Economics & Investing For Preppers

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 look at the effect of legislation on the price of photovoltaic power panels. (See the Commodities section.)

Precious Metals:

Adam Taggart: We’ve Arrived At The End Of The Road

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Goldfinger, Silver and Gold

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Chartist Hub Moolman: Gold Price Analysis 2019: Who is Lying: Gold or the Dow?

Economy & Finance:

Reader H.L. recommended this at Zero Hedge: Bids For $260 Million Harlem Apartment Ensemble Disappear Overnight Thanks To New NY Legislation. Here is a quote:

“About 12 investors made offers on a collection of rent stabilized Harlem apartment buildings that listed in April for $260 million, according to Bloomberg. But then, the NY legislature re-wrote the rules of stabilized rents, which capped property values and slashed the potential for increases in rent overnight.

The bids for the 28 building “Harlem Ensemble” apartments that were on the sale block instantly disappeared.

David Chase, partner at B6 Real Estate Advisors said: “They called us every day — and then we couldn’t reach them.”

The listing will expire at the end of the month.

Many other multifamily deals also collapsed due to investors fearing that the new legislation, which governs about 1 million apartments in the city, takes direct aim at landlords’ income and investment returns. It makes it nearly impossible to raise rents, remove units from state regulation or recoup the costs of capital improvements.”

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At Wolf Street: Who Holds the $3.2 Trillion in “Leveraged Loans” and CLOs?

Commodities:

At Seeking AlphaU.S. Shale: Peak Oil Finally Arrives

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Why Is U.S. Demand For Solar Panels Booming? Here is a quote:

“Solar modules prices in the United States have reversed in recent months the trend of steady declines of the past few years, as many U.S. solar companies are hoarding panels to take advantage of the full solar subsidy that is set to step down beginning next year.

Due to high demand, the price of solar modules has recently increased by 10 percent from earlier this year, Reuters’ Nichola Groom writes, citing data from energy consultancy Wood Mackenzie.

Developers who begin construction or spend at least 5 percent of a project’s capital expenditure this year are eligible to get the 30-percent tax credit regardless of when their solar power plants actually start producing electricity.”

Forex & Cryptos:

Pound Tumbles To Fresh Multiyear Lows As ‘No Deal’ Brexit Fears Intensify

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Mnuchin ‘not comfortable’ with Facebook launching Libra.

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Venezuela Sets New Bitcoin Volume Record Thanks to 10,000,000% Inflation

Tangibles Investing:

Why You’re Investing in The Wrong Photography Gear

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 closely watch specific markets. If you spot any news that would be of interest to SurvivalBlog readers, then please send it in. News from local news outlets that is missed by the news wire services is especially appreciated. And it need not be just about commodities and precious metals. Thanks!




5 Comments

  1. I am curious regarding if other readers are stock piling solar panels just for the tax cut. My experience is that almost anything electronic diminishes in cost and increases in ability/productivity in a few years which I have seen in the building of solar panels. Increase in voltage, strength and reliability over the last several years. I have been reluctant to purchase a huge solar power system due to this fact. Do you currently use solar systems on the ranch?

  2. RE: Peak Oil Finally Arrives

    Nice clickbait title from Seeking Alpha, but I have another viewpoint, formed from participation as a tertiary service provider to oilfield activity.
    The buzz I’m hearing, and many of the numbers quoted in the article bear this out, is that capex across all oil activities is dropping somewhat in anticipation of an oil demand drop due to an expected recession. The price is already at a marginal profit level for many wells, demand has been soft, and now a drop in demand is anticipated. With shale and offshore wells being expensive to bring online, and shale wells having a limited shelf life, it makes no sense to keep drilling at 2018 levels when the demand forecast just isn’t there.
    There is no solid reason out there to think that US oil production can’t hold the current production level for many years or even decades, and possibly even increase, as has been forecast. It’s just that it’s probably not profitable for most companies to continue to increase production into a recession.

    1. You bring up an interesting point I either read or heard from a friend in oil or maybe both. (I think I may have gotten this from Thomas Sowell and an old friend of mine in oil well management.) I hope I can get it right.

      My understanding is that when you refer to oil “reserves” (or reserves in any geological resource) you are not referring to all the oil (or whatever resource) that is known about at a given time. You are referring only to the resources that are economically extractable at the current price with the current technology. There is typically far, far more known about in the ground that is not currently economical to extract with current technology. As prices go down, reserves shrink. As prices go up, reserves increase. As technology improves, reserves increase.

      I believe there is another term (not reserves) for all of the oil we actually currently know about but I cannot currently remember it.

      This is something that confuses layman like myself. You hear “reserves” and that sounds like everything we know about in the ground when it is not.

      Perhaps someone more knowledgeable can elaborate or correct me.

      1. I always thought of reserves as fuel thats setting in tanks or counted in transport to be refined or thats ready for use as fuel. When i think of it as economists talked about it when prices got high during the Clinton presidency he released the strategic reserve to help lower prices at the pump. (Dont think it helped more than a few cents!)

      2. AFAIK, “reserves” is the estimated total of known oil in the ground that can be extracted with current technology.
        Whether it is profitable to do so, or not, is another story.

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