Peter Schiff: The Fed's decision is just a symbolic move and "will not have any real effect!" The 10-year Treasury yield hit 4.97%, a 19-year high, while the 30-year Treasury yield was 5.35%. Peter Schiff launched a special program on this topic, titled "The Cost of All Loans Is About to Rise." His core argument is that long-term bond yields reaching 5% are just the beginning. He states that the 40-year bull market in bonds ended in 2020. We are now entering the sixth year of a potentially 20-year bear market, and interest rates will rise faster than they have fallen in the past. This rise in yields differs from similar historical scenarios: the current US debt is approximately $40 trillion, with a relatively short average maturity, and the US Treasury must refinance this massive amount of existing debt at higher coupon rates. August's Consumer Price Index (CPI) left the Federal Reserve with no room for retreat. Prices rose 0.4% month-over-month and 3.4% year-over-year; core CPI rose 0.3% month-over-month, higher than the market expectation of 0.2%. The Producer Price Index (PPI) surged to 5.4% year-over-year, and oil prices returned to above $100 per barrel. The consumer confidence index fell from 51.7 to 47.8, while public expectations for inflation over the next year climbed from 4% to 4.6%. Schiff hopes the public will revisit his previous remarks on Fox News: "I went on Fox News and stated the facts. Prices will continue to rise, and the pace of rise will accelerate. At the time, some people said I was talking nonsense, that I didn't understand the market. But it turns out I was absolutely right." In his view, the interest rate hike was merely a performance. "Now it's time for the truth to come out. The Fed's 25 basis point rate hike was just to show a willingness to take action; it was just a symbolic operation and wouldn't have any real effect." Warsh had already released enough strong signals about rate hikes, and if the Fed stopped raising rates now, its already dwindling credibility would be severely damaged. Although the CPI and PPI have risen faster than the policy rate, the Fed still chose to raise rates by 25 basis points. From a practical perspective, the monetary environment remains essentially loose. The US Treasury has tripled its bond repurchase program to $6 billion, but yields are still rising. Schiff believes this move is a signal that Washington is filled with anxiety, rather than an effective means of supporting the market to anchor the yield curve. Gold closed near $4,338 and silver at $64.36 for the week, both showing slight declines. Schiff called this drop a good entry opportunity: even with the short-term poor performance of precious metals, the overall bearish bond market environment still favors them. US stocks closed down about 1% for the week. This is exactly the sequence of events he has been explaining for months: the bond market crashes first; various loans to households and the US government are repriced; then the stock market follows suit. While the government is still packaging symbolic interest rate hikes as tightening policies, physical precious metals are the assets worth holding. The program also featured Schiff's consistent political views: the government has added nearly $4 trillion in debt in 20 months, yet still promised to pay out $5,000 in so-called "dividends"; it claims food prices are "falling rapidly," but CPI data contradicts this; while employment data hits record highs, the labor force participation rate is at a historical low; the so-called grand bill is essentially an inflation bill, not a miracle of supply-side reform. On the 25th anniversary of 9/11, his remarks even overshadowed his views on interest rates: "The biggest terrorist threat to the United States does not come from foreign terrorists, but from our own government, namely Washington." He believes that the decline in American freedom stems from the legislation enacted after 9/11, not from the attacks themselves. If inflation rises again, and the US government, as the ultimate borrower, is already the largest debtor in history, then the 19-year high yields are by no means the peak. "We are heading in the wrong direction; inflation will not fall, it will only continue to rise." If Schiff's judgment is correct, the cost of every mortgage loan, every car loan, and every reissue of US Treasury bonds will further increase. Meanwhile, precious metals, currently being sold off due to interest rate hike news, will precisely benefit in an era where 5% is no longer the ceiling for interest rates.