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 explanation of the Basel III Agreement. (See the Precious Metals section.) Pictured above is the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) headquarters in Basel, Switzerland.
Precious Metals:
Basel III Endgame: what you need to know. JWR’s Comments: One little-known provision of Basel III is that beginning in July of this year it will require banks to acquire and maintain physical precious metals to back their paper contracts. This will create a strong physical delivery demand, straining global physical supplies of gold. The world’s central banks have been feverishly buying up physical gold, in anticipation of Basel 3.1 (a.k.a. Basel 3 Endgame) for the past eight years. When I last checked, gold was up 24%, since January 1, 2025. Pictured above is the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) headquarters in Basel, Switzerland.
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With the recent spike in the gold markets, the silver-to-gold spot price ratio has slipped to 101.9-to-1. Yowza! This is an exceptionally good time to ratio trade out of gold (paper or physical) and into physical silver. I suggest that you do so soon, before the ratio reverts to its recent norm in the sub-85-to-1 range. When it does, you will almost certainly make a handsome profit, even after the trading costs. – JWR
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S&P Global: ABS Frontiers: Looming Basel 3.1 Rules Could Incentivize More Bank Securitization.
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Reported on Wednesday: Gold zooms past $3,300/oz as investors seek shelter from tariff war.
Economy & Finance:
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At Zero Hedge: US Retail Sales Soared Most In 2 Years In March As Auto-Spending Spiked Ahead Of Tariffs.
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Linked over at the Whatfinger.com news aggregation site: America’s $19 Trillion Consumer Economy in One Chart.
Commodities:
The Consequences of China’s New Rare Earths Export Restrictions.
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Canadian rare earth firms race to fill void created by U.S.-China trade war.
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IEA Cuts Oil Demand Expectations: Oil Market Report – April 2025.
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From OilPrice News: Saudi Arabia’s Next Move Could Hit Oil Prices Hard.
Inflation/Deflation Watch:
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At Wolf Street: PPI Pushed into Negative by Dropping Prices of Many Goods and Services.
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Inflation Posts Surprise Drop in March, Annual Rate Hits 2.4%.
Forex & Cryptos:
Dollar’s Losing Run Shows Wall Street Angst Over Tariff U-Turns.
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Trump again calls for Fed to cut rates, says Powell’s ‘termination cannot come fast enough’. JWR’s Comments: If there was ever any remaining doubt about who really rules our nation. this should end it. Clearly, it is the unaccountable Banksters that rule the roost.
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At Currency Thoughts: How Badly Has the United States Been Ripped Off by the Post-WW2 Economic Order?
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Reported on April 15th: XRP faces surprising sell-off as whales dump $370M.
Tangibles Investing:
At The Daily Mail: Panic as home buyers bail in droves as realtors reveal how they are waiting for a crash as big as 2008 for bargains.
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Here’s Where US Home Prices Are Rising—and Falling—the Most.
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US gunmakers scrambling to adapt to Trump’s uncertain tariff threats.
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Video with commentary: General Motors Dealerships are Sc**wed – Lots are Full. JWR’s Comments: As of April, 2025, the only way that I’d ever consider buying a “new” car or truck is to track down a New Old Stock (NOS) 2023 model year vehicle that is still sitting on a dealer lot, and offering just a used car price for it. Otherwise, I’d concentrate on finding low-mileage used cars — perhaps one with a bit of purely cosmetic damage, such as some missing trim, minor scratches, or a dinged bumper. The current new vehicle dealer sticker prices are insane, and only a fool would pay them. Oh, and I should also mention that anyone who owns a home with a large photovoltaic power system might consider buying a 2-to-4 year old Tesla as a spare runabout, since they are presently being dumped by some of their ultra-liberal owners. Their loss is your gain.
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!