Category: Economics & Investing

Economics & Investing For Preppers

Here are the latest news items and commentary on current economics news, market trends, stocks, investing opportunities, and the precious metals markets. We also cover hedges, derivatives, and obscura. Most of these items are from the “tangibles heavy” contrarian perspective of SurvivalBlog’s Founder and Senior Editor, JWR. Today, an examination of how inflation is changing the lives of Americans, and how people are coping and hedging. Here is a roundup of articles on inflation published in 2022, with a brief fair-use excerpt from each: Brookings: Five key takeaways on inflation from the May CPI report. “Last year, goods inflation was …


Economics & Investing For Preppers

Here are the latest news items and commentary on current economics news, market trends, stocks, investing opportunities, and the precious metals markets. We also cover hedges, derivatives, and obscura. Most of these items are from the “tangibles heavy” contrarian perspective of SurvivalBlog’s Founder and Senior Editor, JWR. Today, we look at regulation, and its costs. Precious Metals: Zimbabwe to sell gold coins amid inflation. o  o  o Saudi Arabia Considers Joining ‘BRICS’ Coalition as They Mull Return to Gold Standard. o  o  o Gold is ‘undeservedly’ cheap relative to equities as inflation sticks around – Felder Report. o  o  o …


The Bidenized Silver Market

In this brief essay, I will outline what has happened to the U.S, silver market, since the Bidenistas came to power: A Wacky World, a Wacky Ratio President Joe Biden and his co-conspirators in the U.S. Treasury and in the Federal Reserve banking cartel have embarked on a path of destruction for the U.S. Dollar. By extending artificially-low interest rates, they have propped up equities markets. But currency inflation is now on the march. The markets and general economy have entered a twilight zone of gross monetary and market manipulation and speculative excess. These excesses have also extended into the …


Economics & Investing For Preppers

Here are the latest news items and commentary on current economics news, market trends, stocks, investing opportunities, and the precious metals markets. We also cover hedges, derivatives, and obscura. Most of these items are from the “tangibles heavy” contrarian perspective of SurvivalBlog’s Founder and Senior Editor, JWR. Today, we look at the BRICS countries’ latest push toward a gold-backed currency. (See the Precious Metals section.) Precious Metals: Putin suggests BRICS looking at new global reserve currency backed by hard assets. Notably, four of the five BRICS countries are major gold producers. (Only India is not in the Top 20 producers …


Neo-Feudalism: Klaus Schwab, the WEF, and The Great Reset

The topic of this essay might seem a bit tangential to normal SurvivalBlog topics, but as I will explain, it falls into the category of “emerging threats.” Men have always sought to dominate and forcefully order the lives of others. This is part of human nature. It dates back to before the days of Noah. Early empires sought power and wealth, by conquest. Monarchies and feudalism dominated the Middle Ages in Europe, South Asia, and East Asia. Then, in a consolidation of monarchist power, colonialism was rampant from the 1550s to the 1950s. Only a few large and economically strong …


The Gas Inflation Crisis Is Far From Over, by Brandon Smith

After a single Federal Reserve rate hike of 75 basis points (0.75%) I am noticing a trend among mainstream economists whipping out their crystal balls and predicting an almost immediate reversion to deflationary conditions. In their view, a recession will “balance everything out.” For most of these people, I would suggest that they keep their crystal balls in their pants; they have been consistently wrong and it’s time for them to shut up. If you were predicting that inflation would be “transitory” last year, then you have no right to act like you are an economist today. It’s going to …


Economics & Investing For Preppers

Here are the latest news items and commentary on current economics news, market trends, stocks, investing opportunities, and the precious metals markets. We also cover hedges, derivatives, and obscura. Most of these items are from the “tangibles heavy” contrarian perspective of SurvivalBlog’s Founder and Senior Editor, JWR. Today, we look at the recent drop in the price of silver. (See the Precious Metals section.) Precious Metals: You may have read that spot gold and silver both dropped on Friday. The silver price suffered much more than that of gold. Silver was down 3.6%, to just $19.98 per Troy ounce. Yikes. …


June 2022 in Precious Metals, by Steven Cochran

What Did Gold Do in June? Gold prices don’t usually see much activity during the summer months, but there were lots of things pushing and pulling prices in different directions in June. in June. The largest moves happened in the middle of the month. June 13th was the Monday after a worse-than-expected CPI report, and it seemed like the world caught fire. The bottom fell out of the stock market, bond yields shot up and briefly inverted, and the dollar index jumped to over 105. Spot gold closed the day $53 lower. Gold prices inched higher in the following days, …


Economics & Investing For Preppers: A History Lesson

Today, in lieu of my usual bi-weekly Economics & Investing column, I will describe some ongoing shifts in the global credit and currency spheres. The driving forces behind the present-day monetary and fiscal trends date back to the year 1909, as I will explain. This is not just an academic exercise. Take heed that there are some serious preparedness implications for you and your family, in all of this — especially in light of the latest round of currency inflation. – JWR The Robbery of Our Genuine Dollars Most Americans are essentially clueless about what constitutes a “Dollar”, and how …


Combining Three Distinct Sources Of Inflation, by Daniel Amerman

The rolling average 3-month rate of inflation in the United States has now reached 10.7%. This is an important number as it represents the first time that we have a full three months of inflation data – March, April, and May – that include the economic impact of the Ukraine War and the related sanctions. What is being lost in the political and economic talking points is that we have three underlying sources of inflation. As we will graphically develop in this analysis, these three sources can be broken apart, and the stepping up of inflation as the second and …


Economics & Investing For Preppers

Here are the latest news items and commentary on current economics news, market trends, stocks, investing opportunities, and the precious metals markets. We also cover hedges, derivatives, and obscura. Most of these items are from the “tangibles heavy” contrarian perspective of SurvivalBlog’s Founder and Senior Editor, JWR. Today, we look at some investing and hedging alternatives for beating inflation. (See the Precious Metals, Inflation Watch, and Tangibles Investing sections.) Precious Metals: USN&WR: How to Invest in Silver as an Inflation Hedge. o  o  o How to Increase Portfolio Performance With Precious Metals During Inflation. Economy & Finance: An aggressive Fed …


Economics & Investing For Preppers

Here are the latest news items and commentary on current economics news, market trends, stocks, investing opportunities, and the precious metals markets. We also cover hedges, derivatives, and obscura. Most of these items are from the “tangibles heavy” contrarian perspective of SurvivalBlog’s Founder and Senior Editor, JWR. Today, we look at some effects of rising interest rates. Precious Metals: Gold rises in the face of more market turmoil. o  o  o Gold hasn’t lost its luster even as the Fed continues to raise rates – State Street’s George Milling-Stanley. o  o  o Alasdair Macleod: A Perfect Storm in Banking Is …


Slowing Money Supply Growth in 2022 Points to Recession, by Ryan W. McMaken

Editor’s Introductory Note: This guest article was selected by JWR. It was first published by The Mises Institute. It is reposted with permission. The Mises Institute is named in honor of the much-revered Austrian School economist Ludwig Von Mises. (Pictured, above.) — Money supply growth fell slightly in April, falling below March’s eight-month high. Even with March’s bump in growth, though, money supply growth remains far below the unprecedented highs experienced during much of the past two years. During the thirteen months between April 2020 and April 2021, money supply growth in the United States often climbed above 35 percent, …


Gold’s Shine vs. The Long Shadow of War in Ukraine, by Arkadiusz Sieroń

The war in Ukraine brings multiple negative consequences, not only to the world economy. Russia’s invasion also has a wide impact on the gold market. The Consequences Are Vast The war in Ukraine has been ongoing for more than three months. After the withdrawal from the north of Ukraine, Russia has focused on the east and south of the country, aiming to take full control of Donbas and to create a land corridor between it and Crimea. The consequences of a Russian invasion into Ukraine are far-reaching in many areas. The war is a humanitarian crisis. Thousands of people died, …


Economics & Investing For Preppers

Here are the latest news items and commentary on current economics news, market trends, stocks, investing opportunities, and the precious metals markets. We also cover hedges, derivatives, and obscura. Most of these items are from the “tangibles heavy” contrarian perspective of SurvivalBlog’s Founder and Senior Editor, JWR. Today, we look at inflation and automatic cost-of-living escalator clauses. (See the Economy & Finance section.) Precious Metals: Higher interest rates — with a yield curve that has again gone inverted — and a surge in U.S. Dollar strength triggered a 4.15% drop in spot silver and 2.96% drop in spot gold, on …