Rates

2017 has just started but some longer-term trend changes already seem to develop.

Mr. Trump does not know it, but applying a policy of protectionism for American industry through tariffs on imports means the death of the world's monetary system based on the dollar.

At the beginning of a new year it would be totally natural to forecast what the likely events and trends will be for 2017. A lot of experts around the world will predict a number of “new” events as if a lot of things will change just because we are entering a new year.

Gold, futures, global sharemarkets: How markets performed for 2016

Germany's Bundesbank has released news at Christmastime to avoid critical examination and discussion, this time news about its repatriation of the nation's gold reserves.

We are now approaching the final mania in markets. The Dow seems to be on its last swansong. Investors have been determined to take it up to 20,000. So far, the market has been twelve points from this magic level. At the same time treasury bonds are crashing.

According to Bild, around 1,600 tonnes of Germany's gold reserves are now in the country, a figure set to rise to 1,700 tonnes by 2020.

We will see in-flation, stag-flation, hyperinflation and de-flation. Many of these flations will happen simultaneously.

The United States Federal Reserve raised interest rates by 25 basis points and signaled more of the same to come in 2017-2019. What does it all mean to the gold investor?

With a very limited downside and an upside of many thousand dollars, at current levels of $1,175 physical gold is an absolute bargain.