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 natural gas and propane markets. (See the Commodities section.)
Precious Metals:
Silver could be the primary market over gold ahead.
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Why Is Goldman Still Looking For $2K Gold?
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Hedging The Decline And Fall Of A Currency.
Economy & Finance:
U.S. National Debt Hits $30 Trillion for First Time. JWR’s Comments: And that is just the official figure. That doesn’t include long-term pension obligations. Also, note that many long-term Federal obligations have inflation escalators built in. Hence, once inflation resumes in earnest, it will catalyze a self-building mountain of debt that is absolutely unsustainable. There then will be just two exit strategies: Debt Default or Hyperinflation. We all know which one of these that America’s career politicians will opt for.
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The Bank of England hike interest rates with a hawkish tilt.
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At Investment Watch: Fed Rate Hikes Coming Soon… Here’s What That Means for Normal Americans. (A hat tip to H.L. for the link.)
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Steve Bannon and Phillip Patrick: “This Looks Like 2008 All Over Again”.
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At Seeking Alpha: Five ETFs feel the shockwaves from Meta Platforms sell off.
Commodities:
U.S. Natural Gas Prices Jump 10% On Arctic Blast. JWR’s Comment: Pardon the pun, but the natural gas and propane markets are quite volatile. This really shows when there is a major weather event. Some commercial customers such as poultry raisers use huge quantities of gas. If, suddenly, they start buying 20% more natural gas, then the market quickly reacts. In fact, we’ve seen how the markets act pre-emptively, based on a weather forecast of a Polar Vortex. That is the nature of these markets. And now that the liquified natural gas market is becoming global (with dozens of huge LNG tankers planned or under construction), even overseas events will affect U.S. domestic market prices.
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Texas Braces For Cold Snap As NatGas Pipelines Freeze; Power Blackout Concerns Mount.
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Over at OilPrice News: Russian Natural Gas Production Expected To Hit All-Time High This Year.
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Rabobank: Russia Is Prepared To Declare Economic War On The West, Inflicting “Huge Economic Pain”.
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150 Meat Trucks Stranded At US-Canada Border As Protests Continue.
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“The System Is Broken”: Boots-on-the-Ground View by a US Manufacturer on the Supply Chain Chaos.
Inflation Watch:
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Kirk wrote to mention:
“I’ve noticed some more product shrinkage. Because I have been schooled up by Survival Blog, I have a food storage room. On a trip to Walmart months ago, I restocked some French Style Green Beans. I noticed their slick hidden shrinkage. Same can, same picture on the can, except, old can was 14.5 oz. (UPC 78742 36945) and it had a pull-top. Expiration date Dec. 2021. But the new can 14.25 oz. (UPC 78742 07640) and had the less expensive to produce top that you use a can opener to open. The labels say the servings are the same…Hmmmm.”
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Starbucks to hike prices to offset inflation; lowers profit guidance.
Forex & Cryptos:
The US Dollar Index (DXY) Sinks as Fed Hikes Might be Overcooked. Will USD Recover?
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At Currency Thoughts: January 2022 in Figures.
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I had a well-heeled consulting client ask me if he should hedge into cryptos, in the current market dip. My advice: Yes, but limit your crypto holdings to 10% of your portfolio. I urged allocating 60% of that investment in Bitcoin, 20% in Ethereum, and 20% in a mix of less popular cryptos — all with good upside potential, such as Dogecoin, EpiK Protocol, Monolith, and Zigcoin. I urged him to hold all of them in a hardware wallet (with remotely-located recovery seed phrase steel plates), rather than in an exchange. And I also warned him: Be prepared to lose everything, if the government gets grabby and bans private cryptos. So be ready to cash out on short notice and parlay that into tangibles.
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Bitcoin Halving To Bring The Subsequent Crypto Frenzy.
Tangibles Investing:
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30-By-30: farm groups calling it a land grab.
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Forest Service announces 10-year initiative to increase fuel treatment.
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!