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 Government Spending and Deficit Reduction.
Precious Metals:
Spot gold just posted another record high, yesterday. It was up $51.20 to $2,844.70 per Troy ounce at mid-day. That was a 1.8% gain for the morning. Meanwhile, spot silver jumped $1.02 to $31.77. That was a 3.3% gain for the morning. Platinum was up 4.9% to $994.50. I expect to see some profit taking on Friday. Hang in there for the long haul, folks. The bull market is far from over. And FWIW, I still favor silver and platinum, over gold. I hope that you reallocated your metals portfolio as I suggested. – JWR
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China Continues Making Covert Gold Purchases in London.
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Global Silver Market Forecast to Remain in a Sizeable Deficit in 2025.
Economy & Finance:
The on-again, off-again FinCEN small business owner-reporting scheme (“Beneficial Ownership Information Reporting”) is back on again, after a Supreme Court ruling. JWR Adds: We’ll post the new self-reporting deadline, once it is firmly announced. (At last report, the FinCen gnomes were dawdling on setting a date.)
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AOL reports: China’s DeepSeek prompts global sell-off in AI-linked stocks.
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Wall Street Enters Darker Age With Most Stock Trading Hidden.
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Working Americans Turn to Food Banks as Fed Inflation Battle Drags On. JWR’s Comments: If the Federal Reserve cartel really wanted to “fight” inflation, then it would simply stop expanding the money supply through fractional reserve banking. We need to abolish the Fed!
Commodities:
Published on Wednesday: Oil prices slip as US inventories rise; tariff concerns in focus.
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Cautious Optimism for Commodities in 2025
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Raw material shortages have abated, but some lingering issues remain.
Government Spending and Deficit Reduction:
H.L. sent us this: US Can’t Account for Much of $7 Trillion in Spending.
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Even Progressives Now Worry About The Federal Debt.
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Musk’s DOGE aims to cut $2 trillion in spending. That will be tricky.
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Elon Musk’s DOGE has a new target for cutting federal spending: the U.S. penny. The article’s opening lines:
“Billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency has a new target in its sights for trimming federal spending: the U.S. penny.
In Tuesday X post, Musk’s DOGE wrote that the U.S. spends about 3 cents to mint each penny, which, of course, is only valued at 1 cent.
‘The penny costs over 3 cents to make and cost U.S. taxpayers over $179 million in FY2023,” DOGE wrote. “The Mint produced over 4.5 billion pennies in FY2023, around 40% of the 11.4 billion coins for circulation produced.'”
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How the U.S. Gamed the Law of the Sea.
Forex & Cryptos:
Turkey to issue 500 Lira Notes.
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Bitcoin hovers at $100,000 as the Fed keeps interest rates unchanged.
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President Trump Issues Executive Order on Digital Assets.
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Fed Chair Powell calls on Congress to create ‘greater regulatory apparatus’ around crypto.
Tangibles Investing:
WSJ: U.S. Homes Sales in 2024 Fell to Lowest Level in Nearly 30 Years.
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Palmetto State Armory (one of our affiliate advertisers) has some great specials in their “Daily Deals” this week. Here is just one example: Blemished PSA Freedom AR-15 Rifle Build Kit 5.56 16″ M4 Carbine-Length with 1:7 twist, for just $299.99. (Normally $619.) To find this deal, paste the UPC 507617B in 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!