“You got this!” a current Quicken Loans TV commercial declares as a bewildered couple walks through a real estate open house. “It can be as simple as push button, get mortgage,” the announcer continues. Quicken Loans is now America’s largest residential mortgage lender, but they’re not a bank, and they don’t take deposits—nor do they…
“Push Button, Get Mortgage”—The Digital Lending CrisisDetailsFrom the moment we entered the workforce, some HR person or benefits director somewhere brought up the notion of retirement savings. That curious phase of financial dread and perpetual leisure seemed a lifetime away when we started our first job and deposited our first real paycheck. As the years have passed, however, the notion of…
The Retirement Crisis: Why it’s Crunch Time for Boomers!DetailsChina has been buying a lot of gold lately. As a matter of fact, they’re acquiring the yellow metal at a record pace. In March, the People’s Bank of China added 11.2 metric tons to their gold reserves. They added 9.95 metric tons in February, 11.8 in January, and 9.95 in December of last year. The latest figures put their gold holdings at more than 60 million ounces—earning them a place alongside the U.S., Germany, Italy, France, and Russia as having some of the largest…
Why China’s Secret Gold Binge Is an Overt Buy SignalDetailsTime is ticking on the debt clock. And the ticking keeps growing louder. Everywhere, it seems, debts are ballooning. Global debt tipped the scales at an all-time high of $184 trillion in 2017, according to the International Monetary Fund. Now, the Institute of International Finance reports that global debt is closer to $244 trillion. In…
Tick Tock: The World Is in Debt & Out of TimeDetailsLow interest rates are a good thing, right? Anyone with a car loan or mortgage payment understands the benefits of living in a low–interest rate environment—particularly if you’re old enough to remember the double-digit days of the 1980s when the Federal Reserve ramped up rates in an effort to stave off inflation. In October 1981,…
Too Low for Too Long: The Curious Case of the Federal Funds RateDetailsWe’ve always heard that gold has an inverse relationship with the stock market—meaning when the markets are down, gold is up and vice versa. But there have been times when stocks and the yellow metal rise and fall together, so the correlation is a bit more complicated than simply following a chart line. The truth…
Gold and Equities—A Tale of Two AssetsDetailsAmericans have a long tradition of dreading Mondays. Many of us are jolted back to reality at the start of each week by an alarm clock that signals the end of leisure, relaxation, and time with family and friends. It also marks the beginning of five days of work packed with new projects, deadlines, and expectations. On Mondays, responsibility and accountability return, and we feel miles from Friday—the coveted moment at the end of each week when we…
Why Bad Things Happen on Mondays: A Short History of Market CrashesDetailsGlobal economic uncertainty—especially nagging questions about whether Brexit will actually happen—is helping to drive up the price of gold, underscoring the precious metal’s status as a safe haven. On March 25, gold prices reached a three-week high amid continuing worries over the global economic outlook, such as the turmoil swirling around Brexit. The surge in…
Gold Prices Jump as Brexit ApproachesDetailsThe Cambridge Dictionary defines volatility as “the quality or state of being likely to change suddenly, especially by becoming worse.” This definition can be applied in many areas. In chemistry, volatility is the tendency for a substance to vaporize. In computer science, it’s the risk of catastrophic memory loss. In meteorology, it’s the probability of…
A Low Chance of Risk and a High Chance of RuinDetailsUnused gym memberships, lottery tickets, and cheaply made clothes are just three of the top money wasters among American consumers. But when it comes to retirement, those money mistakes are greatly outweighed by some much bigger financial blunders. A new special report from U.S. Money Reserve outlines five things you should avoid doing with your…
Are You Making Any of Today’s Worst Financial Mistakes?DetailsAfter a decade of Quantitative Easing (QE) and massive asset purchases designed to rouse the economy out of crisis, America’s central bank began Quantitative Tightening (QT) in 2014. QT is essentially the reversal of QE: the process of not only ending federal bond buying but also unwinding the national balance sheet, which expanded dramatically after…
Fed Patience Is not a Virtue—It’s a Dire WarningDetailsNowadays, the word Armageddon is tossed around like a figurative rag doll. While its roots can be traced to Biblical times, it’s often used to describe modern disasters, particularly economic watersheds like recessions and depressions. According to the New Testament in the Bible, Armageddon is actually a place where the armies of good and evil…
What Follows an Economic Peak? Armageddon?Details
