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 an upcoming auction of some iconic movie prop guns. (See the Tangibles Investing section.)
Precious Metals:
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Yes, there is indeed widespread metals markets manipulation: Two former JPMorgan metals traders found guilty in landmark ‘spoofing’ case.
Economy & Finance:
The world economy is imperiled by a force hiding in plain sight.
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A Forbes video: Inside The Next Billion Dollar Startups List 2022.
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Katie Hopkins: This winter, 1 million plus ordinary Brits will decide their life is not worth living.
Commodities:
“Worst I’ve Ever Seen”: Cotton Prices Soar After Historic USDA Cut Amid Megadrought.
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Over at OilPrice News: Falling Prices And High Costs Eat Away At Steelmaker Margins.
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RT: EU Electricity Costs Double.
Inflation Watch:
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Reader H.L. sent this link: The Five Cities With the Highest Inflation in America.
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By way of the Whatfinger news aggregation site: As inflation rocks Americans, Mexico is becoming a “refuge” for Americans fleeing Bidenflation.
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A video from Mike Maloney and Adam Taggart: Six Shocking Charts Show the Future for Inflation & US Dollar.
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Inflation Makes People Poorer (And It’s the Government’s Fault)
Forex & Cryptos:
US Dollar Forecast: DXY Index, USD/JPY Slip After July FOMC Minutes.
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China (Yuan) Inflation Rate. JWR’s Comment: This, of course, is an official statistic from a command-driven economy. The real-world figure may be higher.
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Why Bitcoin Is Cheap At $23,000, Says Fidelity Expert.
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Ukraine has shown the value cryptocurrency offers to real people.
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Tracker: Crypto and Fintech Developments in the Biden Administration.
Tangibles Investing:
Rock Island Auction Company‘s big auction of antique and modern guns is scheduled for August 26th through 28th, 2022. There will be more than 2,000 lots. The prices for pre-1899 antiques have been very strong in recent auctions, and I expect strong bidding for them at this auction, as well. The auctioneers at RIA move quickly, dropping the hammer on 100 to 120 lots per hour. Among the more unusual lots in this three-day auction will be some original movie props: A pair of Tomb Raider pistols, and a re-assembled DL-44 Han Solo blaster from the second Star Wars film. This, of course, is a dolled-up C.96 Broomhandle Mauser.
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2023 Dodge Challenger and Charger Announcement – No more muscle cars, they are done! JWR’s Comments: This news will make the Dodge hemi engine models from the last few years quite collectible, in the long term. Do you have some extra room in the back of your garage or shop? Then you might want to find one of these cars made between 2019 and 2022 in pristine condition with some special order features and less than 20,000 miles on the odometer. Just put it up on blocks, as a tangible investment. As for the “all allocated” 2023 models? I expect them to be immediately selling for as much as 20% over their sticker price, with bidding wars at local dealerships. And by 2025, all of the late-generation Dodge large-displacement hemi engine muscle cars will be selling at premium prices. Buy low, and sell high.
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I’ve noticed that Palmetto State Armory (one of our affiliate advertisers) has been running specials on the PSA Dagger pistols, made in their South Carolina factory. These are clones of the Glock Model 19, with a few improvements. For less than the retail price of a standard factory Glock Model 19 with two magazines, you can get a suppressor-ready PSA Dagger with a slide cut for red dot sight, a threaded barrel, high profile sights, green or FDE slide cerakoting, and 10 magazines (5 that are15-round and 5 that are 28-round). That is quite a good deal! Just search on the word “Dagger” at the PSA web site.
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Home sale cancellations surge to another 2-year high as buyers pull back.
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!