Cracking the work from home code, this couple built a business empire out of it

In an environment where many small businesses are struggling to adapt to the mass quarantines around the world, one business is seeing demand rise.

BELAY, founded by husband and wife team Bryan and Shannon Miles, is a provider of virtual assistants.

“We definitely serve a lot of small businesses that have been impacted by the current crisis, so while the majority of our business is not only stable and moving forward, we have experienced loss with some of our clients, which has been really hard to see, they’ve had to shut their doors and therefore cancel, but not many. The new leads that we’re seeing come in, no longer ask the question ‘how does remote work?’” said Shannon Miles.

The inspiration behind the company came from rock climbing, as the founders sought to help small businesses advance with the aid of virtual assistants.

“Belay is a rock climbing term, and I’m a mountain climber,” said Bryan Miles. “We use the term belay to basically say, ‘it’s time for you to go ahead and climb higher.’ That’s what we do at BELAY, our virtual assistants, book keepers, and webmasters, essentially they act in a support role for our clients as they climb higher.”

 

By Kitco News
For Kitco News

David

Kevin O'Leary-backed venture creating new asset class during crisis

Venture capital through crowdfunding is a new way investing for retailers, and contrary to traditional venture capital, this asset class has seen increased activity during the pandemic, said Howard Marks, CEO of StartEngine.

“StartEngine is a crowdfunding equity platform. Our mission is to help entrepreneurs achieve their dreams and we raise capital for equities directly from the general public online. Since the crisis has started, our number of investors has gone up on our platform,” Marks told Kitco News.

The outbreak of the coronavirus has essentially shut down mainstream venture capital, Marks said.

“It’s very clear at this point, that access to capital for small businesses has been basically shuttered. A lot of the venture capitalists are now internally working with their own portfolio, deciding which company they will build to continue to fund and which one they won’t. Companies who were looking for capital had term sheets ready, everything is just shut down at this point,” he said.

For entrepreneurs, raising capital through crowdfunding is an “extraordinary new way to market your company,” owing to a few unique benefits, Marks noted.

“You should consider equity crowdfunding as a means for raising capital. The main reason is that you want to stay in control, you’re not giving control to anybody,” he said. “Number two, you create an army of fans. These investors could be your best customers, they could also be your army of grand ambassadors.”

 

By Kitco News

David

'Floodgates are open for gold to move higher': Inflation, retail in focus – analysts

Gold is up nearly 6% on the week and more gains are just around the corner, according to analysts, who still see the COVID-19 uncertainty as ruling the day and benefitting gold prices.

Despite rallying equities, a lot of uncertainty around the economic fallout from the COVID-19 outbreak remains, which is attracting new investors to the gold market.

“There is a danger here that we follow more of a W-shaped recovery in stocks rather than the V-shaped one. We are certainly not out of the woods in terms of the pandemic. We are still going to get some negative data,” T.D. Securities head of global strategy Bart Melek told Kitco News Thursday.

Total cases of coronavirus worldwide are now at more than 1,580,000, with at least 94,500 deaths. The U.S. has the most cases – 455,000 with at least 16,000 deaths. The latest data out of Italy, Spain and Germany are also not encouraging with new cases still rising.

“We are a long way off from the peak in many countries in terms of the virus,” said Capital Economics assistant commodities economist Kieran Clancy. “This uncertainty will continue to benefit gold.”

The economic projections vary, but the latest from banks like Citigroup and JPMorgan Chase is that markets will see at least a $5 trillion hit to the world economy over the next two years due to all the coronavirus-related shutdowns.

The gold market is looking strong this month, with many analysts expecting gold prices to keep rising in Q2, Q3, and Q4.

“Investors are still uncertain over the U.S. equity rally; therefore, the underlying need for safety still exists on the back of everyone’s mind … There is still a lot of uncertainty. People are a little bit over-optimistic on how the money coming from the Federal Reserve will make into the pockets of the consumer,” Blue Line Futures chief market strategist Phillip Streible told Kitco News.

Streible is forecasting for gold to average $1,750 in Q2, $1,850 in Q3, and $2,000 in Q4.

The Federal Reserve is fairly limited in the tools that it has and it looks like it will be letting inflation run, which is a big deal for gold in the long-term, Streible pointed out. “The Fed said it is not concerned about inflation right now. That really lets the floodgates open on gold moving higher. I think that gold looks better in the next couple of quarters,” he said.

Melek's short-term target is $1,800 an ounce, followed by gold, eventually rising to $2,000.

“That won’t happen overnight. But we are more likely than not heading to $2,000 level. I have to say; we are getting close to my $1,800 shorter-term target,” he said. “It will be tough to get above $1,800 in Q2 due to lack of economic activity, not putting pressure on inflation.”

However, if you are a long-term investor, you can’t forget about inflation, Melek added. “You have to start wondering what happens if people go bankrupt,” he stated. “Risk is that there is a debasement of currency or purchasing power via really low interest rate environment. For long-term investors, we will continue to see moves of money into gold.”

More upside for gold in the short-term is also being projected by Standard Chartered Bank analyst Suki Cooper, who sees an average of $1,725 for Q2.

“Spot gold prices have started to consolidate around $1650/oz, but the macro backdrop remains conducive for further price gains,” Cooper noted. “Unprecedented monetary and fiscal stimulus, negative-yielding debt and low interest rates for longer imply gold will continue to attract a flight to safety and quality.”

Cooper sees retail investor demand boosting prices higher. “Various Mints around the world have reported March sales reached multi-year highs. In the U.S., April sales are already at their highest since April 2013,” she said.

 

 

By Anna Golubova
Thursday April 09, 2020 15:23

 

 

 

David

$20,000 gold price: Franco Nevada chairman makes the case

<

Gold prices should skyrocket to much higher levels, even $20,000 in two to five years’ time, as gold reaches a price level close to the level of the Dow Jones Industrial Index, this according to Pierre Lassonde, chairman of Franco Nevada.

“When I look at where we are today, the money creation will take time to [money] into people’s hands. I look at supply chain disruption, I think we’re looking at a two to five year period and I do believe that we will see, if not one to one [in the Dow/gold ratio], then very close to one to one,” Lassonde told Kitco News.

Gold prices have historically seen periods when the levels are close to, if not equal to, the Dow index.

“I just don’t know if the Dow will still be 23,000 or if it will still be $16,000, and even if [the ratio] is two to one, all I’m trying to point out is that the gold price will be materially higher than what it is today,” he said.

Lassonde noted that gold is still in the relatively early stages of a bull market that, especially gold mining stocks.

“The equities have such a long, long way to go to catch up, they’re going to be multiples of where they are today,” he said.

 

By Kitco News

David

Max Keiser explains why only gold, silver and bitcoin can save you now

 

During volatile market conditions, investors should be looking for assets that represent stores of value, like gold, silver, and bitcoin, this according to Max Keiser, host of the Keiser Report.

“The next alternative hard money, aside from silver, is bitcoin, and that’s why you see interest in bitcoin right now, it’s up this year. It’s one of the few markets in the world that’s up in 2020,” Keiser told Kitco News.

The notion that bitcoin cannot be a store of value due to its volatility is a myth that has been busted in 2020, Keiser said.

“For years, people said that bitcoin is so volatile, how could it ever be a store of value? Well, this year, bitcoin is the least volatile asset class of any asset class there is. It’s less volatile than stocks, it’s certainly less volatile than oil, it’s less volatile than many, many currencies out there. So bitcoin is coming into its own in 2020 and it is a store of value, it is gold 2.0, and it will achieve a market capitalization like gold in the many trillions of dollars,” he said.

Keiser’s target price for bitcoin is $400,000. Bitcoin is up slightly year-to-date, up 5% since January. It has come down from its 2020 highs of $10,000 in February, last trading at $7,344.

“I call it the Sistine Chapel of money. There’s never been money invented like bitcoin. It’s so gorgeous, so beautiful. Just study the design of it, the White Paper, it’s like looking at a fine Da Vinci art work or an incredible Swiss watch,” he said.

 

By Kitco News

 

David

Now is the time to hold a 'significant' position in gold – former Bear Stearns analyst

The first quarter saw gold prices massively outperform equity markets and this trend is expected to continue, according to one former Bear Stern’s analyst.

Jesse Felder, publisher of the Felder Report investment newsletter, reiterated his long-term bullish outlook for gold, saying in a recent report that gold prices could easily push above its 2011 all-time highs. Gold prices are starting a new trading week with relatively low volatility as prices trade above $1,600 an ounce. June gold futures last traded at $1,646.70 an ounce, relatively unchanged on the day.

Felder said that he sees two factors that should prompt investors to add a “significant portion” of gold to their portfolio. .

The first factor Felder said that he is watching is the value of gold compared to equity markets. He said that the signal to buy gold over equities was triggered in February when the gold:equity ratio turned positive.

“The 36-month rate of change in the ratio between gold and the S&P 500 has provided a pretty good signal in this regard. In the past, when it has crossed above the zero line it has been a good buy signal for gold and good sell signal for stocks,” he said

His comments come after a dismal first-quarter performance for the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500.

For the first three months of 2020, The Dow dropped 21.8%, its worst quarterly performance since 1987. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 fell 18.7%, its worst quarter since the 2008 financial crisis. In comparison, future gold prices ended the first three months of the year with nearly a 5% gain.

Financial markets were hit hard last month as the global economy came to a virtual standstill because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Governments all over the world have forced nonessential businesses to shutter and people to stay at home in an attempt to slow the spread of the deadly virus.

The second factor that will continue to support gold prices, Felder said, is the massive amount of money that is being spent to combat the impact the coronavirus is having on the global economy.

“Gold prices tend to rise when the fiscal deficit as a percent of GDP is rising,” he said.

Last month, the Federal Reserve made three emergency announcements that bought interest rates to zero and introduced unlimited quantitative easing measures.

“Some expect the deficit to expand by a much greater degree in the current crisis than it did a decade ago as a result of the combination of record fiscal stimulus paired with falling revenue. If so, gold would very likely break out above the high it set in 2011,” he said.

Felder added that not only is gold a vital portfolio diversification tool, but in these times of economic uncertainty, it is also an essential asset for wealth preservation.

 

By Neils Christensen

For Kitco News
 

David

COVID-19 has profound impact on U.S. jobs which declined over 700,000

The long-awaited U.S. labor department’s jobs report was released today indicating that employment in the United States declined by 701,000 individuals last month. Along with payrolls declining by over 700,000 which was 600,000 above the estimate provided by economists which predicted 100,000 jobs would be lost last month, the jobless rate rose to 4.4%. The last time the unemployment rate was as high was back in 2017.

The numbers released is not what market participants fear the most it’s the fact that these numbers are expected to jump even higher next month. According to Bloomberg economics they believe that the rate will rise to 15%, they also reported that James Bullard the president of the Federal Bank of St. Louis said that this number might be as high as 30% this quarter.

Bloomberg economics also reported that the reason for the anticipated dramatic rise is that the numbers presented today all our already outdated because they reference a. Based on the 12th of the month which didn’t include nearly 10 million people who have filed for unemployment benefits in the last two weeks alone.

In other words, today’s numbers provided by the Labor Department are simply the tip of the iceberg. The coronavirus has affected economies across the entire globe and every industry, until a vaccine is created or the number of new cases begins to decline, we can expect this scenario to only magnify to a larger scale.

The number of cases of individuals who have contracted the coronavirus has now exceeded 1 million globally. The death toll has also risen to over 53,000 people worldwide, with 211,000 recovering from the most devastating pandemic crisis of recent history.

Recent data now confirms that 245,000 individuals have contracted the disease in the United States, this according to Johns Hopkins University. The University draws its information from a combination of data sources such as the World Health Organization, governments and media.

While this is definitively the largest factor which has turn market sentiment extremely bearish towards the equities markets, it is also turned market sentiment extremely bullish for the safe haven asset group with gold rising once again this week.

As of 5:30 PM EST gold futures basis the most active June Comex contract is currently up $11.10 and fixed at $1648.80. This while the other precious metals (platinum, palladium and silver) are trading lower on the day. The other precious metals are heavily used in industry and therefore affected by the recent major correction in U.S. equities. We can expect gold to continue to rise if this current pandemic continues to devastate economies globally.

Wishing you as always good trading,
 

By Gary Wagner

David