This week, Eric Sprott discusses the relative inaction of the Bank of Japan and US Fed. He also addresses the scandal at Wells Fargo and the need to hold physical gold and silver as an alternative.

This week, Eric Sprott discusses the current push by global central banks to raise interest rates, all during a continuing stream of poor economic data.

This Weekly Wrap-Up, Eric Sprott discusses the possibility of a Fed Funds rate hike later this month, perhaps in coordination with a change of policy out of the Bank of Japan.

This month's Ask the Expert is Willem Middelkoop.

Our Ask the Expert for August 2016 is David Jensen of Jensen Strategic. Mr. Jensen currently serves as President and COO of a private mining company and provides strategic, operational, risk assessment, and precious metals consulting services.

Our Ask the Expert for July 2016 is Rob Kirby of Kirby Analytics. Rob writes about the markets - and his book - from a "gold bug's" point of view.

During the summer months, precious metals consolidated sharp gains of June and early July in a constructive sideways pattern. Between June 30 and September 13, spot gold was basically unchanged, declining 0.3% (from $1,322.20 to $1,319.01), while spot silver gained 0.8% (from $18.72 to $18.87). The U.S. dollar was similarly flat, with the DXY Index declining 0.5% (from 96.14 to 95.63). Given relative calm in precious-metal and U.S. dollar markets, it is interesting to note that 10-year Treasury yields jumped 18% over the same span (from 1.47% to 1.73%).

Overall in the past few weeks, there is a rising sentiment that the global central banks are not as aggressive as the market was hoping for and is starting to trade with a mini “taper tantrum”-like sentiment.

The world in which we operate, from a market perspective, has become so focused on the words of central bankers that nothing else really matters. Economic data, global politics, supply and demand, company fundamentals and technical chart patterns mean less and less as Fed-speak means more and more.