Last week, the U.S. Treasury auctioned 10-year inflation-protected notes at a 0.046% negative real yield, while Her Majesty’s Treasury issued four-year conventional notes at a 0.893% nominal yield. Seekers after no return don’t have very far to look. Making the controversial case for some return. |Download Article
No claim as to cause and effect, but Newt Gingrich won South Carolina the day after he promised to name Lewis E. Lehrman and James Grant to co-chair a commission to study the feasibility of America’s return to the gold standard. The fundamental conclusions of such a commission may be foregone: We’re for it. As for the technique of getting from fiat currency to the real McCoy, that’s a harder nut. |Download Article
If beautiful vistas were monetizable, a certain real-estate development company might be in the S&P 500 already. If well-conceived plans and managerial persistence were monetizable, ditto. But the corporate owner of these wide-open spaces is a case study on delayed gratification |Download Article
In the absence of money printing, capital tends to be scarce, the portfolio manager of a London-listed fund observes; so much the better for people with capital. An admiring review of a tiny enterprise trading at a 19% discount to year-end net asset value.
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Since the prior issue of Grant’s, Japan has tapped an additional $6.5 billion from the Federal Reserve’s central bank liquidity swap facility for a grand total of $20.5 billion. Central bank money printing may calm the waters of volatility, but it has other consequences besides. |Download Article
