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Even if one were to print money and give it away for free in order to prop up consumption, it would be impossible to avoid the consequences, which are now clearly visible, of the inflation created by this monetary madness. The difficulties at the level of the production chain brought about by this inflation are now squeezing companies’ margins, and that is what FedEx’s results show us.

We are now in a very critical period for the world since excesses of the magnitude we are now seeing must be corrected. Exponential moves in one direction are always corrected. And the corrections will be of a similar magnitude to the rise but happen much quicker. We are talking about falls of 90% or more in all major asset and debt markets.

Evergrande, China's largest property developer, directly employs 200,000 people and indirectly employs 3.8 million people. Problem: the group is bankrupt and announced on September 14 that it is facing a risk of default. Evergrande is crushed by liabilities of nearly 260 billion euros, while it has yet to complete 1.4 million homes with a total value of 170 billion euros.

The pressure on the level of salaries is not going to stop any time soon.The violence of this inflationary shock is going to be felt this fall on the consumer prices. Businesses will have no choice but to pass on the dizzying rise in costs that they are experiencing to the consumer.

Several structural problems in the U.S. could cause a slowdown in economic growth soon, with stagflation hitting and lasting for the next six months, said Tavi Costa, portfolio manager of Crescat Capital.

Since the start of this century, gold has offered a far better return than bonds. It was this outperforming of the bonds by gold that took it into its bullish phase from 2002 to 2010. The central banks intervened in 2010 to break this cycle, but we have initiated a second cycle of gold outperforming the bonds market. Gold is continuing to bring in better returns than government bonds.

Willem Middlekoop is convinced that in a restructured financial system, gold must and will have a place again. Central bankers are also aware of the imbalances in the current system and are already looking for a new "anchor" that will one day replace the US dollar. The market veteran thinks that gold could become an important pillar of the new system alongside the IMF's Special Drawing Rights and large-scale debt restructuring, as people will flee into real assets if they lose confidence in the financial system.

While silver is not immune to a final attack before the big hike, the conditions seem right for a take-off before the end of the month. This is all the more true, when we look at the crazy surge of aluminium (X2), sheet steel (X4), coal (X4) and commodities, which are experiencing a very violent inflation. Given the crazy money creation since the start of 2020, the price of precious metals should be much higher.

Although they are heavily promoted, equities are hardly superior to gold even over long periods of time; in fact, gold has been superior over the last 20 years. Greater differences emerge when trading cycles, where the ratios shift. The current cycle speaks to large equity losses ahead as dividend yields are very low and stocks are held up because of the global money glut.

Central banks are stuck and condemned to see the value of their currencies deteriorate, hoping that inflation will be "temporary". So this situation will continue and get stronger, maybe one day we will reach the -10% real interest rate, as in my fiction (i.e. a division by two of the value of savings in only seven years). But the monetary and financial system will probably have exploded before then.

In this irrational environment, it is entirely natural to see more and more investors seeking to protect their savings by means of investments such as physical gold, which is regaining a certain appeal in this climate of a headlong forward dash by the central banks.

The investment horizon is a key element for a successful investment in gold. The yellow metal, beyond the tumult of speculation or the clamor of stocks and shares, is a truly unique and enticing asset for long investment horizons.

Veteran investor Mark Mobius said investors should have 10% of a portfolio in gold as currencies will be devalued following the unprecedented stimulus rolled out to fight the coronavirus pandemic.

The inflation is spreading. Is it this new risk associated with inflation that has prompted the unusual demand for physical gold in recent weeks? Gold is being seen here as a refuge from an out-of-control event linked to the new risks engendered by this inflation.

Precious metals are now at their cheapest levels relative to other commodities since 2009. The other two times this ratio reached such depressed levels also marked incredible buying opportunities.