Here are the latest news items and commentary on current economics news, market trends, stocks, investing opportunities, and the precious metals markets. In this column, JWR also covers hedges, derivatives, and various obscura. Most of these items are from JWR’s “tangibles heavy” contrarian perspective. Today, we look at the Federal Reserve’s balance sheet. (See the Economy & Finance section.)
Precious Metals:
You may have heard that silver tumbled 5.19% on Friday, to $22.57 USD per Troy ounce. That was attributed to a briefly-strengthening Dollar. But the Dollar’s prospects look dim for 2023, while the prospects for silver look bright. Buy on dip days, like these!
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Stefan Gleason, at Gold-Eagle.com: Gold Market Isn’t Buying Powell’s ‘Disinflation’ Declaration.
Economy & Finance:
Our own Tom Christianson recommended an article in City Journal: The Fed Goes Underwater. This piece begins:
“Before new trillion-dollar federal spending bonanzas became a regular occurrence, the Federal Reserve’s announcement that it lost over $700 billion might have garnered a few headlines. Yet the loss met with silence. Few Americans have noticed the huge increase in both the scale and the scope of the central bank or the dangers that it poses to the American economy. As Fed-driven inflation becomes the Number One political issue in America, that will change.
The Fed’s losses owe to a shift in the way it does business. Before the 2008 financial meltdown, the central bank tried to control interest rates by buying and selling U.S. bonds. A few billion in purchases or sales could move the whole economy, and this meant that the Fed, which operates much like a normal bank, could keep a relatively small balance sheet of under $1 trillion.”
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Over at Yahoo Finance: The word that made stocks fall in love with the Fed: Morning Brief.
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This WND article was linked over at the Whatfinger.com news aggregation site: 6-year-old spends $1,000 on food delivery app while playing on his dad’s phone.
Commodities:
Fitch Expects $95 Oil In 2023. Here is a quote:
“Fitch Solutions has reiterated its oil price forecast for this year at $95 per barrel of Brent crude, citing China’s quicker-than-expected reversal of zero-Covid policies and slow production growth.
“On the demand side, prospects for growth have improved, following the earlier-than-expected easing of Covid-19 containment measures in Mainland China,” the ratings agency said, as quoted by The Edge.
“On the supply side, uncertainties around Russia continue to cloud the outlook, but slowing production growth in the US, further delays to the Iranian nuclear deal and continued production restraint by OPEC+ will combine to significantly decrease supply growth this year,” Fitch Solutions added.”
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Ag commodities: Identifying the forces that will drive commodity prices in 2023.
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Automakers have a lot more chips now, but buyers may be in short supply.
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From OilPrice News: Will U.S. Shale Ever Return To Its Glory Days?
Derivatives:
Barclays Sees Credit Derivative Volumes Extending Boom Into 2023.
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Hedge fund manager Boaz Weinstein bets market is wrong on Credit Suisse.
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2023 Outlook: US Rule Proposals Impacting Swap Dealers and Derivatives Clearing.
Forex & Cryptos:
Dollar strengthens as oil prices stabilize.
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At Currency Thoughts: More Central Bank Policy Rates Get Raised 10-Year Sovereign Debt Yields Drop.
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Britain’s finance ministry sets out draft rules to regulate cryptoassets.
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Twitter Scraps Free API Access, Crypto Developers Must Pay.
Tangibles Investing:
H.L. sent us this: Biden Admin Prepares New Plan To ‘Empower’ Tenants Through ‘Grace Periods’ For Late Rent. JWR’s Comment: This emerging socialist claptrap is another good reason to sell any rental houses that you own, in “Blue” states.
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We’re in a bifurcated housing market correction—just look at these 4 charts.
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. Thanks!