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. (SurvivalBlog’s Founder and Senior Editor.) Today’s focus is on investing in single malt whiskey. (See the Tangibles Investing section, near the end of this column.)
Precious Metals:
First up: Lower Fed rate hike chances Gold price impact
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Next, it looks like the price of gold may be breaking out of its downtrend.
Commodities:
And over at OilPrice.com: The Only Way OPEC Can Kill U.S. Shale
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North Korea’s Fuel Prices Soar After China Suspends Exports. (After China’s National Petroleum Corp. halted sales of fuel to Pyongyang, North Korean gasoline and diesel prices have jumped substantially.)
Stocks:
Over at Seeking Alpha: Car-Mageddon Is Upon Us And How To Play It
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Goldman’s Traders Turn In Worst First Half of Blankfein’s Reign
Forex:
And continuing on to foreign exchange (Forex) news, here are some long trend predictions on the US Dollar versus the Swiss Franc.
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The Wall Street Journal reports: Monetary Policy in Japan Has a New Problem: Amazon
Economy and Finance:
Neda chief says Philippines no longer ‘sick man of Asia’
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At The Jakarta Post: Analysis: Artificial intelligence can drive fintech, support economy
Troubling Trends:
El-Erian’s latest essay at Bloomberg: Jamie Dimon Is Right to Raise the Alarm
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Nine years after recession began, some states still unrecovered
Derivatives:
Tech Derivative Report – July 18 2017 : Angel Broking
Tangibles Investing (Whiskey):
One odd investment that is paying off for some folks is single malt whiskey. Although I personally don’t drink any hard liquor and my beer and wine consumption per year can be counted on one or two hands, I can’t fault those who see this as a viable investment. Much like riding the “long bull” in wine collecting, whiskey collecting just started coming into fashion around 2012. There are now whiskey tasting tours (chauffeured, of course), and they are quite popular.
The serious investors, I’m told, avoid buying any blended whiskeys. And from what I’ve read, it will be bottles from craft whiskey distilleries that will see the greatest gains in the next few years. Look for up and coming “craft” or “artisan” distilleries.
When spelled “Whisky,” (without the “e”) it usually identifies spirits from Scotland or Canada. When spelled “whiskey” (with the “e”) it generally indicates the U.S. or Ireland.
Many of the new craft distillers are experimenting with distinctive nut, fruit, honey, or caramel undertones. This is where the new crop of whiskey experts will surely develop a parlance, to mirror the snooty chit-chat among wine experts. I predict that in another five or six years, whiskey collections will be all the rage. Just one key proviso: Don’t drink up your profits!
Provisos:
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On single malt – Heh. Several years back (early oughts) I picked up a bottle of Loch Dhu in my local Virginia ABC store, mostly because it looked interesting. Probably cost me all of 25 bucks. It was quite good, but not being a big drinker, it took several more years for me to finish it.
Thinking it might be nice to pick up another one, I found no retail outlet had it. Looking online, it now is considered very rare, and you’ll pay about 225 pounds ($293 at current rates) for that bottle.
Not sure it’s a great retirement vehicle, but I guess it’s better than tulips.
Not sure if I can quite understand the logic of purchasing high end whisky. If everything collapses, who will pay high dollars for a bottle of high end whisky? Some other preppers have suggested buying a large bottle of average quality whisky and have lots of little bottles to divide it into for use as barter. That makes more sense to me.
Agreed. I would imagine that those seeking alcohol amidst a collapse will be choosing quantity over ‘quality’. Suspect those big, cheap, no-name plastic vodka jugs (less shatter-able) would return the highest yield.
Just don’t let them drink it anywhere near you. Bad things will happen.
I might store alcohol, but it wouldn’t be for barter. Who would want someone in a desperate need for a drink knowing you had alcohol available. Who want’s an alcoholic to deal with.
IF I did have some for barter, it would be for years later, after all those addicted to it had ‘went away’. Better, to have a still and the knowledge to make more, than to store… so, after things settle out, one could convert grain into spirits.
The most efficient way to purchase and store alcohol is buying Everclear pure spirits (200 proof). You can usually find the stuff at PX’s. Note that drinking it straight can kill someone! But it can easily be diluted to a safe level with other liquids. When I was in college we drank grain alcohol and grape juice, then called “Purple Jesus.” That was a long time ago…