Financial writer and precious metals expert Craig Hemke says we have not seen this sort of “perfect storm” in the precious metals market since the 1970’s when gold increased nine fold until it topped out in 1980 at nearly $900 per ounce. If that happens again, that would put the gold price at nearly $18,000 per ounce. Hemke says, “This whole system is hyper-leveraged by the central banks. So, we have no idea how many owners there are for each ounce of gold. The amount of gold with clear title, we have no idea. What happens when everybody shows up for their gold? If I don’t know how many ounces of gold there are, how am I supposed to know what the right price is?”
What Hemke can predicted with certainty is “more inflation” and that the Fed will not raise rates to fight inflation until at least after 2022.
I asked Hemke for his year-end predictions for the price of gold, and he said “$2,300 to $2,400 per ounce.”
For silver, Hemke predicts, “Silver will be $34 to $36 per ounce.” What the premiums will be on top of that is another story.