Russian ICBM? Fed Hinting About Printing

Gold just traded higher for its fourth-straight session as the Russia-Ukraine war continues to heat up. Although not at all-time high yet, it has rapidly recovered from the dangerous escalations on the warfront. Gold had fallen sharply following Donald Trump's election win, which caused the US Dollar to rise aggressively. Now the world is looking at the prospect of rapid escalations toward a potential World War 3.

Gold buying received a boost after Ukraine made its first attack on actual Russian territory using long range, foreign-supplied missiles. The Biden Administration gave the attacks a green light, but this creates uncertainty around the Russian response. 

Ukraine has just stated that Russia attacked them using an ICBM (intercontinental ballistic missile). This attack has not been confirmed. The significance here is that ICBMs are the main delivery vehicles for nuclear payloads. Although countries have made agreements to reduce their nuclear weapons stockpiles, what this usually means is taking the nuclear warhead off the ICBM and putting on a conventional explosive. If they are then needed for nuclear war, they can simply take off the conventional explosive and put the nuclear warhead back on. 

Did Russia use an ICBM, or didn’t they? It is said that "truth is the first casualty of war", so there may be many rumours appearing from both sides of the conflict. What this could mean is that fear of a certain missile being used may have a similar effect on the overall temperature of the conflict. Intensifying rhetoric also often comes before actual action. The parties involved arguing about the use of ICBMs is a very clearly big step in the wrong direction.

Fed's Goolsbee Speaks Again, Hints at More Money Printing 

Goolsbee, who we just covered in a recent article, has just spoken again about the prospect of another rate cut this year. He noted that he feels like we're headed towards the 2% inflation goal. He also stated that he thinks "neutral" is much lower than where rates are now. He certainly has had a good amount of airtime recently. Could the fed be buttering us up for a Christmas gift?