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. Most of these items are from the “tangibles heavy” contrarian perspective of SurvivalBlog’s Founder and Senior Editor, JWR [1]. Today, we look at some practical tangibles to invest in. (See the Tangibles Investing section.)
Precious Metals:
Gold and silver sell off when U.S. Treasury yield spikes above 1.5% [2]
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Gold prices drop below $1,700 as Jerome Powell dismisses rising inflation and bond yields [3]
Economy & Finance:
Beige Book Escalates Inflation Warning: Sees Most Prices Rising “Moderately”, Some “Notably” [4]. JWR’s Comments: With a recent additional $1.9 trillion in pork barrel stimulus and bailouts [5], and another $3 trillion in “Green Energy” Federal spending planned by the Dem-wits, the market movers can clearly see inflation approaching. If their schemes are neacted, we’ll see a $33 trillion national debt, by the end of 2021! Plan and invest accordingly. Get out of Dollars, and into tangibles — with an emphasis on the kind that go “bang.”
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Another at Zero Hedge: Deutsche Bank: Central Banks Simply Can’t Afford Higher Rates With Global Debt So High [6]
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“An Eye-Popping Decline” – US Mall Values Crash By A Record 60% In 2020 [7]
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At Wolf Street: Movie Theater Business Isn’t Going Back to Normal: Disney CEO [8]
Commodities:
H.L. sent us this: Doug Casey on What Could Happen if China Restricts the Supply of These Obscure Metals [9]
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Restarting Texas’ Damaged Oil Refineries Is Going to Take Weeks [10]
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Have You Noticed Higher Gas Prices Lately? You’re Not Alone [11]
Equities:
At Seeking Alpha: Tesla halo fades with electric vehicle stocks falling sharply [12]
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Was That the IPO Stocks Bubble that Just Popped? [13]
Forex & Cryptos:
Over at Currency Thoughts: Dollar Up, Equities and Bond Yields Lower, and U.S. Capitol on Aler [14]t.
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Hyperinflation Pushes Venezuela to Print 1,000,000-Bolivar Bills [15].
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Dollar holds before Powell speaks, Swiss franc falls to five-month low [16]. Buried at the end of this Reuters article:
“Bitcoin has surged 78% so far this year as it gains more acceptance in the financial services industry, but the U.S. financial regulator is likely to start working on guidelines for digital assets, which could increase scrutiny of cryptocurrencies.”
And,
Bitcoin Storm Brewing Over Trump’s Anti-Money Laundering Push [17]
JWR’s Comment: As I’ve written before, the national governments will go to war against private cryptos, once they have their own tax-transparent crypto offerings. What were are witnessing now is just the opening volley of that war. Cue the Impending Doom music.
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This analysis was posted in mid-February: Bitcoin Is Going to Crash. The Big Question Is When [18]
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Major power outages in Iran due to Chinese Bitcoin mining farms [19].
Tangibles Investing:
Wondering what tangibles to invest in, with your next stimulus check? Here is my shortlist:
- 20 and 30-round AR MagPul PMAGs
- 33-round Glock factory-made 9mm magazines.
- Stripped AR-15 lowers. Preferably as private party purchases, if you can find some.
- Glock Model 19 or 19X 9mm pistols.
- Glock Model 30S .45 pistols
- SIG P320 pistols (or perhaps just serialized trigger group modules, for later builds)
- Pre-1899 cartridge guns. (Yes, I’m biased [20], but we can all see the handwriting on the wall with pending Federal “Universal Background Checks” legislation.)
Provisos:
SurvivalBlog and its Editors are not paid investment counselors or advisers. Please see our Provisos [21] 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 form [22].) 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 items from local news outlets that are missed by the news wire services are especially appreciated. And it need not be only about commodities and precious metals. Thanks!