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, we look at the raging bull gold market. (See the Precious Metals section.)
Precious Metals:
With spot gold hitting another all-time high of $2,693.00 per Troy ounce on Thursday morning, it now appears that the U.S. COMEX short traders are near capitulation. (Meanwhile, spot silver hit $32.61.) When the shorts finally give up their weekly see-saw battles with their bullish Asian trading counterparts, I predict gold will make a successful run to $3,000+ per ounce. I hope my readers took my advice and stacked gold in or before October, 2022, when Gold was under $1,650 per ounce. And BTW, there is still time to buy silver and platinum, while their prices are artificially depressed. Once this bull goes Full Pamplona, silver and platinum will likely double in price! – JWR
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Saudi Central Bank Caught Secretly Buying 160 Tonnes Of Gold In Switzerland.
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Hub Moolman, at Gold-Eagle.com: Gold Is Stepping Up Its Monetary Dominance.
Economy & Finance:
From reader H.L.: Walmart plans instant bank payments, cutting out card networks.
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Jerome Powell: Migration Is Raising Americans’ Unemployment Rate.
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At Zero Hedge: China’s Collapsing Economy Adds To Headwinds For Japanese Automakers.
Commodities:
December Copper Hits Highest Level in Over 2 Months.
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Fed’s rate cut offers limited relief for US factories facing China competition.
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Commodities boosted by bumper US rate cut.
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From OilPrice News: U.S. LNG Permit Freeze Sparks Export Boom in Canada and Mexico.
Personal Financial Privacy:
Should I Create an E-Verify.gov Account To Lock My Social Security Number? (A hat tip to D.S.V. for the link.)
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The problem with data brokers: targeted ads and your privacy.
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How can I find out EVERY data broker site that is selling/giving my personal information?
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Kaspersky: How to stop data brokers from selling your personal data.
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Some advice from the FTC: Protect Your Personal Information and Data.
Forex & Cryptos:
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At Currency Thoughts: First Hike in Brazil’s Selic Interest Rate Since August 2022.
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Bitcoin Mining Shutdown Caused 20% Surge In Norwegian Electricity Bills.
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Political candidates embrace Bitcoin, signaling a new era for crypto.
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Australia to mandate licenses for crypto exchanges, per report.
Tangibles Investing:
NPR: Here are 4 ways the Federal Reserve’s big rate cut could change the housing market.
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Palmetto State Armory (one of our affiliate advertisers) has some great specials in their “Daily Deals” this week. One of these is a Blemished PSA Freedom AR-15 Rifle Built Kit 5.56 16″ M4 Carbine-Length 1:7 Nitride for just $299.99. (Normally $619.99.) To find it, just paste the SKU “507617B”, into their search box.
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!