatile and that stocks enjoy better returns. Whereas an investor exclusively invested in gold earned an annual return of 1.1 percent over the same period and suffered several heart attacks in the meantime because of the high volatility, a

Financial markets are currently, according to my judgment, committing three important mistakes. These three mistakes imply that asset prices currently are – again, according to my judgment – also mistaken. Some asset classes are rather expensive, whereas other asset classes seem to offer better opportunities. The three mistakes that I want to highlight this week, are leading to (a) too high stock market prices, (b) too low gold prices, and (c) too high debt levels.

After the gold price closed below $1300 per troy ounce earlier last week, the gold price broke through the $1300/ounce barrier on Friday. The reason was clear: after peace between North and South Korea seemed a matter of time, peace negotiations went sour yet again. After weeks of peace talks between north and south, which should have resulted in a meeting between Kim Jong-Un and Donald Trump on June 12^th in Singapore, Trump decided to cancel the Singapore summit due to “open hostility” from the North Korean delegation. “[T]he Singapore summit, for the good of both parties, but to the detriment of the world, will not take place,” Trump wrote in a letter to Kim Jong-Un. The seemingly never-ending conflict with North Korea appears to remain unresolved for now.