Our 17th episode of In the Arena features an in-depth discussion with Simon Constable. Simon is a veteran economics and markets commentator and author of The WSJ Guide to the 50 Economic Indicators That Really Matter. He speaks with host Daryl Jones.

He offers interesting insight on a number of topics including:

  • Why default may lie ahead for Italy
  • Bullish catalysts for investing in gold
  • Concerns around buying cryptocurrency  
  • Why Britain's inept government is benefiting its economy
  • President Trump's theatrical tactics
  • The risks of buying cannabis ETFs

In addition to interest rates, here is a look at another thing that has Simon excited about gold:

"There's also something very big happening in the world at the moment and that is a number of significant emerging market countries are deciding that they don't want to just hold the U.S. Dollar in their reserves because they have got a little unbalanced that way. And so they're upping their levels of gold holdings consistently and they tend to buy on the dips and they've just been stacking up on gold for the last few years and they will likely continue to do so. And I think that that will continue and you'll see a lot of that gold snapped up."

Simon uses his research and mathematical background to set him apart as a journalist. 

"So I'm not afraid of the numbers. I'm not afraid of looking at them and I'm also not afraid of looking at a table of numbers and just standing down it and saying to myself, what's odd here? Is there anything odd in this situation and just looking at the numbers and a lot of journalists won't do that because they simply don't have the backgrounds in mathematics or in finance."

You can follow Simon on Twitter @RealConstable and check-out some of his articles at https://simonjconstable.blogspot.com/.

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