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 surging inflation figures. (See the Inflation Watch section.)
Precious Metals:
Silver jumped 4.4% yesterday, to $22.59 per Troy ounce. Gold was up 1.86% to $1807.60 per Troy ounce. This makes the silver-to-gold price ratio now back to near 80-to-1. So this is a good time to ratio trade out of gold into silver. I expect silver to continue to gain versus gold, with a ratio closer to 50-to-1 by the end of 2022. Oh, and consider hedging into platinum a bit, too. At just $934 per ounce, platinum is a screaming buy, given the long-term gold-to-platinum price ratio. I do not expect inflation to abate in the U.S. anytime soon, and that will be positive for all of the precious metals. Without Federal spending restraint, America cannot “Whip Inflation Now” — as Gerald Ford urged us, back in the 1970s. Do you remember those absurd “WIN” buttons? But we can protect ourselves from some of its effects. Hedge, hedge, hedge! – JWR
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For those who follow chartists, there is this from Gary Tanashian: Gold, Silver, Gold/Silver Ratio And HUI Index [2].
Economy & Finance:
Stocks fall, Nasdaq drops nearly 2.5% as tech sector stumbles [3].
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Biden Mocked For Bragging U.S. Pays Bills On Time By Increasing Debt: ‘An Oxymoron Without The Oxy’ [4]
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At Zero Hedge: Evergrande’s Surprisingly Quiet Collapse [5].
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Mega cap leaders sell stock at historic levels amid high valuations, tax changes – WSJ [6]. JWR’s Comments: Watch the Smart Money. It looks like they are selling at the top. So… Sell any stocks or mutual funds that you own that are not recession-proof or depression-proof!!
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Hedge funds hammered after Omicron variant spooks markets [7].
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Commodities:
Reader C.B. sent us this, (behind the paywall) at The WSJ: The Stealth Gas-Heating Tax: The House methane ‘fee’ is a tax on consumers who use natural gas [9].
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OilPrice News reports: Potential Polar Vortex Could Send Natural Gas Soaring Again [10].
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Nickel prices seen falling in 2022 due to surplus – Antaike [11].
Inflation Watch:
Wholesale prices measure rose 9.6% in November from a year ago, the fastest pace on record [12].
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At CNBC: Inflation surged 6.8% in November, even more than expected, to fastest rate since 1982 [13]. JWR’s Comments: And that is citing the government’s skewed calculation, based on weighted factors. Real-world gauges of inflation average more than 13%, annually. (See Shadowstats [14].)
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Reader H.L. forwarded us this link: Energy prices are suggesting that Europe will face a lot more inflation [15].
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Rate Hike at National Bank of Ukraine [16].
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Higher Inflation and Disappointing Industrial Production Headline Friday’s Global Economic News [17].
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US workers poised to get biggest raise in a decade as inflation soars [18].
Forex & Cryptos:
Forex market forecast (2022): What will drive markets in 2022? [19]
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WisdomTree amends Bitcoin ETF application, naming US Bank as custodian [20].
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Bitcoin Miners Hold Off On Selling As Their Reserves Reach 2021 High [21].
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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis proposes letting business pay state fees with cryptocurrencies [22].
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Point of no return? Crypto investment products could be key to mass adoption [23].
Tangibles Investing:
USN&WR: Three Best Investments for Inflation [24].
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Rolex Investment Watches 2022 [25].
Provisos:
SurvivalBlog and its Editors are not paid investment counselors or advisers. Please see our Provisos [26] 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 [27].) 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!