Friends, it’s true what they say about strange times calling for strange measures.
And I’d argue that we have indeed entered some strange economic times.
Interest rates have hovered around zero (or less than zero, especially in Europe) for the decade following the recession. That’s abnormally low.
We are due for a correction, and it’s happening: Around the world, interest rates are rising. These things tend to trend over cycles of 20-30 years, so a prolonged period of rate increases has started.
Now, this isn’t necessarily going to cause rampant inflation and slow the economy. The US economy in the 1950s did spectacularly well under similar auspices.
But there’s a difference between now and then: the state of most Western banks. They’re in terrible shape. Many are insolvent and still dabbling in toxic derivatives. Most indulge in what’s known as fractional reserve banking – keeping only a tiny portion of your cash on hand so they can go loan out the rest. And most are not keeping pace with rising interest rates.
In other words, you’re either not making money – or, if you’re in Europe with negative interest rates, you’re actively losing money – by keeping your cash in the bank.
What I’m looking for now are cash equivalents. Ways to keep my savings highly liquid, but siphoned off somewhere more stable, where I can make a little bit of that rising interest to counter expected inflation.
And you’re not going to believe what I’m doing. It’s seriously sacrilegious for me, Simon Black, to be saying this.
Click here to see this month’s letter on where I’ve been putting my cash.
And I’d argue that we have indeed entered some strange economic times.
Interest rates have hovered around zero (or less than zero, especially in Europe) for the decade following the recession. That’s abnormally low.
We are due for a correction, and it’s happening: Around the world, interest rates are rising. These things tend to trend over cycles of 20-30 years, so a prolonged period of rate increases has started.
Now, this isn’t necessarily going to cause rampant inflation and slow the economy. The US economy in the 1950s did spectacularly well under similar auspices.
But there’s a difference between now and then: the state of most Western banks. They’re in terrible shape. Many are insolvent and still dabbling in toxic derivatives. Most indulge in what’s known as fractional reserve banking – keeping only a tiny portion of your cash on hand so they can go loan out the rest. And most are not keeping pace with rising interest rates.
In other words, you’re either not making money – or, if you’re in Europe with negative interest rates, you’re actively losing money – by keeping your cash in the bank.
What I’m looking for now are cash equivalents. Ways to keep my savings highly liquid, but siphoned off somewhere more stable, where I can make a little bit of that rising interest to counter expected inflation.
And you’re not going to believe what I’m doing. It’s seriously sacrilegious for me, Simon Black, to be saying this.
Click here to see this month’s letter on where I’ve been putting my cash.
Friends, it’s true what they say about strange times calling for strange measures. And I’d argue that we have indeed entered some strange economic times. Interest rates have hovered around zero (or less than zero, especially in Europe) for the decade following the recession. That’s abnormally low. We are due for a correction, and it’s…
- Members Only Content -
You need to be a member of Sovereign Confidential to access this content.
If you are a member already, please login below.
