Over the past several years, there have been several government charges of price manipulation filed against banks that trade precious metals on behalf of customers. Most of these lawsuits have been settled before trial, with banks paying fines to the U.S. and other governments. A few cases have been brought to trial, with some convictions obtained.

Though times have changed, gold continues to be a safe haven for investment in China, particularly among the younger generation.

As Peter Schiff noted, “The Fed no longer has the ability to stimulate the economy by creating #inflation. Instead of QE and ZIRP making people wealthier by pushing up asset prices, it now makes them poorer by pushing up consumer prices instead. Monetary stimulus has become a sedative. It’s game over!”

If the junk bond market, and corporate debt in general, is deepening its already underperforming trend, it could be a sign that sentiment is deteriorating quite quickly now. That might be bad news for stock markets, and lead to credit downgrades and defaults. Corporates could be about to find out what debt deflation is all about.

U.S. stock futures dropped in early morning trading on Friday amid renewed Covid fears over a new variant found in South Africa.