It looks like the Federal Reserve has put itself in an impossible situation. Yet again, the Fed left interest rates unchanged last Wednesday. And while that wasn't a surprise, the pressure is building up on the Fed's Open Market Committee. Coming December, they'll be more or less forced to raise interest rates, and the high officials are fully aware of it.... »
A Rate Hike Is Imminent, No Matter What
November 2 2015
Olav Dirkmaat
Positive Real Interest Rates for The First Time since 2009: What Are the Implications?
October 27 2015
During many seminars, I point investors to the fact that real interest rates are the main driver behind the gold price. A real interest rate is the interest rate corrected for inflation. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that gold performs well when interest rates lag behind the rate of inflation. What will happen to the gold price now?... »
Olav Dirkmaat
Is Your Investment Portfolio Recession-Proof?
October 20 2015
Earlier, I wrote that it is (increasingly) likely that we’ll face another recession (in the articles here, here and here). Do you remember what happened back in 2008? You have probably seen a large part of your wealth vanish into thin air. Is your investment portfolio recession-proof this time... »
Olav Dirkmaat
Remarks on the European Refugee Crisis and the Fall of the Roman Empire
October 13 2015
In writing this article, my goal isn’t to proclaim a political or ideological opinion about the European refugee crisis. Rather, I want to know what the future has in store for us. Today, I want to show how some (sincere) 'do-gooders' have no idea how they are 'helping' Europe towards the verge of collapse. Moreover, I want to demonstrate that drawing a parallel of the current situation with the fall of the Roman Empire isn’t as crazy as it might seem.
... »Olav Dirkmaat
