Here are the latest items and commentary on current economics news, market trends, stocks to watch, investing opportunities, hedges, derivatives, and the precious metals markets. These are all from the quirky “tangibles heavy” contrarian perspective of SurvivalBlog’s Founder and Senior Editor, JWR:
Precious Metals:
The Outlook for Asian Gold Demand in 2017. Hmmmm… Note the recent spike in Swiss exports to China.
Commodities Economics:
Consider the source of this press release, but this sounds promising: Industrial Commodity Prices to Rise in 2017: World Bank.
Forex:
It is quite obvious that the US Dollar (USD) and the Swiss Franc (CHF) are still bouncing around parity. Hold tight, if you are hold CHF, because the long term trend is for a weakening USD.
Stocks:
MarketWatch recently mentioned that price to earnings (P/E) ratios are at now at their highest levels since 2004. When a veteran analyst like Robert Shiller speaks in dire terms, it is best to pay attention: Exuberant investors are behind extreme valuations
Tech:
Over at Zero Hedge, Tyler Durden posted this warning: Signs That The Silicon Valley Tech Bubble Is About To Burst. Given the frothy condition of the equities markets, he may be right.
Stocks:
Even the cheering section at CNBC admits it: Market headwinds may be fading, but four main risks remain. Warning: This web page has a video that auto-starts.
Tangibles Investing:
I found that some sound advice was recently updated, over at Investopedia: Top Four Alternative Investments to the Stock Market
Equities Investing
Buffett’s formula for finding sweet spot in market at any point
Provisos:
SurvivalBlog and its Editors are not paid investment counselors or advisers. So please see our Provisos page for our detailed disclaimers.
Mr. Editor,
What alternate investments are available for someone with a 401k balance that does not include cashing out early with the associated penalties? Is there a safer segment of the market that a 401K balance can be invested in and what brokers allow investment into that market segment?
Thank you.
I am not a financial expert, but my understanding is that with a 401k you are limited to just a handful of investment options that the investment firm selected for your company. Those may be good, or may not.
Once you leave the company you can move the funds at no penalty into a self directed IRA which then allows you almost unlimited investment options.