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. Today, we look at the strengthening U.S. Dollar. (See the Forex & Cryptos section.)
Precious Metals:
Gold gains as inflation worries offset strong dollar.
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Gold Is Back in Vogue With Bulls Loving Faster Inflation Again. Here is an excerpt from the Yahoo article:
“While bullion is often bought as a way to protect wealth when consumer prices are climbing, this year’s inflation had weighed on the metal as investors bet that it would spur the Federal Reserve to scale back huge stimulus measures. But with the Fed determined to keep rates low while unemployment remains elevated, worries about out-of-control inflation are boosting gold’s allure.
That was clear on Wednesday, when gold jumped to break out of a 15-month downtrend after data showed U.S. consumer prices rose the fastest since 1990. On Thursday, spot prices rose as much as 0.9%, before paring some of the gain.
Inflation “is not transitory,” said Nicky Shiels, head of metals strategy at MKS (Switzerland) SA. “It’s injected some bullish momentum. That’s a change from the previous ‘thinking’ since the Fed’s taper threat is out of the way.”
Taxes:
Biden’s Vaping Tax Sparks Concerns People Will Go Back to Cigarettes.
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“Fair Share”? Here’s Every State’s Top Tax Rate Under Biden’s Massive Spending Bill.
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$283,927,000,000: Federal Tax Collections Set Record in October.
Inflation Watch:
At Wolf Street: Since 2008, Monetary Policy Has Cost American Savers about $4 Trillion.
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Manchin Says Inflation ‘Not Transitory’, Cannot Ignore ‘Pain’ Felt By Americans.
Forex & Cryptos:
At Larry Greenberg’s Currency Thoughts (presently, my favorite Forex blog): Persistent Global Pressure on Prices, Some More Central Bank Hikes, and the Dollar Touches Its Firmest Level Since July 2020. Here is a quote:
“The weighted DXY dollar index touched 96.24 overnight, its strongest level since the first week of July 2020, but has settled back to show no net changed. Relative to Tuesday closing levels, the dollar is down 0.3% relative to the kiwi, yuan, peso, and sterling and by 0.1% vis-a-vis the euro, yen and loonie. The biggest overnight move has been a 1.3% further advance against the Turkish lira.
The price of gold is trading 0.6% higher, reflecting general inflation worries. Nonetheless, WTI oil has eased back 0.6%. Ten-year sovereign debt yields are unchanged in the U.S., U.K., Germany and Japan. Equity markets dropped Wednesday by 0.7% in Australia, 1.2% in South Korea, 0.4% in Japan and 0.3% in Hong Kong but rose 0.4% in China. Stock markets in Europe and U.S. futures haven’t moved much.”
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$9 Billion In Ethereum Exited Exchanges In Last 3 Days As ETH Drops To $4,200.
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Mastercard Launches Bitcoin Payment Cards in Asia-Pacific.
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 or 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 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!