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 a recent Radical Personal Finance podcast interview on tangible assets allocation, with JWR. (See the Tangibles Investing section.)
Precious Metals:
To begin, we read: Gold rises on safe-haven appeal after Catalonia declares independence
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Asian Metals Market Update: October-27-2017
Stocks:
Nikkei hits 21-year high as banks, tech stocks firm
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Tech Stocks Roar Again in Faint Echo of 2000
Commodities:
Michael Seery: The Corn Chart Looks Interesting
Forex:
AUD/USD shorts were the best trade this week
Taxes:
Over at Politico: GOP tax bill shrouded in secrecy
Economy and Finance:
Next up, there is this: ECB delivers Dovish Taper
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Despite two big hurricanes… First reading on third-quarter GDP up 3.0%, vs 2.5% rise expected
Troubling Trends:
Then there is this, at Zero Hedge: Goldman Sachs Maintains The Most Tax Havens Of Any US Company… By Far JWR’s Comment: Given the levels of taxation in the U.S., who can blame them?
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Also at Zero Hedge: Vacant Property Rates Soar In Over Half Of U.S. Local Housing Markets
Tangibles Investing:
JWR recently gave a one-hour interview with the Radical Personal Finance podcast, primarily on tangibles investing. That interview has detailed recommendations on asset allocation and emphasizes the importance of living at a self-sufficient retreat.
Provisos:
SurvivalBlog and its Editors are not paid investment counselors or advisers. So please see our Provisos page for our detailed disclaimers.
News Tips:
Please send your economics and investing news tips to JWR. (Either via e-mail of via our Contact 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. We often “get the scoop” on economic and investing news that is probably ignored (or reported late) by mainstream American news outlets. Thanks!
1) After just 8 years of the Big Bailout, we are $10 TRILLION deeper in federal debt. $6 Trillion of that is owed to foreigners, on top of the $2 Trillion we owed previously.
2) That huge debt was incurred because of the Great Recession caused by the irresponsibility — fraud in my opinion — of Goldman Sachs and other Wall Street firms.
2) If they don’t pay for the Big Bailout debt then who will? The common worker? Don’t know if anyone has checked recently but people who actually work for a living get a very small fraction of the national income nowdays. Those who run con games of various kinds –or serve as prostitutes in Washington protecting the con artists — get the Big Money.
Few things for which I maybe qualified to discuss, but the housing market, including the level of vacant properties is on place that I can opine upon – the residential housing market has improved dramatically – the number of vacant properties has improved by 50% since last year. The lack of housing inventory (new and resales) are at 40 year historical lows in the aggregate. The cost of new homes continues to be at historical highs, especially in locals with constraints on land and labor. We are fast approaching headwinds to further price appreciation when you consider the signals from the Fed. Unless you are compelled otherwise, time to be on the sidelines and not get sucked into these price levels – stay put, renovate what you own at these rates, and look for good land values – as Will Rogers once said, they ain’t making it anymore, so land can be a good value over time. New replacement costs are much higher than resale inventories. Look for other asset classes at this time – residential may rise over the next 2 years, but the headwinds will prevail.