18. March 2020 | 11:11 CET
Barrick, First Majestic, Osino Resources, Scottie Resources - preparing for helicopter money
In the 1960s, the Nobel Prize winner Milton Friedman, an influential economist in the USA, studied various models of monetary policy. One of the models of how the Federal Reserve can boost consumption and achieve its inflation targets while preventing deflation would be by issuing cash to the population on a one-time basis. In his example, Friedman describes that a helicopter would drop USD 1,000 banknotes over a community for consumption purposes. This model led to the term 'helicopter money'. After the reduction of interest rates and quantitative easing, the USA will soon provide its citizens with checks to keep the economy going. All drastic measures within a month.
time to read: 1 minutes by Mario Hose
Entry level for precious metals
If paper money can be increased at will without a value deposit, then the true value of this money must be questioned. This is the reason why the demand for gold and silver is increasing, because it is not available in a limitless amount and because of this limitation it has a certain price, which results from production costs, supply and demand.
Since the outbreak of the so-called corona crisis, the price of gold and silver has first risen and then fallen. This phenomenon could also be observed at the time of the financial crisis in 2008. One reason for this is the so-called Long Squeeze - when investors leveraged credit on the capital market and had to reduce their holdings.
Investors in trouble
Due to the dramatic price losses on the capital markets, investors are selling all asset classes in order to reduce losses and solve problems. The corona crisis has a much stronger impact on the global capital markets than the financial crisis. The value of the S&P 500 Index has fallen by around 30% over the past four weeks. During the financial crisis, the same percentage correction took about 250 days.
Investors, companies and politicians currently have to make decisions that nobody would have thought about two or three months ago. The risks of wrong decisions are correspondingly high.
Diversification into stocks
The imminent issue of helicopter money in the USA is likely to cause a sustained increase in the need for security among investors. There are various ways to invest in precious metals. In addition to physical forms such as bars and coins, shares in mining companies offer the opportunity to participate directly in the value creation and reserves. Diversification is generally advisable when investing in different companies that are globally active in different regions.
Barrick Gold and First Majestic Silver are well-known producers and offer an interesting mix for a portfolio with upside potential in addition to the exploration companies Osino Resources and Scottie Resources. Especially in exploration, Osino in Namibia and Scottie in Canada offer interesting opportunities to participate in the company at an early stage. Both companies have already made discoveries and it is now probably only a matter of time and number of successful drilling programs before gold producers knock on the door for takeover talks.
