Economics & Investing for Preppers

Here are the latest items and commentary on current economics news, market trends, stocks, investing opportunities, and the precious metals markets. We also cover hedges, derivatives, and obscura. And it bears mention that most of these items are from the “tangibles heavy” contrarian perspective of JWR ^[1]. (SurvivalBlog’s Founder and Senior Editor.) Today’s focus is on the world’s best-known cryptocurrency,  Bitcoin.

Precious Metals:

First, there is this, over at Kitco: Ignore the Hawkish Fed, There’s Still A Case for Gold – Traders ^[2]

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The Taipei Times reports: India plans gold policy revamp for US$19 bn sector ^[3]

Alternate Currencies (Bitcoin):

Next, there is this over at SovereignMan: You won’t believe this stupid new [draft] law against Cash and Bitcoin ^[4]

JWR’s Comments: Beware of putting too much of your wealth into Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies.  When times get hard, governments get grabby. And of course Bitcoins stored by third party exchange services are vulnerable to hacking.

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Over at Wired: Bitcoin Has Come Roaring Back—But So Have the Risks ^[5]

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Reader H.L alerted us to this pending Senate Bill: Travelers Must Register Cash and Digital Amounts Over $10K or Face 10 Years in Prison and Full Asset Seizure ^[6].  H.L. had this comment:  Note that sponsor for this bill is Senator Chuck Grassley, a Republican!

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Bitcoin Price Rises Above $2,500 ^[7]

Forex:

On to the foreign exchange (Forex) news: Mexico’s peso hits over 13-month high as Fed hike bets fade ^[8]

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ForexLive posted a market wrap-up for Friday ^[9].

Global Stocks:

Moving on to stocks, Value Line reports had this summary for Friday’s close ^[10].

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Over at Zacks: Second Half Stock Market Outlook

Debt Bubble:

Reader Josiah S. recommended this news link: Fed rate hike this week to hit millions of borrowers ^[11]. (Note: This was published a day before the Fed did indeed bump up interest rates, but only by 1/2 of 1 percent.)

Economy and Finance:

Next, this troubling (albeit expected) news: Could Illinois be the first state to file for bankruptcy? ^[12]

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And Michael Snyder warns: We Are Getting Very Close To An Inverted Yield Curve – And If That Happens A Recession Is Essentially Guaranteed

Derivatives

LSE says splitting euro clearing would create rump EU market

Tangibles Investing:

Finally, over at Seeking Alpha: Excitement For Gun Rights, Anxiety For Gun Investors ^[13].  JWR’s Comments:  I look at the current dip in semi-auto gun prices as a buying opportunity. If you want to hedge into tangibles, then I can think of nothing better to buy, and no better time to buy them!  But now is not the time to buy stock in gun companies. Rather, this is the time to buy their tangible products. (You can presently  find rock bottom prices and lots of rebate offers.) As long as you have the vault space, buy them and stack them deep. Save the factory boxes. (Discarding a box means discarding part of the resale value.)  Buying guns is better than putting money in the bank.  You can re-sell a few of them after prices recover and there is another panic buying season.

Provisos:

SurvivalBlog and its Editors are not paid investment counselors or advisers. So please see our Provisos ^[14] page for our detailed disclaimers.

News Tips:

Please send your economics and investing news tips to JWR ^[1]. (Either via e-mail of via our Contact ^[15] form.) These are often especially relevant, because they come from folks who particularly watch individual markets. And due to their diligence and focus, we benefit from fresh “on target”  investing news. As a result, SurvivalBlog often “gets the scoop” on economic and investing news that is probably missed (or reported late) in other news sources. Thanks!