Inflation

France's public debt is mainly held by foreign investors and this is precisely what worries senators, the French Ministry of Finance, and the government: a loss of confidence among international investors would cause interest rates to skyrocket immediately.

Ray Dalio said investors should allocate as much as 15% of their portfolios to gold even as the precious metal surged to an all-time high above $4,000 an ounce.

In this exclusive interview, Luke Gromen, one of the world’s foremost experts on bond and monetary markets, shares his perspectives on the current state of U.S. public debt, the role of the dollar and fiat currencies, and the surge of the gold price.

Since the beginning of the year, the greenback has already fallen by nearly 10%, reaching a new low. The dollar's weakness is not the result of an external shock, but rather a deliberate action by the authorities to preserve financial stability.

Fitch's downgrade of France's debt rating last Friday was expected. It remains to be seen whether Moody's and Standard & Poor's will follow suit on October 24 and November 28, which seems quite likely.

The situation in the US labor market now highlights its profound fragility, after two years of embellished statistics. In September, the Bureau of Labor Statistics made the largest negative revision in the history of payrolls.

The long-term outlook – sustained inflation and long-term interest rates anchored on an upward trajectory – is one of the pillars supporting gold prices over the long term. This is particularly true given that, at this stage, no one is really significantly exposed to it.

Some investors choose to defer their investment in gold, arguing that gold is “too expensive.” This article therefore aims to measure the opportunity cost incurred by an investor who decides to delay investing in gold.

Japan is said to have agreed, in return for tariff cuts, to use part of its sovereign wealth funds to finance US strategic projects. Confidence is crumbling. Gold is becoming the last credible refuge for Japanese households and institutions.

This week, we will look at a couple of gold ratio charts that suggest we may be entering into a mania phase in the yellow metal that could run for several years.