Let us be blunt for a moment: interest rate hikes by central banks, especially the Fed, are generally bad news for precious metals. Or better said: a greater number of rate hikes than the market currently expects, mean bad news for precious metals prices. Whoever bases his or her expectations on what the Fed casually promises between lines, is assuming that the central bank based in New York will raise the official rate once more this year and another three times in the course of next year.

If

Will gold and silver be ousted by Bitcoin? These types of stories are to be expected, especially now the price of Bitcoin keeps rising even surpassing the $4000/BTC barrier. The supply of Bitcoin in circulation is limited to a maximum of 21 million units, and the annual growth in the supply of Bitcoin will diminish until that 21 million limit is reached. Apparently, the very same question keeps our dear readers up at night, because one reader recently remarked: “Since this technology

No, it did not surprise me that Mario Draghi, President of the European Central Bank (ECB) sounded rather hawkish at the important annual ECB meeting in Sintra (Portugal). His speech could be best interpreted as a clear signal that monetary policy in the Eurozone will soon be less expansionary.

That did not surprise me. Not because of Draghi´s eagerness to tighten monetary policy, but because I can very well imagine that more and more of his colleagues who are part of ECB board are beginning to speak up. It is a public secret that several board members have never been big proponents of the zero-interest rate policy and quantitative easing. Many others did defend these policies, because the economy was barely growing, a recession threat was looming, as well as a secular deflation threat