Here are the latest news 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 SurvivalBlog’s Founder and Senior Editor, JWR. Today, we focus on home construction–traditional, prefabricated, and even underground. (See the Tangibles Investing section.)
Precious Metals:
An interview with Gary Wagner: $1,374 Is Gold’s Next Target, Here’s How – Expert
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Arkadiusz Sieroń: Yield Curve Has Inverted. Will Gold Price Rally Now? Here is a pericope:
“The bottom line is that the yield curve has inverted. It should add to the fears of recession, which should help the yellow metal in the near future. However, the effect might be temporary. In the March edition of the Market Overview, we have analyzed several other recession indicators (such as the unemployment rate) and they do not blink red. And in the April report we will present important arguments in favor of the view that the current global slowdown will be only temporary. So, we believe that it’s probably premature to press the panic button.”
Economy & Finance:
Over at Seeking Alpha, there is this from Dave Kranzler: The U.S. Economy Is In Big Trouble
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John Mauldin: The Real US National Debt Might Be $230 Trillion
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How The Mueller Report Tanked The Stock Market
Derivatives:
Europeans Try to Kill MiFID Rule in Brexit Derivatives Fight
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Derivatives Trading in 2019: Why Firms Are Investing in Tech Now
Cashless Societies:
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At PhysOrg: Why benefits of a cashless society may be overrated. Here is how the article begins:
“After recreational cannabis use became legal in Canada last October, research shows the number of bank notes in circulation fell sharply. Before, marijuana buyers used cash to keep their transactions anonymous. After, there was a massive switch to the convenience of cashless payments.
It’s a prime example of what makes a cashless society so attractive to law makers and enforcers wanting to put the squeeze on the “black economy” that can’t be tracked or taxed. But not everyone clinging to cash has illicit motivations.”
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Philadelphia just banned cashless stores. Will other cities follow?
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And over at the Notes From The Bunker blog, here is my friend Commander Zero’s take on it: Strange bedfellows. Here is a key passage:
“Many credit card companies already have positions on what sort of transactions they will not partake in. It’s not hard to imagine that with the ‘do it for the children’ crowd leaning on them , that they’d cave and prohibit the use of their services on ‘forbidden’ services/transactions.
So, it isn’t a stretch to imagine the day when many stores are cashless and your only recourse for payment is to use your debit/credit card. Except that when you try to buy a rifle or magazine or ammo….-DECLINED-. And since the vendor is cashless, you’re choices are now pretty severely limited. It’s a tidy end run around that pesky right to bear arms thing. There’s no right to purchase arms…so they’ll simply make the transaction as onerous and difficult as possible: make it so you can only pay with a card, and make the terms of the card such that you can’t buy guns.
Thus, strangely, I’m in the camp of those folks saying that businesses should take cash (although I disagree about forcing them to). Not because I care about some meth tweaker or welfare queen who can’t get a checking account, but because cash gives me a degree of anonymity and privacy that I demand. Politics does indeed make strange bedfellows.”
Cryptos:
At CCN: Singapore Crypto Exchange DragonEx Hacked: Can the Funds Be Recovered?
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Disgraced Ex-Enron CEO Plans Crypto Comeback after 14-Year Jail Term
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And at CoinDesk: ‘A Sad Joke’: Bitcoin Cash’s Lead Coder Quits Bitcoin Unlimited Project
Tangibles Investing (Home Construction):
Reader H.L. sent this, at MSN: Most and Least Expensive States to Build a Home. (My apologies to our readers on dial-up connections about their annoying 52-page slideshow web page format, but it is still useful data. I promise that we’ll never use slideshows for our SurvivalBlog pages!)
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Pros and Cons for Being Your Own Contractor
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10 Modern Prefab Homes That Cost Less Than $100,000
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Davis Caves Construction: Earth Sheltered Homes
Provisos:
SurvivalBlog and its Editors are not paid investment counselors or advisers. 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!
I’m not one who wants government forcing us to do anything. Businesses though that take a business license from the government; which most businesses do, should also have to accept as payment the legal tender of that same government. As far as I have not heard, credit cards are not legal tender, but a promise to pay legal tender somewhere down the road.
The concept of the hobbit house really intrigues me. I think that a circular door is more trouble than it’s worth as far as practicality. But the underground house is fascinating. Here in the deep south, we can’t even build a root cellar since the ground water is so high, to say nothing of the termites.
You might want to check out whether any firms in your area have experience in monolithic dome construction (earth-sheltered or not) – highly termite resistant.
If you believe that some kind of a currency reset is coming, not just in the U.S., but in all countries, $1374 per ounce of gold WON’T CUT IT. To back the currencies with gold to cover all of the debt (fiat money) that there is out there), gold would have to be several thousand dollars per ounce. Five ? Ten ? Twenty ? Fifty ? I do not know . And WHEN, not if, that happens, the gold to silver ratio will AT LEAST come down from ~85 : 1 to the traditional ratio of 15 : 1. If the ratio matches the silver mined to the amount of gold mined, that ratio will be 9 : 1 . And if reality kicks in- the fact that silver mined is depleted by use in manufacturing electronics, solar panels, etc.- the ratio could be 1 : 1 or even REVERSE. What does this mean ? To me, that means stack silver now. I am not rich, but I buy a few coins every month.