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. This column emphasizes JWR’s “tangibles heavy” investing strategy and contrarian perspective. Today, some interesting news of a planned Fort Knox audit. America needs to return to genuine money!
Precious Metals:
We’ve been promised an audit of the Fort Knox gold depository by the DOGE Boys and Senator Rand Paul. JWR’s Comments: I suggest that they bring a drill motor to check the cores of several gold ingots at random, and give them an acid test. I also suggest that they leave a jar of the drill shavings on the President’s desk. Seriously, there really should be two Fort Knox audits: A physical “shelf count” audit, and an accounting audit. The latter must include a full reconciliation of all loaned, leased, borrowed, “in storage for third parties”, and rehypothecated gold holdings. I’m fairly confident that there are physically still 4,500 metric tons of gold stored there. But I wonder how many parties hold claims to some of most of it. I have doubts about what both audits will tell us — especially the accounting audit. Oh, and after that, they need to audit the Federal Reserve banking cartel.
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I was asked by a reader about what was behind the recent run-up in the spot and futures gold prices. In my estimation, there are two causes: 1.) Consistently strong buying by the central banks of the BRICS nations, month after month. This is drawing down the available physical supply of gold in Western nations. Particularly, the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) has seen severe shortages. 2.) Derivatives gold contracts, with grossly oversized short positions. Short-selling works for a brief time in a rising market. In a volatile market, just the difference between the spot and futures prices is enough for substantial money to be made. The trading volumes have been quite heated. And so have the volume of physical transfers. It now won’t take much for the markets to see a huge run-up. As you’ve seen me write many times: The law of supply and demand is escapable. – JWR
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The Global Gold Rush: Russia and China’s Shortages Add to Economic Anxiety.
Economy & Finance:
From Wolf Street: Treasury Yield Curve Flattens as 10-Year Yield Falls, Short-Term Yields Stay Put: Fed’s Pivot to Wait-and-See in Inflationary Times. But Mortgage Rates Stay Near 7%.
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Warren Buffett sounds warning to Washington as Berkshire reports record profit, cash.
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Italian police uncover billion-euro tax credit scam.
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Commodities:
Livestock Producers, Going, Going, Soon Gone. Here are two key quotes:
“We’ve lost another 107,000 independent beef cattle farmers and ranches in just the past five years. That’s a loss of over 21,000 cattle producers per year during the past five years. And, we’ve lost another 2.5 million mother cows, representing an 8% reduction of our nation’s mother cow herd in five years, with a loss rate of half a million mother cows per year.”
…
“And let’s put this in perspective, we’ve now lost 665,000 cattle farmers and ranchers and have only 622,000 left, which is a loss of over half of our nation’s beef cattle farmers and ranchers in just 42 years, which is only slightly longer than a single generation. Remember also, we’re talking about the largest segment of American agriculture, which means our cattle industry is vital to the economic well-being of rural America.”
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Trump to Hit Imported Steel and Aluminum with 25% Tariffs.
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Denny’s announces egg surcharge, joining Waffle House.
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From OilPrice News: Trump’s Oil Tariffs Could Cost Foreign Producers $10 Billion Annually.
Taxes, Regulation & Privacy:
Paul Craig Roberts, over at Lew’s site: President Trump’s Idea of Replacing the Income Tax With Tariffs Is Sound and a Great Advancement in the Restoration of Freedom.
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This update comes by way of the Idaho Secretary of State:
‘If you have not yet submitted your beneficial ownership information (BOI), we are reaching out to inform you of an important update regarding the federal Corporate Transparency Act (CTA). On February 18, a decision by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas ruled that the beneficial ownership information (BOI) reporting requirements are once again in effect. As a result, the deadline for reporting has been extended for most companies to March 21, 2025.
The U.S. Department of Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has issued a notice with additional details about the updated deadlines.”
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Some astounding charts: Mapping The Growth Of Government.
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State Comprehensive Privacy Law Update – February 2025.
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What are Global KYC Regulations in 2025?
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Data privacy laws in the United States (updated January 2025).
Forex & Cryptos:
Reported on Tuesday: Dollar falls after soft consumer confidence as economic concerns drag.
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At Currency Thoughts: Unease about the Future.
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North Korea feared to be behind ‘worst hack in history’ as Kim’s goons took £1BILLION in world’s biggest crypto heist. JWR’s Comments: I must reiterate my advice: Do not trust the crypto exchanges. Always keep your crypto in an air-gapped hardware wallet and only connect it to the Internet briefly, for trusted wallet-to-wallet transfers.
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Reported on Wednesday: Rout wipes $800bn from crypto market as bitcoin slump deepens.
Tangibles Investing:
Map: Days Of Work To Afford A Monthly Mortgage, By State. JWR’s Comment: “Hey, Hawaiians: How’s that 33-day per month job working out for you?”
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Palmetto State Armory (one of our affiliate advertisers) has some great specials in their “Daily Deals” this week. The “Second Trump Slump” is hitting the U.S. firearms industry. This is now time to stack guns, magazines, and ammunition deep. I expect to see some very large rebates and bonuses offered by gun makers, later this year. – JWR
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!