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 chronic inflation in the Euro Zone. (See the Inflation section.)
Precious Metals:
The charts prove it: The precious metals are looking quite bullish. Since November of 2022, spot gold has risen from around $1,650 per Troy ounce to more than $1,975 per Troy ounce. The gains in just the last few weeks have been impressive, especially for silver. As of March 28th, silver was up 3.52% for the week.
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At Kitco.com: Still surfing the silver wave.
Economy & Finance:
First Citizens Buys Failed Lender Silicon Valley Bank. JWR’s Comment: Don’t miss reading the details of the write-offs in this sweetheart deal. (Billions of your tax dollars at work!)
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Regulators Blame Friday’s Deutsche Bank Crash On Single CDS Trade.
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Over at Zero Hedge: Relief Rallies & Remembering Bear Stearns.
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Clint Siegner: Americans Fleeced Again in Another Round of Bank Bailouts.
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Newsweek: Deutsche Bank Collapse Risk Grows As Experts Wait for Next ‘Domino to Fall’
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Commodities:
Eric Sprott: Has the next commodities supercycle begun?
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EVs Are Becoming More Affordable, Falling Lithium Prices Is the Reason.
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Tesla Fires First Shot In EV Price War.
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Saudi Aramco in Deal with Chinese Partners to Build Refinery.
Inflation Watch:
DanskeBank: Inflation: Why so high, and what will drive it going forward?
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Prospects for euro area inflation in 2023. Here is a quote:
“The ECB emphasises that some key inflation risks remain. These include a resurgence of gas prices due to geopolitical tensions and increased demand from a post-lockdown China, and higher-than-anticipated wage pressure due a tight labour market. Soldani et al. (2022) show how labour shortages have been on the rise in several advanced economies, which can tamper economic activity, aggravate supply bottlenecks, and trigger increases in inflation.”
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US Food Inflation to Persist in 2023, USDA Forecasts.
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Linked over at the Whatfinger.com news aggregation site: With 62% of Americans living paycheck to paycheck amid inflation, more people have a side job.
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Push in States for $20 Minimum Wage as Inflation Persists.
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At SpaceNews: Inflation, high demand driving up launch prices.
Forex & Cryptos:
An opinion piece in The Washington Post: The dollar is our superpower, and Russia and China are threatening it.
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The latest accounting legerdemain: Zimbabwe Adopts New Inflation Rate Based on U.S. Dollar, Local Currency.
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US Crypto Firms Eye Overseas Move Amid Regulatory Uncertainty
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EU Money Laundering Law Won’t Prevent Crypto Payments, Lead Lawmaker Says.
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Reported on March 28th: Bitcoin In Free Fall As Regulators Turn Their Attention To Binance.
Tangibles Investing:
A trend, confirmed: National home prices fall for the seventh straight month.
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Brownells (one of our affiliate advertisers) is continuing their “March Magness” sale until April 3rd. Full-capacity magazines are great to keep on hand for barter, as a hedge on inflation, and as a hedge on any upcoming magazine ban legislation or executive orders. Stack them deep!
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And Palmetto State Armory just listed a new variant of their “Dagger” (Glock 19 clone) pistol: PSA Dagger Compact 9mm SW2 Doctor Cut Pistol With 2XL Sights, Gold Threaded Barrel, & (10) 15rd Magazines, Sniper Green. At $419 for the package with 10 magazines, that is a great deal. This can only be shipped to an FFL. To find it, put this SKU in their Search box: DG01-51655136571
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!