1. U.S. interest expense as a percentage of U.S. government outlays has likely bottomed (Fig.
20). Interest rates on U.S. debt have been rising and the average maturity of U.S. Federal
debt is currently 69 months. There have been, however, fewer buyers of U.S. Treasurys
(Fig 22, 23).
2. While net purchases by foreign buyers of U.S. Treasurys has declined, central bank gold
holdings continue to rise and are at the highest levels as a percentage of total central bank
reserves in over five years (Fig. 32, 33).
3. Gold and silver equity weighting in the S&P/TSX Composite Index is low (Fig. 44).
4. The amount of equity raised by gold miners in 2018 was almost non‐existent (Fig. 47). As
a contrarian investor, this is surely a good sign for the future price of gold and gold mining
equities.
5. There is a significant value gap between larger cap and small cap gold companies (Fig. 52).
