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 the recent spike in lumber prices. (See the Commodities section.)
Precious Metals:
Bloomberg: Why Sam Zell Bought Gold for the First Time [2]
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The Dollar Is Not A Safe-Haven — video interview with Lyn Alden [3]
Economy & Finance:
How COVID ‘Rescue’ Funds Are Mowing Down American Small Businesses [4]
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At Zero Hedge: BofA: “Transitory Hyperinflation Ahead” [5]. JWR’s Comment: I believe that. Well, that is, all except for the “transitory” part.
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The Adverse Consequences Of A $15/Hour Wage Hike [6]. Here is an excerpt:
“What do you think happens when my son, with no experience, is making more than the restaurant manager?
The owner will have to increase the manager’s salary. But wait. Now the manager is making more than the district manager, which requires another pay hike. So forth, and so on.
Of course, none of this is a problem as long as you can pass on higher payroll, benefits, and rising healthcare costs to the consumer.”
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Joe A., and H.L. both suggested this article: Here Are The Companies Hiking Prices In Response To Soaring Inflation [7]
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Gundlach Warns America’s “Unfunded Liabilities” Are $163 Trillion, More Than 5x National Debt [8]. Here is a quote:
“The other day, DoubleLine released a recording of another talk given by Gundlach where he elaborated on the inflation theme, while also discussing other issues like the outlook for the US dollar in the face of President Biden’s tax-and-spend agenda.
During the course of an hour-plus conversation, much of it accompanied by a slide deck with some of Gundlach’s favorite charts, Gundlach tackled a few key topics that he feels could threaten the Fed’s ability to backstop financial markets.
He started by slamming Biden’s plan to hike capital gains taxes on taxpayers with more than $1 million in earnings, arguing that fears of higher capital gains taxes is already weighing in the market.
Gundlach argued that high-beta stocks and other speculative investments like bitcoin have the most to lose due to a hike in capital gains. After all, who is going to want to take a risk on a long shot if they need to give half of their winnings to the government?”
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At Wolf Street: Inflation Jumped by 3.8% in Q1, “Real GDP” Rose 1.6%, Dragged Down by Record Trade Deficit and Drop in Inventories [9]
Commodities:
H.L. sent us this: Record High Lumber Prices Send “Portable Sawmill” Searches To The Moon [10]
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Andy mentioned this piece at Vox: Lumber mania is sweeping North America –A lumber frenzy has taken over homebuilding, Home Depot, and the internet. [11]
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A Wall Street Journal video short: How the Pandemic Made Lumber America’s Hottest Commodity [12]
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Copper jumps to record as growth bets supercharge commodities [13].
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The global chip shortage is starting to have major real-world consequences [14].
Derivatives:
U.S. SEC reviews short-selling, equity swap rules after GameStop, Archegos sagas [15]
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Forex & Cryptos:
At Currency Thoughts: U.S. Jobs Report Delivers Biggest Forecasting Miss Ever [17].
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Bank Of England Slows Bond Purchases, Raises Near-Term GDP Outlook [18]
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CNBC: Cryptocurrency investors should be prepared to lose all their money, Bank of England governor says [19]
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Turkish government to track crypto transactions over $1,200 [20]
Tangibles Investing:
ATF Releases Proposed Rules For So-Called ‘Ghost Gun’ Receivers & Frames [21]
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Best Handgun for Beginners & Home Defense (2021) [22]
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The 8 Best Glocks In 2021 [23]
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Seven Best 9mm Pistol of 2021 Reviews | Top Models of This Popular Caliber to Date [24]
Provisos:
SurvivalBlog and its Editors are not paid investment counselors or advisers. Please see our Provisos [25] page for our detailed disclaimers.
News Tips:
Please send your economics and investing news tips to JWR [1]. (Either via e-mail or via our Contact form [26].) 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!